culio catcher successfully, fifteen feet is none 
too much. 
Varieties .—There are a great many varie¬ 
ties described in our fruit books. I shall only 
speak of those I have had experience with. 
First of all is the Diapre Rouge. We 
have fruited it for nearly tm years, and find 
that it possesses more good qualities than 
any variety we are acquainted with, though 
it Ls not as rich a plum as some. It is a pro¬ 
digious bearer of large, handsome fruit, of 
good quality. It requires thinning in order 
to produce the largest fruit. It is hardy, 
and grows thrifty upon our rich prairie soil. 
Wc arc indebted to Dr. Kennicott, for this 
variety. He, being unable to supply a vari¬ 
ety ordered, substituted the Diapre Rouge, 
with a high commendation of its qualities, 
and w r e have never regretted it. 
Duane’s Purple is a more showy plum, 
and will bring a higher price in the market. 
It bears well, but the l'ruit is apt to rot on 
the tree. It is a profitable variety, but it is 
such an upright grower tbat it takes about 
three trees to bear the fruit that one of 
Diapre Rouge will. However, it has this 
advantage:—it needs no propping to prevent 
branches breaking with weight of fruit. 
Imperial Gage is a sweeter, richer plum 
than either of the others. As a tree, we 
think it is not quite as hardy, and needs a 
poorer soil than wc have fruited it on to be 
an abundant hearer. 
Red Gage is earlier than either of the pre¬ 
ceding, and proves a good bearer with us, 
though rattier small. Still its fine flavor 
makes il. very salable in the market. 
Smith’s Orleans has not done very well 
with ns. On poorer soil il may prove better. 
German prune has proved tender, though 
the fruit is No. 1 for flavor. 
We have fruited other varieties, such as 
the Nectarine, Yellow Egg, Prince’s Dam¬ 
son and Hanford’s Orleans, but are not pro¬ 
pagating from any but the Nectarine, with 
which we are well pleased. 
Pruning and Culture. — We prune hut lit¬ 
tle, and that while the tree is young, starting 
the head about three feet from the ground. 
Cultivate the same, as with the apple. It is 
an excellent plan in our rich prairie soil, 
after the first, year, to practice sowing oats 
among the trees in July, This cheeks their 
rank growth, causing them to mature their 
wood early, and thus be in better condition 
for wintering. 
Diseases. — There are but two or three dis¬ 
eases to which the plum is liable. The 
black wart has not proved very troublesome 
in the West, though it is frequently met with. 
Occasionally we find it on our own trees, 
but by cutting off the affected limbs and 
burning them, the disease does not increase. 
The fruit rot is occasionally troublesome. It. 
is sometimes, if not generally, confined to 
varieties. The Diapre Rouge is seldom 
troubled, while the Duane’s Purple, m some 
seasons, is very seriously affected. Thinning 
the fruit, so as not to let them touch each 
other, is a partial remedy. The plum is fre¬ 
quently Injured, more or less, by the winter. 
Sometimes the tree is killed outright, but 
more generally it is thrown into a diseased 
and sickly condition. 
'The abundant vegetable matter in nur rich 
prairie soil causes an excessive growth in the 
latter part of the season, unfitting the trees 
for the sudden changes of temperature our 
winters subject them to. The sowing of 
oats, as before mentioned, will remedy this to 
some extent. 
Screens of evergreens or deciduous trees 
are also beneficial. 
rberirultttw 
OSIER WILLOWS. 
ABOUT FRUIT GROWING.-II, 
Recently a correspondent asked us about 
the culture of the basket-w T illow. A corre¬ 
spondent of the Country Gentlemen, at Ha¬ 
vana, N. Y., furnishes an answer to our cor¬ 
respondent’s inquiries as follows: — “ Large 
quantities of the basket-willow are grown in 
this vicinity, especially on the marsh at the 
head of Seneca Lake. The demand for 
pedal willows is always brisk, but we under¬ 
stand that unpeeled willows do not find 
ready sale. Our experience is, however, that 
for ail practical purposes baskets made of 
the unpeeled willow are altogether the best. 
