92 
Outland Fruits for Inland'Gardens 
(^Continued from page 43) 
House & Garden 
Shrubs That Bloom 
In Shady Places 
Some shrubs like shade 
better than sun — and 
these offer possibilities for 
planting on the north side 
of the house, or where 
trees cast their shadows. 
Kerria. Golden yellow flow¬ 
ers. (You may have the 
single or double-flowering 
variety—state which you 
want.) 
Hydrangea arborescens alba. 
“Hills of Snow.” Snow 
white flowers, all summer. 
Snowberry. Small flowers in 
summer, followed by ber¬ 
ries which hang until winter. 
One Plant of Each $1 25 ^ 
Delivered Anywhere 1 t 
Two Plants of Each for $2.25 
Baur’s General Catalogue 
lists carefully selected shrubs, 
roses, evergreens, shade trees, bed¬ 
ding plants and bulbs for every 
garden or estate, with the direc¬ 
tions needed for planting and care. 
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long tap roots. For this reason only 
young, small plants should be used. 
When mature, the trees usually are 
from 20' to 30' high, though they do 
reach to 80' or thereabouts when 
crowded in the forest. Their prefer¬ 
ence is for a spot that is fully exposed 
to all the sunlight there is, in a soil 
not wet hut rich and deep and warm. 
Laden with its translucent fruits that 
seem about to drip from its houghs 
like a thick flowing amber, the persim¬ 
mon tree is a lovely sight, suggesting 
the plum in sufficient measure to ac¬ 
count for its other name, date plum. 
For my own diversion and satisfac¬ 
tion, I am trying a specimen of this 
tree on a wall, being a great believer 
in wall fruits and also a strong advo¬ 
cate of the decorative quality of trees 
handled thus. 
Of course, everyone tries eating a 
persimmon before it is ripe—once! 
Speaking of this, I can only say that 
it is my belief no one can appreciate 
the ripe persimmon who has not set 
his teeth into the unripe; therefore, 
go ahead and try them! 
Two Other Fruits 
Mulberries are unquestionably 
hardy, being native to the temperate 
regions of the world generally. The 
variety cultivated for silkworms to 
feed on is Morns alba, while the 
fruiting mulberry is Monts nigra. 
Our native Morns rnbra also has been 
used to produce fruiting varieties. 
But generally, the mulberrc^ has been 
planted here as an ornamental tree 
alone, either in its natural form or 
grafted high on Russian stock, when 
it becomes a weeping specimen. Such 
specimens are cunning arbors and 
playhouses for either kiddies or 
grown-ups. 
Morns alba, the white mulberry, is 
naturalized along roadsides in the 
East, where mulberry culture was 
undertaken on an extensive scale a 
hundred or more years ago. Its ber¬ 
ries are extremely sweet and usually 
white, though sometimes a tree with 
dark purplish or almost black fruits 
is seen. Do not judge the cultivated 
fruit by these seedlings, however. Get 
New American or Downing’s Ever- 
hearing and realize what it means to 
have berries that “melt in your 
month.” The Downings especially 
have a winey flavor that sets them 
apart from all other fruits. They are 
purplish, while the Everbearing are 
almost black. They will do well on 
practically any soil, even that which 
is very poor and gravelly, located on 
barren slopes. 
W hile the quince can hardly be 
called an uncommon or little known 
fruit, it is so seldom found in market 
or anywhere but in very old gardens 
that I have thought it well to call 
attention to its merits. Of course, 
no one can eat a fresh quince in his 
hand; or if he could, he does not. 
But as a cooked fruit there are few 
things that equal it in richness and 
distinctive flavor; and, of course, 
quince marmalade is one of the most 
ancient of delicacies. Quince jelly, 
too, used to be highly prized and 
would be today if quinces were avail¬ 
able to make it. 
The orange quince is a bright 
golden variety that is very productive 
and ready in October; Champion is 
large fruited with tender flesh—an 
excellent keeper, and it bears very 
young; Aleech’s Prolific is a particu¬ 
larly beautiful variety that is very 
fragrant, and early. 
The soil that quinces like best is 
rather heavy and should be retentive 
of moisture—what is commonly 
called a clay loam; yet it should be 
well drained, for best results. They 
are shallow rooted trees and ought 
never to he uncovered over their roots 
during winter. In orchards a cover 
crop is always planted underneath the 
trees; in home grounds they may be 
allowed to grow as any small tree or 
shrub, with the lawn extending right 
up to their boles. Few shrubs are 
more lovely, either in bloom or fruit, 
than the quince, for added to the 
beauty of the flowers—these are like 
greater apple blossoms—^and the 
golden fruit, is the extremely pictur¬ 
esque habit of growth. 
