orchard was young and thrifty, and bore full 
crops of peaches, there was a full crop of 
plums. Whenever the peaches were killed in 
the bud and failed to bloom, the crop of plums 
was small: This year there were no peach 
blooms, all being killed id bud last Winter, 
and the crop of plums was very small. A few 
rows of plum trees next to the peach orchard 
and nearest to the apple and pear orchard, 
bad more fruit on them than any other part 
of the orchard. They were doubtless [? Eds.] 
fertilized by the pollen from the apple and 
pear trees. I have another plum orchard of 
100 trees completely surrounded by peach 
trees. Last year the peach orchard bore a 
nice crop of fruit, and the plum trees were 
loaded with plums. This year there were no 
peach blooms, and not a peck of plums on the 
100 trees. The Wild Goose plum has never 
failed to bloom iu the spring with me, though 
the thermometer registered 24 degrees below 
zero the preceding Winter. 
The above observations lead me to believe 
that the Wild Goose Plum has an imperfect 
blossom, and needs a supply of pollen from 
some other source to produce a crop of fruit. 
The peach tree would be an excellent help for 
this purpose were it not for the fact that the 
peach-bud is killed when the mercury drops 
to 16 degrees below zero, while the plum-bud 
Is not, 
Mr. Wier recommends planting several 
varieties of plums together, aud claims that 
the Miner Plum fertilizes the Wild Goose per¬ 
fectly. It would be truly gratifying to many 
of the Rural readers if the intelligent, practi¬ 
cal horticulturists of the country would take 
up this subject and analyze it In all its bear- 
higs. Thousands of dollars have been paid 
out for barren nursery stock by parties igno¬ 
rant of this subject, and ninety-nine one- 
hundredths of all such purchasers are igno¬ 
rant of it. The nurseryman of the future 
must label his fruit .trees, vines and plants as 
perfect or pistillate. If the latter, he must 
state the variety to plant with it to supply 
pollen. 
Near the southeast comer of my large plum 
orchard are two or three large red elm trees, 
Which were in full bloom at the time the 
plums blossomed. A few trees iu this corner 
of the orchard were full of plums. Did the 
elm trees filrrtish the pollen \ There was 
nothing else in bloom near the orchard that 
could have done so. a. r, c. 
Princeton, Ky. 
No, it would be impossible so far as is at 
present known. Neither could an apple fertil¬ 
ize a plum or peach. That a peach may fer¬ 
tilize a plum or vice versa is very probable. 
Prunus Simonii seems to be as much peach as 
plum. We urge our friend to unite with us in 
condeniuuing the word “staminate” as it is 
sometimes used to express a perfect flowering 
variety: that is, one bearing both pistils aud 
and stamens. The word should never be used 
in that sense. We have staminate sjiecies and 
varieties as, e. g,, asparagus, ailanthus and a 
multitude of others. These are properly 
“stammates.” We have others, like the com 
plant, chestnut, maple, pines, spruces, etc., 
that bear their male and female flowers sep¬ 
arately, though on the same plant. Then we 
have another class of plants bearing perfect 
flowei*s, that'is, flowers having both sets of or¬ 
gans in the same flower. This Is just the case 
with what some call “staminate” strawberry 
flowers. It must appear therefore to all who 
desire that 'words should have defluite mean¬ 
ings that, to use the w'ord “stamiuate” for “per¬ 
fect” is misleading and altogether objection¬ 
able.— Eds.] 
THE SCARLET CRANBERRY APPLE. 
The Scarlet Cranberry Apple, a specimen of 
which is shown at Fig. S5S, with cross-section 
at Pig, 859, originated in Scott Co.. Virginia, 
some score or more years ago, from seeds of 
an unknown variety. It Is a very vigorous 
grower. The branches are very stout, ofteu 
being at the ends of the twigs as large as a 
man's Huger. It is au .upright grower aud is 
wonderfully productive, bearing full from top 
to bottom. Notwithstanding the great size of 
the fruit, they hang tenaciously to the large 
limbs and resist strong winds. The apples were 
sent to us aud the above facts furnished by 
Mr. Geo. W. Robiuott, of Pattonsvilie, Scott 
Co., Va. Our ow u notes taken at the time the 
apple was received, raulus follows ; 
Very large, ovoid, conical, flat across the 
stem end ; considerably ribbed, excessively so 
on the eye end; stem very long, 1 inch, 
slender planted in a uurrow, very deep cavity; 
a little irregular and entirely covered with 
russet, which" extends in irregular rays con¬ 
siderably out over the rim. Calyx rather 
small, closed in a narrow, moderately deep 
andjinuch corrugated luisin. Color ; ground¬ 
work of pule yellow, completely overspread 
with a.spatter of red, and much splashed with 
irregularjstripes of deep carmine red, running 
much deejpejr toward the stem eud. Cross- | 
section : core small and well filled with seeds, 
many of which are imperfect; the seeds are 
small, short and thick. Flesh firm, fine¬ 
grained, dry, sub-acid, and though not high- 
flavor, quite meaty and of great consistency. 
