GARDENING. 



Mar. T5 



manure but keep it back from touching the 

 trunks of the crees. But this mukhingisn't 

 much better than frequent and loose 

 cultivation. 



of April. Giant Pascal and Perfection 

 Heart well are fine varieties. 



George Don.\i.t). 

 Fairfield, Conn., March 7, 189G. 



Strawberries.— Parker Earle is a very 

 productive strawberry, but it succeeds 

 only onvervrich, moist soil, and is rather 

 deficient in firmness. Berries from young 

 plants of Lady Thompson 1 find are 

 round and large. Greenville is the largest 

 productive" berry, and Woolverton the 

 firmest large one. Woolverton, Tennes- 

 see Prolific and Gandy are among the 

 best poUenizers for large pistillate vane- 

 ties. Haverland is good, too, but soft 

 fruited. BederWood is an excellent early 

 variety. Warfield isn't well adapted to 

 the south. O. W. B. 



N. C. 



Melon Seeds, Northern Grown.— We 

 thank H. T. T., Huntley, III., for a gener- 

 ous supply of three kinds of melon seed of 

 his own" saving. They were sent in 

 response to our appeal for northern- 

 grown seeds (page 170). He writes: "I 

 always select the best and earliest melons 

 to save seeds from, and we seldom have a 

 poor one from these seeds I have tried 

 a great many times to get good seeds, 

 northern grown, but seldom succeed. 

 These melons are better for home use than 

 for market." 



The Vegetable Garden. 



THE VEGETABLE OflRDEN. 



About-the first of February I sowed 

 some lettuce seed in flat boxes filled with 

 light soil in the greenhouse. As soon as 

 the seedHngs were in their first rough 

 leaves I transplanted them two inches 

 apart into other flats. About the first 

 of March these were transplanted into 

 hotbeds previously prepared of stable 

 manure, hot, moist, and packed solidly 

 two and a half feet deep. A sash of 

 radish can be had in the same frame. 

 From thefirst to the middle of March is 

 a good time to sow tomatoes, egg plants, 

 peppers, cabbage and cauliflower. Sow 

 them in flats in the greenhouse or m the 

 hotbed. When they are well up trans- 

 plant them into beds in the hotbeds or 

 farther apart into boxes in the green- 

 house. Early Ruby is a good early 

 tomato, and Table Queen, Crimson 

 Cushion, and Dwarf Champion, good 

 main crop sorts. Snowball cauliflower 

 is good enough for all the time. For an 

 early cabbage Jersey Wakefield is my 

 mainstay, to be followed in summer and 

 fall with Succession and Autumn King. 

 From now on I sow lettuce every two 

 weeks, using Big Boston for frames and 

 early outdoor planting and Improved 

 Salamander for summer. 



.\s soon as the ground is open and dry 

 enough to work prepare to sow peas. 

 Sow First of All for early, and Juno and 

 Heroine for later. S6w spinach between 

 your rows of peas; it will be out of the 

 wav before the peas are fit to pick. Sow 

 it once a week all summer. Also plant 

 onion sets in rows a foot or fifteen inches 

 apart. Sow some beets in moderately 

 good well drained soil, also carrots, and 

 a row of turnips. Wait till danger of 

 frost is past before you so jv snap beans 

 or sweet corn. Sow some celery in a cold 

 frame and later prick it off, then trans- 

 plant it out of doors in beds in rich moist 

 soil for use in summer. But for main 

 crop I don't like sowing before the middle 



A Good Bed of Mushrooms.— I have a 

 splendid bed of mushroons just now. In 

 making the bed I used well moistened 

 strawv stable manure that had been 

 turned two or three times in the bottom 

 and finer manure that had been prepared 

 in the ordinary way on top. The result 

 is very satisfactory— a fine show of mush- 

 roons. D. Fraser. 



Miscellaneous. 



OREBNflOUSES IN THE SOUTH. 



Close on fifty years' practical experience 

 in this part of the south (Memphis) has 

 revealed to me the why and wherefore 

 of greenhouse buildings for use here. I 

 soon found that one summer was far more 

 injurious and destructive to any glass 

 structure than were six winters; also that 

 such structures between the first of May 

 and the last of September area hindrance 

 to success, as every plant usually grown 

 in them either wants the cool shade, or 

 full outdoor sunshine in summer. .All of 

 our glass houses therefore should be of 

 portable sash and rafters, so that they 

 may be taken apart down to the founda- 

 tion in spring, and housed and repainted 

 during summer, ready to put up again 

 about the first of October. The beds 

 filled with roses, carnations, and other 

 winter blooming plants should have been 

 planted out and treated as strong out- 

 door plants just coming into bloom when 

 the house should be re-erected over them. 

