M6 
\77 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
red grapes. Poughkeepsie is earlier and finer 
in quality and cluster than Delaware, as well 
as a stronger grower. Progress is large in 
hunch and berry, quite early and in quality 
and color almost exactly like Catawba. It is 
a fine grower and less inclined to disease. 
Lady Washington is excellent for size and 
beauty of cluster and fine quality. It is a 
good grower and altogether a magnificent 
grape in Western Texas. Triumph is of fine 
size of berry and of cluster. It is very pro¬ 
ductive, of fine quality and the vine is good. 
On the whole, it is the best late white grape in 
Texas. Empire State is praiseworthy for its 
rich yellow color, good quality and vigor of 
vine, but it is not prolific enough. Ulster is 
a fine pale red grape of medium season and 
rich flavor; but it is not a strong grower. 
Niagara is the best of the greenish-wnite 
grapes, with “ foxy” flavor. It is superior in 
shape and compactness of cluster and a suc¬ 
cessful market grape. Excelsior is a grand 
pinkish late red grape with immense clusters 
and large, meaty berry of the highest flavor. 
It is successful in the Western part of Texas 
and will rank high in comparison with 
Vinifera varieties and is far more suc¬ 
cessful here. Jefferson is the most suc¬ 
cessful late, handsome, excellent red grape. 
Jaeger's No. 70, is a hybrid between 
Jaeger’s Post Oak grape (V. Linsecomii), 
No. 13, and Vitis rupestris, (Jaeger’s No. 60,) 
an exceedngly hardy, prolific black grape of 
medium size, free from disease. It makes 
one of the finest of clarets. It is a most valu¬ 
able new strain of pure native blood for the 
experimenter to use in hybridizing. The 
flower needs fertilization to secure a full crop. 
Pears. —Le Conte deserves high commen¬ 
dation for earliness, prolificacy, beauty, fruit¬ 
fulness, great vigor and fine appearance of 
trees, and it is a very profitable market 
variety in the South. Indeed it has revo¬ 
lutionized pear culture in the Gulf regions. 
Kieffer is better in tree than Le Conte, and is 
equally prolific, beginning to bear at a 
younger age. For very late canning it has 
no equal, and is passable for eating when 
properly ripened. 
Apples.— Arkansas Black is a fine dark-red 
winter apple; tree vigorous and prolific. A 
good keeper. Gano appears to be a decided 
improvement in color and quality on Ben 
Davis. Tree equally good. Fanny has 
fruited here two years, and sustains all the 
good things said of it by Charles Downing 
as a vigorous, prolific, large, handsome, good, 
very early, bright-red variety, much .finer 
than Red Astrachan. Probably the most 
unique and desirable novelty of the decade is 
the bloomless, coreless, seedless apple. It is 
of good size and quality, and a good keeper. 
It originated in Virginia, and its character is 
vouched for by numerous reliable persons. 
The tree bears well annually. Among 
apples this promises to equal the Sultana 
seedless grape from which the high-priced 
seedless raisins are made. The Loy apple, 
which secured the prize at the New Orleans 
Exposition as the finest new variety over 
many others, is highly indorsed by all ac¬ 
quainted with it as a very tine winter 
variety. Wealthy in vigor of tree, produc¬ 
tiveness, hardiness, beauty and goodness, has 
taken a first place where known. Bledsoe is 
a variety of Texas origin. It possesses great 
vigor, fine size, good quality, and is a certain 
and quite persistent bearer. It is a mid¬ 
summer and fall apple in the South. It may 
be over 10 years since the Missouri Pippin 
was first introduced, but it is new, and taxes 
a high rank a3 a good, red winter apple in 
the Southwest. The tree bears very young 
and profusely. 
Peaches. —The Peen-to along with the 
Chinese Honey and their seedlings now be¬ 
coming numerous, have enabled the extreme 
South, especially Florida, to grow peaches 
profitably. Elberta is probably the most 
valuable yellow peach especially in the Soutn, 
(also fine in the North) in cultivation. On- 
derdonk is some weeks later than Elberta. 
It is a clear lemon-yellow peach very success 
ful in the extreme South. The Family Fav¬ 
orite is of Texas origin and is similar to the 
Thurber, but less acid and earlier. It is a 
very certain and prolific bearer. Sylphide 
Cling is a seedling of the Chinese Cling, but 
of better quality. It is not quite so large 
but of better color; it is very certain and pro¬ 
lific and ripens about with the Oldmixon 
Cling. The Bequett Free, from California, 
is a peach resembling the (Jldmixon Free, but 
larger, a week or ten days later, and if any 
thing better in quality and color; the tree is 
fine and prolific. Henrietta or Levy is a cling 
of a fine yellow color with a red cheek, about 
15 days later than the Heath Cling; a very 
prolific peach where it will ripen. Bonanza 
is a white-fleshed free,a vigorous, prolific, good 
peach a week later than the Salway. Topaz 
is|u large yellow free; similar to Salway 
three weeks later, with large bloom, it is 
certain and prolific. Valuable South and in 
California. Barnes is an orange-yellow cling 
of good size and quality, productive, success¬ 
ful in the South; two to three weeks later 
than the Henrietta. 