Color white. Liable to be too dry and mealy 
when a little over-kept. A large, handsome 
and showy apple. 
THE TETOFSKY AS A STOCK. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
The Tetofsky Apple was one of the first 
Russians introduced into the United States, it 
coming about the same time as the Alexander, 
Duchess of Oldenburgh aud Red Astrachan. 
It is peculiar for its very upright growth, 
The Prolific Sweeting is the best fall iron- 
| clad of that class I know, but it comes very 
late to bearing, and I could not see where the 
prolificacy came in, until I top-grafted it on 
Tetofsky, where it bears heavily. Alexander 
is rather tender here, but perfectly satisfactory 
on Tetofsky, and a long list of this sort might 
be given, while the Foundling, one of our best 
late fall apples, but very subject to bark-rup¬ 
ture is safe from this on a Tetofsky stock. 
Nurserymen who have an over-stock of Te¬ 
tofsky should avail themselves of this knowl¬ 
edge. 
THE MANN APPLE. 
I think it due to the public that the claim 
advanced for the Mann Apple, that it is as 
hardy as the Duchess of Oldenburgh, should 
SCARLET CRANBERRY APPLE. (From Nature.) Fig. 358. 
stiff branches, and the habit of bearing its 
fruit on spurs, much like a pear. The fruit 
is of medium size, oblate-conie.ribbed, whitish- 
yellow in color, with carmine stripes; flesh 
firm, and of mild subacid flavor. On some 
soils and in some localities it is a shy, uncer¬ 
tain bearer, but in others it fruits profuselv ; 
yet, owing to its clustering habit and very 
short stems, most of the fruit is forced off by 
its growth, so that very little hangs until ma¬ 
turity. Its season in Northern Vermont is 
August, u little later than that of the Yellow 
Transparent, which has entirely sujierseded it 
as a market apple. 
This last-named fact has been the means of 
teaching me the very great merit of the 
Tetofsky as a stock. A great many varieties 
(all that I have tried) make a sound, firm and 
be emphatically and widely contradicted. I 
do not say that its introducers are willful de¬ 
ceivers iu making this claim for it, yet they 
should by this time know from the proceed¬ 
ings of the various horticultural organizations 
and the reports of individual fruit-growers 4 and 
nurserymen in the “cold North,” that the 
Mann apple is in no sense an “iron-clad” tree. 
It is considerably less hardy than Fameuse, 
which is far from being iron clad. It is not so 
hai’dy as Westfield 8eek-no-Further, Blue 
Pearmain or Tolraan Sweet, all three of which 
are so lacking in hardiness as to be unprofitable 
in my grounds. In fact, there has not been 
one Winter of the last six when the Maun has 
not been badly injured in this section, and 
there Is no likebhood that it can be brought to 
bearing age iu any locality where trees ap¬ 
SCARLET CRANBERRY APPLE. (Half Section.) Fig. 359. 
lasting union with it, without uuy marked 
enlargement at the point of junction. The 
growth of cions upon it is healthy and vigor¬ 
ous, without being excessive. 1 find it just 
the thing to top-graft the semi-ironclad va¬ 
rieties upon. \Vithout Tetofsky stocks I could 
not make the Fameuse a profitable apple. It 
is also an admirable stock for varieties that 
may be hardy against cold, but arc subject to 
bark-bursting, either near the ground or 
higher on the trunk, and it has the great 
merit of bringing tardy bearers to time, and 
of making shy bearers productive. 
proaching the character of an “iron-clad” are 
required. If niv testimony on this point is 
not sufficient, it will, I feel sure, be sustained 
all through the cold North by men like Prof. 
Budd, of Iowa, A. W. Sias, of Southern Min¬ 
nesota, A. G. Tuttle or H. H. Howlett, of Bar- 
aboo, Wis., Charles Gibb, of the Province on 
Quebec, aud by mauy in Northern Maine. 
