1878.] 



AND NOR TICUL TURIST. 



Aspect of a Greejthouse. — S. B. B., War- 

 Tenton,W. Va., writes: " I am about to build a 

 greenhouse, and ask that you would favor me with 

 your advice as to position. The place I would like 

 to put it is so fixed that I would be compelled to 

 have the gable end (which would be of glass) fac- 

 ing a little south of east ; the sun shines on the spot 



all day. I have another place I could put it in 

 where the gable would face a little west of south, 

 with sun all day." 



[Supposing the chief object will be flowers in 

 winter, either aspect would do very well. The 

 one giving as much direct sunlight from the 

 southeast having the preference. — Ed. G. M.] 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening, 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Grape-vines in the open air, on arbors and 

 trellises, should have their pruning finished be- 

 fore warm Spring days set in, or they will bleed. 

 It does not injiu-e them much, but it looks bad. 

 The pruning must be regulated by the condi- 

 tion of the vine. If the vines are young and the 

 shoots weak, cut them all back, to make a new 

 and vigorous growth. If already a fair quantity 

 of strong shoots of last season's growth exists, 

 -cut out the weaker ones, so as to leave enough of 

 stronger ones. The cane system, slightly modi- 

 fied, is best tor arbors and trellises in the hands 

 of amateurs generally. This implies a new set 

 •of canes every year or two. If, as frequently 

 'happens from bad management, all the young 

 and strong-bearing wood exists only at the end 

 •of the vines, — and these latter have become 

 nothing but long, ropy-looking apologies for 

 what a vine should be — the whole cane may be 

 buried down in the soil to where the strong 

 shoots spring from, and the young wood of last 

 season trained up from this. The plant will then 

 recover its good appearance quite as well as by 

 cutting down, with the advantage of not sacri- 

 ficing a year's crop of fruit. 



Many kinds of raspberries, especially in dry 

 soils, have a tendency to throw up innumerable 

 suckers. These should be thinned out. Three 

 or four canes are enough to leave in a "hill.'* 

 "We like, however, to grow raspberries in rows, 

 where each cane may have a chance to enjoy an 

 independent existence of about a square foot of 

 soil for itself. 



We have before remarked that fruit trees and 

 bushes should invariably be cut in severely, and 

 not allowed to bear the same season of planting. 

 It is a fatal mistake to look for fruit the same 

 season of setting out the ti-ees. This is at the 

 expense of future growth, and without future 

 growth there will be no future crops. 



Easpberries, blackberries, &c., frequently bear 

 and die when so treated. The canes should be 

 cut back to a few inches on transplanting. 

 Raspberries for fruit in fall should always be 

 pretty well cut back. It is not essential with the 

 regular Fall-bearing kinds, but it aids them 

 much. 



In the vegetable garden we might give a hint 

 in asparagus culture, that if very large stalks are 

 desired the soil must be very rich, and the plants 

 set as wide apart as rows of corn. It is to be 

 observed that those who believe there are some 

 varieties of asparagus that may be reproduced 

 fiom seed,urge the necessity of planting very wide 

 apart. We do not know that very lai\ge stalks are 

 especially desirable, and for ordinary use would 

 set the plants about twenty inches apart ; about 

 four inches beneath the surface is deep enough to 

 set. Good deep soil is generally good ; but if in 

 a stiff soil, deepening it for asparagus, only makes 

 a well into which the surrounding waters drain. 

 It is much better in such situations to plant 

 in raised beds. The alleys between, then serve 

 as surface ditches. Many failures in planting 

 asparagus, arise from this depth of bed, under 

 such circumstances. The plants rot from water 

 about them. 



In the open ground Peas and Potatoes receive 

 the first attention. Then Beets and Carrots. 

 Then Lettuce, Radish, Spinach, Onions, Leeks 

 and Parsley. Beyond this, unless in more favor- 

 able latitudes than Pennsylvania, little can be 

 done till the first week in April. There is 

 nothing gained in working soil until it has be- 

 come warm and dry. 



Those who have no Spinach sown in the Fall 

 should do that right away; no amount of stable 

 manure but will be a benefit to it, though 

 guano, in even smallish doses, will kill it. 

 Guano produces excellent Cabbage, mixed with 

 the ground while it is being dug for that crop. 

 Cabbage, is ready, and Potatoes are better in 



