1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



17? 



a flower of the lar«j;er one ; by measurement you 

 will find that we are not far behind our Englisli 

 friends in size of flowers." 



Rust on Gloxinias. — T. W. H. Ardmore, 

 Pa., asks : " Can any one give a remedy for rust 

 on Gloxinias?" It is one of the most serious 

 enemies to the culture of this beautiful tribe of 

 plants ; and is much worse to contend witli than 

 the rust on Verbenas. It has compelled many 



to wliolly give up growing them, and we are 

 sorry to say that no remedy is known. 



Seedling Petunias. — G. T., St. Louis. "En- 

 closed you will find two seedlings we raised. If 

 they keep good, tell me what you think of them 

 through the Gardeners' Monthly." 



[Dry cotton is not good for packing flowers. 

 They were dry as hay by the time they reached; 

 here. — Ed. G. M.] 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Fruit trees are often thought to be injured by 

 over-bearing, and so they ai'e ; but very often 

 bearing trees break down sooner than they 

 would do by having been permitted to bear 

 ''sprouts" from the main branches. These 

 may be cut out every Autumn and Winter at 

 tlie annual pruning ; but for alj it is an injury to 

 let them grow at all. As far as practicable all 

 useless shoots should be rubbed out as fast as 

 they appear in the growing season. In like 

 manner young grafts are often injured by allow- 

 ing sprouts to remain on too long. All should 

 be taken oft' as soon as practicable. If however 

 the graft be on a very strong vigorous shoot, and 

 the graft itself be not over-strong and vigorous, 

 as is, for instance, very often the case on tall 

 stems that have had a good head taken off" be- 

 fore grafting, all the sprouts from the stem should 

 not be taken off* at once, but only a few of the 

 lowermost ones, every few days, till in a week or 

 so all may be taken off" up to the graft. It was 

 said by the gardeners of the olden time that 

 pruning in Summer weakens, but pruning in Win- 

 ter strengthens. Advanced gardening has dis- 

 covered that pruning at any time weakens, and 

 those who have the time and the disposition to 

 look after fruit trees as they should be seen to, 

 should so try to help the plant to grow as we 

 want it, so as to save any pruning at all. 



Fruit trees transplanted in the Spring, if they 

 make only a very weak growth, may be cut 

 back freely, as this is the only way to get a 



thrifty growth. Though pruning weakens, trans- 

 planting also weakens, and pruning is the least 

 evil of the two. Where good fruit is desired 

 there is nothing better than early thinning. Of 

 course the weaker the tree is from transplanting 

 or from any cause the less it should be permit- 

 ted to bear. 



Where the fire blight attacks the pear tree, 

 the best practice is to cut away at once and burn 

 the diseased branches. The new growth which 

 follows this seldom has the disease in the fol- 

 lowing years. We have known of orchards that 

 have been very badly served by the fire blight, 

 nothing indeed being left but bare stumps, which 

 are now as perfect as any trees can be. 



For tlie codling moth nothing has l)een found 

 superior to placing hay bands or bands of some 

 other sheltering material round the trunks of 

 trees, and then destroying the eggs laid therein. 

 It will not wholly destroy the trouble in districts 

 ' where nobody does anything ; as after destroying 

 one's own pests he has to entertain his neigh- 

 bors ; but still it does some good even here. 



Fine ricli color is always esteemed as one of 

 the criterions whereby to judge of the excellence 

 of a fruit. Sun-light is of first importance ; but 

 it is not generally known that this is injurious 

 when in excess. In a dry atmosphere, with 

 great sun heat, where the evaporating process 

 goes on faster than the secretive principle, what 

 should become a rich rosy blush in a fruit, is 

 changed to a sickly yellow, and the rich jet 

 black of a grape becomes a foxy red. Some 

 grape growers of eminence, in view of the facts, 

 shade their vineries during the coloring process v 



