186 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
June, 
“Tomkins County King Apple.” 
Luther Tucker, Esq. —I perceive in the February 
number of “the Genesee Farmer,” some “remarks 
upon the King Apple,” by my friend Mr. James Mat- 
tison, in which he gives what he no doubt believed 
the true history of its introduction here. 
Deeming it important that its correct history should 
be given, I send you the following account of it, which 
I had from Mr. James Letts, previous to his death. 
It originated in Mr. Harrison’s orchard, in Essex 
county, New Jersey, where also the celebrated Harri¬ 
son cider apple originated, and was named by Mr. 
Letts, “ the King Apple” 
Mr. Letts removed to Tompkins county in the year 
1800. In February, 1806, he returned to New Jersey on 
business, when he procured,some scions from his favor¬ 
ite tree, which was then on the decay. He brought them 
home, and set two of them for Mr. Jacob Wyckoff 
in Jacksonville, town of Ulysses, and the remain¬ 
der for himself. One of those he set for Mr. Wyckoff 
lived; those for himself all died, leaving one graft 
only to fill the world with’ one of the most beautiful 
and best apples now known, for when Mr. Letts return¬ 
ed to New Jersey the next year, the original tree was 
dead, and no one had grafted from it but Mr. Letts. 
The King Apple tree is a fast grower in both nursery 
and orchard; it makes in the orchard, a most beauti¬ 
ful wide-spreading top, with large dark green leaves, 
strong branches, rather drooping when loaded, with 
fruit. An abundant annual bearer—requires but little 
pruning, hardy long lived wood. 
The tree grafted by Mr. Letts for Mr. Wyckoff, is 
now 48 years old, and as sound and thrifty in appear¬ 
ance as any young tree in the country. 
Fruit—rounded, sometimes a little flattened, slightly 
tapering towards the eye ; skin smooth, covered with 
stripes of a rich lively red on a yellowish ground work, 
filled in with imperfect stripes and slashes of red, be¬ 
coming almost entirely red in the sun. 
It undoubtedly belongs to the family of Spitzen- 
burghs; is a mild pleasant tart, tender, with a rich 
perfumed flavor. In eating from 1st of December to 
May. John II. Stout. . Trumansburg. March 24. 
Cheap Grafting Wax.—A. Norton, of Sandy 
Hill, N. Y., states that he has found the following to 
be the best grafting wax he has tried. The large por¬ 
tion of rosin lessens its price, and at the same time 
renders it very adhesive, when warm, both to the hands 
and the stock, so much so as not perhaps to be conveni¬ 
ently applied in any other way than that recommend¬ 
ed by our correspondent. 
Seven pounds of rosin, two of tallow, one of beeswax, to 
be melted under water, and then worked and stretched under 
cool water, when it will be ready, for direct application. 
Tompkins County King Appee. —Of this apple of 
which we gave a description last week, Mr. Hovy, edi¬ 
tor of the Magazine of Horticulture, in his April num¬ 
ber, says : “ It. is a very superior variety,somewhat re¬ 
sembling in general appearance, the Hubbardston Non¬ 
such, but even larger than that fine variety, and keep¬ 
ing till February. It i^ well worthy of very extensive 
cultivation.” 
Save Your Locust Trees. 
Editors of the Country Gentleman —No finer 
tree grows than the Yellow Locust , formerly so abun¬ 
dant, now so uncommon. Scarce one stands at present, 
where a few years since they flourished by scores. 
Their rapid growth and graceful foliage made them 
favorites, but their mortal enemy, the Borer , has 
pretty much extirpated the old stock, while few or 
none continue planting. And yet they may be raised 
with a little attention, and I want to tell your readers, 
“and the rest of mankind,” how. 
A few years ago, a few sprouts from the roots of 
some old Locust stumps, sprang up around my house, 
and in two or three seasons, attained a height of six 
to ten feet. Three years ago, about the middle of 
May, or just as the buds began to break, I noticed one 
warm day, that the sap was oozing in a dozen places 
along the stems of my trees, and was attracting quite 
a number of the large fly that makes its early ap¬ 
pearance in spring. Taking out my knife, I shaved 
off a thin pellicle of the bark whence the juice was 
issuing, and then discovered for the first time, the lar¬ 
vae of the borer just commencing his operations. To 
dislodgfe a dozen from their winter quarters was but 
the work of a few minutes. I then examined all my 
trees with like results. A second examination, a few 
days afterwards, enabled me to disbark the remainder 
of the rascals that escaped my first observation. On 
a half dozen trees, but one or two finally got into the 
wood, and to follow them up with gimlets, nails, knives 
and other means of assault, was more trouble than the 
destruction of two or three score at the beginning of 
the war. 
For three seasons I have protected my Locusts in 
this way. Not a borer is spared. I could take them 
out of a hundred trees in a half-day. My trees, of 
course, thrive beautifully. None others do in this 
neighborhood. My largest are four or five inches 
through, and 15 or 20 feet high. Any person desirous 
of introducing the Locust to their lawns, or about‘their 
dwellings, will, by following the directions I have in¬ 
dicated, be able to do so with perfect success. 
I would add,while on this subject, that in watching the 
habits of this pest and its progenitor, the Clytus pic- 
tus , I discovered that it was hatched in the fall, and 
may be found as a very small grub, just under the 
bark in October, but it makes no attempt to pass into 
the wood until the ensuing spring, and furnishes but 
the slightest external signs of its "presence until that 
period. The egg is deposited in the crevices, or when 
the dead bark is cracking and peeling off, and by .the 
rough spots occasioned in trimming the young trees. 
They will rarely be observed above the height of six 
or seven feet fi'om the ground. 
Large Growth. —A sprout upon a Pawlonia, stan¬ 
ding in my garden, made a growth during the sea 
son of 1853, of sixteen feet and one inch ! The tree 
is four or five inches in diameter at the base, and the 
new growth, entirely spontaneous, and promoted nei¬ 
ther by trimming, trenching or manuring, commenced 
at a point about six feet from the ground. May I not 
exclaim triumphantly : “ j Beat this who can!” Y. W. 
S. Syracuse. 