Figs and Kumquats in America 
The classic fig has been fruited in 
IMichigan, unprotected save by a high 
hoard wall enclosing the trees in win¬ 
ter ; but usually it is not attempted 
north of Philadelphia. W’hat has been 
done, however, indicates what may be, 
if one has a mind for fresh figs with 
cream on summer mornings. A great 
deal has been written and said and 
believed about the fig insect, a little 
wasp whose sting is supposed to be 
necessary to the formation of fruit 
in certain species, and this insect has 
been introduced to the fig orchards of 
California. As a matter of fact, it is 
not the sting of the insect but its 
presence within the fruit that is 
needed, and its function is the same 
as the bees’ on ordinary blossoms: 
that is, it aids pollination. It is neces¬ 
sary, as a matter of fact, in some 
varieties and not in others. 
Probably no other plant lias its life 
processes so interwoven with the life 
of an insect as this same fig. In its 
wild state it bears three crops of 
fruit, two of which are barren of 
pollen and produced solely for the 
benefit of the little wasp aforemen¬ 
tioned. This wasp lives and moves 
and has its being generally in the wild 
fig (Fiens carica var. sylvestris) of 
Asia Minor, usually known as the 
Capri fig. But leaving her native 
home, the female of the species—the 
male is wingless—cuts her Avay into 
the half grown fruits of the Smyrna 
fig {Ficus carica var. Smyntiaca) 
through certain interlocking scales 
which protect this fruit’s apex, losing 
her wings as she passes in; and there 
she presumably lays her eggs and 
then perishes, her tiny body being ab¬ 
sorbed into the fruit as it grows. It 
is not, indeed, certain that she does 
lay her eggs before death overtakes 
her; if she does, these too perish; 
and were it not for the Capri figs, on 
which certain of the wasps remain 
notwithstanding the proximity of the 
Smj-rna variety which is so potent to 
draw certain others, the whole race 
of these marvelous little creatures 
would perish in a single season. It is 
altogether one of the greatest marvels 
of the insect world, and taken in con¬ 
nection with the two extra crops of 
the wild fruits, constitutes a provision 
of Nature for the persistence of 
species that is without parallel. 
The fig which it is advisable to 
select for planting as a garden speci¬ 
men does not belong to this variety, 
however, so the absence of the wasp 
need give no concern to the gardener. 
This is the white Adriatic, used large¬ 
ly in California for drying. It is rich 
in flavor and sweet, its flesh being yel¬ 
lowish white. The Blue Genoa is 
another variety of great merit. 
Probably the only way of wintering 
that is fairly certain to be successful 
north of the fig’s natural limits, is 
to lay down the trees in the autumn 
and cover them with earth. In order 
to do this conveniently the trees ought 
not to be larger than good sized 
bushes. It seems to have been more 
{Continued on page 94) 
Farr’s 
Hardy Plant 
Specialties 
This new edition for 1917-18 
(ready about February first) 
will be more complete and help¬ 
ful than any of its predecessors. 
In its completeness it will be a 
te.xtbook that no reader of 
House & Garden will wish to 
be without. 
Special Features of this Edition 
IRISES. In the Germanica section 
there will be some notable new 
introductions from Europe and my 
own Panama-Pacific Gold Medal 
Collection. 
In the Japanese section there will 
be the first offering of a series of 
new seedlings of my own hybrid¬ 
izing. 
PEONIES. I shall include a num¬ 
ber of fine varieties, which, owing 
to limited stock, I have not been 
able to offer heretofore. 
TREE PEONIES. The purchase of 
the noted collection of tree peonies 
owned by Brochet & Sons, Chate- 
nay, France, together with the 
unique assortment of the beauti¬ 
ful Japanese varieties, gives me a 
collection of over 300 varieties. 
All of these are established on 
their own roots. 
LILACS, ROSES, EVERGREENS. 
Many new, rare, and desirable va¬ 
rieties are included in these 
sections. 
To insure receiving a copy 
of this edition you should send 
me your name and address now. 
As soon as the work is com¬ 
pleted the book will be mailed 
to you without cost. 
Bertrand H. Farr 
Wyomissing Nurseries Co. 
106 Garfield Ave. 
Wyomissing, Penna. 
A Pool in 
the Garden 
is the center of interest. 
Water Lilies, Lotus, 
and other aquatics can 
be grown easily. My 
booklet for 1917 
Water Lilies and 
Water Plants 
tells how to grow them in 
tubs, pools, and natural 
ponds. The best sorts for 
outdoor and indoor culture 
are noted, with many illus¬ 
trations. I grow water 
plants exclusively and have 
the largest establishment in 
the world. Send today for 
this booklet. 
WILLIAM THICKER 
Box G Arlington, N. J. 
