150 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
nurseries is offering a new freestone 
peach which has been named “Glen.” 
It is described as a large oval, measur¬ 
ing 2 j 4 to 2^4 inches in length, a Peen- 
to Honey cross, yellow, with deep su¬ 
ture, dotted and washed with red; 
ripening June ioth to 15th. 
Plums are of but little commercial 
importance. There should be a few 
trees in the home orchard. The Excel¬ 
sior seems to be the most satisfactory 
variety in the larger part of the State. 
A new hybrid plum originated near 
Lake City, FJa., is being offered this 
year. It has been named “McRea.” 
The tree is said to be a vigorous, 
heavy annual bearer, the fruit of me¬ 
dium size, yellow in color, washed with 
red, thickly dotted with small light- 
colored dots. Flesh firm, yellow, be¬ 
coming juicy; good shipper; ripens 
June ioth to 15th. It is of the same 
type as the Excelsior and Terrell, but 
of different flavor. 
The low price that prevailed for 
pears last season has caused a lack of 
interest in them. Most of us have 
learned that by cutting out all blighted 
branches as soon as they appear, cut¬ 
ting well back into the new wood, that 
we can reduce the injury from this 
disease to a minimum, and secure fairly 
good crops, other conditions being fa¬ 
vorable; but when there is no demand 
for the fruit this watchfulness and 
labor will not be performed. 
The fig should receive more atten¬ 
tion than it does in Florida. The Ce¬ 
lestial, or sugar fig, bears large crops; 
seldom winter kills anywhere in the 
State, and there is good demand for the 
fruit in the markets of our large towns 
and cities. Picked and packed in quart 
boxes, 24 to 32 to the crate, as straw¬ 
berries are marketed, they are attrac¬ 
tive and sell readily in Tampa, Jack¬ 
sonville and elsewhere. There are sev¬ 
eral varieties that do well in the State. 
The new fig, “Leon,” originating in 
Tallahassee, gives promise of proving 
a desirable variety for Northern and 
Western Florida. 
Japan persimmons are gaining slow¬ 
ly in popular favor. A few of our hor¬ 
ticulturists are giving special attention 
to improving and popularizing them. 
The success of the experts in the Bu¬ 
reau of Plant Industry at Washington 
in rendering insoluble the tannin in the 
unripe fruit so that it may be eaten 
while hard without any puckery, astrin¬ 
gent effect in the mouth, will, it is 
thought, help much in (rendering it 
popular in Northern markets. It is an 
attractive fruit; we have several varie¬ 
ties which do well, and we should do 
what we can to aid those who have de¬ 
termined to make it one of Florida’s 
commercial fruits. 
