GARDENING. 



43 



these bearing fruit is allowed to fall over 

 like the ribs of an unil.ivlln, all the 

 1 lunches being com 1 lilt I ly slulund from 

 the direct rays of the miii hi -nmiiu r. This 

 row of vines has been ]iniiii.(l in tlif same 

 way for the past twenty years and has 

 never failed during the time to produce a 

 bountiful crop of excellent fruit, one sea- 

 son I saw a little black rot on one of the 

 Concords only. Of course I have Con- 

 cords and many other varieties trained 

 on trellises and "my only severe losses are 

 due to the cultivation of varieties not 

 adapted to my soil and climate. It isjust 

 possible that' the rose bugs attack the 

 blossoms of your grapes and this prevents 

 the setting of the fruit. I cannot see that 

 there is any fault in yourmodeof pruning 

 and unless rose Inigs and rot, or some 

 other disease interferes I am at a loss to 

 account for your failure. A. -S. Fri.i.UR. 

 Kidgewood, N. I. 



T«E COLUMBIAN RED RflSFBERRy. 



.\ visit to the fruit farm of Mr.J. T. 

 Thompson at Uncida, during the past 

 season afforded us an opportunity to note 

 the characteristics of the Columbian red 

 raspberry, mentioned in G.\rdenixg page 

 347. It is a great bearer and although 

 this year is its first appearance in our 

 vicinity, it has become a favorite by rea- 

 son of" its fine flavor, large size and non- 

 tendency to shrink or fall to pieces in the 

 process of canning. This season has been 

 exceptionally dry but the Columbian has 

 been shipped long distances and received 

 in excellent condition, proving it to be a 

 fine berry for shipping or market purposes. 

 The fruit ripens early and continues till 

 late in bearing. Unlike most lorries of 

 this class, instead of suckering it propa- 

 gates from the tips the same as the black 

 raspbei-ry. It is a vigorous grower and 

 hardv enough to stand our winters unin- 

 jured". W. S. F. 



Camden, X. Y. 



Fig Tkees in Winter.— G. J. P., Salt 

 Lake City, writes;— 'I have alittlefigtree 

 and am wondering how I can get it 

 through the winter. How much cold will 

 it stand? It usually gets to zero here in 

 wmter and remains cold for a few days, 

 but rarely below that, although we have 

 a good deal of cold and snowy weather." 



Before hard frost sets in lay your fig 

 tree flat on the ground, and pile some 

 eight or nine inches deep of earth on top 

 of its roots and branches, as if you were 

 protecti' g grape vines or raspberry canes, 

 and leave it undisturbed till the winter is 

 over. The fig tree will survive all right. 

 And you can protect it in this way even 

 till it is twentv years old. How much 

 frost it will stand with impunity depends 

 on many circumstances, lor instance 20= 

 of frost at New Years might not hurt it, 

 but 10° of frost the first of April might 

 kill it. Frost doesn't do it any good. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



VEGBTflBLB GARDEN QUESTIONS. 



1 . C.RF.ExnorsK Crops in Summer.— 

 What c;in be profitably grown duringthe 

 .•summer in 3,000 s((uare feet of glassbuilt 

 for forcing lettuces and radishes in win- 

 ter? I have some chrysanthemums on the 

 benches this summer, but could never find 

 a market for all I could raise in the 

 amount of glass I have. 



2. Packing Lettuces in Winter — 

 Can vou inform me of the best wav to 



pack lettuce for shipment? I desire the 

 lettuce to carry well and be fresh and 

 attractive in apijearance when it reaches 

 the retailer. 



3. Spinach as a Orkenhousk Crop.— 

 Is spinach ever grown under glass? If so 

 how far apart are the rows and how far 

 apart are the plants in the rows, also 

 what price per pound should spinach 

 bring to make it as profitable as Grand 

 Rapids lettuce at 5 cents per head. 



4. Greenhouse Tomatoes —I could 

 make it very profitable in this market if 1 

 could ripen tomatoes a month in advance 

 of the earliest grown out of doors. I tried 

 to grow an extra early crop this year by 

 setting the plants the last of April or first 

 of May upon the benches wheie lettuce 

 had been grown during the winter The 

 experiment was not a success. The soil 

 consisted of one-third or more well rotted 

 cow manure, which gave me tomato 

 plants six and eight feet in height with 

 little fruit. Would growing the plants 

 in pots filled with such soil help the mat- 

 ter any? 



5. Can English Frame Cucumbers 

 be grown in the greenhouse during the 

 summer? I would care only lor the pleas- 

 ure of seeing a three feet cucumber grow, 

 with no thoughts of profit. W. G. B. 



Gouverneur, N. Y. 



