1 
[Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congresa,  In  the  year  187(5,  by  the  Rural  Publishing  tJomimny,  In  the  office  of  the  Ijibnirian  of  Oongresa  at  Washington.] 
IJonrological. 
SOME  APPLES  OF  A  CENTURY. 
Retbospective  investigations  by  laborers  in 
any  branch  of  science  or  art,  are  often  necessary 
in  order  to  prevent  thorn  from  becoming  too  ego¬ 
tistical  and  confident  in  their  real  or  supposed 
advancement. 
Our  iximologiata  are  not  wholly  free  from  a 
taint  of  a  self-laudation  of  their  great  progress, 
and  while  we  are  not  disposed  to  chock  onthu- 
siaam,  which  tends  to  promote  the  Iiai>pinus8  or 
welfare  of  the  masses  or  even  individiuiln,  still  it 
may  not  be  amiss  in  this,  our  ConUmniul  year,  to 
take  a  retrospective  glance  over  the  past  century 
and  note  some  of  the  important  changes  which 
have  taken  place  in  the  production  of  certain 
kinds  of  fruits. 
The  apple  being  one  of  the  most 
familiar  and  valuable  fruits  in 
Europe  and  America,  it  well  rep¬ 
resents  our  prygi'esB  in  ■jHiinology 
generally.  It  is  now  ove*'  one 
hundred  years  since  the  Bibston 
Pippin  apple  originated,  as  is  sup¬ 
posed,  in  England,  for  in  1875  ' 
there  were  grafted  trees  of  it  for  A 
sale  in  the  Bromptou  Nurseries 
propagated  from  the  original  tree  ’  ^  V 
growing  at  Bibston  Hall,  near 
Karnosborough. 
We  name  this  variety  not  only 
on  account  of  the  great  popularity  ^ 
which  it  has  since  obtained,  but 
because  through  its  onco  appar- 
ent  dacline  in  England  for  a  pe-  v 
riod  of  years,  came  the  oft-dis- 
cussed  theory  of  natural  deterior- 
ation  of  all  cultivated  fruits. 
For  some  imkuotvu  cause,  near- 
ly  all  the  trees  in  England  were,  ~  _ 
during  the  early  part  of  the  pres- 
ent  century,  affected  with  a  dis- 
ease  which  bid  fair  for  a  while  to 
prevent  the  further  propagation 
or  culture  of  this  then  famous 
apple. 
Thos.  Asdkew  Kniob  i,  a  noted 
EngUsh  pomologist,  while  trying 
to  discover  the  cause  of  the  dis¬ 
ease,  came  to  the  cuuclusiou  that 
the  Bibston  Pippin  was  really  dy¬ 
ing  of  old  age,  and  all  its  progeny 
must  necessarily  go  with  their 
parent.  Singular,  and  we  might 
ahuost  say  absurd,  as  such  a  theo¬ 
ry  was,  tliere  were  many  to  accept 
it  as  a  true  solution  of  the  mystery 
which  surrounded  the  decline  of  A 
this  old  and  popular  variety.  /Ml 
A  few  years  later,  however,  we 
find  the  Bibston  Pippin  again  rec-  rMm 
ommended  as  one  of  the  very  best 
varieties  in  cultivation,  and  to  this  I'lWM 
day  it  is  seldom  left  out  of  the 
most  select  lists  of  dessert  apples. 
Its  introduction  into  this  conn- 
try  dates  from  ahnost  its  first  ad-  raMi! 
vent  into  orchard  culture  in  En- 
gland,  and  the  accompanying  il- 
lustration  is  from  a  sijecimen  ^ 
grown  in  Illinois,  which  is  slightly 
more  elongated  than  the  usual 
type  of  this  variety. 
For  one  hundred  years  this 
apple  has  ranked  among  the  best, 
and  the  late  A.  J.  Downiko  said 
that  in  Great  Britain  it  stands  as 
as  the  Bank  of  England. 
In  this  country  it  has  never  been 
v^ued  as  highly  as  in  its  native 
clime ;  still  we  tbinV  a  variety 
wliich  can  show  so  old  and  valuable  a  record  is 
worthy  of  being  placed  high  up  in  the  Conteunial 
Boll  of  Honor. 
Tlio  old  Rhode  Island  Greening.  Newtown 
Pippin,  Baldwin,  Tompkins  County  Kitig,  and 
many  other  popular  sorts,  will  probably  remain 
in  cultivation  and  be  exhibited  at  our  bi-cen- 
tennary  celebration.  For  our  poi't,  exporieuoe 
shows  that  there  is  little  room  for  progress,  ex¬ 
cept  in  the  production  of  varieties  adapted  to 
certain  conditions  or  climates.  In  seeking  this, 
([uito  a  marked  progress  has  Vsjcn  nioile  during 
the  past  few  years,  and  in  no  one  direction  is  it 
more  ai>pareiit  than  in  wlmt  are  termed 
SIBERIAN  (OR  CRAB)  APPLES. 
It  is  not  many  yours  since  our  list  of  these 
apples  was  nmde  uj)  of  a  half-dozeu  small  and 
scarcely  edible  sorts,  raised  from  the  small  wild 
apple  of  Northern  Europe. 
