104 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
Iln 1Rurser\> IRows. 
Rkd June Eating Apple. —After a dozen years’ trial in compari¬ 
son with Astrachan, Early Harvest and Yellow Transparent, say J. W. 
Adams & Co., Springfield, Mass., we find the Red June fit for cooking 
earlier, is more productive, and is uniformly fair and free from insects. 
Though smaller in size, we regard it as the best one early apple for the 
family. 
Maid of Honor Rose. —The latest bud variation of the Catherine 
Mermet family is the Maid of Honor. The Mermet was sent out by 
J. B Guillot, fils, Lyons, France, ir 1869. Sprouts from the Mermet 
are : Bride, sent out by J. 1ST. May in 1885; Waban, by E. M. Wood 
& Co., in 1891 ; Bridesmaid, by Moore, in 1892. Maid of Honor is de¬ 
scribed as more robust and productive than Bridesmaid. 
New Clematis —M. Koster, Nellie Moser and Mme. Baron Veillard 
are new varieties of clematis. The first named has crimson flowers, 
but of not so deep a color as Mme. Andre, first shown in this country 
in 1893. Nelly Moser, it is said, has flowers six inches in diameter, of 
rosy lilac color, with a vivid carmine stripe, a French variety, not yet 
introduced in America. The Mme. Baron Veillard is of pinkish lav¬ 
ender. 
Duchess of Oldenburg — I consider the Duchess of Oldenburg ap¬ 
ple more valuable in its season than Ben Davis is in its season and won¬ 
der why there are not commercial orchards planted of the Oldenburg, 
says S. H. Linton, Marceline, Mo. It comes into bearing early, is a 
regular annual bearer, and is a hardy, long-lived tree. On the average 
the prices will run higher at the season of the Oldenburg than at that 
of the Ben Davis. Early apples have been running down in number 
during the past few years until there is quite a shortage in the supply. 
Cling Peaches. —One of the oldest commission men in Chicago says : 
“ We begin the season with clings. They sell at low figures and when 
they are out of the way it is unprofitable to raise the price much, from 
the fact that people become sick of peaches. Hence, in a full year, 
they sell at from 10c. to 12^c. per basket, when without them we could 
as readily sell at double the prices they now bring, the entire season, 
as we did before the clings were planted. When they were being 
planted, twenty years ago, I told what the result would be; but it has 
cost the growers much to learn the lesson.” 
Ameliorating the Native Plum —The possibilities of improving 
our native plums and crabs are immense, says Prof. John Craig, Ames, 
la. New varieties are constantly appearing. I should like to see these 
for the purpose of study and in order to record an accurate description. 
Fruit growers should be on the alert to observe improvements in the 
native crabs and plums in riverside thickets. The plums of the future 
for Iowa are undoubtedly these natives, pure or cross budded, and the 
advances that have been made in the way of ameliorating the native, 
point to this as one of the foundation stones in Iowa pomology. 
Blossom Buds and Twig Buds —Judge Samuel Miller, Bluffton, 
Mo., says: I like to take triplets from bearing trees, then one is sure of 
a bud in the middle that will make a shoot, the two outside buds being 
blossoms. When the trees are small, the twigs from maiden plants in 
the nursery are to be preferred, as they rarely form blossom buds. If 
budding is done early there is but little danger of any blossom buds 
having matured, but later, one is likely to'get blossom buds that bloom 
the following spring, but never start a shoot. So long as the buds are 
thin, pointed and of dark color, they are all right, but when they be¬ 
come plump and gray on the surface, they are to be rejected. There 
are many failures with the uninitiated because of the wrong selection 
of buds. The only blossom buds on my place of the peach family were 
near the ground. 
Silken Leaf Apple.— Prof. J. L. Budd, Ames, la., says: The 
Silken Leaf we imported as No. 75 from Moscow, Russia. Its name 
comes from its large leaves that feel like silk to the touch. It is the 
most vigorous in growth in nursery or orchard that is known to the 
writer except possibly the “Big Estray ” of which R. R. Speer writes 
and talks. It is now very popular as a late fall cooking apple in Ohio, 
Indiana, North Iowa, and the mountain states. At the exposition at 
Chicago, the Washington exhitit showed on the tables ten bushels of 
this variety to fill up spaces. It is large, colored, smooth and, as Mr. 
