And still they come. How wonderfully prolific nature is, to be sure. Our
readers will have hardly recovered from the effects of the account of
that wonderful berry, the Pride of the Hudson, and taken a long breath
after its perusal, and now, in the very next number, they are asked to
read the story over again under a new heading. When raspberries take a
notion to astonish the world, it is surprising what very wonderful feats
they can perform. It seems as though there was a rivalry springing up in
this matter between the States in the great republic on our southern
border. New York has hardly inscribed on her banner, Pride of the
Hudson, and nailed it to the mast, than staid old Connecticut, that land
of steady habits, seems stirred to her very depths, and in the spirit of
Heine, seized Norway’s tallest fir, and dipping it in Ætna’s crater,
with the flaming brand writes on the forehead of the sky, “Henrietta.”
This Henrietta is a wonderful creature, she too was never made, she
“growed.” A chance seedling in the garden among the currant bushes
sprang up in 1871. In 1873 this foundling performed such prodigies in
the way of size of fruit and abundance of it, that it was taken in and
cared for. Under improved treatment it improved, gratefully
acknowledging the kind care it had received, and developed so many
valuable qualities that it has been thought worthy of a name and an
introduction to the public, both the fruit growing public, and that
larger but less critical body public, the _fruges consumere nati_. We
believe her foster parents held the levee in her honor sometime in the
summer of 1877, and brought out the blushing beauty.
She seems to be a tall young lady, having reached to the height of nine
and ten feet, with a girth of two inches and a quarter, and clothed with
leaves of unusual size, many of them being five inches across. This
foliage seems to remain through the hot and dry weather of July and
August, when some of our red raspberries lose their leaves, and present
the appearance of bare stems, with probably a small tuft at the top. It
is said too, that notwithstanding this great vigor of growth it does not
suffer from the cold; that during two winters, in both of which the
mercury fell to twenty-four degrees below zero, it stood unprotected
without losing even the tip of a cane, while the Philadelphia and
Clarke, growing in the same field, were seriously injured. Only think of
that, twenty-four below zero and not even a tip injured. That is just
the kind of raspberry cane we want in our climate.
And now for the productiveness—does it bear well? Yes, tolerably well,
considering its height. Let us try the rule of three. If a cane three
feet high yields six hundred berries, how many ought a cane to bear that
is nine feet high? Well, we are not told how high this cane was which
produced over eight hundred berries, fully one half of which were over
three-fourths of an inch, cross diameter, many of them one inch, and a
few fully one and one-eighth of an inch. One single branch twenty inches
long, produced three hundred and seventy-nine berries. What a pity the
plant could not be all branches?
But this variety also continues a long time in fruit, commencing to
ripen about the first of July, and if we understand the matter
correctly, continuing to yield ripe fruit up to the twenty-ninth of
August. Now we do not approve of such a habit, it is a very bad one, and
ought to be broken. Does Henrietta suppose we want her raspberries
without end? Must we be asked to forego the blackberries altogether? Fie
on your self-conceit, Henrietta; suppose you finish up by the first of
August, and give us an opportunity to rest until another season.
In color the fruit is red, and is said to be of high flavor. We are not
able to give Chas. Downing’s opinion of its merits, he having only
committed himself, so far as we know, to the remark that it “is a very
promising new variety, with most magnificent foliage.” This reminds one
of the answer made by a non-committal bachelor, to the inquiry if he did
not think a certain young lady just magnificent, who replied, “she has a
most magnificent head of hair.”
But a hardy raspberry, one that can endure twenty-four degrees below
zero without flinching, that bears large crops of large red berries, of
good flavor, is worthy of being tested by our fruit growers; and we
therefore state that any who wish to give it a trial can procure plants
of the gentlemen who first brought Henrietta out, by addressing G. H. &
J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Hartford Co., Connecticut, U. S. A.
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HOW SHALL I WINTER MY GERANIUMS, &c.?
Will you in your valuable periodical spare a corner to an anxious
amateur, and say the best manner plants can be protected in winter,
where there is neither greenhouse nor cold frames, and the space in the
room very limited? The collection consists of Geraniums, Fuchsias,
Abutilons, Heliotropes, and Coleuses.
The following method has been suggested for the geranium, which form the
larger number of the plants, viz.: To take them up, shake the mould from
the roots, dry them in the sun for a short time, place in paper bags,
tie them up, and keep them free from frost; in spring place in a cold
frame, water, and gradually prepare for out door culture.
If any one has tried this plan, will they oblige with the result of
their experience.
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