are smaller. Honeywell ripened with the Al¬ 
exander, but was entirely devoid of flavor. I 
think, therefore, judging from the season’s 
experience, that next to the Waterloo, the Al¬ 
exander may be regarded as the most valuablo 
of the very ear!}' Peaches. What disposition 
to make of the Ameden it is dillicult to deter¬ 
mine. Should it prove in other localities 
equally good in quality, it ought still to be 
propagated for amateurs’ use. We thiuk, after 
another season’s trial, tho list of early Peaches 
can be still more reduced. W. C. Barry. 
Mt. Hope Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y. 
--- 
SHALL WE PLANT ORANGES ! 
MRS. L. S. HOUHTON. 
Concerning the length of time required by 
an orange grove to become a source of income. 
I may remark, with Sir Roger de Coverly, that 
“much may be said on both sides." That 
much has been said on both sides, cannot at 
least be questioned. It was but yesterday that 
I read, in the columns of a paper published iu 
the “ Orange Belt’’ of Florida, a calculation 
proving ny figures, which are supposed to be 
incapable of falsehood, that the orange grower 
would, in five years, from a grove of five acres, 
receive not only all tho money he had invested, 
with interest at eight per cent., but would re¬ 
alize a clear profit above this, of some fifteen 
hundred dollars. These figures were based 
upon the assumption that every tree in the 
grove would live, aud that each would bear a 
thousand oranges the fifth year after being set 
out. The young man iu general was then 
asked where in the North he could hope to 
achieve a like success. 
Such a conundrum would, perhaps, be best 
answered, Yankee-wise, by asking where iu all 
the South the writer could find trees which 
had averaged a thousaud oranges the fifth 
year after having been set in the grove. These 
extravagant assertions, however, are mot, on 
the other hand, by those unbelievers who as¬ 
sert that twenty years arc not too long to wait 
before an orange grove may be expected to be¬ 
come profitable, and they challenge their ad¬ 
versaries to produce the man who has made 
money from a young grove, in less time thau 
that. Here, again, is an enigma scarcely less 
difficult to unriddle than the former one, since 
all the young groves in Florida having been 
planted within ten years, and the greater num¬ 
ber of them within five, it would be uo easy 
task to disprove the assertions of these gloomy 
ones. But as a matter of fact, few of the more 
sober-minded claim that a grove will become 
a very profitable investment iu less then ten 
years. 
If the proof of the pudding is in the eating— 
a proposition which few will be prepared to 
deny—why not the proof of the orange grove ? 
And that there are orange groves which offer 
abundant proof that they may be made profi¬ 
table to one's friends, at least, in less time 
than twenty years, or than ten, I am happily 
in a condition to testify. The most hardened 
sceptic would have yielded to the proof placed 
before him, had ho beeu my companion in 
visiting a certain grove, a few days ago. And 
I am confident its owner will pardon my viola¬ 
tion of the sanctities of hospitality in making 
public some of the facts I learned from my 
visit, since be is quite as anxious to dissemi¬ 
nate the sober facts of orange-culture, as I 
am. It is, iudeed, to his pen that we owe our 
most valuable and practical treatise on the 
culture of the orange. 
The grove of the Rev. T. W. Moore is at 
Fruit Cove, on the 8t. John’s, not many miles 
above Jacksonville. It presents a very attrac¬ 
tive appearauce, as 6een from the river, shaded 
and sheltered as it Is, by broad overhanging 
Live-Oaks, beneath which the glossy foliage 
and golden fruit of the young orange trees are 
6een to the best advantage, There are, I 
believe, some five thousand trees in the grove 
thus seen from the river; the trees being of all 
ages, from lour to niue years old; a large num¬ 
ber of them are bearing, some of the trees be¬ 
ing very heavily loaded. 
