1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



139 



epecially, as to whether they are from hot coun- 

 tries or cold, and similar matters, that will aid 

 a good propagator, Lindley & Moore's Treasury 

 of Botany is a good helper. — Ed. G. M.] 



Scale on Oleanders. — J. P. S., Wintersett, 

 Iowa. — " Please inform me through the columns 

 of the Gardener's Monthly (of which I am a sub- 

 scriber) what is the best means of destroying 

 scales on Oleanders; also, can alcohol be used to 

 any advantage, and how^ much does it require to 

 be diluted? By so doing you will much oblige." 



[Gardener's generally use for the scale on 

 Oleanders strong whale-oil soap. — Ed. G. M.] 



NiPHETOS Tea Rose for Cutting. — Dallas 

 Bros., Bridgeport, Conn., with a very beautiful 

 rosebud, say: "We noticed in the Gardener's 

 3IonihIy a paragraph headed Roses for "Winter 

 Buds. We send you two buds of the first-named 

 (and perhaps least known), Niphetos, cut from a 

 plant imported last fsill. By all appearance it is 

 a very free bloomer, and the quality you can 

 judge by the buds sent." 



RUIT AND M 



MDENING. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Fruit culture for profit has had to contend 

 with over-abundant crops the past year or two, 

 and the trees in such cases are weakened. Now, 

 this may be remedied by thinning out fruit in 

 infancy. This prevents a glut, gives finer fruit, 

 and saves the trees. 



Besides thinning the fruit, we should thin the 

 young bi'anches. Handsome forms are as desira- 

 ble in fruit as in ornamental trees. No winter 

 pruning will do ths exclusively. It may furnish 

 the skeleton — but it is summer pinching which 

 clothes the bones with beauty. A strong shoot 

 soon draws all its nutriment to itself. Never 

 allow one shoot to grow that wants to be 

 bigger than others. Equality must be insisted 

 on. Pinch out always as soon as they appear, 

 such as would push too strongly ahead, — and 

 keep doing so till the new buds seem no stron- 

 ger than the others. Thus the food gets equally 

 distributed. 



Fruit growing primarily for pleasure, to follow 

 with plenty of good fruit, has been much encour- 

 aged by the greater success of the grape of late 

 years. There is much more interest in having 

 collections of varieties than there used to be. 



As to the best system of pruning grapes, there 

 are several "schools," all contending that their 

 views are "decidedly best." In such cases, we 

 have generally found there is much to admire in 

 them all — situations and peculiar circumstances 

 deciding the point in each individual instance. 



There are a- few points incontrovertible to in- 

 sure success, and it matters little what system of 

 pruning is followed, so that they are secured. 

 First, a healthy set of roots of the previous year's 

 growth is essential to produce vigorous start of 

 growth the year following. Secondly, after 

 starting, these roots can only be kept vigorous 

 by encouraging an abundance of healthy foliage, 

 to be retained on the vine as long as possible. 

 Thirdly, the leaves of the first growth are at 

 least of double the value to the plant than those 

 from secondary or lateral shoots; they should, 

 therefore, be carefully guarded fiom injury. 

 Fourthly, checking the strong-growing shoots 

 strengthens the weaker ones, equalizes the flow 

 of sap to every part of the vine, and insures reg- 

 ular and harmonious action between all the 

 parts. Any system that secures this does all that 

 is necessary for the general health and vigor of 

 the vine ; and where some special objects are de- 

 sirable, such as dwarfing, particularly early bear- 

 ing, productiveness at the expense of longevity, 

 special means must be employed to bring them 

 about. . 



In the cultivation of garden crops, the hoe and 

 rake should be kept continually at work. 

 Weeds should be taken in hand before they are 

 barely out of the seed-leaf, and one-half the 

 usual labor of vegetable gardening will be avoid- 

 ed. Hoeing or earthing up of most garden 

 crops is of immense advantage in nearly every 

 case. One would suppose that in our hot cli- 

 mate flat culture would be much more bene- 



