THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
special attention over great areas of the West and North.” 
Then follow glowing descriptions and recommendations 
of thirty-four sorts of Russian apples, with the claim that 
they are only a few out of many, equally valuable. Among 
these over twenty sorts are specifically stated to be 
“winter” apples, “ late winter,” and “very late winter.” 
This was said to be from the famous ledger. Many times 
and often these winter apples have been shown in pro¬ 
fusion by the professor at our state fairs in August, but 
in all these years I have never seen a peck of Russian 
apples at any of our state society exhibits in December 
and January. Professor Troop of Indiana Agricultural 
College Experiment Station reported that his winter 
apples from Professor Budd of Ames, Iowa, all ripened 
early, some in August. The editor of the American Gar¬ 
den had much the same experience. 
Will Mr. Bomberger tell us what he thinks of these 
glowing and unqualified recommendations from the chief 
horticulturist of the state, with no hint of any failure, and 
the other facts tkat our best nurserymen dare not risk 
their reputation and money by growing and selling them 
with any such guarantees. I find in the later volumes 
no modifications by the professor of these extravagant 
recommendations of Russian fruits, but I find plenty of 
evidence that the consciences of some of our best mem¬ 
bers have revolted, and that they have entered protest 
after protest against such wholesale statements, begging 
for impartial reports, including failures as well as suc¬ 
cesses. Our society that stood as a unit in brotherly 
love and enthusiasm twenty years ago, is now divided 
into two hostile camps. It is like the pro-slavery and 
anti-slavery parties in the American congress before the 
civil war, and it has been as dangerous to speak against 
Russian fruits as it then was to doubt the divinity of 
human slavery. To doubt that this has happened be¬ 
cause of Professor Budd’s personal course regarding these 
Russian fruits and the reports concerning them is as if 
one should deny that slavery was responsible for our civil 
war. If a nurseryman had pursued this course in the 
trade would he be eulogized in the fraternity as “our 
distinguished worker;” or would he be reported as a 
notorious “worker?” ^ 
Since Mr. Bomberger, after a day’s consultation and 
note-taking, has forced this public trial, there can certainly 
be no more ideal forum than the pages of The National 
Nurseryman, nor any jury more competent than the 
nurserymen of America. 
These quotations, already too many, must close. They 
are but a few culled out of many. No volume would 
suffice for all and to go into newspaper articles and per¬ 
sonal letters of a similar character would fill a library. If 
a public officer living upon public taxes is not under 
obligation to be impartial in publishing all results of his 
experiments conducted at public expense, I am wrong. 
If instead of being an impartial judge, he ought to be an 
attorney making the utmost of everything on one side 
and hiding or denying all evidence on the other, then am 
I wrong again. If a professor paid to experiment and 
advise the public afterwards of all the results, without fear 
or favor, has performed his duty by announcing in advance 
what the results of his experiments will be and afterwards 
publishing only the scraps of evidence that tend to justify 
his theories, then am I wrong again, and my paper was 
wholly wrong. 
Des Moines, la. C. L. Watrous. 
MME. ED. ANDRE—JACKMANNI RED. 
This clematis, which is of a beautiful bright red velvet 
color, was dedicated by Levavasseur & Sons to Mme. Ed. 
Andre, wife of the well-known French landscape gardener. 
It comes from a seed of Jackmani (hybrid of Patens) and 
took first prize gold medal at the horticultural exhibition at 
Tours in 1892. and later in Paris. It is of the most free- 
blooming variety, remontant or ever-blooming, being in 
bloom all summer, making the finest effect with its beau¬ 
tiful color and large abundant flowers. The frontispiece 
of this issue well illustrates it. 
THE GRAPE SITUATION. 
A. S. Watson, Westfield, N. Y., writing to the Grape 
Belt, says : 
The conditions now existing are such as fully warrant obtaining for 
the grape growers of this section a net return for their grapes of an 
average of fully 1-2 cents per basket. This means selling many cars 
at commencement at 28, 27 and 25 cents on track here. Ohio has already 
sold car loads at 30 cents on track. The conditions existing are these : 
Little, if any, more than one-half of a crop on the vines, fruit extra 
line quality and early, the entire country practically returned to a 
prosperous condition, with labor fully employed at advanced wuiges, 
one-half crop, double demand, growers will be disappointed, the 
grapes are not on the vines, there is no possible excuse or reason for 
taking 15 cents for our grapes. Ohio is universally conceded to he 
out of com])etition. Their highest estimate is 25 per cent, of a crf)p. 
Fifteen cents per basket is cost price and not a fairly renumerative 
price even with a full crop, much less with one-half crop. 
SEPTEMBER CROP REPORT. 
The September crop report of the United States 
Department of Agriculture says : 
Both apples and peaches show an improvement, the former of 1.6 
points and the latter of nearly 1 point. The sections where the croji 
is a failure and where abundant were pointed out particularly in the 
August report. The present percentages sufficiently indicate these 
localities. Drought has caused dropping and the too rapid maturity of 
apples, and somewhat low'ered the quality of peaches in localities here 
and there, hut whatever damage has been done has not been sufficient 
to alter the general average for the country! The average condition of 
apples is now 72.8, and of peaches 84.1. Grapes range from one-half 
to a full crop in the Eastern aiul Middle states, about three-fourths the 
normal product being reported from New York. Figures are generally 
high in the South. The indications in Kansas and Nebraska are for about 
three-fourths the usual product. In the Mountain and Pacific states 
conditions are generally high. Improvement since last month is noted 
in the latter region, except in California, where a decline of 12 points 
is re])orted. The Dejiartment’s Californiaji agent reports the (luality 
of the cro]) fully up to the average, l)\d the (juantity in many .sections 
from 15 to 25 per cent, short. 
