i8g6. 



• ' GARDENING. 



2ig 



cost ten cents each. In them you willT* 

 read some of the best articles on growing ■ 

 hot-house grapes that haveever been pub- 

 lished and they were written by some of 

 the best practical grape growers in 

 America. 



TtIB ELVIRA GRAPE VINE AS fl STOCK. 



K.J. K., St. Joseph, Mo , asks; "Is the 

 lilvira grajje vine used in Europe as a 

 stock to grow other varieties on?" 



Alls The Elvira grape is a seedling of 

 the Taylor, one of the Riparia species, 

 and is such a free growing vine that it 

 should make an excellent stock upon 

 which to graft the European variety, but 

 we cannot say whether it has ever been 

 employed for that purpose or not. It 

 may not have been sufficiently i)lcntiful 

 in our vineyards for exportation, but its 

 parent, the Taylor, was sent Europe for 

 stocks many years ago and found to 

 the purpose admirably. 



A. S. FULI.EU. 



OROWINO BERRY PLANTS. 



The first three commandments in suc- 

 cessful fruit growing are: Thou shaft not 

 use poor plants. Thou shalt not set out 

 plants carelessly. Thou shalt not use 

 ground until it has been well fertilized 

 and thoroughly prepared. Neglect these 

 three things and all the woes of a care- 

 less grower shall be thine. When plants 

 are received keep them in a cool place 

 until ready for setting. Remove all old 

 leaves and cut back long roots and 

 broken branches. Never expose the fine, 

 fibrous roots to sun, wind or heat. In 

 setting, dip roots in water, spread as 

 much as possible and set in fine mellow 

 ground with earth pressed firmly about 

 the roots. The crown of the strawberry 

 should be just even with the surface of 

 the ground, neither too deep nor too 

 shallow. M. A. Thayer. 



Sparta, Wis. 



Ix.\RCHiNG Grape Vines.— H. L., R. I., 

 asks 'where can I get two-year-old Bar- 

 barossa grape vines? I am thinking of 

 inarching them on to five-year-old rodsof 

 Alicante, do you think they will do well?" 

 Ans. Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. 

 Y., or John Gardiner, Jobstown, N. J. 

 Yes, they ought to do very well, but we 

 should prefer rooting out the .\licantes 

 and replacing them this spring with the 

 Barbarossas, this would be a certainty, 

 and while j'ou would lose a crop this year 

 you should get some nice grapes next 

 summer. Inarching isn't always a suc- 

 cess. Barbarossa makes a big bunch and 

 a big berrj'.but it generally colors poorly 

 and isn't of the finest quality. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



The IDth of April may be considered the 

 average time of the first plantings. The 

 land having been plowed in the fall and a 

 heavy dressing of horse manure applied 

 finishes operations till spring. Now the 

 ground is plowed again and harrowed to 

 a fine tilth. Commencing on one side of 

 the field room is left for the late planting 

 of peas that are put in May 1. I^eaving 

 this space to one side we now mark rows 

 with a small plow the whole length of the 

 garden and the peas planted the first day 

 (April 10) in order arc Juno for late, 

 Yorkshire Hero for medium, Horsford's 

 Market Garden for early, and Premium 



Gem and Extra Early Market for the first 

 crop. The reason' the late peas are 

 planted first is to have them adjacent to 

 the peas to be planted on May 1, in order 

 that more ground may be cleared in one 

 place and planted to a second crop of 

 celery and cabbage. The peas are strewn 

 by hand in the bottom of the furrow and 

 covered lightly by a plow or small drag. 

 The varieties we use need no brushing, 

 hence we use single rows in preference to 

 double rows and brush. 



Next rows are formed for the radish, 

 beet, carrot, lettuce, parsnip, onion sets, 

 spinach and turnip. All these are on rows 

 running the length of the land, and are 

 made by throwing three or four furrows 

 together in the form of a bed. These beds 

 are then smoothed down by a board 

 placed under the rear end of a cultivator 

 and held in position by the teeth. 



All the above vegetables are now sown 

 in double rows on each one of the beds, 

 either by hand or drill, and covered 

 lightly by steel garden rake and ground 

 firmed by small roller. Plants of lettuce 

 and beets are taken from the hot bed and 

 transplanted in double rows on the beds. 

 This way will give an abundance of beets 

 and lettuce in advance of the crop grown 

 outside from the seed. 



I sow the Columbia beet to the ex- 

 clusion of all others, both in hot bed and 

 open ground. It is of fine quality, early, 

 and good size. I sow the Golden Stone 

 Head lettuce for forcing under glass, the 

 Market Garden strain to transplant from 

 hot bed to open ground, and Salamander 

 to sow outside. The carrots sown are 

 Early Forcing under glass and Half Long 

 Carentan outside. The last named is a 

 eoreless carrot of the finest quality and 

 perfect shape. 



