144 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May 



trees or plants. Make the soil- as firm about 

 them in transplantins; as it was when they were 

 growing. And yet the loss from the neglect of 

 this rule by those who have bought trees and 

 plants, and even on my own grounds, has been 

 greater than from all other sources combined. 

 A warm dry wind will penetrate the loose soil, 

 and vvithin a few hours wilt a plantation of 

 strawberries or cabbages. To save them by 

 watering would be out of the question. The 

 remedy is to make the earth solid, and the 

 surest and quickest way is to step the ball of 

 the foot directly on each plant if they are badly 

 wilted, or in ordinary cases on each side of the 

 plant. If the transplanting is done in wet 

 weather, the firming should be deferred until it 

 is dry enough to need it. One day in passing a 

 front yard I saw a neat looking mound a foot 

 high, with a border of sods, and in it were a 

 dozen verbenas, which I had sold the day 

 before, wilted almost beyond recovery. I did 

 not wait for an invitation, but went inside and 

 stamped that bed down to six inches, and went 

 on my way. Every plant lived, and afterward I 

 had the sods removed and the bed enlarged so 

 as to slope down to the natural sod, and it was 

 tTie admiration of the whole neighborhood. 

 Why will ladies persist in sowing tlieir flower 

 seeds in those little mounds surrounded with 

 sods, and then lug water and fight grass all 

 summer? 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Californian Fruits.— It is interesting to 

 note how the Koyal Crown passes to various 

 fruits, as they travel through our land. In Boston 

 the pear would be the king of fruits ; in Kew 

 York, the apple; in Philadelphia, the straw- 

 berry; in Cincinnati, the grape; but in Califor- 

 nia the orange, with other members of the 

 Citrus family, seems to be in the royal line of 

 succession to the throne. We have before us a 

 report of a Horticultural meeting at Riverside 

 in that State, where they seem to talk orange 

 nearly all the while. One man is commended for 

 raising an orange tree in a water bucket, which 

 bore two oranges in that little kingdom of its 

 own ; but this feat is often equaled by our own 

 Dutch house-wives "at home," Another claims 

 the "largest orange — six inches in diameter;-' 

 but another we are afterwards told, had one 

 "unsurpassed" collection, some "weighing a 

 pound each." As showing the greatest variety. 



one exhibitor had thirty-four varieties of the 

 Citrus family. We note by the proceedings that 

 there are the same arguments in orange, as in 

 peach or other culture, whether seedlings are 

 better than budded fruit trees; with the same 

 opposite conclusions. 



The grape however comes in for some re- 

 spect, especially as raisins ; and the Riversidians 

 are sanguine that California will drive all Eu- 

 ropean raisins out of the American market. 



The King orange, said to be only known to 

 the Royal family of China, and beyond all 

 others, truly delicious, was exhibited. 



Apples and Pears on the Potomac. — Mr. 

 D. S. Curtiss is preparing a small work on ap- 

 ple and pear culture in the Potomac region, and 

 would be glad of such special information as 

 any one may have. Address him Washington, 

 D. C. 



A Large Potato order.— It is an ill wind 

 that blows no one any good. A Dublin seeds- 

 man has received an order from the Duchess of 

 Marlborough for 1200 tons of seed potatoes to be 

 distributed among the starving poor in the south- 

 west of Ireland. It is stipulated that they 

 must be all of one specified variety — the Scotch 

 Champion. If each poor person gets ten pounds 

 of seed, this would start two thousand seven 

 hundred people in potato growing again, from 

 this single order. 



New Btjsh Beans. — As noted recently, our 

 catalogues have now an immense number of 

 kinds to choose from, and one can scarcely see 

 where there is place for another one. But the 

 English papers advertise the " monster," and 

 say : "It differs from the ordinary type in 

 having much larger pods, and in being more 

 productive and very early. It is of robust habit, 

 and the pods, which are produced freely and 

 continuously, range from seven to eight inches 

 in length, and are very fleshy." Have we any 

 already that will come up to this ? 



Some Large Cucumbers. — There may not 

 be much more value in a large cucumber than a 

 small one to some people ; but those who do 

 not want to pare all the cucumber away in skin- 

 ning are not among the number. Besides this, 

 a large cucumber in the winter time is a proof 

 of superior horticultural skill. Mr. Thos. Love, 

 at Dr. Linderman's, at Bethlehem, had un- 

 usually fine ones this winter. They ran about 

 seventeen inches lonsr- 