I do not propose to give any numerical 
proofs of the value of this grove, for I know 
nothing of them. I cauuot say how many of 
the trees are bearing, nor what is their average 
yield, nor what they have brought or are 
likely to bring, in the market. I know—for 
Mr. Moore told me—that ten years ago the for¬ 
est on this land was so dense that one could 
not see a man at ten feet distance ; whereas 
now he may at least rejoice iu the sure pros¬ 
pect of a good aud ever-inereasiDg income, 
from this year onward. The number of fine 
varieties of fruit In this grove is something to 
be remarked. It seemed as if each orange 
that we tasted was sweeter, or more aromatic, 
or more delicate in texture, or larger in size, 
than the others. Mr. Moore has spared no 
pains to get buds from choice fruit, often go¬ 
ing miles out of his way to procure them from 
some tree which was well reported of. That 
he should find, in nine cases out of ten, that 
the fruit was nothing remarkable, did not sur¬ 
prise or discourage him; he was well satisfied 
that the tenth effort gave him something which 
ho could value. Thus he has now, not merely 
a fine variety as to texture and flavor, but as 
to time of ripening, having trees in bearing, 
which ripen their fruit all the way from Oc¬ 
tober to March. 
About one half of Mr. Moore's trees, if I re¬ 
member rightly, are budded, the remainder 
being sweet seedlings. A number were bud¬ 
ded upon sour stumps, and thus produced 
fruit some years earlier than did the young 
trees, but these latter are already outstripping 
the older trees in growth, and will soon be¬ 
come much more valuable than they. Mr. 
Moore’s method of pruning is such as to form 
a low. spreading tree, from which much of 
the fruit may he gathered without the use of 
a ladder. The tree is very opeu within, per¬ 
mitting free circulation of air, but the ex¬ 
terior surface is a dense mass of foliage and 
fruit. 
I was much interested iu an account Mr. 
Moore gave of his method of plauting one por¬ 
tion of his grove;—the more so, because I 
have recently learned by experience the cost 
of clearing up hammock land. I hud ob¬ 
served that the trees in one portion of the 
grove were not set in regular lines, aud on in¬ 
quiring tho reason, he explained it to me 
somewhat iu the following words. 
“The trees weim planted in the hummock 
with no previous preparation except under- 
biushing. The brush was cut and piled in 
heaps to decay. Wherever thore was room 
to nig the hole, we set the tree. Afterward 
wo went through the grove, uud girdled all the 
Hickories, Water Oaks and other trees which 
we wanted to get rid of. They dropped their 
branches, which were also piled up, and rotted 
away. At our leisure we then cutthe dead trees, 
falling them in such directions as not to in¬ 
jure the young trees. The trunks were also 
cut and piled, to decay upon the ground, thus 
affording a valuable fertilizer." 
" But what did you do about the stumps ? I 
do not sec a vestige of one here.” 
“We kept them shrubbed down, and they 
rotted away. We have never grubbed up 
any," 
“ Aud did weeds aud grass never trouble the 
trees, thus left without cultivation?” 
“ The ground was too much shaded by the 
remaining forest trees, for grass to grow.” 
“ And this lias all beeu doue"— 
“Within nine years.” 
And now the young trees are beariug, un¬ 
der the shadow of the beautiful Live Oaks 
which sway their moss-draped limbs above 
them, protecting them alike from frost and 
sun. Surely in all Florida, there cannot be 
found a more picturesquely beautiful grove, 
or one which has beeu made with less out¬ 
lay of xuoney aud of labor. There are twenty- 
four hundred trees in this part of tho grove. 
The grove which wc visited is, I understand, 
one of three planted and owned by Mr. Moore. 
This work has beeu, one might say, the recre¬ 
ation of a busy life, for Mr. Moore is not as 
much, nor even as successful an orange grower, 
as a pastor aud preacher. As Presiding 
Elder in the Methodist church he has traveled 
thousands of miles, aud preached thousands of 
sermons, while the trees planted by his 
hands, or under his direction, have been fllowly 
growing to matured beauty uud usefulness. 
One such example as his will go farther to put 
the orange question before tho public iuits true 
light, than ohoruses of croukings, or reams of 
such enthusiastic calculations as are so freely 
circulated among us. 
Magnolia, Fla, 
-- 
INFLUENCE OF STOCK ON GRAFT. 
The article of Mr. S. B. Peck upon this sub¬ 
ject, in the Rural of August 16th (p. 517), ex¬ 
actly accords tfiLh my experience. My attention 
was first called to the matter some forty years 
ago, when my grandfather, to please me, 
grafted cions of a favorite summer Apple 
(Bops of Wine), which I brought him from my 
father’s orchard, into a branch or two of each 
of several trees. All these grew and bore fruit, 
but only one of them grafted into a Pound 
Sweet, ever produced nice apples resembling 
the original in quality. The rest grafted Into 
Russet trees, gave a fruit somewhat re¬ 
sembling the Sops of Wine, externally, though 
smaller, but internally they were green-fleshed, 
hard, and, in short, worthless. 