Plums.— Lone Star is a decided improve¬ 
ment upon the Caddo Chief and other extra- 
early Chickasaw varieties. It is nearly as 
large as Wild Goose, quite as good and produc¬ 
tive, but not a strong grower. Marianna 
comes to fruiting more slowly than other 
Chickasaw kinds, and reports with regard to it 
have been very conflicting; but with several 
this year in Texas it fruited very finely, and 
ripened with the Wild Goose. It is nearly the 
same in size. With other people it produc¬ 
ed little, and was smaller than the Wild 
Goose, and not so early; but in these cases 
the trees were too rank and leafy. In all 
cases the tree is a marvel of beauty and 
healthfulness. It grows readily from cuttings, 
and trees from these never sprout from the 
root, nor are they troubled by borers. It 
makes a very fine stock for other plums. Bo- 
tan ripens about with the Wild Goose, is near¬ 
ly the same size; a dark handsome purple; 
quality of fruit fine, tree excellent. Ogon 
is a little later than Botan, but much larger. 
It is of a clear light yellow, fine, rich quality. 
Tree good. Wooten is a fine Chickasaw, found 
on the Colorado river, Texas. It ripens 
about two weeks later than the Wild Goose, 
is not quite so large, but of better quality. 
In color the fruit is a bright red; and hangs on 
well. The tree is immensely prolific. Forest 
Garden is a pure Prunus Americana, and 
tested here with Quaker, De Soto and many 
others of its class, it stands first for 
vigor of tree, productiveness and persistency 
in bearing and freedom from disease, 
as well as in quality of fruit, which is nearly 
as large as any, being larger than the De 
Soto. Golden Beauty is a peculiar type or spe¬ 
cies, being neither Chickasaw nor Americana, 
and though Southern, yet hardy. It seems to 
embody the botanical characteristics of Pru¬ 
nus umbellata more nearly than any other. It 
is wonderfully prolific and ripens much later 
than other classes of American plums—about 
with the.Heath Cling or Salway peaches. It is a 
clear orange yellow when fully ripe and good 
in quality, fine for jellies, jams or preserves, 
and Is nearly as arge as the VV lid Goose when 
fully developed. It is nearly a freestone. 
■VVayland is of the same class as Golden 
Beauty, a little later and larger, bright crim¬ 
son, with white specks, and to my taste it is the 
best in quality of all of our native plums. 
Its productiveness and vigor are astonishing. 
Blackberries.— Early Harvest has enabled 
us to begin the season of blackberries about 
three weeks earlier than before its introduc¬ 
tion, with a good berry and very profitable 
shipping market. Erie has a finer berry than 
Kittatinny and a healthier plant. 
Strawberries.— Nothing has yet dis¬ 
placed Crescent and Capt. Jack here for 
market, owing to their productiveness, hardi¬ 
ness, and good market qualities; but Jessie, 
Bubach No. 5, EureKa, and above all the 
Parker Earle of Texas, are hot contestants 
for the field and doubtless will long hold im¬ 
portant places. Warfield No. 2, from Illinois, 
Mrs. Cleveland, from Ohio, and Cloud, from 
Mississippi, likewise promise splendidly. Of 
all the very recent kinds the Parker Earle is 
the most distinct in characteristics, and at 
ouce the finest in plant, berry and produc¬ 
tiveness. 
Figs are of interest chiefly in the South. 
Among many kinds the Magnolia, Adriatic, 
San Pedro and Black California head the list 
for fine size, quality, and the faculty of pro¬ 
ducing a crop on young wood from the 
ground the first season. 
Japan Persimmons.— Many varieties are 
doing well all through the South and doubt¬ 
less the persimmon will become in time an 
important fruit, especially for home consump¬ 
tion. 
Grayson Co., Texas. 
FROM STATE POMOLOGIST P. M. AUGUR. 
There can be no doubt that as much im¬ 
provement in the production of new fruits has 
been made during the past 10 years as during 
any previous decade. One point, however, is 
sadly overlooked by most cultivators, viz., that 
a highly organized variety capable of the best 
results under appropriate treatment is more 
likely to fail under neglect than one of less 
than half its real capacity, even as a 74 pound¬ 
er with a small charge of powder would be a 
failure. Hence the Belmont, the Jewell and 
the Jessie strawberries,and even the Sharpless, 
often fail for just this reason. 