 This is the whole story of success with all 

 you grow here under glass, and what 

 magnificent flowers are produced in this 

 way. Permanent structures such as you 

 buiid up north are a failure here, soon be- 

 coming a shaky wreck. 



HAMBURGH AND MUSCAT GRAPES. 



As to your correspondent raising Black 

 Hamburgh and Muscat of Alexandria 

 grapes down here (see page 89, 90, 

 December 1, 1895) as he views it is im- 

 practicable. Between 1849 and 1853, I 

 with others, and ample means proved 

 that it just could not be done. In short 

 these gra])es cannot endureour long sum 

 mers, and you will fail in any attempt to 

 make theni. James Stewart. 



Memphis Tenn. 



[Our correspondent is a nurserymen 

 and not now in the greenhouse business. 

 The following communications showing 

 the other side of the question are from 

 practical greenhouse men. Mr. Plumb 

 used to be manager of one of the largest 

 greenhouse commercial establishments 

 (plants and cut flowers) in Georgia. Mr. 

 Berckmans is the honored president of 

 the American Pomological Society, and 

 in connection with his extensive nursery 

 business has to-day the largest green- 

 house establishment in the south.— Ed.] 



GREENHOUSE FOR PLANTS AND FLOWERS. 



In regard to the practicability of green- 

 houses in the south as lar as my experi- 

 ence in Atlanta, Georgia went. I found 

 that greenhouses are just as practicable 

 and absolutely necessary in the south lor 

 the cultivation of all plants that are 

 grown indoors here as they are in the 

 north. We grew roses, carnation, chrys- 

 anthemums, palms, ferns, crotons and 

 other loliage and flowering plants under 



glass just as we do here in the east and 

 north. There is very little difference in 

 the condition, as to growing plants under 

 glass between thenorth and south, except 

 that in the north we have good soil and 

 less sun. Whereas in the south (at least 

 in and around .\tlanta) they have plenty 

 of bright sunshine but no good soil, merely 

 red clay on which grass will not grow, 

 except Bermuda grass, sedge grass, etc. 

 But one thing I can say, that for tea roses 

 I never saw finer than what are to be 

 found growing outdoors there in spring 

 and fall. 



HAMBURGH AND MUSCAT GRAPES 



I had no actual experience in the culti- 

 vation of indoor grapes such as Ham- 

 burgh and Muscat of Alexandria, but from 

 my experience of the climate, etc., I am 

 almost positive that they could not be 

 grown there except under practically the 

 same condition as in the north. If the 

 climate in the south had agreed with me 

 IJshould certainly have settled there and 

 gone into the growing of grapes under 

 glass for the eastern market, believing it 

 would pay better than anything else. 



Oyster Bay, L. I. William Plumb. 



GREENHOUSES. 



I can find no reason to change the con- 

 struction of greenhouses here from those 

 built in the Northern states. The only 

 difference is that we require less piping 

 for heating, and by all means build houses 

 in such a way that ample ventilation can 

 be given, especially during the summer. 

 Portable houses would be expensive and 

 would give no practical results as com- 

 pared with fixed roofs. 



So many classes of plants can be grown 

 in greenhouses during summer that it 

 would require a lengthy article to desig- 

 nate them. ,\s a rule we grow all our 

 young palms, ferns, and especially such 

 classes as caladiums and gloxinias under 

 glass in summer, but we require here 

 more shading than you require in the 

 north, and also, as I stated, ample ven- 

 tilation. Many classes of plants which 

 could not successfully be grown here in 

 the open air on account of the heat of the 

 summer succeed remarkably when grown 

 in well ventilated greenhouses where the 

 temperature can always be kept several 

 degrees lower than that outside. 



Black Ha.mdurg grapes have been 

 grown to great perfection in several 

 places here, notably by Mr. Alfred 

 Hartridge of Savannah, who had a very 

 large cold grapery and made a success of 

 both Black Hamburgh, Muscat of Alexan- 

 dria, and Golden Chasselas Such houses 

 can be built very cheaply, Mr. Hartridge's 

 house being a lean-to or half-span and 

 without artificial heat. 



Were it not for a few cold snaps which 

 occasionall t happen here during the win- 

 ter, we could dispense with expensive 

 heating apparatus but in order to guard 

 against sudden falls in the temperature 

 we therefore provide all our houses with 

 hot water boilers, using however half the 

 line of pipes which it would require in 

 you vicinity to heat the houses to the 

 same degree of temperature. As a rule we 

 prefer houses not less than 20 feet wide 

 for growing miscellaneous collections of 

 plants that do not require excessive heat, 

 but for plants requiring a high tempera- 

 ture we use houses 11 feet wide to better 

 advantage. P. I- Berckmans. 



Augusta, Oa., January"l5, 1S90. 



flRTIFlCIHL MANURES. 

 About thistimeof yearoutdoor garden- 

 ing is in order, we want to fixupourbeds 