In Scotland, some years ago, almost all the 
baskets used on the farms were made by the 
farm bands while sitting around the fire 
during the long winter evenings. The peel¬ 
ing of the willows is performed by means of 
very cheap and simple machinery driven by 
a horse, so that the capital required in this 
department is not very great. 
It, is stated by most writers that o&iers do 
not, thrive well on peaty soil. If they are 
correct, there must be something wrong 
about, my ideas of ‘thriving;’ for most, of 
the osiers here are grown on soil which looks 
very much as if it were peaty, and wc have a 
little patch of a few square rods which grows 
on a peat, bed of greater depth than has yet 
been fathomed. They will not grow w ell in 
stagnant water, lint they do best in moist 
ground. Tt is said tbat they will not do well 
on very dry upland. 1 have seen a remark¬ 
able exception to this in willows grown on 
the farm of the Ag. College of Pennsylva¬ 
nia. There is no water on that farm, and 
except along a small strip it is found impos¬ 
sible to reach water by the ordinary process 
of well-digging—and yet willows Thrive 
well there. There is a small collection of 
willows in the College Garden (ikiliv vitclli- 
na , purpurea, nmzmlis , annularis and some 
others) and they all seem to do well Our 
impression is that any good, rich soil not 
covered with stagnant water will produce 
good crops of osiers. It has been found that 
the osier is as much benefited by thorough 
drainage us is any other plant. 
Osiers are usually set out in rows two feet 
to thirty inches apart and the stools or cut¬ 
tings twelve inches apart in Lhc rows. After 
a time the planks will be found to be too 
close and then every alternate plant should 
be grubbed up. This requires about, twenty 
thousand cuttings to the acre. There are 
two methods of setting out osiers. One is to 
use cuttings twelve to sixteen inches in 
length, inserted in the ground vertically 
The other is to use long poles buried in 
trenches one or two inches deep. These 
poles send out roots and throw up shoots 
from every part of their length, so that in 
a short time the young shoot6 form a perfect 
hedge. 
Whatever may be said to the contrary it 
is the opinion of our best growlers that no 
plant is more benefited by clean culture than 
the osier. 
A Massachusetts correspondent of the New 
England Farmer, who lias had large experi¬ 
ence in the culture of the basket willow, 
writes:—“The soil best adapted to the growth 
of European basket-willow has been gener¬ 
ally supposed to be a heavy, wet soil,—nearly 
every plantation which has come within the 
range of my observation having been set on 
meadow land,—but from experiments made 
on a variety of soils, I am satisfied that ibis 
is a mistake. To my surprise I have found 
them to make a better growth on a sand 
bank, than on a rich, wet meadow. They 
seem to make the best growth on a warm, 
rich, sandy loam, where either corn or pota¬ 
toes would grow luxurantly. On such soil 
they sometimes make a growth of ten feet 
in one season, and will make an averaged 
growth of six to eight feet; being very 
straight and slim, surpassing in quality any¬ 
thing I have ever seen imported. Our hot 
sun seems exactly adapted to its growth. 
During our hottest days in July, in a warm 
soil, they will make a growth of from three 
to four inches in twenty-four hours, while in 
a wet day they grow not more than one-half 
an inch. 
To prepare the soil for a plantation it 
should be plowed and planted two years 
with some crop which requires the land to 
be well cultivated; it should also be made 
rich enough to produce not less than fifty 
bushels of Indian corn to the acre. 
In transplanting the willows, tops are pre¬ 
ferred to roots; twigs about one-half an 
inch m diameter should be selected and cut 
from twelve to fifteen inches in length. As 
early in April as the weather will permit the 
land should be well plowed and furrowed 
three feet apart. In these furrows the cut¬ 
tings should be set one foot from each other, 
not perpendicular, but on an angle of about 
forty-five degrees. The first year the land 
should be well cultivated. After this they 
require but very little attention, except har¬ 
vesting the crop. 
