The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-09
AarirnHnraI
L. HI. HosKINs. Newport. VT. Editor.
The New Russian Fruits In Iowa.

uO NOW bbuoohhh huhoo ~ aU"s--
Professor Budd of the Iowa Agricul-
tural College writes us that the Arabka
apple, one of the newly imported Russians
which are good keepers in Russia, is
keeping we'll there, and at the date of
writing December ls) was Gas hard as a
brick We saw specimens of this fruit
at the Montreal horticultural fair, and
was struck with its beautiful appearance,
like a fine large Baldwin. Mr.. Glib, who
saw it in Russia, says "the fruit was
roundish, of q dark purplish red. 1t was
above medium in size, although the trees
were overloaded, fine, solid, acid fruit,
said there TO keep two years. 1t has also
the merit of holding on to the tree 80
firmly that could hardly find windfall'
At Saratof on the Volga we visited an
orchard of 10000 trees, where they were
employing 800 pickers and eighty-fve
packers to ship to Moscow $4,000 pools
of apples. In good year they produced
$4,000 pools, which is equal to 1880
TONS" They place the apple third on the
list for profit, the Anis and Autonovka
taking precedence. Mr.. Budd says there
are many varieties Of the Arabka, the one
discarded by Mr.. Glib being known in
Russia by growers under the name of
"Tchougounka -" cast IRON" The"A
abskoe of the department of agriculture
list Mr.. Budd says he has seen in Russia
and in Iowa. 1t is very different apple,
of the Duchess family, striped apple,
and not true member of the Arabka
family.
"Titovka" MIR. Budd says is also
family name. "The best Titovka we
saw, and the one shall call by that name,
is that of Orel and central Russia. 1t
is winter apple there, and would be
with you. With us in Iowa it would be
early winter, unless picked early. The
No. $50 of the department list is the
Titovka grown at st. Petersburgh. The
fruit is earlier and smoother, yet will prove
valuable in cold climates. We have i'm
ported scions and trees this winter from
the grounds of the genealogical schools at
Orel and Voronesh, with view to testing
the nomenclature We will work. 1t out
in time; in some cases we have the same
variety--or, at least, the same name-from
six or seven different sources" There is
so little communication between the fruit
growers of the different parts of Russia
that there is, as yet, great confusion in the
names of the varieties, and this is added
to, no doubt, by the fact that seedlings
more or less resembling the original form,
but yet varying, all 60 by the same name,
as is the case with the Fameuse in Can.
ada. Professor Budd adds, awe are now
on the cherry and pear question. We are
grating a number of thousand of pears
this winter of the steppe varieties, and
we are importing about fifty varieties of
cherries from northeastern Austria, Po-
land and Russia. The great cherries for
the million in the Swabian Alps, the
Tyrol, Hungary, Silesia, Poland, and all
Russia to the fifty-sixth parallel of north
latitude are the varieties of the Griotte
race. 1t is rich cherry, with colored
juice and thin pendulous shoots. Possibly
there are 100 varieties, yet not one of
them has been brought to the United
States, unless of southern forms like
Ostheim and Double Matte" There is
large feld<o work over in selecting the
best of these iron-clad fruits for the cold
parts of America, and the Iowa college is
doing great and useful work in regard
to it.