so 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[March, 



Skaneateles in Onondaga County, produce all 

 the teasels grown on this continent. They were 

 first introduced here about fifty years ago, by 

 the celebrated English pill doctor, John Snook. 

 Having realized a large sum of money by the 

 sale of his receipt for making his pills, he came 

 to this country with the intention of raising tea- 

 sels. He visited several different localities 

 throughout the country, but could find no soil 

 suitable to produce a perfect teasel, until he 

 tried that of Skaneateles and Marcellus. His 

 first attempts were successful, but such was the 

 prejudice at that time against everything Ameri- 

 can, that he was obliged to sell his production as 

 French growth, and it was not until about 

 twenty years ago that the American teasel was 

 admitted to be the best grown in the world. 



The seed is sown about the beginning of May, 

 and about one month afterwards is given its first 

 hoeing. In another two weeks it is ready to 

 thin out, which is done by hand, one plant being 

 left every six inches in the row, and the rows 

 three feet apart. In August the ground is again 

 hoed for the last time in the first season. The 

 second season we keep the horse cultivator at 

 work pretty steadily for two weeks, and the 

 plants that were formed from the seed the first 

 year, throw up a main stalk the second year, and 

 when about two feet high, a leaf makes its ap- 

 pearance, which gradually forms a cup around 

 the stalk ; from the base of this other 

 branches arise, and these in turn repeat the pro- 

 cess, until the*plant has from forty to fifty stalks. 

 On the end of each stalk is a teasel. The cups 

 act as reservoirs, with a capacity of from three 

 to five quarts of water, and thus keep the plant 

 supplied from one rain-storm to another. The 

 main stalk teasel is called the " King," and is 

 the male part of the plant. It blossoms first, be- 

 ginning at its apex and gradually going towards 

 the base, and while this is in operation, it sheds a 

 fine pollen over the other teasels, called queens, 

 by which they are impregnated. They all blos- 

 som with a white flower, and as soon as this 

 drops, they are fit to cut. When taken from the 

 fields they are placed in drying sheds built for the 

 purpose, and cured. When they are ready for 

 market, they are bought by dealers, who take 

 them into their factories, and prepare them for 

 the woolen mills. The preparation consists in 

 clipping off, by hand, the beard that grows at 

 the base of the teasels cutting the stems to about 

 three inches in length, sorting them into four 

 different qualities, into eight different lengths, and 



gauging them by machinery into thirty-six dif- 

 ferent diameters. The different lengths, diame- 

 ters and qualities are packed sj'stematically in 

 separate boxes, measuring 3Jx3Jx5 feet. There 

 are seven different houses engaged in shipping, 

 employing from twenty to fifty hands each, 

 throughout the year, with trade extending from 

 St. Jose, California, on the West, to St. Peters- 

 burg, Russia, on the East, including the Canadaa 

 and Mexico. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Sowing Seeds. — It requires much judgment to 

 sow seeds properly. It is an art that cannot be 

 completely taught, though a few hints may be 

 given to put the learner on the track. We must 

 first remember that it requires an effort to push 

 the young growth through the earth, and that 

 all efforts require food. The material in the 

 seed feeds the young plant, and the greater the 

 effort to get through the earth, the weaker it 

 will be when it gets to the top. Many seedlings 

 burn off, because they are too weak to live by 

 the time they get to the surface. 



Then we must remember that seeds must 

 have some moisture, and an absence of light. 

 The deduction from all this is that the seeds 

 must be as shallow as possible in the ground, 

 consistently with darkness and moisture. How 

 just to do this must be determined by each 

 sower. It is just here that the point so much in- 

 sisted on by Peter Henderson is of so much 

 value. By " firming " the earth about a seed, it 

 may be sown much shallower, and yet meet with 

 the necessary conditions of darkness and mois- 

 ture. 



Coal Tar. — At a recent meeting of the Mont- 

 gomery Co., O., Society, Mr. H. C. Smith stated 

 that pitch tar was found to be more dangerous 

 than coal tar to keep insects from injuring the 

 bark of trees. This is very important informa- 

 tion, as the general belief has been the reverse. 



Hothouse Geapes. — Few people have an idea 

 of the vast strides which have been made in the 

 skilful culture of the hothouse grape. The 

 Florist and Pomo^ogist. has recently placed on 

 record the full notes made at the National Show 

 of 1881, at Manchester, in England. The prem- 

 iums for the heaviest bunch of grapes was 

 awarded to Mr. Roberts, gardener to the Countess 

 of Charleville. It was the variety GrosGuillaume, 

 and weighed twenty pounds ! He also exhibited 