Ivins states, it comes in for two months in the fall when good cooking 
apples are scarce. It takes the place of the old Maiden’s Blush, but it 
is some later and the tree is hardy everywhere while the Maiden’s 
Blush is very tender. 
Charlton Grape. —Chairman F. M. Hexamer of the native fruit 
committee of the American Pomological Society, reported as follows 
on the Charlton grape at the Philadelphia meeting of the society: “ A 
cross between the Brighton and Mills, raised by John Charlton, Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y. The original vine has fruited the last six years, and its 
fruit seems to increase each season. The berries are globular in shape, 
and medium to large in size, moderately compact, and sometimes 
shouldered; color red, similar to Catawba, quality best, flesh tender 
and melting, juicy, sweet and vinous, separating readily from the seeds, 
of which there are but few. Skin thin, but firm enough to insure good 
keeping and shipping quality. Season early, showing color before 
Concord, but the fruit is in eating condition before it is fully colored. 
The vine is a strong, healthy grower and a prolific bearer.” 
The Papaw.— Prof. H. E. VanDeman says in the Rural Hew 
Yorker: The true papaw grows on a large bush or small tree. One 
that stood near my old home in Southern Ohio was about a foot in dia¬ 
meter of trunk, and the branches spread out like those of an apple tree. 
It is rare to find one half that size. It is strictly a North American 
plant, and is found wild from Western New York to Northern Florida, 
Eastern Texas, Kansas and Southern Michigan. The fruit varies in 
quality, size, shape and season of ripening, much like other wild fruits. 
Some are scarcely three inches long, and nearly round in shape, others 
are more than six inches long, and over two inches in diameter. Soil and 
location have something to do with the size of the fruit, the largest 
beina; found in the rich, virgin soils along the creeks and rivers of the 
central states. So far as I know, there are no named varieties of the 
papaw, although there are some that might well deserve that distinc¬ 
tion. It would, probably, be easy to propagate such by budding or 
grafting, but I do not think it has been tried. Those who have really 
choice varieties within reach, should propagate them and make them 
known to the public, for this is a good fruit that is neglected, except 
perhaps, to spare a tree or bush occasionally in clearing land of its 
natural growth. 
Budding the Wild Rose.— Clarence Wedge, of Albert Lea, Minn., 
says in the Fruitman : “It does not seem to be generally known what 
good stock the common wild rose makes for a variety of the choicest 
cultivated varieties including the teas. We budded the La France, 
about six weeks ago. on a strong sprout of the wild rose, dug from 
the woods this spring and already have two fine blooms. We put in 
the buds about three feet from the ground, and the foliage seems to be 
much healthier than in the same variety on its own roots near the sur¬ 
face. The Germans, near New Ulm, Minn., make great use of these 
little rose trees, and manage to winter almost every variety by cover¬ 
ing with dry leaves and placing a water-tight shed over them, not a 
difficult matter to accomplish, with a few long wide boards, where 
the roses are set in rows.” Prof. Budd, Ames, la., says : “No woody 
plant is easier to bud than our wild roses. If budded three feet from 
the ground, and the stem is supported by a small stalk, the little rose 
trees are easy to lay down as the wood will bend considerably without 
breaking, and it is only necessary to cover the bearing wood. If the 
top is covered with inverted sods, nearly all our best cultivated 
varieties will go through winter in condition for perfect flowering. 
Some varieties that do not flower well on their own roots show perfect 
flowers on this vigorous, hardy root. The sprouts are easy to keep 
down if given a little attention each week.” 
NOT FOR TEN TIMES ITS COST. 
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enclosed $1 draft on New York to cover one year’s subscription. We 
value your paper and would not be without it for ten times its cost.” 
OUR EFFORTS APPRECIATED. 
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please find $1.00 for National Nurseryman. Allow us to congratu¬ 
late you on the able manner in which you are conducting our much 
needed trade journal.” 
