735 
W©¥. m 
THE RURAL MEW-Y0RKEH. 
to large, roundish, somewh it oblate and conic, 
often angular aud furrowed. Flesh yellowish, 
yielding, juicy, with a peculiar aromatic and 
sub-acid flavor. It begins to ripen a few 
specimens in August, and continues thus to 
ripen till the last of September. Those then ] 
barreled keep till February. This habit of un¬ 
even ripening is not against the fruit for family 
use. The tree is uOt to say long-lived, yet it 
beai'S so young aud so regularly uud heavily, 
and the fruit is so salable that we recommend it 
as a profitable market fruit.” 
I have, this season, not only seen this Late [ 
gold, for centuries, that will be revealed to him 
who looks and reads while lie runnelli. 
What sliore-mau speaks next o' salt sea 
breath and blight?—What land-man, far away 
from the ocean, has strewn salt beneath his 
trees? And if any one has done so, what came 
of it? 
KEEPING APPLES THE YEAR POUND. 
I have seen the following mode of keeping 
apples frequently recommended in agiicul- 
tural papers during the past few years, but 
Strawberry in market and on the tables at 
fairs, but have visited orchards where the 
Apple is extensively grown, and am led to think 
it is a sort well worth the uolieu of those 
attempting fruit culture in the “cold North.” 
I give it very much the preference over the 
Haas of the West, which it somewhat 
resembles, but exceeds iu size as well as in 
quality. Careful examination makes it quite 
certain that this “ Late Strawberry of Canada” 
is distinct from any of the “Strawberry” 
Apples of the books. t. u. n. 
SALT FOR PEAR BLIGHT. 
GEN'. WM. n. NOBLE, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONN. 
In a late number are queries about salt as a 
remedy for pear blight. The writer suggests 
a top-dressing of salt, and asks the experience 
of sea shore pear tree cultivators, I give my 
observation as one of that class. My place is 
directly on the harbor ot Bridgeport—the salt 
water laves ray borders. 1 have never had a 
case of blight killing more than a limb; and 
only one instance of that kind. I have seen iu 
this sea-side vicinity au occasional ease of this 
limited character, but nothing like that sweep 
ot ruiu which has visited many regions. 
But this freedom from limb and wood blight 
docs not exteud to the leaf. Some t rees more 
Ilian others, suffer blight of leaf and. fruit. I 
think thi3 is much more marked on the sea¬ 
board thau in the interior. Certain kinds of 
fungoid mildew are much more destructive 
aloug the salt water, than inland. Army tents, 
and all cauvas covers mildew in the breath of 
the ocean much more readily than beyond the 
reach of its saline touch. But the blight of leaf 
is a very different thing from the Might of 
wood. The sea air, which exactly suits that 
fuugoid growth that cracks the fruit aud drops 
the leaves, may bedealh to that other insidious 
fellow that kills the limb or tree. That is, oue 
fuugoid s meat may be the poisou of its kin. 
So, as Captain Cuttle says: “make a note of 
it. Let some other man, sea-hoard or inboard, 
go aud do likewise. There is a heap yet to he 
cannot learn of its having been practiced to 
any considerable extent. Having given it a 
test for two seasons past, perhaps the result 
of my experiment may be of interest to Rural 
readers, especially to such as are lovers of fre6h 
fruits, and as this is the proper season lor the 
trial, some may be iuduced to try it for them¬ 
selves. 
The plan Is to wrap each apple by itself in a 
piece of paper, pack carefully in barrels or 
boxes, aud cover tightly, so as to exclude the 
air. Some may be deterred from making the 
trial on account of the amount of time aud 
labor it requires ; but if such will give it a trial 
this yeur, ou a small scale, I think they will 
find it less troublesome than they suppose, as 
by taking old newspapers, and folding and 
cutting them to a proper size for the apples 
selected, they eau be wrapped very rapidly. 
