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HORTICULTUEE 



June 14, 1913 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 



CONDUCTED BY 



y>t7lr>^^ 



Questions by our readers In line with any of the topics presented on this page will be cordially received and promptly answered 

 by Mr. Penson. Such communications should Invariably be addressed to the office of HORTICULTURE. 



Thtips on Grapes 



Replying to Mr. Coe's letter concerning thrips on 

 grapes would advi.se him to take up the cudgel against 

 them without delay. The recurrence of this pest a sec- 

 ond year seems to indicate that they are taken on to the 

 vines from some other sources or were allowed to remain 

 in a partly developed state through the winter months. 

 At times thrips are troublesome outside and this is 

 where they may have had their origin in this case. 

 Thrips do not like water, damping and syringing being 

 barriers against them. Once established, however, water 

 pressure seldom dislodges them. Fumigating with Xi 

 coticide apparently has not checked them and I am 

 doubtful if a dose sufficiently strong to kill tbem could 

 be applied without injuring the Musca't of Ale.xandria 

 growing in the same house. The only safe and sure 

 method is to sponge the rod, laterals and foliage with 

 insecticide as strong as they will stand it. The skin of 

 the berries is so tender that clear water only should be 

 used on them. This should bo rain or clear river water 

 that will not mark the berries in any way and be applied 

 with a hand syringe with all possible force. Have 

 someone to carefully hold up the shoulders which will 

 make the interior more accessible. 



The Hard and Fast Rule 



No other business has such elastic rules as those gov- 

 erning the gardening profession. This is generally ad- 

 mitted yet occasionally we find some men who seem 

 to think things must work mechanically. The very fact 

 of vastly different methods resulting in equally good 

 results convinces one there are more ways than one to 

 '■'produce the goods" (or perhaps it leaves us in a quan- 

 dary). As you roam the country you find no two places 

 are alike; something can be learned from each transfer 

 or visit. At times the newly acquired knowledge does 

 not "pan out." Why? Because conditions are different 

 and you probably are lacking in some details your in- 

 formers have grown so accustomed to that they over- 

 looked to mention them. Look at the vast stretch of 

 country covered by the one name — America — with its 

 many and varied climates, all of which are specially 

 ada))ted for the growing of some particular product. 

 When tb.ese, what we might call, natural specialties come 

 to be grown in another state they are not so prolific or 

 elegant. In a similar way the products of the green- 



house will vary, some sections being better suited for 

 certain crops tlian others, yet we often find these obsta- 

 cles have been surmounted by giving a little here and 

 taking a little there which might have to be reversed by 

 a neighbor or friend elsewhere. Occasionally drastic 

 steps have to lie taken which to the casual ol)server would 

 seem outrageous, but after an explanation things are 

 viewed in a different liglit. I know there are instances 

 every season where we have to divert from the beaten 

 track, yet the writer always tries to take subjects col- 

 lectively rather than individually. Each man has to 

 study his own crops individually and even then the same 

 routine cannot always be carried out. Approximate 

 dates for doing this or that can be used but not set fast. 

 A cold spell such as that which has wrought such havoc 

 amongst the crops in different states during the past 

 spring may change it all and the crops in the greenhouse 

 would suffer too if due allow-ance is not made for the 

 changing climatic conditions. To use an old phrase 

 "There are a bundred and one things to be taken into 

 consideration," each day bringing some change or varv'- 

 ing condition. The fixtures are very few — a fact which 

 we all have ever to remember. 



Tying Young Peach Trees 



The tying or l raining nt' young peach trees is not 

 quite so important as that of a child or young gardener 

 but yet of such im|)ortance as to merit a little space 

 being utilized on il, for the old proverb stands good here 

 as elsewhere, "train Ibctn in the way that they should 

 go and in later years they will not depart from it." 

 Young trees making their first year's wood are forming 

 the main branches of the trees of years to come and if 

 these are not laid in right, the trees never can look good 

 in after years, and maybe the trellis will not fill up evenly 

 as it ought to do. It is an easy matter to say let them 

 go for a time; perhaps that time will be nearly fall with 

 the wood half-ripened. That will never pull in as it 

 ought to do; there will be an ugly bend near the base and 

 most likely the growth itself will take several extra ties 

 to make it anything like straight. "Do it now" wliile 

 they are young and supple, laying the growths out to 

 cover the whole trellis. Dispense with anything apper- 

 taining to a leader: I lie center should bo kept o]ien at all 

 times. I do not wish anyone to think this will grow- 

 any larger or better fruit than those treated in a rougher 

 way but it takes very little more trouble or energy to be 

 neat and tidv than it does to do things "anv old wav." 



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