THE FARM AND GARDEN. 



Ol^GHAI^D AND SMALL Rl^UliPS 



THE ■WILSON JR. ONCE MORE. 



In July ^st Wni. Parry, of New Jersey, 

 brought to This office a bunch of Wilson Jr. 

 blaciiberries measuring twelve inches across and 

 sixteen inches deep. We spoke of this in The 

 Farm and Garden, and now we give a reduced 

 picture taken from a photograph of the bunch 

 rSliown us. As our own eyes have seen it, we 

 imust believe it. 



A PRACTICAL MODE OF PLANTING 

 BTBAWBBRRIBS. 



JBy Chas. S. Rowlry. Lacon, Jtt. 



Before a plant is put in the ground the planter 

 should inform himself as to the pistilate or stam- 

 inate character of the variety he is using. This 

 is a matter of the greatest importance. Pistilate 

 varieties are special kinds whose flowers bear 

 pistils only, and have no stamens. Many of our 

 most valuable varieties are of this class, and sucli 

 require the i)resence of a staminate sort to fertil- 

 ize their blossoms, and make them bear perfect 

 fruit. Staminate varieties are designated also 

 by the titles of perfect, hermaphrodite, and 

 male; and in catalogues generally have the 

 letter "h" or "s" to distinguish them from 

 pistilate or female sorts, which are usually 

 marked " p." 



We usually commence a plan- 

 tation with from one to eight rows 

 of a staminate sort, then an equal 

 number of the pistilate, then a 

 repetition of a staminate, and so 

 on through the plantation, care 

 being giv- 



Lord Nelson hungoQt the flas ♦l,.,f *li,i 



on the battle morn. " Eim- '^" '"'": ', 

 land expects every man to do outside 

 blsduty." WehopcTouivm row should 

 think It Toiir duly to help ™™ srioiim 

 increase the siihscription li^t b e stamill- 



The plants come fresh from the water, and so 

 escape any of the ill eft'ects of sun or wind, so 

 detrimental when dropping a long row ahead of 

 the planter, a modi which I most heartily con- 

 demn. Having come out in a fresh state, their 

 roots go to their full natural depth, in cool moist 

 eartli, especially opened for the reception of each 

 plant, and immediately closed again, in a firm 

 and solid manner, which, if well done, makes a 

 plant as firmly set in its new place as it was 

 where it grew, for snch a plant cannot be pulled 

 out easily, often breaking in two before it will 

 give way at the roots. I would especially recom- 

 mend this as the most favorable mode for fall 

 planting. W'ith an assistant, I have frequently 

 planted 5,000 strawberries in a day of ten hours, 

 by this method. 



The best distance to set strawberry plants, if 

 for field culture is in rows three feet apart, with 

 the plants aati ""* '""' apart in the row. 

 At this dis iTm^tance 14,520 plants will be 

 required ^' Iff^^S^''^'' ""* "•''■'-'• "^ ^^ '"'' 

 one rod. y^^yM ^^«^s,l*"'"' ganlen culture 

 set /!i\ Ir sK"?S\ IvVv ' li '-' "1 one foot 



apart eacli wav 



on g»-od soil, 



and b v 



or ilic Fa 



I A.NO GAKPS.-4. 



ate, as the 

 first were. This mode guarantees 

 the proper fertilization of all 

 the pistilate varieties, no one of 

 which will bear alone, while 

 the staminate .sort will; l)iil it 

 is always better that a planta- 

 tion should consist of several 

 varieties, both male and fe- 

 male. We plant them in sec- 

 tions, of alternate sets of 

 rows, so that (lure plants can 

 be dug from the middles. 

 Pistilates may be safely set 

 as far as twenty-four feet 

 from the staminate and re- 

 ceive all necessary fertilization. 

 This being fully understood, 

 we come to the planting. 



The most sini|)le, easy antJ 

 practical way that I have ever 

 found to set strawberries ami 

 plants with small mots, is liy 

 use of the spade, and the help 

 of an assi.staiit. In using the 

 spade all contact of the liands 

 with the soil is avoided, and 

 though the ground may be hard and 

 compact, the planting is not obstructed. 

 The blade is set at right angles with 

 the line, its left corner being nearest to 

 it. In this position tlie blade is sunk 

 to the guard, alter which the handle is 

 moved back and forth once or twice, so that 

 when the spade is withdiawn there will bean ap- 

 erture, in the shape of a wedge. In making these 

 spaces you are to remain on the right hand side of 

 the line, and your assistant occujiies the opposite 

 side, carry ing'in his left hand a bucket of water and 

 plants ; using his riglit hand to grasp the plant at 

 its collar, with the tliumb and forefinger. Giving 

 the plant a sudden flirt, while its roots are wet, 

 will spread them out in something of a fan shape ; 

 these he places to their full extent in the aperture 

 made by the spade, setting the crown so that it 

 will be just at the surface of the opposite bank, 

 in which position it must be held while you force 

 the nearer bank orsideof the opening next to you 

 against tlie other, by ju'essing with your foot, 

 thus enclosing the plant in the solid clasp of the 

 vise-like enclosui-e. All this is very easily done, 

 requiring but a few moments practice to become 

 an adept at it. If you have no helper, it is a 

 good plan to go a sliort distance over the line at 

 a time, making the spaces, then follow witii the 

 bucket of plants, holding each plant in jiosition 

 while closing the eartli with the foot. We have 

 set a great many thousands of plants in this man- 

 ner, and find it not only simple and practical, 

 but also the very best and most successful method 

 we have ever tried. A few of the advantages 

 gained by this manner of planting are as follows: — 



She commenced by picking out all the canes 

 which were wanted for the principal bearing 

 branches, and placing them to her mind ; all else 

 was rigidly cut away. After this was done, all 

 the outgrowth from these canes was cut close to 

 each cane, leaving not one Ixid in any case. 