BY NOW AND THEN. 
The Past Reviewed — Future Prospects. 
Only a few years since the Strawberry 
was not cultivated for the New York market, 
except in the count ies of Bergen, N. J., and 
Rockland, N. Y., and the berries were all 
sent to market in the small splint baskets. 
The quantity was as large for the demand 
then as now; and when the prices ruled 
from three to four cents per basket the farm¬ 
ers were well satisfied. It was then the cry, 
“ The business is overdoneyet the quantity 
and prices have Steadily increased, and good 
berries pay well; but now, instead of being 
grown in a small portion of two counties, 
they are grown in many States. I presume 
there are more berries grown and sent to the 
New York market from Norfolk, Va., in one 
. cason than there were in both of the coun¬ 
ties in 1800; yet Norfolk sends us but a small 
portion of the vast amount received in our 
city. 
The Blackberry is another wonderful in¬ 
stance of tlie increase of fruit, and the de¬ 
mand for it. T think it is not, more than 
eight or ten years since the cultivated fruit 
was introduced in our market. Previous to 
that time wc had only the wild fruit; yet 
there was a strong demand for that; but 
even then there would he a surplus left on 
band to be given away, or made into wine. 
Then but few persons dealt in them, now 
there are a large number of dealers who 
handle lint a small quantity of any other 
fruit during their season ; and yet who can 
say that blackberries do not pay, when there 
are hundreds of acres cultivated where for¬ 
merly there was none V 
The apple is another instance ol increased 
prices. 1 think it was in 1850 that I sold 
hundreds of barrels of apples for fifty cents 
per barrel, the barrel not being included; 
and for a prime article only one dollar per 
] larn l was obtained. Yet from that time until 
the present this fruit has been in demand at 
high prices. 
The pear is another one of our fruits that 
lias steadily increased in demand—more 
than the production. A few years ago the 
price of a barrel of Bartlett* was generally 
from five dollars to seven dollars; and during 
a scarcity they sold as high twelve dollars or 
even fifteen dollars It was remarkable, aud 
farmers planted trees by the hundreds, until 
they thought this branch of the business was 
entirely ruined; but that, was a mistake, for 
the prices have steadily increased until the 
past, season fifty dollars was received for a 
barrel of choice fruit. And it is no unusual 
thing fdr the dealers on Broadway to ask 
fifty cents apiece for their finest, pears. 
Tints it, is in every branch of the fruit 
growing business. Tt is true there arc times 
when our market is over-stocked with some 
kinds of perishable fruit that must he sold 
at low prices; but it is not because there are 
not enough consumers, but because it conies 
so irregularly lhal the dealers cannot make 
a correct, calculation at an early hour of the 
day in order to dispose of it to a good ad¬ 
vantage. Even these irregular and immense 
arrivals are in the end a great advantage to 
tlie growers,for the price ruling low induces 
many dealers to purchase and send to dis¬ 
tant cities that would not, otherwise get fruit; 
and once having received it they always 
want more, consequently a new market is 
started which demands its proportion in 
future. 
