The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-09-28

Der of Fameuse seedlings have been
tried; but though usually of good quail
ity and productive, they all have the
fatal fault of fungous spotting, and are
likewise poor keepers. The only ma
tive Vermont seedlings of decided
merit for commercial planting at pres
ent known are the Bethel-evidently
Seeding of Blue Pearmain, but much
superior to its parent-and SCOTS Win
ter, of unknown parentage. These are
already accepted by growers in north
ern New England, Canada and the
Northwest, as standard orchard fruits
for commercial planting. But they are
neither of them - though generally
fair-wholly exempt from the defect of
fungous spotting, which characterizes
all the apples of Western Europe and
their American seedlings. The re-
Gently devised practice of spraying
foliage and fruit with weak solution
of sulphate of copper has proved an
effective remedy for this disease. 1t
should be remarked that the two apples
here named are native to Vermont
Bethel of the town of that name, and
Scott of Newport.
Nearly or quite sixty years ago some
very handsome apples, growing upon
very productive and vigorous trees,
uara bro,oht from, Enolond 20 Maooo
chusetts as being of Russian origin.
They were planted near Boston, and
soon were very widely distributed;
their vigorous growth as nursery trees,
their early and abundant bearing, and
the beauty and size of their fruit COM
mending them greatly to nurserymen
and orchardists. No apples of the old
stock from western Europe-the stock
brought to America by the early Amer
can settlers-could rival these new
corners in vigor of growth, early and
abundant bearing-but unfortunately
they were all summer or autumn fruits,
none of them keeping under ordinary
conditions, even in New England, be-
yond the holidays; while further south
they became summer fruit. Neverthe.
less they have remained favorite APP
pies of their season all over the CONT
nent, being among the very few sorts
successfully grown on the lower Mis-
sissippi and the Mexican Gulf. But
their commanding merit has been that
they would stand any amount of cold
without injury, and are heavy and I'M
falling bearers.
When it was found, as happened
very soon after its settlement, that the
old varieties of apples from western
Europe and their American progeny
would not endure the climatic extremes
of the upper Mississippi valley, while
these few examples of Russian fruits
stood in every dead orchard of that Sec
ton as "spared monuments" a strong
demand was made upon the National
Bureau of Agriculture-now the De-
partment of Agriculture-for the i'm
/
portation and distribution of full COL
lection of Russian varieties of apples.
This was carried out very efficiently,
trees and cions of several hundreds of
varieties being collected, safely deliv-
cred at Washington, and distributed
over the country. The last part of the
work, however, was done in the usual
bungling way that has always, until
quite recently, marked the work of
that department of our government.
So far as known, hardly one-fourth of
the varieties of this importation are
known to exist in America; but such
as are known have, with but few ex-
ceptions, proved to be capable of re-
sisting our EXTREMIST cold, producing
large crops of useful fruit. Scarcely
any of these, however, seem to have
proved to be long keepers. Yet the re-
ports received from our governme ntal
officials, and from travellers in Russia,
indicate that there is no lack of that
class of fruit in that country. 1t was
also known and reported that Russia
possessed not only an abundance of
apples, but also like abundance of
pears, plums and cherries, as we'll as
varieties of small fruits of merit.
AT this juncture a citizen of Canada,
Mr.. Charles Glib of Montreal, who
had become deeply interested in
fruit-growing, proposed to Professor j.
L. Budd of the Iowa Agricultural
College an experienced professional
nurseryman and horticulturist-tO join
with him in an expedition to Russia,
with the view of devoting the whole of
one summer to The study of Russian
fruits. This plan was fully carried out,
with remarkable results which are be-
ing now very rapidly developed. 1t is
ten years since that expedition returned,
and now on every hand in the northern
Mississippi valley, in the st. Lawrence