802 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
November 18 
■ Pluralisms 
Bits From tiie Rural Grounds. —It is 
not often that the first week in Novem¬ 
ber finds Salvias and marigolds in full 
bloom in this latitude, but in the ele¬ 
vated portions of the new Rural Grounds 
these bright flowers are keeping brilliant 
company with the hardy Chrysanthe¬ 
mums and Cosmos. Even a bed of 
Orchid-flowering Cannas is gay with 
color, though the nights are too long 
and chilly to allow the great flowers 
fully to expand. Only a touch of frost, 
here and there, blackens a heliotrope 
leaf or curls the tip of a Canna, yet 300 
feet away down the slope, at a level per¬ 
haps 50 feet lower, everything tender has 
been dead since September. It is a forci¬ 
ble example of the way cold air flows 
down the slopes on still nights, killing 
vegetation on the flats, and converting 
the hilltop into an island of surviving 
verdure. 
Celery Prospects. —This has been a 
good celery season hereabouts. Although 
excessively dry until the middle of July, 
there has been enough local rain to keep 
the plants growing finely since planting 
out. Less than the usual amount of 
Celery blight was noticed from the first, 
and the plants have thrown off all trace 
of it since field growth began. The ap¬ 
pearance in the trenches indicates a size 
and quality rivaling the best Michigan 
standard. The market demand is still 
very light, but will stiffen at the ap¬ 
proach of Thanksgiving. 
New Giant Browallia. —We do not 
know where this very handsome bedding 
plant originated, tnough it has been cat¬ 
alogued for the last two years. The 
indigo-blue flowers are two inches 
across, and cover the plant during Sum¬ 
mer. It is an improvement on the fa¬ 
miliar B. elata, and is so much better 
that one scarcely recognizes it. A little 
plant recently sent by the Conard & 
Jones Co., of West Grove, Pa., is now 
blooming brightly in the forcing house 
on the Rural Grounds, and promises to 
be a very desirable pot plant, on account 
of its neat growth and pleasing color. 
Apples for Nova Scotia. —Adverting 
to the questions under this caption in 
Van Deman’s Fruit Notes, page 753, I 
would like to call attention to the fact 
that the climate and soil of Nova Scotia 
are remarkably variable. The success¬ 
ful apples of Kings County—in the An¬ 
napolis Valley region—may not be gen¬ 
erally recommended. In the northeast¬ 
ern part of the Province varieties 
hardier than King, Gravenstein and 
Nonpareil are needed. Peculiarities of 
nomenclature also are found in Nova 
Scotia; for instance. Yellow Bellflower 
was introduced by the late Bishop 
Bourn, and is universally known by the 
name of Bishop Pippin in the Province. 
Roxbury Russet, in some manner, lost 
lits American name, and is generally 
recognized by the name Nonpareil, and 
a most excellent apple it is, too, in Kings 
County, N. S. joiin craig. 
Ames, Iowa._ _ 
A NEW FRUIT FOR ARID AMERICA. 
The National Department of Agricul¬ 
ture has recently secured some of the 
best varieties of Opuntia, or Mediter¬ 
ranean Prickly pears, through a special 
agent despatched to the Levant for the 
purpose of securing the fruits especially 
cultivated there. Great hopes are enter¬ 
tained in California and the Southwest, 
of acclimatizing this delicious and in¬ 
teresting fruit. Indeed, plants brought 
over by a Californian a few years ago 
5 
for 
$4 
Send us a club of four subscriptions with 
$4; and we will advance your own sub¬ 
scription one year free. New yearly sub¬ 
scribers to The R. N.-Y. will now get the 
paper from the time subscription is 
received until January 1, 1901. Get up 
a club. 
are now fruiting at Palo Alto, Santa 
Clara County. The plants are said to be 
so loaded wiith fruits that some are 
breaking down. 
This Opuntiia, O. tuna, is an almost 
thornless cactus, and a close relative of 
the plant on which the cochineal insect 
thrives in Mexico. It is quite as hardy 
as the orange, and has been cultivated 
for ages on both shores of the Mediter¬ 
ranean Sea, especially in southern Spain 
and the Island of Sicily, where it grows 
luxuriantly without cultivation on dry 
rocky slopes. It is called the poor man’s 
fruit, because of the little cost of pro¬ 
duction, but the quality is said to be 
good enough for an epicure. The 
fruits are from four to five inches long, 
and from two to nearly three inches 
thick, varying according to kind from 
straw yellow to deep red in color. The 
flesh is granular and richly tinted, ac¬ 
cording to the prevailing color of the 
fruit. The flavor varies, some sorts 
being compared to raspberry and straw¬ 
berry jams, but is mainly a delightful 
and juicy admixture of sweet and acid. 
It keeps a long time after being gath¬ 
ered, and can be shipped long distances. 
There are many species of Opuntias, na¬ 
tives of this Continent. 0. vulgaris is 
quite hardy, and can be seen growing in 
many of the eastern States, where it has 
long been naturalized in rocky places. 
THE " ODD-YEAR " BALDWIN. 
