208 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
laud at an early day secured a number of 
Russian apples from the Taurida Gardens, 
Russia, and Andrew Knight imported cions 
of a number of others from Simbirsk on the 
Volga, Some of these have received Eng¬ 
lish and French names. As an instance, 
Lindly gives a cut and description of “Sugar- 
loaf Pippin.” On tracing this out, we find it 
comes from Russia under the name of “Dol- 
goi Squosnoi.” If not identical with our 
Yellow Transparent, it is a near relative. 
Mainly the first seeds, cions and trees 
brought to America were of the Pippins, 
Pearmains, Reinettes, etc , of the W est, yet 
as strays, the Duchess, Alexander, Charlo- 
moski, Rambour Papalen, and Tetofsky came 
to us at a very early day from Russia via 
England. The Gros Pomiar, Red Astrachan, 
White Astrachan and others came from 
8weden; while the Fameuse, the Roman Stem, 
Grimes’s Golden and others of thi3 grade of 
leaf, are either direct importations from 
Silesia, or are descendants from the race of 
the east plain. 
It is true that it is urged by some that the 
Wealthy came from a crab seed, and that 
Plumb’s Cider was probably a seedling of a 
crab, but our experts familiar with the ex¬ 
periments of Andrew Knight in the line of 
crosses w ith the crab, and with the apples of 
the Volga, will not believe in such guess¬ 
work when all known facts are against it. 
The leading characteristics of the eastern 
apples, aud apple trees, were carefully given 
by Dr. Lindly, of England, in 1820, and since 
his time Dr. Karl Koch, of Berlin, has care¬ 
fully studied the primitive and cultivated 
fruits of the north and east plain, and fully 
agrees with De Caudolle that the apples of 
the East are not only a separate race; but 
that they have sprung from separate and dis¬ 
tinct primitive forms. Yet many of our 
friends insist upon planting the seeds of the 
Baldwin, Rambo, Greening, etc., hoping by 
and by to get the iron-clad winter variety we 
are looking for in the North and West. 
Ames, Iowa. _ 
; origin of iron-clad apples was discussed. Some 
s of the conclusions reached by competent 
i judges deserve more attention than they have 
b yet received. Throwing out the crabs of 
- Siberia and North China, the apples may be 
5 divided into tw r o general classes or races: 1, 
l the race indigenous to South-west Europe 
3 running north to the Carpathians, the North 
1 Sea and the Baltic; 2, the race indigenous to 
l the great, east plain lying north aud east of 
3 the Carpathian aud Caucasus Ranges. 
3 The home of the first race has the Mediterrau 
ean on the south, the equatorial currents of 
s the Atlantic on the west, and the waters of the 
v North Sea and the Baltic on the north. Over 
t this portion of Europe there can be found but 
s few points where the climate is more severe 
1 than at Rochester, New York, while a large 
portion of the west coast of France and Ger- 
“ many has a water-tempered climate like that 
of our Pacific Coast. Ou the other hand, the 
great east plain is largely inter-continental 
in character of climate, as may be seen by a 
" glance at the map of Europe. Over the inter¬ 
ior portions of the plain, the prevailing south- 
•- east winds, from the deserts and sterile steppes, 
t shrivel the foliage of trees and plauts in Sum- 
ifcf&TCmr, 
The Freesia refracta alba is one of the most 
desirable of recently-introduced bulbs, and is 
very certain to become a favorite among all 
classes. It was introduced here years ago by, 
I think, Mr. Hovey of Boston, but was soon 
lost, so that it may in a sense be called a re¬ 
cent introduction. Tne Freesia is a small 
bulb, easily grown, and bears white flowers 
of the most delicious fragrance. The flowers 
last a long time, even after being cut. It may 
be forced early in the hot-house, but will come 
into bloom in January and February in the 
ordiuary green-bouse temperature. Better 
gtill, it. will grow well and bloom freely in the 
sitting-room, if placed near the window and 
not kept too hot. It is a nice little bulb for 
all our country cousins. Put five or six bulbs 
in a five-iuch pot. A little freezing will not 
hurt it when grown in a low temperature. 
There are two species on sale. F. refracta 
alba aud F. Leichtlinii, between which there 
is only a trifling difference in color, the latter 
having a little more yellow in the throat. 
Both are fragrant, but F. refracta alba is much 
the better plaut, and, with me, has bloomed 
earlier than F. Leichtlinii. Flowering bulbs 
may be obtained from the seed in a single 
year, if sown, early and carefully grown; that 
is to say, seed sown early in the Spring will 
bloom the following Winter, but not all of 
them. * * * 
The Narcissus, for some reason that I do 
not quite understand, is suddenly becoming a 
very popular flower for winter blooming. Its 
intrinsic beauty ought to be sufficient to ac¬ 
count for this. The Paper White and a few 
others have been forced for florists’ use for 
years past,but very much finer kinds have late¬ 
ly been added,many of which can be j ust as eas¬ 
ily grown by those who do not force them for 
sale, For as long as I can remember, the Nar¬ 
cissus, in some of its forms, has been a great 
favorite among that preservative class usually 
called “country people,” and I want to tell 
them that, within a few years past, many 
very beautiful varieties of thi3 grand old gar¬ 
den plant have been introduced here. Among 
the newer kinds that bloom readily in Winter, 
I have been most pleased with N. bicolor 
Horsfieldii, which 1 have grown as a winter 
plant for two years past. The flower is single, 
but charming. It has a large, fringed, and 
exceedingly rich golden-yellow trumpet, and 
white perianth, it is hardy; but if grown in 
pots for winter flowering, three bulbs should 
be put in a pot for a good show, 
* * * 
If the readers of the Rural want a very 
beautiful climber for summer use, there is 
nothing to surpass the Ipomoea Learii. It is 
a vigorous grower aud a profuse bloomer. The 
flowers are very large, and of that peculiar 
cerulean blue which everybody admires. It 
is an old, but by no means common plant, and 
will bloom in the green-house during W inter, 
being a perennial; but I am compelled to say 
that, under glass, it is much loved by the red 
spider. In the open air, however, this is not 
the case. It may be propagated by cuttings 
in the Fall, or the plant may be cut down, 
lifted, placed in a box, aud kept in a cool 
cellar during the Winter. I have had over 
300 flowers open at one time on an old plant. 