Orleans Co., Vt 
We have received from a friend iu Washing¬ 
ton Territory, three Prunes d’Agen weigh¬ 
ing 12 ^ ounces of delicious quality. 
SIBERIAN STONE PINE. 
PROF. J. L. BUDD. 
This differs from our Swiss Stone Pine 
about as widely as does the White from the 
Norway Spruce. It is nearly as light-colored 
in foliage as our White Pine, and quite as 
graceful in expression, though denser and 
more compact in habit. It makes a free, 
rapid growth on the rich steppes of Russia, 
east of the Volga, and as far north as Mos¬ 
cow, and attains large size where the slower- 
growing Swiss Stone Pine utterly fails. Its 
timber is fine-grained, soft and peculiarly 
fragrant. It is almost exclusively used for the 
delicate, carved work sold at Moscow, Kiev, 
aud other sacred places of the Greek Church, 
ami for the rich carving of the interior of 
cathedrals. The nuts are edible and in quality 
compare favorably with our beech-nuts. 
On our rich, dark-colored prairie soils, and 
in our changeable Summer air, our common 
conifers are difficult to start from seed with 
the best known care and arrangements for 
shading, while the nuts of this Stone Pine 
germinate as readily as corn, and the plants 
do not seem liable to damping off or burning, 
even when exposed to the sun. 
Their ability to stand intense drought and 
heat has been well tested this Summer. Three- 
year-old plants, in bed, have been exposed to 
the heat and desert air of the past eleven rain- 
, less weeks which, for the first time in the his¬ 
tory of prairie development,have shriveled and 
dried up our early planted corn, yet no leaf of 
the Siberian Pine has flagged, and the trees 
have made a growth of several inches, and 
seem to be still growing, when such trees as 
the White Willow ami Box Elder are dropping 
their golden foliage as in Aut um n, 
The object of this note is to direct the atten¬ 
tion of propagators to what seems to be a 
peculiarly valuable tree for Western planting. 
Its seeds can be obtained in any desired quan¬ 
tity of Carl Wagner, Riga, Russia, or can be 
ordered through Vilmorin, Andrieux & Co., 
of Paris. 
Ag’l Coll., Ames, Iowa. 
THE JAPAN CHESTNUT IN FLORIDA. 
Everything in the shape of trees and 
shrubs coming from Japan seems to do remark¬ 
ably well here. My Japan chestnuts are grow¬ 
ing finely; but those I grafted on native stock 
are out-growing the trees bought and set at 
the same time. They all seem to grow more 
like a bush than a tree. Last February I put 
in four grafts of the Kelsey Japan Plum, in 
a common wild plum (set three years) near the 
ground. To-day (August 30th) I carefully 
measured the main shoots and laterals. The 
combined length is 382 feet four inches—long¬ 
est shoot eight feet four inches. The largest 
measures inches in circumference. The 
combined length of the best graft is 160 feet. 
It still seems cheerful and looks as though its 
task for the season was not nearly com¬ 
pleted. j. m. m. 
Green Cove Spring, Fla. 
TOO MANY NEW STRAWBERRIES, 
There are too many new and often poor 
strawberries thrown upon the public. Too 
many want to get rich selling plants to the 
credulous public. I am heartily glad to hear 
of a “commission appointed to examine and 
report on all new fruits.” If this is done it 
will save the country thousands, besides pre¬ 
venting the land from being over-run with 
trash. How many new and worthless fruits 
flood the realms of Pomona i All for money! 
Now, uo one berry or fruit can be expected to 
suit the whole of our vast domain. Hence, 
some will say, “the only way for us to do is to 
try all newcomers. ” But suppose a commission 
tries thorn and proves they are worthy. We 
then are less liable to be imposed on t.h«.n 
if theiv had been no trial or proof of 
their worth or worthlessness. If a disinter¬ 
ested commission at some of our agricultural 
colleges would prove the value of all fruits, 
before they arc sent out, it would be of im¬ 
mense benefit to the fruit growers. Some 
proof, however, is better than none. One will 
say, “the originators prove their fruits.” Yes; 
but they are directly interested; hence a trifle 
liable to err. The Rural lias been of much 
benefit by its impartial criticism on fruits. 
\ et it has been blamed for that very impar¬ 
tiality, A commission would doubtless meet 
with the same treatment. Still, I am in favor 
of one as I think good would result. “Go 
slow” iu buying new things. a. f. d. 
Croston, Oregon. 
