332 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[November, 



There is, however, always pleasure in watching 

 the progress of some new variety, and in testing 

 the improvements supposed to be made ; and 

 while relying mainly on well-known and well-tes- 

 ted varieties for one's main crop, a judicious ex- 

 perimenting with new kinds will be found to be a 

 source of great pleasure. 



In looking at what is now considered as sound 

 practice, and back on the advice we used to give 

 when such advice was heresy, we often congratu- 

 late ourselves on the success of our teachings; 

 though few seem to remember to whom they are 

 indebted for what has been taught. Take, for 

 instance, the shading of fruit in order to get 

 them to perfection. When the Gardeners' 

 Monthly was first issued, the general belief was 

 that it required " sun and air " to ripen fruits well, 

 and the books teemed with directions to pull off 

 leaves, thin out branches, and tie up shoots, and 

 expose the fruit if we would have the best success. 

 We showed that the initial stages of maturity was 

 a vital, and not a purely chemical process; and 

 that this was better secured by shade than by 

 exposure. It was not good doctrine then, but 

 now the general practice with those who want 

 to get the very best bunches of grapes is to put 

 paper bags on them ; and some say that even 

 tomatoes are far superior when treated in this way. 

 But it is necessary that leaves should have the 

 full light, though the fruit may not ; and a few 

 good, large healthy leaves are preferable to a 

 good number of small ones. By far too many 

 branches are lelt on most trees. When the tree is 

 in leaf, the one branch smothers out the other, and, 

 remembering what we have already said about the 

 value of healthy leaves, few leaves arrive at that 

 perfection necessary to perfect the best fruit. 

 Therefore, prune out enough of the weaker ones 

 to give the rest every chance to develop their 

 leaves to the fullest extent. Also prune so as to 

 assist the plant to a conical form, as this enables 

 the light to act better on all parts of the tree 

 leaves. If trees have been neglected, in pruning 

 now severely to get them to this shape, the result 

 will be to make them throw out shoots still more 

 vigorously from near the parts cut away. When 

 these shoots appear in spring, pull them out while 

 young with the finger and thumb. The current 

 of sap will then flow strongly into the shoots left, 

 and the ratio of growth will, in the end, be nearly 

 equal through all the branches. The flow of sap 

 through a tree is nearly like that of water through 

 an uneven country. A very little obstruction will 

 turn the course ; but that, once started, soon be- 



comes as great a stream in the new as in the old 

 channel. 



.•\pplc trees have a habit, when old, of pushing 

 out sappy shoots along tlie main branches. These 

 should be cut away, in addition to a similar thin- 

 ning, as recommended for the pear. 



Dwarf apples and dwarf pears should be ex- 

 amined now to see what the borer is doing for 

 them. This is the time when they do the most 

 destruction, as they are boring down into the stems 

 for winter protection. A cut with a jack-knife up 

 and down the stems, so as to avoid girdling as 

 much as possible, is the most certain destruction. 

 Then, if in spring, before the parent insects begin 

 to work, oiled paper, or rather tarred paper, be put 

 about the stem near the ground they can be kept 

 out. It is strange that with so little time as borer 

 hunting takes, so many thousand trees should be 

 allowed to die from their attacks every year. 



Above all, for both apple and pear orchards, we 

 bespeak a liberal dressing — a top dressing of some- 

 thing or another. If no manure is to be had, even 

 common road sand will be found to have a bene- 

 ficial influence. 



Poverty of the surface soil is oftener a cause of 

 fruit failure than " grass" " change of climate," or 

 many imaginable ills, brought up from some 

 ghostly cavern of thought, to cover up the poverty 

 of pocket or of industrial inclinations. 



Strawberries are much better when protected 

 through the winter, no matter how " hardy " they 

 may be. Very coarse, str,\wy manure is the best 

 material, which can be raked off in early spring. 

 A few inches is sufficient, just enough to keep 

 the sun off when frozen, which all our readers 

 know, by this time, is the chief cause of loss by 

 frost. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



A TALK ABOUT MUSHROOMS. 



BY PKOF. J. T. ROTHROCK. 



The third lecture of the autumn series Dr. Roth- 

 rock delivered in Horticultural Hall, Fairmount 

 Park, recently. It was by special request that the 

 subject. Mushrooms and Toadstools, was taken up. 



The lecturer said he had: "Nothing to add to 

 what the daily papers had recently published. 

 The /.<v/if('r especially had given much exact and 

 valuable matter concerning this group of plants. 

 He hoped simply by calling attention to some 

 illustrations, to give a few more people a more 

 clear notion as to the appearances of some very 

 good and some very bad plants among these 