"We have had, in this cold section, a very ex¬ 
tensive experience in grafting the Apple outlie 
Siberian Crab, in hopes of making tender sorts 
successful. It is an utter failure, not only in 
that respect, but when tried with hardy Borts ; 
in the latter case giving us poor fruit and un¬ 
healthy, short-lived trees. 
Experience has slowly led me to the belief 
that the less of the stock there is to a grafted 
tree, the better. Consequently I would always 
practice root-grafting, and set the grafts deep 
enough to encourage the development of roots 
from the cion. Not all kinds will strike root 
freely under such circumstances, but those 
which do, make tho best trees aud bear fruit 
truest to their original. Examination has sbowm 
me, iu many instances, that when two-ineh 
roots are used, with six or seven-inch cions, 
set 60 that only one or two buds are above 
ground, the “ nurse-root” hardly survives the 
first season ; or, if it does, it furnishes but a 
very small fraction of the root-system of the 
tree. I was very much prejudiced against this 
method of propagation, and have in fact de¬ 
nounced it savagely in years past, but I must 
now confess that trees grown iu that w’ay, to 
prove its badness, are among the best in my 
orchard. T. H. Hoskins, m. d. 
Orleans Co., vt. 
-- 
THE SUMMER ROSE APPLE. 
W. S. T., Upper Red Hook, N. Y., sent us 
for name, the other day, a couple of specimens 
of an apple which he describes as of excellent 
quality, fiat rather than long. Mr. Charles 
Downing, to whom we forwarded a specimen, 
writes ns with regard to it: “It is the Summer 
Rose described in Downing, page 871, where 
Woolman’s Harvest and Lippineott's Early are 
given as synonyms. In addition to these it is 
also known as Early Woohnan, Early Rose, 
aud Lodge’s Early. I have also ascertained 
that it originated on the farm of Aaron Lippln- 
cott, Salem, N. J. It is au old variety but of 
excellent quality for home use, handsome, 
with very tender flesh, juicy aud one ol the 
best among the summer apples." The accom¬ 
panying cut presents a fair illustration of one 
of the specimens sent us. 
iortintltural. 
LESS POPULAR STRAWBERRIES, ETC. 
The Sharpless Strawberry is, doubtless, re- 
celviug a greater amount of admiration and 
praise thau any variety yet introduced, and 
Well it may, for it certainly is of prime quality 
and mousttous in size. But, for all this, 1 
think there arc many other varieties that 
possess qualities equally as good as the Sharp- 
less, und which, ueverthcless, have not received 
half the amount of praise that has been bes¬ 
towed on this new variety. Of the less popular 
sorts, I shall mention only two or three. 
The Duncan has as yet attracted but little at¬ 
tention, aud why it has not received more admi. 
ration I cau’t understand. The plant is a strong 
grower, and its foliage of a beautiful, glossy, 
dark-green color. The fruit is very early 
large, of good shape, bright crimson in color’ 
and of most delicious flavor, while on rich soil 
the vine is very productive. What more cau 
you expect iu one variety ? “ Is the fruit firm ?’’ 
some one asks. Yes, quite firm enough for near 
markets, and in some localities it endures long 
carriage well. It should have a place in every 
collection. It is one of my favorites, and 1 
shall set moi-e of this thau of any one variety. 
The Black Defiance is another sort that has 
received comparatively little praise in the 
horticultural journals. But it has beeu rather 
despised by some fruit growers, aud they 
threw it aside as “a shy bearer.” Had they 
given it a more thorough trial, they would 
probably have formed a different opinion. Its 
want of popularity is doubtless due to the fact 
that it will not succeed on every sort of soil. 
Neither will the Jucunda or Seth Boyden, and 
yet these two arc far more popular than the 
Blaek Defiance, On deep, rich, rather heavy 
soil, it is second to none for market or family 
use. It is very productive, in size as large as 
the Boyden and equal in quality to theJucuuda. 
It is oblate in shape aud grows very regular ; 
its color is deep red. 