Some of our florists may have young plants 
for sale, the seed usually sold being unreliable, 
and in many cases untrue. 
* * * 
Another excellent climber for summer use 
is Thunbergia Harrisii, though we seldom see 
it in the open air, it being most frequently 
grown in the green-house, where it covers the 
rafters with its beautiful porcelain-blue flow¬ 
ers during most of the Winter. It is a good 
plant, however, for out-of-door use, where it 
comes into flower quite early, and continues 
to flower till frost appears. It is a perennial, 
by somebody, 
msBrn 
Whitney Apple. From Nature. Fig. 15S, 
mer, while the prevailing northeast winds of 
Winter bring lower temperatures than we 
know, except at rare intervals. The two 
races run into mauy families and sub-divisions, 
but the rule is invariable that the apples of the 
east plain are higher in color, and more in¬ 
clined to a deposit of bloom on thesunny side, 
while the leaves are firmer, thicker, and better 
able to endure extreme changes in tempera¬ 
ture and humidity of air than any of those 
indigenous to the south-west section. 
As our commercial relations have been al¬ 
most exclusively with England, France and 
the west coast of Germany, the question 
arises "How have we happened to get the 
seeds, cions or trees of sorts adapted to our 
climatic extremes remote from large bodies 
of water.” To this question special attention 
communication on "Complete Fertilizers,” in 
a late Rural, is sound. I have followed the 
practice recommended in his article for sev¬ 
eral years with profit; but I could not get any 
profit from $50-per-ton fertilizers. The plan 
I have pursued is this: For potutoes, I mix 
one ton of kainit, at #0 per tou, with one ton 
of plaster, at $8 per ton; the mixture costs 
#8.5U per tou. If l have plenty of barnyard 
manure, I spread It broadcast and use the 
fertilizer in the row. If the land is very 
good, I use the fertilizer only. I depend ou 
clover for ammonia on the farm generally, 
with all the barnyard manure 1 can get from 
50 head of stock. Cows are fed corn fodder, 
clover hay and oat straw, together with a 
liberal feeding of corn meal, wheat bran aud 
about per cent, of cotton seed meal, mixed 
in Winter. I omit the corn meal and cotton¬ 
seed meal during the heat of Summer, aud 
substitute for corn fodder and clover hay, 
grass cut greeu, rye, corn fodder, peas aud 
oats. 
When the clover sod fails for corn-raising, 
I buy a tou of bone dust for $20 to $35; a ton 
of plaster, and one of nitrate of soda. I mix 
and have a good fertilizer for wheat and 
grass, at a cost of about $38 per ton. This is 
used only when the clover seed fails to 
“catch,” as I regard clover as the cheapest 
ammonia fertilizer that can bo produced. 
Clover hay is the best for cows In Winter, aud 
the manure thus made is worth more than 
half the cost of the hay. 
The principal crops raised here are wheat, 
oats, grass aud corn, in the order named, or 
corn, oats and grass. All are fed ou the farm 
except the wheat, aud that is raised more for 
the straw aud for seeding, as wheat alone 
gives no profit. As a rule, the farmers of 
New Jersey pay too much for their fertilizers. 
Manure is dearer in Philadelphia than iu any 
other city in the country, while chemicals 
and the manufactured fertilizers are as cheap 
and as good as can be obtained elsewhere, 
and the intelligent farmer can cheapen them 
by making his own mixtures, without reduc¬ 
ing their value. silas t. betts. 
Whitney Apple. Half Section. Fig. 159, 
was directed by Mr. Willard of New York. 
Mr. Berckmani of Georgia, Prof. Klee of 
California and others. 
j. On the borders of the two plains iu Po¬ 
land and Prussia, nurseries have long grown 
trees for the east and west trade, as do our 
nurseries at Rochester, New York. 2. South¬ 
west Europe has a few points where mountain 
ranges cut off the influence of the ocean iu 
equalizing climate. At these points the fruits 
of the east plain have been long grown. 3. 
The valley of the Moselle, France, is one of 
these poiuts liable to occasional test Wiuters, 
like that of 1880—81, and the nurseries at 
Metz have long been sending out the apples 
of Transylvania, Galicia, East Poland, and 
other points on the edges of the east plain. 
3. The Royal Horticultural Society of Eng- 
on the apple. The whole surface is irregularly 
dotted with quite large and distinct brown 
spots. The core is small; seeds small and few, 
as shown at Fig. 159; flesh uoarly white, fine¬ 
grained, tender, juicy, mild sub-acid or below, 
and of very line flavor; a flue dessert apple. 
Eaten March 14, after having been in a warm 
office for two weeks. Said to be in good eat¬ 
ing condition from November to April. 
ADVANCES IN HORTICULTURE. 
PROP. J. L. BUDD. 
Origin of Hardy Apples.— Standing be¬ 
side the exhibits of apples from England, 
France, Belgium and Russia, at New Orleans, 
and in connection with the discussions on 
plant breeding at Atlantic, the question of the 
Stable Manure and Commercial Fer¬ 
tilizers. —Prof. Caldwell asks, iu a paper 
read before the Massachusetts Hort. Society, 