The requirements of any variety must be 
fully met to obtain complete success. Any 
variety forming large crowns and therefore 
capable of an enormous crop of large berries 
is for that very reason susceptible of greater 
injury than other sorts from exposure to 
severe vicissitudes and violent extremes of 
weather. An intelligent application of this 
principle is of the highest importance. I do not 
care, in making selections, to be critically 
limited to 10 years, as it takes more than that 
time to determine all the merits or demerits 
of a variety. The Baldwin apple 10 years 
after its first introduction had hardly attain¬ 
ed its merited standing as the leading apple 
in the country, and the same may be said of 
the Bartlett or the Anjou pear. 
Among apples I would mention the Yellow 
Transparent as a most decided gain in earli¬ 
ness and for market. There are several other 
favorable candidates which I forbear to name. 
The early Margaret pear is early, excellent 
and extremely productive. 
Among grapes which, of course, date back 
more than 10 years, are Moore’s Early and 
Worden, Niagara and Pocklington, Brighton, 
Ulster and Hayes. Some of these need better 
culture and care than the average planter 
gives ; but they are all valuable when prop¬ 
erly treated. 
Among peaches there are several candidates 
of great promise, which I forbear to mention 
till they have been more fully tested. Fay’s 
Currant is valuable beyond question. 
The Nemaha and Dillon raspberries are both 
good, hardy and productive. The same may 
be said of the Erie and Minnewaski blackber¬ 
ries. The Jewell, Jessie, Bubach No. 5 and 
Belmont I have found valuable, but neither of 
them will stand neglect like the Crescent; 
nevertheless, they are valuable to those who 
can give them the needed attention. 
What the cultivator needs, especially in 
these days, is improvement in methods more 
even than in varieties. Indeed the former is 
needed to give success to the latter; and if 
this is done we have new varieties that greatly 
eclipse th6 older ones. 
Middlesex Co , Conn. 
FROM SEC’T. L. A. GOODMAN. 
Apples. —The Gano is an improvement 
over our most profitable apple, the Ben Davis, 
because it is equal to it in all other respects, 
and is a handsomer apple and of better 
quality. The Babbitt is the equal of the 
Baldwin of the East, and is the Baldwin for 
the West, and that is saying a great deal for 
it. The Baldwin is entirely worthless with us 
here. The Howell is an improvement mi the 
Minkler, (which is one of our best keeping 
varieties) because it is a little larger. 
Pears. —We have a pear or two—seedlings 
of Missouri—which seem to be improvements, 
but they have not been tested enough. The 
Kieffer succeeds remarkably well. 
Peaches. —Elberta is an improvement on 
any of our old peaches, because it is more 
hardy and prolific, and if the tree be well cut 
back, the fruit will be of very fine size. Bo¬ 
nanza is also in the lead, because it is a re¬ 
markably good late peach and ripens well. 
Grapes. —The Niagara is an improvement 
on our white grapes, because it is so hardy 
and such a good bearer. Mr. Burr, of 
Leavenworth, Kansas, has brought out the 
best early grape 1 know anything about. 
Because it is so early, prolific and hardy is 
reason enough to call it an improvement. 
Raspberries. —Hopkins is a long way 
ahead of any of the older kinds with us, and 
many people have discarded all others. It is 
early, prolific, hardy, regular in ripening and 
lasts a long time in fruit. 
Jackson County, Mo. 
FROM REV. L. J. TEMPLIN. 
This locality is becoming famous for the fine 
fruits that are raised here. It is nearly sur¬ 
rounded by high hills and mountains, which 
protect us in a great measure from all violent 
storms, and extremes of cold. Our winters 
are mild and dry, sunshine prevailing almost 
constantly from September to March. Our 
soil varies from very tenacious,calcareous clay 
to drifting sand. The prevailing kind, how¬ 
ever, is a rich loam varying in degrees of 
quality. Apples and strawberries succeed 
well on the clay soil, and all common fruits, 
peaches excepted, do well on our loam. 
Apples. —Nearly all varieties that have 
been tried succeed well here. The most pop¬ 
ular for market are Ben Davis, Jonathan, 
Missouri Pippin, Rawles Janet, Winesap, Pe- 
waukee, Yellow Transparent, Duchess, Maid¬ 
en’s Blush, etc. 
Pears have been a fair success, though most 
of the trees are too young to enable us to de¬ 
termine positively what they are to do for us 
In the future. The worst danger seems to be 
from their early blooming, which exposes them 
to spring frosts. Our very warm spring sun¬ 
shine, running up into the eighties in March 
and into the nineties in April, so warms up 
both soil and atmosphere as to bring on vege¬ 
tation very early in the spring ; and our con¬ 
tiguity to the snow-covered mountains, and 
tne rare, dry atmosphere render spring frosts 
somewhat liable. 
