I lO 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
DOWNING’S WINTER MAIDEN BLUSH. 
This fine apple was produced from the seed of the Fall 
Maiden Blush by Jason Downing, in Darke County, Ohio, 
in the spring of 1874. It made a vigorous growth, and at 
the age of seven years it bore some excellent fruit. 
E. M. Buechly, of Greenville, Ohio, first brought this 
fine new apple into public notice by exhibiting it at 
the Ohio State Horticultural Society meeting, held at 
Dayton, Ohio, in December, 1886, and also at Troy, Ohio, 
in 1888, where it attracted marked attention. The original 
tree is now 23 years old and is very vigorous and healthy. 
The frontispiece of this issue is a reproduction of a photo¬ 
graph of a specimen of fruit, natural size. “ The trees of 
this variety, of which we have one tree now ten years 
planted,” says Mr. Buechly, “and several younger trees 
in bearing, are well loaded with fruit this season, and of 
the hundreds of young trees in orchard and the thousands 
in nursery rows, all are showing great vigor and healthy 
foliage. Nurserymen and horticulturists are cordially in¬ 
vited to inspect this variety on our grounds.” 
The fruit is large, irregular, sometimes slightly flattened, 
and at other times slightly elongated, inclining to conic ; 
generally angular, skin light waxen yellow, with a bright 
red cheek in the sun ; stock short, usually projecting half 
as high as cavity, though in a few specimens it projects 
to its surface and beyond, inserted in a deep cavity, often 
surrounded with russet; calyx small, basin of moderate 
depth, flesh yellowish, crisp, tender, juicy, fine-grained, 
with a very pleasant, mild, sub-acid flavor. It has a 
fragrant odor; quality very good. Season, December to 
April. Tree a good grower and bearer. 
N. H. Albaugh, of the Albaugh Nursery Co., Tadmor, 
O., says: “I have sampled the Winter Maiden Blush 
apple handed me by you, and find it of magnificent form 
and appearance, greatly resembling the Autumn Maiden 
Blush, smooth and nice and of fine flavor. If the tree is 
hardy, certainly an important addition to our fruits.” 
Samuel Miller, Bluffton, Mo.: “We all pronounce the 
apple excellent. It is a most beautiful fruit and suits my 
taste exactly.” 
Geo. W. Campbell, Delaware, Ohio: “ I think the apple 
a handsome, pleasant-flavored and good one.” 
TEXAS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The ninth annual meeting of the Texas Horticultural 
Society was held at Bowie, Texas, on August ist, 2nd and 
3rd. Among those present were : President T. V. Mun¬ 
son, Denison ; John S. Kerr, Sherman ; Secretary E. L. 
Huffman, P'ort Worth; .E. W. Kirkpatrick, McKinney; 
J. M. Howell, Dallas; C. P'alkner, Waco; Nat Stevens, 
P'orney ; Prof. F. W. Mally, Hullen ; H. B. Hillyer, Belton ; 
Dr. J. T. Whitaker, Tyler; C. W. Wood, Swan; Joseph 
L. Cline, Galveston ; A. Vogt, Willow Springs. 
The Bowie Cross Timbers says : “ Thousands of people 
from home and abroad saw the great display and all were 
surprised and pleased. Before the big meeting our town 
only appeared as a little black dot on the map. Now we 
appear in the eyes of 'the world as a fruit center, unde¬ 
veloped, but rich and inviting to the man possessed of 
skill and money. This fact should make us as a people 
feel proud.” 
Much attention was given to the display of fruit which 
was very large. These expressions were heard: Presi¬ 
dent T. V. Munson, in his address Wednesday, said : 
“ This is the finest exhibit the Texas Horticultural Society 
has had since its organization, nine years ago.” John S. 
Kerr : “ This is the finest exhibit of fruit we have ever 
had at any of our meetings.” J. M. Howell, Dallas: 
“ I am delighted with this grand exhibit of fruits. It 
proves that you have one of the best of fruit soils. There 
is no telling to what extent your people can advance the 
fruit industry if they will only try.” 
RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 
The ILirticiiltuiud IlcHcw is a semi-monthly started at Jackson, Tenn., 
in the interest of horticulture in the South, by the Review Publishing 
Company. 
“Forcing-house Miscellanies,'’ is a valuable bulletin by Professors 
Bailey and Lodeman, issued by the Cornell University Agricultural 
Experiment Station. 
“Garden Flowers and Plants,” by J. Wright, assistant editor of the 
JumiKil of Ilofticultore, England, is an entertaining little ]’)rimer for 
amateurs. It is a compilation of lectures delivered under the auspices 
of the country council of Surrey, England, and contains information 
of interest over a much wider field than that to which it especially 
refers. Its title aptly indicates its contents. Pp. 144; price 85 cents. 
New York: Macmillan & Co. 
The description of the remarkable exhibition of paintings and statuary 
at the World’s Exposition is continued in part nineteen of the “Book 
of the Fair.” The selection of examples of the work of great artists 
has been made with due regard to beautiful and interesting subjects 
and variety. The photographic reproductions are of the highest class. 
Forty-nine subjects are illustrated. Here is preserved as in no other 
way a view of these great works which were gathered from all coun¬ 
tries and which are now scattered again and probably will never be 
seen together again. The descriptive matter accompanying the photo¬ 
engravings has been prepared by a masterhand. It is absorbingly in¬ 
teresting. Chicago: The Banckoet Co. 
F. E. L. Beal, assistant ornithologist of the Division of Ornithology 
and iVIammalogy, in Washington, has prepared a bidletin on the food 
of woodpeckers, and F. A. Lucas, curator, Department Comparative 
Anatomy, United States National Museum, a bulletin on the tongues of 
woodpeckers. The stomachs of 679 woodpeckers, representing seven 
species, all from the Eastern United States, were examined by Mr. Beal 
who finds that in the majority of cases more good was done by the birds 
in eating insects than in eating fruit and destroying the bark of trees. 
He says : “Judged by the results of the stomach examinations of the 
Downy and the Hairy woodpecker and the Flicker, it would be hard to 
find three other species of our common birds with fewer harmful 
qualities. Not one of the trio shows a questionable trait, and they 
should be protected and encouraged in every possilde way.” The 
Yellow-bellied woodpecker shows one questionable trait, that of a fond¬ 
ness for the sap and the inner bark of trees. 
Funk & Wagindls are about to issue a scries of standard school 
books, including “The Student’s Standard Dictionary,” “The Student’s 
Standard Synonyms,” “The Student’s Standard Speller” and “The 
Standard First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Readers.” Of the 
first named the publishers say: “The vocabulary will be richer by 
many thousand terms than that of any other similar dictionary in Eng¬ 
lish, and it is the only school dictionary that has all the words in the 
English classics prescribed for study in the schools. Definitive exact¬ 
ness, in contrast to synonymic looseness, characterizes the definitions 
of the work, as in the Standard Dictionary, which is one of the original 
features that has won for the complete unabriilged work such un¬ 
bounded praise. Synonyms, antonyms and etymology are given in 
