66 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
clmong tl]c (Excfiangcs. 
The Apricot.— The nurserymen throughout the 
state report there has not been such a demand for 
apricot trees for planting in over eight years as there is 
th is season. The apricot has slowly become again a 
popular deciduous fruit. In some districts, as in Ventura 
and San Luis Obispo counties, the planting of apricot 
orchards runs into hundreds of acres, and is beyond 
anything ever known there. In Los Angeles, San Ber¬ 
nardino, and particularly orange counties, there are in 
nearly every locality a number of land owners, who are 
going into growing prunes and apricots on a large 
scale. There are many good points about apricot 
growing. Experience shows that the orchards of apri¬ 
cots, which have the dews and breezes from the ocean 
bear heavier and better fruit than those in dryer interior 
localities. The general culture of the fruit for lo years 
in Southern California proves that it is a ready bearer, 
and has no off years. It bears very early and about 
once in three years has an enormous crop, if the orchard 
is properly handled. The trees grow rapidly, respond 
quickly to care, and are extremely strong and tenacious 
of life, but we have no tree that demands more pruning 
than the apricot. — The Rural Californiari. 
RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 
The prospectus of a new French horticultural publication 
entitled, RHorticulture Francaise, has been issued. It will be pub¬ 
lished semi-monthly, at Lyon, France, by L. Cusin, and will com¬ 
prise a compendinm of gardening features. 
An interesting publication is LaPomologic Francaise^ the 
monthly bulletin of the Pomological Society of France. Its 
reports of the proceedings of the society and its descriptions of 
varieties are of much value to all who are interested in the pro¬ 
duction of fruits. The May number contains hints by Mr. Leon 
De La Bastie, president of the society, on the best fruits for the 
amateur who wishes to cultivate popular varieties in his own 
garden. 
The second edition of Prof. L. H. Bailey’s Horticulturists’ 
Rule-book retains all the good points of the original edition, and 
adds many new recipes, formulas, and facts, although it has been 
condensed into a somewhat smaller space. Every insecticide and 
fungicide which has gained prominence in the country is given, 
together with descriptions of all the leading diseases and insects 
of fruits, vegetables and flowers. In this direction the book is an 
epitome of all recent experiment and practice. It is one of the 
most invaluable guides to the modern methods of spraying for in¬ 
sect and fungous troubles. 
A highly interesting volume handsomely printed and bound, 
descriptive of the queen of flowers, is “The Rose,” by the late 
Henry B. Ellwanger, with an introduction by George H. Ellwang- 
er, who has dedicated the volume to his father, George Ell¬ 
wanger, the senior member of the firm of Ellwanger & Barry, of 
this city. Wherever the rose is considered by well informed 
persons, the names of Ellwanger and of Barry will be associated 
with it. Mr. George H. Ellwanger in his introduction to the 
present volume says that so comprehensively and intelligently has 
the theme been treated in the monograph by one who was emi¬ 
nently qualified to render it justice, that little remains to be said 
of the rose in general. A host of new varieties have appeared in 
the decade since the original work was produced, and this fact has 
led to the addition of their descriptions to the catalogue. “We 
are, perhaps, no nearer now than when the present volume was 
written in being able to decide upon the loveliest species and 
variety of the rose,” says Mr. Ellwanger. “Many of the fine old 
kinds are comparatively neglected, if not entirely lost, jostled and 
thrust aside by the increasing horde of newer aspirants. As pro¬ 
ducers of new roses the French continue in the lead ; the English 
are next. America has contributed largely those kinds suitable 
for forcing under glass. A blue rose has not yet been produced, 
But it is not impi’obable that in the evolution of this favored 
flower, a variety with a pronounced bluish cast, at least, will some 
day smile upon its sisterhood, the result of the skill of the 
hybridizer, or the work, perchance, of the wandering bee.” The 
enlire volume is the work of an artist. A valuable feature is the 
exhaustive catalogue of varieties. New York : Dodd, Mead & 
Co. Rochester: The Dodge and Brown Co. 
^rom Dartous points. 
T. C. Smith, a prominent fruit grower of Adelaide, 
South Australia, is on his way to this country to make 
a study of fruit pests and diseases, and the means of 
suppressing them. He will converse with practical 
growers and state officials. He will cross the continent 
and sail from New York for London, and will visit India 
in the interest of the canned, dried and fresh fruit trade. 
“ There is considerable kicking over the black-knot 
law ” says the Trumansburg, N. Y. Sentinel. It has in 
some instances worked to the damage of owners of 
plum trees. One case we have in mind in which a 
commissioner girdled a valuable variety from which the 
owner was intending to cut grafts. The law as it stands 
now gives the commissioners too much power. The 
cost will prove no small item in the next town budget.” 
Since the present administration came into power 
the total number of removals in the department of 
agriculture for all causes, including all resignations, 
whether voluntary or called for, have amounted to 133, 
while during the same time the total number of appoint¬ 
ments have been 63. Secretary Morton regards these 
figures as an all-sufficient answer to the statements 
recently made that the new appointments were equal to 
or in excess of the removals. 
At the recent meeting of the Vaughn Bay, Washing¬ 
ton, Horticultural Society, there was almost a unanimity 
of opinion in favor of fall planting of trees as against 
spring planting. The entire meeting was devoted to 
this subject and at the end this resolution was adopted : 
“That the Vaughn Bay Horticultural Society recom¬ 
mends its members to plant their fruit trees as early in 
the fall as they can be obtained from the nurseries, to 
finish the work as speedily as possible, but if delayed by 
bad weather, to continue it in the winter.” 
Otto Locke, of New Braunfels, Texas, says on the 
subject of fruit culture in Southwestern Texas; “It is 
enerally believed that here in Southwestern Texas 
no good fruit succeeds, in fact, that no fruit trees are 
growing at all, except peaches and plums ; but this 