Of the old Kentucky very little is said in 
the papers now, and I find many fruit growers 
have discarded it altogether, because it is a 
pistillate sort. This ought not so to be, for if 
it is set between etaminate varieties it will yield 
handsomely, and sack berries, real beauties of 
line quality aud sufficiently firm for near 
markets. I should not know what to do with¬ 
out it. It should be specially prized for Its 
extremo lateness. 
The Turner Raspberry aud Kittatinny 
Blackberry—I have not yet fruited the (juth- 
bert Raspberry, but of all other red varieties, I 
have noJ found one that, all in all, has pleased 
me as well as the Turner. I often wonder why 
it is not more generally grown. True, it suck¬ 
ers very freely ; but the young shoots arc very 
easily subdued with the hoe, while its good 
qualities, I think, overbalance this general ob¬ 
jection to it. With me it is very productive ; 
the berries are of good size, moderately firm, 
and of superior quality. More than this, it is 
probably the hardiest Raspberry In cultivation, 
a fact that makes it especially valuablo for cold 
climates. 
The Blackberry is without doubt grown 
less than any of the small fruits—unless it be 
the Gooseberry—and why is it ? Ripening as it 
does about the same time as peaches, it hardly 
gets a show in the markets aud much less in 
the garden. Peaches are good, very good, and 
scare nice, ripe Kittatinny blackberries. J pre¬ 
fer the Kittatinny to Lawton on account of its 
superior quality. It is now iu its beauty, the 
bushes being literally loaded dowu with their 
rich glossy fruit. Why will so many do with¬ 
out this delicious berry wlicu it cau be grown 
so easily ? W. M. Nash. 
Fairfield Co., Conn. 
-- 
TOMATOES ON TRELLISES. 
As au experiment I trained one tomato vine 
this year on a trellis aud do not think I shall 
ever plant another vine, without some kind 
of a trellis, unless it is to experiment. 
The fruits on trellised viuea attain a large 
size, are juicy and do not taste of the ground. 
While the fruit of the vines that were left to 
run on the ground, were rotting, those trained 
to a trellis were souud and growing rupidiy. 
The trellis I use is the same as the one de¬ 
scribed and cugrayed in the Rural last spring. 
It takes but little work to make one. Any 
fanner can make all he wants iu the barn 
some day wheu it. rains. The fruit will ripen 
more evenly and teu days earlier—which is 
quite an advantage. Moreover tho arrange¬ 
ment gives the garden a more tasty appear¬ 
ance and it is much easier to keep the trellised 
ground free from weeds. c. T. 
MLUersville, O. 
Jjitlit drops. 
HISTORY OF A POOR FARM.-No. 15. 
About Corn Growing. 
The dry, hot season has furnished a good 
opportunity for observing the effects of cul¬ 
tivation during au unusual drought. From 
the middle of June up to the middle of August 
tho soil has been parched almost continuously. 
Showers have fallen occasionally, but they 
have been heavy, beating, thunder showers 
and dryiug wiuds have followed them; so that 
but little good effect resulted from them. A 
i:3-aere field planted iu ssveet corn and beets, 
has furnished au opportunity for testing some 
theories aud practices. Part of the corn has 
beeu cultivated with the common reversible- 
tooth cultivator, part with the Planet Jr. 
horse hoe, and part has been plowed. Some 
of the beets have beeu cultivated after every 
shower aud before the ground had dried, aud 
the remainder have been worked In tbe usual 
manner and without reference to the moist¬ 
ure of the soil, but merely to keep down the 
weeds aud mellow the surface. The effects 
have been as most farmers would have expected. 
“Idon’t know about that" remarked Mr, 
Martin,” most farmers work their corn with 
the plow and prefer earthing or ridging it up, 
to the level cultivation of tlm horse hoe or 
cultivator. Besides, Dr. Slurtevant approves 
of the root-pruning of corn by deep plowing, 
aud Fred root-pruaed part of that coru pretty 
well; yet the plowed rows are tbe poorest in 
the field." 
“ Aud they might well be” rejoined Dr. Jones. 
“If it was intended to dry out the soil, no 
better plan could have been adopted. If the 
season had been wet and the soil clayey, in¬ 
stead of sandy, the ridging would have been 
admirable; it would have drained the roots 