The variety which I selected was the North¬ 
ern Spy, which with ordinary care will keep 
until May, hut packed In this way, one need 
have no fears to leave them without any atten¬ 
tion until Juuc 1st or even later, when, if others’ 
experience agrees with mine, they will bo 
found in finer condition for eating than they 
ever attaiu to, if kept in the ordinary way, hav¬ 
ing a crispness aud aroma never equaled by any 
Spys I ever saw, not treated iu this manner. 
We ate the lastof ours this year ou Aug 11th., 
when they were still fresh aud crisp, aud I 
have no doubt some of them might have been 
kept much longer, had not the temptation to 
test their quality been too strong. By the way, 
m your notes on the Northern Spy, iu the 
Rural of Oct., 11th, you say it is a tardy bearer, 
a statement iu which all who have grown it, 
will concur ; but it has oue redoemiug quality 
you failed to mention, that is its productive¬ 
ness after it attains age enough to bear. 
Delaware Co., N. Y. E. J. Brownell. 
^rboriniltural, 
HOW TO PLANT A SHRUB GROUP. 
Let me depict to you, as nearly as I can, 
what I find to be the usual conception of a 
WINTER (OU LATE) STRAWBERRY OF MONTREAL.—FROM LIFE. 
although they will doubtless apply, with but 
slight modification, to Ohio and the States 
farther eastward. 
There is an extensive class of mechanics and’ 
business-men, having, as a rule, limited 
grounds. 1 have adapted these lists to the 
idea that generally such persons will, of ne¬ 
cessity. confine themselves to the earlier varie¬ 
ties of fruits, since such can rarely be pro¬ 
cured in good condition and at moderate prices 
in the markets; while such is not usually the 
ease with late autumn and winter fruits. Such 
planters have only to commence at the first on 
the lists and adopt those named, seriatim , as 
far as their limit will permit. I suggest, more¬ 
over, that they can secure greater variety, 
aud, at the same time, a more fitting selection 
for limited grounds, by planting dwarf trees, 
which will be adapted to much closer plauting. 
The great objection to dwarf trees—espe¬ 
cially Pears—Ilea in their tendency to early 
aud excessive bearing, from which cause they 
are not unfrequently hopelessly ruined before 
they have become well established in the orch¬ 
ard or garden. The remedy for Ibis lies in 
prevention. No dwart should lie allowed to 
mature more than a specimen or two during 
the first season, or even the second season, 
after having beou removed to its final position; 
aud for several years, the fruit should be so 
thiuuod as to leave abundant vigor to be ex¬ 
pended in wood growth. Finally, it must 
be always kept iu mind that dwarf trees can¬ 
not safely be permitted to overbear. 
-- 
THE CANADA BALDWIN,—(See Cut.) 
I consider this au unfortunate uame, be¬ 
cause it would lead mauy to the iufereuce that 
it is applied simply to Baldwin Apples grown 
iu Canada. The Canada Baldwin is a very dis¬ 
tinct sort of the peculiar type of Lower Canada 
Apples. Its origiu is not certain, some reports 
making it a seedling of an old Canadian Apple 
the “Poiameda Far" —Iron.Apple—while others 
regard it as one of the innumerable seedlings 
of the Famcuse. The Abbottsford Fruit 
Growers’ Association’s report for 1875, says of 
this variety:—“The fruit is conic iu shape aud 
somewhat like the Fumeuse, though lighter in 
color, aud specked with white. It bears car¬ 
riage well, keeps till June, and is very' salable. 
