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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1880)
May, 1880. THE WEST SHORE. '37 THE AMERICAN CRAB APPLE. Prof. W. J. Baal, of the Michigan Agricul tural College, hai furniihed the Botanical Index the reiulta of au interesting study he ha made nf the nativ erah nnnl nf erinnfrr f Pinn coronaria). Mr. Caie, editor of the Botanical Index, at Riohmond, Indiana, ha kindly al lowed ua to reproduce the article (rem hii excellent journal. We believe this view of an original fruit will intereit our growers of im proved aorta, and may to tome bring new pointa of information. Of the American crab apple there are two or three varieties. The leading one is Pynu coronaria, a small tree, which extenda from near take Superior in British America to Louisiana. It is especially abundant in the higheat of the Alleghany mountains. It thrives in open places, in cool soil which ia deep and rich, though it it not uncommon in soil of moderate fertility. The tree varies in hight from 15 to 30 feet, accord ing to soil and climate. The diameter of the trunk is 3 or 4 inches, but in some oases it reaches 15 inches. The leavea are ovate or broad ovate, variously out, serrate, and often lobed. The flowers are quite largo, in oorymbs, pale rose oolor, and very fragrant. The fruit is about 1 to 11 inches in diameter, flat, globular, with a slight abrupt folded basin, and a very shallow cavity. The oolor is yellowish green, unctuous, and very acid. The engraving on thia page, shows a branch with leavea and two apples, with a sec tion of a third, about two-thirds the natural size; also a flower and a flower bud. The latter is oopied from Miohaux's North American Nylva. There are 35 or 40 species of I'ynu, natives of both hemispheres, in the north tem perate zone. Along the Alleghaniee there ia a narrow-leaved orab apple, which may be a dia tant species from the one here flgurod. In Ore gon we And P. rivularii, which beam small, reddish-yellow fruit, about the size of that borne by mountain aah. The Indiana use it for food. To a limited extent, the crab Simla has been tried aa a hedge plant. It ia welt adapted to a high northern latitude; is a very stiff grower, well covered with sharp spines; grows faster than Hawthorne; is hardy and not liable to (lis ease. At Michigan Agricultural College, there has been started a short hedge of this plant. In the oity of Lansing, near by, is a close row along the front line of a city lot. Those trees have been allowed to grow in a natural way. When in flower, the display is very line, tilling the air with their delightful perfume The thorns, rough bark, crooked limbs, and rather open top, give the tree a rather pic- turesque appearance. Perhaps these may be some of the reasons why it is not much need in this country as an ornamental tree, though it has long been considered one of the prettiest nowenng shrubs in r.nglanil. The American crab apple ia probably capable of improvement by selection and cultivation. Why not ? Everything that has been faithfully tried has improved sooner or later, under the lostenng care of man. What virtues lay hid den in this wild fruit, probably we may never know; aa no people will be likely to persistently try to improve a sour, wild apple, while we al ready have those so muoh better. Pynu itatiu and '. pnmifoUa already have the lead. Certainly, for over 2,000 years, the common apple has been undergoing improve ment, how muoh longer no one knows. In a late sasay, Dr. A Gray "speculates aa to what our pomology would have been if civilization had bad its birthplace along the southern shores of our great lakes, ths northern shorts of the gulf of Mexico and the intervening Miss issippi, instead of the I .event, Mesopotamia, and the n He ; our apples would have been ie veloped from Pynu coronaria, and might have euuaJled anything we actually possess from Pynu malm. It is not certain that thia species can be crossed in either wav with our common apples On two aaasons several attempts were made by the writer, but all to no purpose. Like expert meats made in crossing our cultivated crab apples on the wild species have been successful, and will be continued. In thia way we can get new blood into our cultivated crabs, and, per haps, gain some desirable point in tree or fruit for the coldest parts of our country. It may, ' - - ...... . uiussui oui common cattle with the American bison; 110 advantage to the buffalo, and a great detriment to our cattle. 11. Houlard, 111 the Horticultural Iteport of Illinois for 1868, speaks of some trees whiuh were cultivated and bore fruit tinea or (our times the size of the ordinary fruit He fancied they were not quite so harsh. Tho tree origi- T11 k Ski lie: r or BlAtmr. -The true secret of beauty ia health. Those who desire to be beau tiful should do all they can to restore their health, if they have it yet No one can lay down apeoiflo rules for other people In these mat. ters, 1 he work one may do, the rest he must take, his baths, diet and exercise, are matters of individual consideration, but they must bo care fully thought of and nsver neglected. As a rule, when a person looks well hs feels well, and when he looks bad ha feels bad, aa a general thing. There are times when one could guess, without looking in the glass, that his eyea were BSBSMSUlWBBBir SBBBDdHBBBWJ aaV ISBI F0L1AOK, BUMHOMS AND KKI'IT OK PVUUH roUONARlA.-AfWr Mul.au. nated in Missouri, and was thought to lie the result of a cross with our common apple, some of which grew in the immediate vicinity. Home specimens of the fruit were seven inches around. It is valuable for cooking, preserving, and Jal lisa. Hs adds "It will keep for Two years with common oars in a oellar. and will stand re peated freezing and thawing in a darkish place." Perhaps he might add, that withoat damage, it it could lie shaken or beaten from the tree, and taken loosely to market in a lumber wagon. A aaAimrcL girl up town received a fragrant bouquet from one of her many admirers. "How lovaly f exclaimed tlx eostatio fair one; "it fumigates ths satire domicile." dull and his skin was mottled. Thia la not a oaae for something in a pretty bottle (mm the perfumer's, or (or ths lotion the circulars praise en highly. To have a fresh complexion and bright eyea, even to have white bands and a graoe(ul figure, you must be wsll. Hsalth, ami the happiness that usually comes with it, are the tree aauists of bsaaty, - Quarttrly Retirw, Para tiut will U nu A new paper is now made of palmetto flber which oaa be wasbsd with soap and water, as one would wash a ptsos of linen cloth, then robbed, wrung out, and dried Ths paper resembles parchment In odor. . i . r , , , . l. .1.1.1 -i 11 is not sa strong rmi is vrugn, sjinougn 01 on lUJ I t no tnii-an