Concerning the origin of the odd-year 
Baldwin there are various theories. The 
owner of an orchard in Hampshire 
County, Mass., which was celebrated for 
bearing large crops of apples, when 
other people’s trees were resting, consid¬ 
ered it a distinct variety. There was 
current among some this explanation: 
that trees or scions of the Baldwin apple 
had been placed in an icehouse and kept 
dormant over one Summer and, Rip- 
Van-Winkle-like, awoke in strange com¬ 
pany and set about growing and bearing 
a year later than they intended, causing 
the fruit to be odd, but extremely popu¬ 
lar and profitable The fruit of this odd- 
year-bearing orchard caused a demand 
for the trees, and this orchardist raised 
and sold a small number of them, as he 
doubtless supposed and intended, true to 
name. An enterprising ex-president of 
an agricultural society in an adjoining 
county, planted an orchard of them, but 
the fruit was borne in even years, as 
much so as with his regular Baldwin 
orchard. 
At a meeting of the Hampden Harvest 
Club, the late John C. Thorpe, of Holy¬ 
oke, a very intelligent farmer and fruit 
grower, told the writer that he owned 
the original odd-year Baldwin tree. The 
ex-president above mentioned, being 
present, the two men were brought to¬ 
gether, and this new fact was developed. 
“One side of the original tree,” said Mr. 
Thorpe, “bears fruit odd years, and the 
other side even years. Mr. - came 
to my place when I was from home, and 
cut scions from that side of the tree 
which bears even years.” Whether this 
explanation fully satisfied the buyer of 
the orchard in question, is a matter of 
doubt. Mr. Thorpe spoke so strongly in 
favor of the habit of the tree and the 
persistence of its progeny, when grafted 
upon other trees, in maintaining its odd- 
year bearing habits, tnat I gladly ac¬ 
cepted his offer to send me a bunch of 
the scions at the proper season, cut by 
his own hands. The tree on which they 
were set has borne regularly full crops 
in odd years. 
That the Baldwin is a profuse bearer 
in even years is too well known to need 
repetition. In 1838 my father returned 
from the old homestead, saying that 
there would be 300 barrels of Baldwin 
apples on the trees which he planted 
when a boy. The next year, 1839, when the 
two orchards became his property, there 
was not one barrel. The following year, 
1840, the apples filled over 400 barrels. 
In later years the crop was somewhat 
more divided, but the tendency always 
has been in similar lines. The freeze of 
May 28, 1888, did more than any other 
event to change and divide the crop. 
In regard to causes it takes too long 
to prove its effect. At one time I set 
fire to a brush pile, which was so near 
to a Porter apple tree, that a large 
branch was scorched, and the blossoms 
or young apples all dropped to the 
ground. The remainder of the tree bore 
a full crop, but was barren of fru'it the 
following year, while the branch which 
was singed was loaded with apples. 
Ever after that scorching, the main tree 
has bore fruit alternately with the 
branch, much to the delight of the fam¬ 
ily, who think that they could not keep 
house without Porter apples. 
J. w. ADAMS. 
GOOD NEW AND OLD FRUITS. 
Red Paradise Sweet Apple.—W. B. K. 
Johnson, of Allentown, Pa., sends us sam¬ 
ples of this apple, which we pictured two 
years ago. It is a fine-looking, large ap¬ 
ple of fine flavor, sweet, tender and with a 
rich aroma. For those who desire a red 
sweet apple this variety seems about per¬ 
fect. The Johnson quince, as judged by 
the dozen specimens sent, is a desirable 
variety of fine appearance and good 
Quality. 
A new apple which is making a strong 
impression in England is Charles Ross, a 
cross between Cox’s Orange Pippin and 
Peasgood's Nonsuch. It is described as 
round, above medium size, yellowish green 
mingled with russet, having a vivid scarlet 
cheek heavily splashed with crimson. The 
flavor is said to be quite equal to the 
Orange Pippin, while the appearance is 
more showy, and it is predicted that it 
will prove a valuable dessert sort. 
Vermont Beauty Pear.—W. P. Rupert 
& Sons, of Seneca, N. Y., send a basket of 
Vermont Beauty pears. They write: The 
Vermont Beauty pear originated on Grand 
Island, Lake Champlain, about 12 years ago. 
This pear we consider a very valuable 
acquisition, ripening in October a week or 
10 days later than Seckel, at a time when 
very few indeed of our valuable pears are 
ripe. The original tree was purchased by 
our firm, and introduced by us, and to-day 
is handled and grown by most nurserymen. 
The R. N.-Y. has often spoken of this 
beautiful red-cheeked pear. It is a worthy 
companion of Seckel in quality, larger and 
far more handsome in appearance. 
Some Fine Apples.— Chas. A. Green, of 
Rochester, N. Y., sends The R. N.-Y. some 
fine specimens of little-grown apples,, such 
as American Blush, Banana, Shiawasse 
Beauty, Princess Louise, Salome, etc. All 
are handsome, and of good quality; most 
of them good enough for dessert purposes. 
American Blush and Hubbardston have 
been considered identical, but, judging 
from these samples, there is little simi¬ 
larity between them. American Blush is 
much larger, greenish yellow, extensively 
overspread with red, and distinctly sweeter 
in taste, which is otherwise much the 
same. Shiawasse Beauty is highly col¬ 
ored, with white melting flesh, quality very 
good, rather brisk and sprightly. Banana, 
of medium size, rich yellow much flushed 
with red, rich fruity flavor, a little too 
firm. Gives a characteristic banana im¬ 
pression on first taste. Princess Louise 
seems to be of the Fameuse type, highly 
colored, bright red on whitish ground, flesh 
white, fine texture, pleasant, spicy, and 
full flavored; to our mind the highest qual¬ 
ity of all. Salome is rather small, oblong 
in shape, red speckled with whitish dots, 
quality indifferent, evidently not yet in 
season. Specimens of Hubbardston and 
Delaware Winter accompanying the above 
were fine and highly colored. 
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