Plums of the cultivated varieties, and cher¬ 
ries have not yet made themselves a sure 
standing as profitable crops. The Morellos 
seem to be the only cherries that we can relv 
on for profit. The Wild Goose plum is not a 
success yet. It may do better in the future. 
It needs something else near at hand to ferti¬ 
lize it. The Marianna has given excellent 
satisfaction. We have some native kinds that 
are about equal to any of these, being hardy, 
prolific and of good size and flavor. 
Blackberries. —The Lawton and Kitta¬ 
tinny are too tender for us. The trouble 
seems to be due not so much to the degree of 
cold as to the extreme dryness of our winters, 
which exhausts the vitality of the plants. 
Snyder is generally hardy, but the vines were 
severely injured by the severity of last win¬ 
ter, which was the severest ever known, kill¬ 
ing all our grape-vines to the ground—even 
our hardiest kinds. This never occurred be¬ 
fore. Stone’s Hardy blackberry I have not 
tried, but those who have tried it speak well 
of it. Lucretia, though injured on my 
grounds, is the most promising thing in the 
blackberry line. I shall plant largely of it 
this spring. I shall set posts and draw a wire 
along each row and tie the vines up like grape¬ 
vines. This will facilitate cultivation and the 
gathering of the fruit. 
Raspberries. —The Doolittle is hardy 
and prolific, but too small to be profitable. 
Mammoth Cluster is vigorous, hardy, prolific 
and profitable. Gregg is too tender and has 
been generally discarded. Tyler is early, very 
hardy, and immensely productive. It is our 
most profitable kind. The reds have not 
proved a success. The Turner is too tender. 
The Crimson Beauty is on trial. I intend to 
try Shaffer’s and Johnston’s Sweet this year. 
Strawberries.—O f this fruit we have 
tried a great many varieties. The Jucunda, 
Manchester and Crescent are the most popu¬ 
lar. The Lacon is one of the most profitable 
for me, giving as many large berries as any 
other and small ones “too numerous to men¬ 
tion.” The Jumbo is only a shy bearer with 
me, and too soft. Old Ironclad makes plants 
and but little else. I shall discard it. Big 
Bob does only fairly well with extra culture. 
The Jewell produces but little fruit and no 
plants to speak of. I shall give it another 
trial and a better chance, and if it does not 
do better it must go. I expect to plant five 
acreslthis spring mostly of'Manchester, Jucun. 
da, Crescent and Lacon; but I shall also set 
some Bubach, Kentucky and Jessie. 
Fremont Co., Colo. 
FROM T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Apples. —The Wealthy, though the seed of 
the first tree germinated about 20 years ago, 
has become generally known, and is hailed, 
along the northern border, as well as in Can¬ 
ada, as the most valuable apple yet introduced, 
for that section of our continent, within the 
limit given. In early bearing, productive¬ 
ness, size, beauty and quality of fruit, the 
Wealthy stands among the very best of Amer¬ 
ican apples. To this I would add the McIn¬ 
tosh Red,which,where not affected by fungous 
spots, is even superior to the Wealthy. As 
an early apple, the Yellow Transparent has 
risen into view, and its culture has extended 
all over the country within the same time. 
Pears. —My own direct personal experi¬ 
ence is limited to the New Russian sorts, in¬ 
troduced in 1S83—L These are the only pears 
that have yet been found to endure 40 degrees 
below zero unharmed ; and a large extent of 
populated North America requires this endur¬ 
ance of all its tree fruits. Bessemianka and 
Sapieganka are two fall pears of medium size 
and very good quality, good growers, and 
though not yet yielding more than a few speci¬ 
mens, evidently early bearers, and quite at 
home in the “Cold North.” From them will 
undoubtedly be produced a new class of iron¬ 
clad seedlings, extending pear culture at least 
200 miles further north on this continent. In 
that region all other known pears have proved 
to be, practically, hopeless failures. 
Cherries. —The newly imported “Griottes” 
(Mazzards), from North Germany, Poland and 
Russia, have given to the same section a good 
class of fruit of this race. In size and quality 
some of them, at least, are decidedly superior 
to any hitherto known in America under this 
name; while they prove themselves not only 
able to endure our hardest winters uninjured 
in tree, but also in their fruit buds, giving a 
full crop without failure. It is too soon to 
give a selection by name from among these, 
but out of nearly 40 kinds in hand, such se¬ 
lections will be possible within a few years. 
They all seem to be good growers and bearers, 
and the selection will turn, therefore, on their 
other points of value. Some of them are dis¬ 
tinctly sweeter and larger than any of the 
Mazzards before known to me. 
Plums. —Moore’s Arctic, though not large, 
I or of superior dessert quality, has acquired a 
high repute for early and profuse bearing. 
It is rather over-named as indicative of ita 
