THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[March, 



potatoes were more healthy and prolific when 

 grown in ridges or when in flat land. The dif- 

 ference in the reports disgusted the simple in- 

 quirer after truth. It has since heen found that 

 soil and climate have much to do in varying the 

 results. As a rule, the modern experiments 

 favor ridge or hill culture. In wet or low soils 

 it is certainly the best. In very sandy soils, 

 liable to drought, flat culture wins. 



Sponge Growing. — Sponge culture is a new 

 and promising industry in Florida. Pieces two 

 inches long are planted, and are found to grow 

 to seven inches in seven months. 



The Blackman Plum. — The secretary of the 

 Rosebank Nurseries, at Nashville, says : '' This 

 variety was first brought to our notice last year. 

 It originated in Nashville, Tenn. It is an acci- 

 dental seedling from a tree of the Wild Goose, 

 which stood in close proximity to some peach 

 trees, and the foliage and habit of the tree of the 

 Blackman plum so much resembles the peach 

 that it leads to the belief of a possible hybridiza- 

 tion with the peach. 



" The fruit is equal to the Wild Goose in size, 

 as brilliant in color, a little later in the season of 

 ripening, and of better quality, having more of 

 the firmness of flesh found in foreign sorts. It 

 makes a beautiful tree in a nursery, is as free 

 from thorns and spurs, and as strong a grower 

 as the peach." 



Linseed Oil as a Remedy for Scale.— Our 

 readers may remember that the writer tried lin- 

 seed oil on his own fruit trees with admirable 

 results, and fortified by this experiment gave 

 the result of his experience to the readers of the 

 Gardener's Monthly. But others who tried it 

 afterwards killed their trees. We give the fol- 

 lowing from i\\e 1^01^(^0X1 Journal of Horticulture, 

 as it shows the same varying experience there: 



" On opening the Journal of Horticulture this 

 morning, I was surprised to see an old letter of 

 mine again appearing in print. The two up- 

 right pear trees alluded to in my letter were not 

 injured in the slightest degree by the painting of 

 boiled linseed oil which my gardener gave them, 

 but it was ''all over " with the scale, and the 

 trees were not infested with that pest again. 



"Three years ago, an upright-trained apple 

 tree was painted with this oil ; care, however, 

 was taken not to touch the flower buds or the 

 leading shoots of the year. This tree is now in 

 good, healthy, fruit-bearing condition, and is 

 quite free from scale. My gardener has also 

 painted a peach tree. The last year's growth 

 and the spurs were not painted, and the result 

 was most satisfactory. Care must be taken to 



obtain pure linseed oil, aa much inferior oil is 

 now sold under the name of boiled linseed oil. 



" I feel I am so much indebted to Mr. Wm. 

 Taylor for his admirable communications to our 

 Journal, that I shall be most willing to answer 

 any further questions he may think proper to 

 ask on this subject. — C M. 



[" A letter will be published next week from a 

 gardener of great experience, who has found 

 linseed oil dangerous, and he does not advise its 

 use as an insecticide. If in the meantime any 

 one applies the oil to fruit trees, it is important 

 that the above injunction be borne in mind, and 

 the oil be obtained pure."] 



Gros Colmar Grape. — A correspondent re- 

 cently inquired about this variety. An English 

 grape grower, writing to the Gardeners' Magazine, 

 names it at the bottom of his list ; but has the 

 following good points to note concerning it : 



"The only other black variety I shall recom- 

 mend is Gros Colmar, unquestionably the most 

 telling of all the black kinds. Its clusters of 

 huge deeply-colored berries are sure to bring the 

 cultivator much credit, and when fully matured 

 it is not by any means indifferent in quality. 

 Complaints are frequently made of the inferior- 

 ity of Gros Colmar, but it has not deserved all 

 the hard things that have been said of it, and in 

 many instances the grower rather than the 

 grape has been at fault. When we hear it 

 spoken of as being so poor in flavor as to be 

 hardly worth eating, we may be sure that it has 

 either been grown in too low a temperature or 

 has been cut before becoming perfectly ripe. 

 Gros Colmar is not a cool-house grape; it re- 

 quires a temperature fully equal to that neces- 

 sary for the Muscat of Alexandria. I was per- 

 fectly aware of this when in charge of the Ealing 

 Park Gardens, and in planting my long lean-to 

 Muscat house a few canes of the Gros Colmar 

 had a place in it. They are now removed to 

 enable me to devote the house entirely to Mus- 

 cats ; but during the two or three years the latter 

 were invariably of a rich golden hue two or three 

 weeks before Gros Colmar had taken on the deep 

 Color for which it is distinguished. It has also 

 been long known to me that the bunches are not 

 fit to cut immediately the berries are black ; and 

 further, to have the grape in its highest perfec- 

 tion, it should hang from six weeks to two 

 months after the coloring process has been com- 

 pleted. It IS remarkable, considering the length 

 of time it will hang, for the extreme thinness of 

 its skin, which to many is a decided recommen- 

 dation." 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Levy's Late or Winter Peach.— Mr. Need- 

 ham sends us a copy of a letter from ex- President 

 Grant, dated New York, November 22d, acknowl- 

 edging some of the fruit, as showing how late in 

 Me season this remarkably fine Peach is in 