Only one variety of parsnip is sown 

 viz.. Long Hollow Crown, one variety of 

 turnip. White Model, and one of spinach, 

 Victoria, for spring sowing. For the fall 

 sowing we put in Bloorasdale Savoy. We 

 use the common potato and white onion 

 set. 



At one sowing we put in the following 

 varieties of radish to give a succession: 

 Non Plus Ultra for first crop, followed by 

 Early French Scarlet or French Breakfast 

 or Long Scarlet Short Top and Yellow 

 Summer. These with the Xon Plus Ultra 

 also sown imder glass give a long and 

 enjoyable relish. The radish seed is sown 

 by hand broadcast on too of the wide 

 rows, and followed by a top-dressing of 

 wood ashes and raked in with a garden 

 rake. 



The double rows for the other seeds are 

 made 8 inches apart to admit a small hoe 

 between them, and these rows from 2VL' 

 to 3 feet apart to admit of horse cultiva- 

 tion. A few rows of early potatoes arc 



planted in rows 3 feet asunder, 12 inches 

 apart in row. Some good potato ferti- 

 lizer is incorporated in bottom of drill 

 before planting; second crop seed is used 

 and cut to one eye. The two varieties we 

 plant are Thorburn and Puritan, both 

 early varieties, we do not grow any late 



Cabbage and caidiflower plants are 

 taken from the hot bed and planted in 

 rows G feet asunder and plants 2 Icct 

 apart in the row. 



Next month (May) we will plant 

 melons and cucumbers between these 

 rows. The cabbages can be worked and 

 will be out of the way by the time the 

 vines cover the ground. The varieties 

 used are Jersey Wakefield and Stein's 

 Early Flat Dutch. Wc make a laer 

 planting of Stein's on June 1, and Luxem- 

 borg and Hard Heading is planted the 

 first week in July for winter use. 



Silas L. Albertson. 



Market Gardener, Long Island. 



Smooth Carrot Seed.— Carrot seed is 

 somewhat bearded, and when undressed 

 it sticks together a good deal, but not so 

 much as to cause any marked difficulty in 

 sowing it. An English seedsman, how- 

 ever, in preparing his carrot seed for mar- 

 ket, mills the beard off of it altogether, 

 without, he claims, impairing its vitality; 

 it can then be sown as easily as parsley 

 seed. 



Mushrooms. 



Beds on the Ground —I tried the beds 

 on a raised floor— that is, I made a plat- 

 form of hemlock boards with an open air 

 space between it and the earth floor and 

 built the bed on it, but hadn't very good 

 success. Then I removed the platform 

 and built the beds on the ground and 

 used the old floor boards to box up the 

 bed with, covering in the top as well as 

 the sides, the top being a foot or so above 

 the bed. In this way I have had fair suc- 

 cess. D. Eraser. 



Mushrooms in an embankment pit. — 

 Answer to W. McKean, Ohio: We cannot 

 tell anything about the desirableness or 

 not of your pit in face ofthe deep embank- 

 ment, that is a local matter. Have a 

 water-tight roof, and close, dark struc- 

 ture, no matter whether it be a hole in a 

 bank or a wooden shed; also have plenty 

 room to work and build beds inside, and 

 ready facilities for getting the manure in 

 and out, and convenience for warming 

 the place or keeping it warm. Of course 

 it is a risky business, but brains and 

 application can overcome the risk. 



SEAWANHAKA GREENHOUSES, 



OYSTER BAY, Queens Co., NEW YORK. 



ACALYPHA MACAFEEANA 



Plants from 2K-inch pots 

 $1.50 per dozen. 

 MUSA ENSETE (.\hy^>iiii:,n II 



STROBILANTHES DVERIANUS — A beautiful 



|il:ir]t "f nr.iii iiitr...li].ti.iii. with iridescent 



f..li;iL'<'. ^iiF'- I'. [.1'-,i><'. '-iili'T when planted 



20c. each; $2 per doz. 



SWAIvsnv:^ (i \l I cillOLIA ALBA A sp.viall.v 



*.s.. 



of l,:i\vii>ni' I'rirk'. Prices on application 



A.IiSO 



ROSES, BEDDING and ORNAMENTAL PLANTS, NURSERY STOCK 

 and SEEDS OF ALL KINDS. 



8®"A11 our stock is in fine condition and sure to please you. 



A TRIAL ORDER RESPECTFULLY SOLICITED. 



WIWX. Iv. S"WA.IV, r»j-o£»rletor. 