The trees are heavy croppers, strong ingrowth 
aud very thrifty. They were thought exceed¬ 
ingly hardy; but during the last five years the 
old ones, 17 years yd an ted, have shown a 
tendency to sun-scald.” The same Society, in 
its last, 1878, report, says “ This seedling of 
St. HUaire we wish to euli renewed attention 
to. It was described in our fruit list for the 
Province of Quebec, hi 1S75, also in the second 
report of the Moutreul Horticultural Society, 
p. 28; but experience to date shows us that in 
both eases we criticised it too harshly. The tree 
is of undoubted hardiness* but its fault is that 
ou warm, dry soils the sap rises too soon; 
hence, if the hot suns of early spriug are 
quickly followed by severe freezing, the trunk 
is apt to become sun-scalded. Should this 
happen, the tree still holds on to life with great 
tenacity. In heavier soils, even though iu 
localities less favorable to apple-growing, 
and iu cold aud even wettish soils, where 
Fameuse, planted alongside of it, have died, 
the Canada Baldwin is a success, both lu tree 
and fruit. Iu quality it is good ; iu color mainly 
red and quite prepossessing iu appearance. 
Its fruitage is heavy and keeps well uutil April 
or May. All things considered, we know of 
no long-keeping apple more worthy of plaut¬ 
ing in such soils as suit it.” 
lu addition to this, I can say thatin the heavy 
eo. Is around Lake Memphremagog, the Canada 
Baldwiu is regarded as a great success. Iu 
quality it is better than “good,” deserving to 
rank with the “very good,” if not with the 
“best ’of pomologieal lists. For light soils, 
1 am sure it may bo easily adapted by top¬ 
grafting in the limbs upon varieties with a less 
sensitive bark, such as Duchess of Oldenburgh 
or Wealthy. I find, by the examination of 
many old trees, that only upon the trunk is the 
bark-scald manifest. Iu size, the Cauada Bald¬ 
win is above medium. 
Orleans Co., Vt. T. H. Hoskins, m. D. 
---- 
THE LATE STRAWBERRY APPLE OF 
CANADA,—(See Cut.) 
I make the following extract descriptive of 
this Apple, from the last report—1878—of the 
Abbotsford Fruit Growers’ Association of the 
Province of Quebec. “ Late Sttawberry, Wiu- 
ter Strawberry, has not yet been described in 
tlm reports of our Provincial Society. One 
tree of this variety was brought here by the 
late Col. O’Dwyer, about 1812, from the 
Spaulding nurseries on Sheffiord Mountain, the 
grafts of which came from Now England. It 
also found its way into Drome, where it has 
loug been knowu as Wheeler’s Lawrence. In 
nursery, the tree is of slow growth and un- 
gaiuly form. In orchard, it forma a round, 
but “ bushy” head, aud needs much pruning, 
it bears its fruit on the ends of the twigs, caus¬ 
ing the tree to become drooptug soon after it 
attains bearing age. The fruit is above medium 
learnt about the health aud ails of all that 
grows. There is mauy a golden truth hidden 
in the mind of some observing fruit lover, that 
should be placed on the house-top. There are 
lots more priceless truths that have laiuarouud 
oose and under foot, like Captain Sutter’s 
well planted shrub group; I mean a shrub 
group properly planted according to the stand¬ 
ard of most gardeners and lawn-plantors. It 
consists simply of an oval or circle of spaded 
earth, filled to repletion with shrubs planted 
two to three feet apart. Cultivation aud mass 
planting are evidently here kept in view— 
laudable objects, certainly, in their way—but 
how about tbe arrangement of color aud form 
in foliage and flower? What evidence is 
shown In such cases of knowledge and adapta¬ 
tion to the various seasons fur blooming pecu¬ 
liar to species and varieties ? I fear both knowl¬ 
edge and taste here fail lawn-planters and gar¬ 
deners in very many eases. Must we draw the 
inference that lawn-plantiug skill is at low 
ebb among those who should know it best ? 