I am aware that many persons think that 
the fruit sent; to our city is all consumed 
here; but that, is a mistake. New York City 
is but the depot for fruit; and from here it is 
sent to all parts of the country. It is fre¬ 
quently bought to be returned near the place 
from where it started. Most ol the towns 
and cities within a circle of thirty miles de¬ 
pend on New York for their fruits and veg¬ 
etables; and all of the Eastern States depend 
on our city for their early small fruits. Dur¬ 
ing the berry season numbers of the Eastern 
merchants come to this city, and remain dur¬ 
ing the term, purchasing largely for them¬ 
selves and for others ; and, from the knowl¬ 
edge in mv possession, I think that fully one- 
half of all the fruit xve receive is sold to go 
to distant cities. This demand increases 
every year. Last season the greater portion 
of the best and hardest strawberries were 
purchased by these gentlemen—the small 
and poor stock they will not, buy — and this 
is why we so often fail to sell this quality at 
better prices. I am of the opinion that tills 
demand doubles every year; audits the trade 
increases, tlie buyers will also increase, and 
many of them being inexperienced, will pur¬ 
chase the lower grades of fruit in order to 
undersell those who have a good trade in 
choice fruit . The f irmer named persons are 
compelled to sell to those who are able to 
pay high prices, and T think it is a safe calcu¬ 
lation to make, that not over one in twenty 
of the citizens of those States eat any of our 
1ST TEW HYBRID CHERRY-FROM TTT/XII 
learn, we present our friend’s drawing and 
description for the benefit of our horticultu¬ 
ral readers, some of whom may perhaps be 
disposed to test it. What the wall cherry is 
we do not know, but hope Mr. Johnson will 
enlighten us. e. 
fruit. The same may lie said of the States 
of New York and Pennsylvania, for there 
are hundreds of towns and villages in both 
of these States that never have had a supply 
of tlie small fruit, and not much of the larger 
varieties. Even in the State of New Jersey, 
where there is so much fruit grown, there 
are a large number of places where small 
fruits are never seen, unless their citizens 
purchase them in New York and take them 
there. 
The Southern States will soon grow T all 
the early fruit they can consume. With 
them the Strawberry grows abundantly and 
yields largely, and on them tlie North must 
depend for their early fruit; but owing to 
the iutense heat of that section their fruit 
soon perishes, and then they must in turn 
purchase of the North; consequently this 
opens a large market for our apples, 
grapes, &o. 
Let us look at the prospect of the Northern 
grape in llie.se States: — At the present time 
the finer varieties of our grapes are unknown 
there. A few Concords and Cat aw has arc 
cultivated, but most of the remainder are of 
the wild varieties. The best of these are the 
Scuppernong, which they value very highly, 
aud consider it a first-class fruit; but these 
will be rejected as soon as they acquire a 
taste for the higher grades of fruit, and the 
probabilities are that they will soon grow the 
early varieties; but on account of the heat 
they will not lie able to grow tlie late varieties 
and preserve them for the fall consumption, 
consequently they will lie obliged to send 
North to fill tlie vacancy; for I have never 
vet heard of a place that once began to raise 
or consume fruit where the demand for other 
varieties did not increase. T do not see why 
large Southern cities cannot be made depots 
for the. sale of Northern fruit, and where 
l hey now consume a few hundreds of pounds 
they would consume as many tons. 
PLUMS IN THE WEST. 
From an essay on the plum, read by L. C. 
Francis, Springfield, III., before the Ill. State 
Hort. Soc. we make tlie following extract: 
Propagation .— The seeds of the Chicka¬ 
saw and common wild both make good 
slocks. Though my preference is the. Chick¬ 
asaw, I have not been able to detect any 
difference, either in vigor or in hardiness, In 
trees grown on either of them. The seeds 
should he planted as soon as gathered, or 
put away in boxes with alternate layers of 
sand or earth, and planted in the spring. 
They should be kept somewhat moist so as 
to germinate gradually. My own practice is 
to sow very thick in drills a foot apart, and 
transplant into nursery rows when trees 
have attained a height of two or three inches, 
choosing a moist day for tlie operation. By 
this means tlie trees are not crowded as in 
the seed bed, and, with good cultivation, are 
suitable l'or budding in the fall. I have 
sometimes failed to have pits germinate the 
first spring, and find that others have the 
same experience. Budding should be done, 
if the trees are large enough the first season. 