 After this extraordinary jiroceeding, a farmer 

 neighbor happened to call, and asked who had 

 trimmed the grape vines. " I did." was the 

 reply. ** Well," said the neighbor " I took you 

 for a woman of good sense, but a lunatic could 

 have done as well as this. " Come and see them 

 in the fall, "was the cool reply of Jlrs. R. 



When fall came, Mrs. R. happened to meet the 

 neighbor, who asked after the grape vines. 

 " Come and see them," said Mrs. R. The neigh- 

 bor came and when slie saw the formerly barren 

 vine loaded down with fruit, her astonishment 

 was great. On her relurn home, she sent her 

 husband (versed in the culture of the grape), to 

 see the result of a woman's whim in trimming. 

 He, also, was astonished, and said bad he seen 

 the vines when trimmed, he would have made 

 the same remark his wife had. 



So Mrs. R. proceeded each year, with the same 

 mode of trimming, with excellent results. 



Knowing that it is the fibrous roots that take 

 up nourishment for the vine, Mrs. R., each spring, 

 draws away tlie earth from about these, and puts 

 in fresh earth all about them, which she obtains 

 m under the grass sod in a neighboring lot. 

 "ter this is done, she ttirns the sod ujiside 

 li>wn over the roots, this is in turn covered 

 H ith the garden earth. In this way 

 the strength of her vines is renew- 

 ed from year to year, and show 

 no decrease of vigor. 



In another case (at Pottsville,) 



the grass cut from the plot which 



the vines bordered, was placed 



on top of the ground aljout the 



vines. The consequence was that 



these vines (the Concord), throve 



lid bore fruit, while those of 



tlie neighbors, of the same kind, 



were either winter-killed, or 



were barren of fruit. 



A Cluster of the 



WitsoH Jr. 

 Blackberry. 



autumn these will^J^^be a solid bed of plants, 

 which will give a s p 1 e n tl i d crop of the 



finest fruit the ensuing season. In field culture 

 there are certain practical modes of culture, and 

 the manner and time of renewing the plantations, 

 that I have not space to give in this article. 



TRIMMING GRAPE VINES. 



By Anna Qriacom, 



For some years the vines had been regularly 

 trimmed by experts, and once by a skilled ama- 

 teur, who finished up the lr>iig list. 



There was no result of these trimmings but 

 luxuriant growth, so liixiiriaiit as to )iroduce the 

 suggestitin that they might run to New York, 

 over a hundred miles. Discouraged by the many 

 failures for years, Mrs. R. concluded that she 

 would now try the trimming herself As she was 

 a good logical reasoner, she had often hit on 

 methods that were not only original, but tpute 

 successful. 



OLD CURRANT BUSHES, AND HOW- 

 TO IMPROVE THEM. 



By E. E. Bajard, SMocton, Wis. 



In many gardens you will see a 



of currant bushes standing along the 



fence, with grass growing among them, 



and almost hiding them. The bushes have 



to fi^'ht for an existence, and it is often 



a wonder that they do not give up the 



tniggle. The worms take most of the 



fruit, which, if it were allowed to 



ripen, would be small and poor. "I 



like currants," a farmer said to me 



yesterday, "but it does not pay to 



try to raise them, they do not amount 



to enough to make it worth while 



to bother with them." I looked at his 



sickly, starved bushes, and mentally 



concluded that he bad never "bothered" 



with tliem much. ' 



The currant is a healthy fruit, ami can 

 be grown in large quantities, with hut 

 little trouble. I know of no other small 

 fruit which will produce so well witli 

 a. moderate amount of care. Three 

 years ago my father took an old row ot 

 bushes in hand, and the results have been most 

 gratifyin". He removed the grass from about 

 them,' and s)iaded 'he soil up to about the depth, 

 of a foot, working in well-rotted manure about 

 the plants. Then he went to work and cut out 

 the old wood from every bush, leaving only the 

 growth of that year. We kept the plants clean 

 through the summer, and they grew wonderfully. 

 They said to us as plainly as if in words, that 

 they were willing all along to grow, if they only- 

 had a chance. As .soon as the opportunity was 

 presented, they toc^k advantage of it. The next 

 spring he jiut" a hit of old mortar from a room 

 wliicii hail its plastering removed for a new coat 

 among the bushes, and this helped to keep the 

 soil light and open. We kept all weeds down, 

 and no grass was allowed to grow. The result 

 was a large crop of fruit, and the fruit was so 

 large and fine that many of his neighbors thought 

 he iiuisthave planted .^ new variety, and asked 

 for cuttings. This proved what gootl cultivation 

 will do, and that is simply this: That it will 

 (ipparevlh/ work "wonders. There is, however, 

 no wonder, and nothing at all strange abnnt it. 

 Give any plant a fair cliance and it will do well 

 under proper treatment and conditions. While 

 the currant bushes of our neighbors were covered 

 with worms, his had none, anti he feels sure that 

 their exemption from this pest was attributable 

 solely to the fact that the ground was kept free 