1. Market gardeners here about leave 

 them empty over summer. Probably you 

 don't get outdoor cauliflow^rbeforejune, 

 cucumbers before the fourth of July, snap 

 beans before the 20th of June, or toma- 

 toes before the middle or 20th of July, up 

 till those times you can get all of them 

 from the greenhouse. Between the mid- 

 dle of July and the first of September is 

 the period when there is no money in the 

 gr enhouse, when we can grow things 

 better out of doors than inside. Out of 

 door cucumbers become unhealthj- in 

 September, and tomatoes begin to get 

 watery, but in the greenhouse we can 

 have them in prime condition from that 

 time on. Out of door musk melons arc 

 sometimes good, and sometimes bad, and 

 often are a very unsatisfactory crop, but 

 the high flavored hothouse melons of 

 England, although useless outside, thrive 

 admirablj' in our greenhouses in summer; 

 they need care, however. The fruits com- 

 mand a high price and are only fitted for 

 a select market. Some may advise you to 

 grow hothouse grapes in your houses in 

 summer, but don t do it, don't introduce 

 anything that will shade, crowd or inter- 

 fere with your vegetables before the mid- 

 dle of June or after the middle of Septem- 

 ber. Outdoor lettuces give out in Octo- 

 ber Don't you think there is more money 

 in a crop of greenhouse lettuces marketed 

 about the end of October than in chrys- 

 anthemums in November? We do. 



2 and 3. Lettuce should be packed in 

 barrels; the heads averaging about six to 

 eight dozen to a barrel are generally the 

 most salable size. Have some soft mate- 

 rial (a little soft hay will do) on the bot- 

 tom of the barrel, then a layer of news- 

 paper, pack the heads in close with stalks 

 upwards and so on till the barrel is lull. 

 We think washing the lettuce and not 

 leaving any dirt on the stalks keeps it in 

 better shape, and makes the lettuce look 

 nice and bright on opening the barrels. 

 Cover the barrel with the head or canvass 

 cover, and mark the number of dozen on 

 each barrel. Even dozens are generally 

 the best. 



In reference to spinach, our market for 

 it is generally very good between Christ- 

 mas and March, unless it is possible that 



Norfolk spinach should be in market, as 

 it generally is, about that time, but of 

 course this will depend entirely upon the 

 weather there. If the stock there should 

 be cut off by frost, then the hothou.se 

 spinach would meet a good market and 

 bring extra prices for the grower, but 

 should it meet a market when spinach is 

 plentiful from Norfolk it probably will 

 sell at about $1.50 per barrel. However 

 if the grower can see any margin at this 

 price to ship to our market, with the 

 general possibility of securing more, we 

 think it will be safe to risk growing it. 

 Archdeacon & Co. 

 Commission Merchants, 100 Murray 

 street. New Y'ork. 



Lots of spinach is grown under glass in 

 winter but not for market. Our garden- 

 ers flood the market with the outdoor 

 crop up into December, and except in very 

 hard weather Virginia ships it north in 

 immense quantity. Lettuces pay better. 

 We sow spinach in rows about ten inches 

 apart, moderately thick, and after the 

 plants are in fair leaf thin to one and one- 

 half to two inches apart, using the thin- 

 nings for greens. 



4. Sow in January or first of February 

 and grow the plants in pots, giving them 

 lots of room and light, but cramping the 

 roots. Get them to make a shor jointed 

 stocky growth at first, so as to rush them 

 into bloom; hand fertilizethe flowers; and 

 as soon as a few bunches of fruit are set 

 to each plant, stop the shoots, and feed 

 the roots with weak manure water. If 

 you plant them out on benches, have very 

 little soil, and make that very firm. 



5. With great ease. But you must 

 shade the glass to keep the plants from 

 wilting and scorching, and hose them 

 morning and afternoon to dispel red 

 spider. Cucumbers from sixteen to twenty 

 inches long are very fair; the three feet 

 fruit is something" very seldom seen 

 among the good varieties as Telegraph, 

 Sion House, and thelike, and yon couldn't 

 sell them in the market except as a 

 curiosity. 



THE VBOETflBLE GARDEN. 



It is time to think about pulling our 

 winter roots as turnips, beets, carrots 

 and salsify. Here we leave them in the 

 ground till after a light frost comes, 

 which is usually about the end of the 

 month; further inland, however, and in 

 more rigorous parts it is dangerous to 

 leave them out so long, k little frost 

 while thev are still growing won't hurt 

 them, but be very careful never to let frost 

 touch them after them are pulled. When 

 you pull them cut the tops off, but not 

 "the roots, and particularly in the case of 

 beets and salsify don't cut the tops off 

 close to the flesh. If you leave them in 

 heaps outside for a while before storing 

 in the cellar, see that they are covered 

 with tops enough to exclude frost and 

 shed rain, but not enough to generate 

 heat. Some salsify and parsnips may be 

 left in the ground over winter if we wish, 

 for late winter or spring use. We leave 

 horse radish and Jerusalem artichokes to 

 the last, often not digging them out be- 

 fore November. As both of them will 

 keep better in the ground than stored in 

 the cellar, we lift what we want for use 

 during winter, and leave the balance in 

 the ground till spring. 



See that the potatoes are covered from 

 the light, and keep cool, but not as low 

 as freezing. If the onions get damp or 

 are kept over warm they will sprout, 

 avoid this. .\ little frost in winter won't 

 materiallv hurt them. 