The last week of July and the first two 
weeks of August are, perhaps, the best time 
to bud, though 1 have had excellent success 
the last week in August, and have had also 
very poor a week earlier. The yearling trees, 
if large enough, may be whip or tongue- 
grafted earlier in the spring, or cleft-grafted 
the second spring. It is advisable to work 
as close to the ground as possible, so 
tbat roots may be thrown out above the 
graft. To ensure the best success it is advis¬ 
able to graft before the buds have started, or 
just when the buds commence swelling. 
Planting. —The trees are fit to set the first 
or second year from the bud or graft. The 
ground for a plum orchard should be rolling, 
or plowed so as to run the water off readily. 
A moderately rich soil i« probably best for the 
plum, though there are some varieties, (the 
Diapre Rouge for one,) t hat will literally bear 
themselves to death in a rich soil. 
The Imperial Gage is a spare bearer with 
us on a rich soil, though yielding bountifully 
on our oak barrens. 
Fifteen feet, apart is perhaps a proper dis¬ 
tance to plant in orchard, it is true that the 
Diapre Rouge would be better accommodated 
at eighteen or twenty feet. But the Duane’s 
Purple realty needs but ten or twelve, while 
the Imperial Gage will just, about occupy the 
fifteen feet. But in order to work the cur- 
The Warren Apple.—A writer in the New Eng¬ 
land Homestead considers this by far the best 
apple l'or cooking and eating he ever saw, keep¬ 
ing until April, and retaining its flgvpr, &0., 
excellently, lie says the flavor and keeping 
qualities depend much upon the stock upon 
which it is grafted —he having a dozen trees 
of it, scarcely two of which produce fruit, of the 
same flavor. It is all that can be desired in a 
fall and early winter apple. In good soil the 
tree attains a large and very rapid growth, and 
is inclined to bear only in alternate years, with 
immense product. 
Grimes Golden.—The Editor of the Gardener’s 
Monthly, speaking ot' specimens of this apple 
sent him by Mr. Marshall of Cleveland, says: 
“ It is not, in our estimation, of the most supe¬ 
rior flavor, and indeed if it were we should 
doubt its general value; for we have too often 
fonnd these very highly flavored fruits wanting 
in most other merits which entitle them to gen¬ 
eral cultivation. But it is of sufficiently high 
flavor to give it excellence, and in consideration 
of all its other superior qualities it will take 
rank with our most popular varieties.” 
NEW HYBRID CHERRY. 
We have received the accompanying 
drawing of a fruit, designated as a New Hy¬ 
brid Cherry, from J. E. Johnson, of St. 
George, Utah. Mr. Johnson describes it as 
“across between a species of wall cherry 
and the wild plum — the fruit, when fully 
ripe, which is in July, being sweet and deli¬ 
cious. In form it is round, nearly black 
xvhen fully ripe, and is borne upon the limbs 
in such profusion as to become a solid mass. 
It buds readily on the peach stock, and its 
wood is long, slender, willowy.” 
We are strongly inclined to think our friend 
has got nothing more than one of the good 
wild plums of the West, which we have of¬ 
ten seen to load the branches in perfect ropes, 
but it may be we are mistaken, and as it is 
only by research and comparison that we 
King Tompkins Co. Apple.— A correspondent, 
of the Nexv England Farmer, at Concord, Mass., 
writes that from large trees, fifteen to sixteen 
years old, he never gets more than a bushel or 
so of this fruit annually; and what is xvorse, 
they rot badly on the tree, and after they are 
gathered ; but he regards it the best of any apple 
for cooking purposes. 
-- 
Wild Goose Plum.—I see a notice in the Rural 
of the Wild Goose plum. Can you tell me how 
1 can obtain some of them?- Robert Y. Hors¬ 
ley, Horsley's LaruUnff, Va. 
Write any Western or Southwestern nursery¬ 
man whose advertisement you see in our col¬ 
umns, and he xvill gladly procure it for you. 
-- 
Pears Cracking.— F. J. Chatfeeld asks some 
one to gi\ r o him a method for keeping pears, es¬ 
pecially the Flemish Beauty, from cracking and 
rusting. 
