206 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



LJuiy. 



result from the use of potash, in addition to the 

 manures already named in the first class. 



The Miner is a representative plant of this class. 

 While a good vigorous plant-growth can be 

 obtained without a liberal supply of potash the 

 stamens will be imperfect and pollen very scanty ; 

 the fruit although abundant, small and imperfect. 

 In soil having potash the blossoms become perfect ; 

 fruit large to very large, productive. It would 

 seem to require about the same nutriment as the 

 Primo to give a good plant-growth. 



Seth Boyden, No. 30, is gross and rank in potash. 

 Its roots will withstand the carbonizing effects of 

 potash the best of any plant I have ever experi- 

 mented with. The vegetative organs thrive best 

 in the same relative nutriment as the Sharpless, 

 yet to fully develop the productive organs an 

 addition of potash is required ; use abundance of 

 potash, and the white tip, so frequent in this variety, 

 disappears. 



With me any great amount of potash in the soil 

 carbonizes the roots of the Manchester, causing 

 the plant to die, hence cannot employ any plants 

 of the second class as fertilizers. 



Along the Hudson river the Manchester succeeds 

 best in soil where the Sharpless is a poor pollen 

 producer and the Miner is a good one ; in all such 

 localities the best result in fertilization is had with 

 plants which on my soil would come under class 

 second. 



The third class includes the Cumberland. In 

 the use of forty different manures the plant-growth 

 has been remarkable as a resistant to the evil 

 effects of so diversified nutriment. The blossoms 

 remain very constant as to stamen and pistils. 

 Many of the plants have few blossoms — some 

 none. On those where an abundant crop is had 

 the texture of the fruit varies greatly. 



Charles Downing is another illustration. The 

 same general characteristics are observed as to 

 plant-growth as in the Cumberland, though a 

 much larger proportion of plants are not fruitful. 

 Small changes in the component parts of the 

 manures employed to enrich the land would seem 

 to b; very preceptible, seen in variation of color 

 and texture of the fruit. 



These two I have ever found very uncertain as 

 to results and apt to work harm in experimental 

 beds, planted too close to other varieties. 



These results would seem to suggest more care- 

 ful attention be given to the nutriment of the 

 Strawberry, and that a closer inspection be had of 

 the results of such nutriment on the flower and 

 fruit of the plant. Milbum, N. J. 



[This is a very suggestive paper. There is no 

 doubt some kinds of manure, and some kinds of 

 treatment, under the general idea of " cultivation," 

 will affect the vegetative, at the expense of the 

 re-productive energies of the plant, and again, the 

 re-productive will be unduly stimulated. This 

 fact is very liable to be forgotten when reading 

 the often contradictory experiences of people with 

 the same variety. Still, there is the same difficulty 

 with special fertilizers. There are soils abun- 

 dantly supplied with potash in which these con- 

 tradictory experiences occur all the same. A soil 

 may have all the elements in abundance which 

 analysis shows the plant to require and yet not do 

 well, because it requires vital force to make use of 

 them ; and there are innumerable influences out- 

 side of mere soils that will often render a plant 

 unable to make use of the food most desirable 

 when the life power is in a different mood. — Ed. 

 G. M.] 



GRAPES IN PAPER BAGS. 



BY MRS. J. S. R. THOMSON. 



I am " only a woman " stumbling often acci- 

 dentally upon valuable processes ; have been cul- 

 jtivating fruits, flowers and vegetables for over 

 twenty years, with my only aid, common sense and 

 the many valuable magazines and periodicals, 

 but had never read of paper bags for grapes. I 

 have about twenty two very fine varieties of grapes, 

 and each season was defrauded of half my crop 

 by some insect (bees I guess) invariably piercing 

 them, which of course induced speedy decay. In 

 sheer desperation one season, as soon as fully 

 i grown, I procured about one hundred paper bags, 

 i mounted my step-ladder and inserted the finest 

 bunches, sometimes two in a bag when very close 

 together, and was dehghted with the result ; every 

 bunch came out in a perfect state both as to taste 

 and coloring. I had expected that failure would 

 result, but it was "nip and tuck" either to risk 

 the bags with chance of some grapes, or an entire 

 certainty of total destruction by said insect. Is it 

 bees that do it or what ? My next door neighbor 

 has twelve hives of bees, also many others ; but 

 sometimes I thought it might be the excessive 

 rains that periodically visit us in August just at 

 the beginning of our ripening time. I cannot 

 ever get a bunch after September although bushels 

 and bushels are on my vines each year, on account 

 of the hole punctured by said insect; and would 

 be so pleased to hear of some way to keep them 

 longer. It would be a herculean task to me to bag 