If not, how otherwise can wc account for the 
fact that knowledge and taste are so conspicu¬ 
ous by their absence iu the construction of 
most shrub groups? One might fancy that 
the bedding-out system applied to ribbon gar¬ 
dening, had furnished models for plauting 
many of our deciduous shrub groups. But 
no, I would not so insult bedding out, often¬ 
times excellently done, by making it responsi¬ 
ble for such slovenly, ignorant work. Here 
you have generally a fair study of color and 
form and time of blooming, lu deeidaous 
shrub groups, on the other hand, small plants 
even are frequently huddled where large 
plants ought to be, and rice versa. Perhaps 
you will say this is mere captious fault¬ 
finding. I can do no more, then, ia defense of 
these assertions than tell you briefly what 
I consider a well-planted shrub group. As¬ 
suming first a knowledge of the seasons of 
blooming and the colors and forms of shrubs, 
I would look at auy hill-side group of wild 
plauts aud get what hints I could from 
their arrangement. In short, I would ordi¬ 
narily plant my shrubs four feet apart—iu 
rare cases, three—dig only a circle of about 
one foot iu diameter around the plant, aud 
fertilize liberally on top of the ground. Fre¬ 
quent spading for cultivation is as necessary 
here as ever, aud is generally neglected. The 
grass must, of course, he kept nicely trimmed 
among the plants, and though the use of a 
sickle be found necessary at times, the im¬ 
proved and cleanly appearance thereby at¬ 
tained will fully repay all trouble. 
And now a word as to arrangement. It is 
commonly the habit, where any defined sys¬ 
tem of arrangement is attempted, to place the 
large plants in the center aud the low ones 
ou the outer edges. In a general way this is 
correct, if the'work be not executed iu a for¬ 
mal manner. Such grouping is, however, not 
strictly correct from the standpoint of natural 
planting. Here and there through the mass, 
even to the extreme end, taller plants, such as 
Tamarisks, etc., should be so disposed as to 
give an Irregular, waving sky line. No sharp 
transitions in bight should be allowed ; that Is, 
a shrub adjoining this specially tall one should 
not be enough smaller to make a sharp con¬ 
trast. Again, plenty of shrubs of the same 
variety may be massed in the center of the 
group, but on the outskirts more numerous 
varieties may be disposed. This applies, how¬ 
ever, only to groups of considerable size. 
Smaller groups may be planted witli shrubs, 
each of a differeut variety. Trees of moder¬ 
ate size may be planted in the group instead of 
the larger shrubs, which ordinarily should 
form the high points of the sky line. Largo 
shrubs or low trees dotted singly uear 
points of outer curves also increase the 
natural effect. Due regard should be given 
to scattering different colors about the mass, 
so that a number of red flowers, for instance, 
may not be crowded in one spot, aud noue 
at all be seen elsewhere. The same man¬ 
agement should apply to the arrangement 
of the plants which bloom at different seasons 
of the spring and summer. I doubt not that 
mauy will wonder that so much study should 
be given to a group of shrubs. But it would 
not be thought much if It were once under¬ 
stood, and the effect is really greatly superior 
to the common style of uoudeseript arrange¬ 
ment. In conclusion, I should say what has 
been already implied, that culture is obtaiuod 
as well iu this way as iu any other. It is also 
in place to call attention here to the yearly 
necessity of pruniug shrubs at the special sea¬ 
son when provision is best made for flowers 
during the comiug years. S. Parsons. 
Crops. 
OUR WHEAT EXPERIMENT, 
E. WILLIAMS. . 
We have not attempted to grow auy wheat 
for a number of years till the present—it waa 
so unreliable. Rye was more certain, and for 
a uuuiber of years previous to ’78, the straw 
was in such demand at good prices, that of the 
two it was the more profitable grain to growt 
but for a few years past the Clavrsou wheat has 
gaiued such a good reputation for yielding 
well over a large extent of country, that the 
success of a neighbor with it, iuduced us to try 
our luck once more. We had a small field iu 
potatoes last season, which we coueluded to 
devote to the experiment. We thought there 
was from an acre and a quarter to au acre aud 
a half iu the field, but resent measurement 
shows that it contains only about an acre an4 