The  varieties  of  the  common  Fyrus  malus 
having  in  the  main  proved  too  tender  for  the 
more  Nortliera  and  Northwestern  States,  our 
pomologists  were  compelled  to  seek  a  more 
hardy  siiecies,  and  this  was  found  in  the  Pyi~us 
pnmifolia,  or  Siberian  Crab-apple.  For  a  num¬ 
ber  of  years  only  acid  varieties  wore  jiroduced, 
and  somo  of  our  fruit-growers  began  to  despair 
of  a  sweet  sort  in  this  species ;  but  it  came  at 
last,  aiid  now  thoro  are  several  very  oxooUont 
ones  in  cultivation.  One  of  the  very  best,  if  not 
the  best,  is  the  Van  WyoU,  shown  in  the  accom¬ 
panying  iUustaation.  It  originated  near  Fish- 
kill,  N.  Y.,  and  was  first  brought  to  notice  and 
described  by  us  in  186!).  Sinee  that  time  it  has 
been  propagated  and  widely  disseminated.  We 
have  several  trees  of  it  growing  in  our  grounds, 
and  they  give  promise  of  being  very  vigorous 
and  productive. 
The  Van  Wyck  is  quite  lai’ge  for  a  Siberian, 
the  skin  white  shaded  and  mottled  on  the  side 
exposed  to  the  sun,  5vith  light  red.  The  flesh  is 
tender,  sweet  and  rich.  Ripens  in  September 
and  October.  We  consider  it  one  of  tlio  most 
beautiful  aud  valuable  of  all  the  sweet  sorts. 
- - 
“HYBRIDIZING”  GRAPES  AND  OTHER 
FRUITS. 
Ena.  Rukal  New-Yorker  : — Will  you  please 
give  your  opinion  on  hybridizing  grapes  and 
other  fruits  ?  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  when 
the  seeds  of  any  variety  of  grape,  strawberry, 
etc.,  oi’e  planted,  that  in  no  case,  if  not  hybrid¬ 
ized,  do  we  ever  get  any  variety  tliat  is  an  exact 
countui’iiurt  of  tint  parent  vino  or  pliiut,  ami  to 
obtain  an  improved  viuioly  one  lius  to  grow 
thousands  of  suodlings,  and  often  when  that 
number  is  grown  not  a  single  new  variety  is 
produced  worth  cultivating,  even  when  the 
parent  is  of  excellent  quality.  The  qiiestioii, 
then,  is,  Can  the  seeds  of  one  variety  be  so 
affected  by  fructitlcatiou  from  another  variety 
as  to  produce  vines  embracing  the  good  qualities 
of  both,  when  the  seed  of  each, 
sown  separately,  without  any  at¬ 
tempt  at  hylaidlziiig,  will  fail  to 
reproduce,  except  in  very  rare 
Cases,  the  good  qualities  of  the 
parent  vino  or  plant?  I  am  in- 
olimKl  to  believe  that  this  whole 
theory  of  hybridization,  in  every 
sbajie  and  manner,  is  fallacious 
—  that  the  fructification  of  the 
flowers  of  one  vaiiety  with  the 
pollen  of  another  does  not,  and 
cannot,  affect  the  seeds  of  the 
variety  thus  fructitled  so  as  to 
t  cause  the  seedlings  grown  from 
them  to  partake  in  any  degree  of 
the  qualities  of  the  vine  or  plant 
from  which  the  fructifying  pollen 
was  taken,  and  that  all  so-called 
“  hybrids"  are  mere  chance  seed¬ 
lings  ;  yet  I  may  bo  mistaken,  and 
therefore  ask  your  opinion. 
Fumr-GaowEB. 
l*lu.nts  in  a  state  of  nature  vai-y 
but  slightly  fi’om  generation  to 
generation,  still  wo  may  safely  as- 
sert  that  Nature  never  piroduces 
two  things  exactly  alike.  This 
natural  tendency  to  vary  increases 
^  as  we  bring  plants  umloi-  dornos- 
'  I  Wl  tioatlou,  until  after  a  few  genera- 
JM  tions  the  original  tyjie  is  frequent- 
ly  so  nearly  obliterated  tljut  it  bo- 
comes  difllcult  to  tiaco  back  the 
finoago  or  discover  any  ijositive 
characteristics  of  original  parent- 
It  is  tliis  teridoiicy  to  extreme 
variations  in  [ilants  under  doraes- 
ticatiou  which  loads  many  a  uov- 
iee  in  horticulture  to  believe  Lis 
maiden  efforts  in  hybridizing  and 
crossing  have  boon  succesaful, 
when  the  same  results  would  have 
followed  hu<l  no  artificial  impreg- 
nation  been  attempted.  Still,  with 
all  the  mistakes  which  have  been 
p  made  and  the  false  claims  set  up 
for  the  parentage  of  pseudo  cross¬ 
es  and  hybrids,  wo  think  there  are 
some  genuine  piroductions  of  the 
kind  among  our  lists  of  new  fniits. 
In  other  woriLs,  we  think  that  di¬ 
rect  orosses  and  hybrids  have  been 
and  can  bo  produced  among  plants 
as  well  as  animals.  Thu  sexes  in 
the  former  are,  as  a  whole,  as  well 
defined  as  in  the  latter,  and  by 
proper  and  careful  manipulation 
the  end  sought ’s  proliably  readily 
k  attained. 
^  But  ordinarily  the  novice  in 
horticulture  is  too  ready  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  the  results  of  experi- 
VOL.  XXXIII.  No.  aO.  I 
WHOLE  No.  lari.  1 
NEW  YORK  CITY,  MAY  13,  1876. 
IMIICE  SX3C  cents. 
I'ER  YEAR. 
