i8g6. 



' GARDENING. 



281 



INVILLEA SAT 



ous and long lived. As a rule, a seedling 

 is good for sometliing, sometimes very 

 good, and rarely good for nothing. 

 F^eaches do not like to be in wet, badly 

 drained ground. But because they are 

 often found in neglected orchai<ds in the 

 peach growing states, do not get the 

 idea that they want no good food. Feed 

 them well and do not let ihem overbear. 



letting the trees go unpruned results in 

 the young, fruit bearing twigs being all 

 on the ends of young branches, lust 

 think of the empty space the branches of 

 such a tree spread over, which ought to 

 be occupied by fruitful twigs! Commence 

 to prune the trees from the start. In the 

 summer while the trees are growing, 

 pinch off the ends of the strong shoots, to 

 force out the side ones, and in the winter 

 prune a little here and there, when it will 

 result in making a bushy tree. 



Our fruit growers here do not look on 

 the cherrj- as such a sure fruit as the 

 peach. Not but what it blossoms and 

 i)cars regularly, but between the curculio 

 and the birds the fruit has a hard time of 

 it. Then, too, some of our fruit men say 

 the tree does not do well on the Mahaleb 

 stock, and that they prefer the Mazzard, 

 but this seems something of a local com- 

 pl.-iint so far, the Mahaleb being preferred 

 by a great many. To refer to our State 

 Horticultural Association's report again, 

 I find the cherry list stands thus, pre- 

 ferred in the order named: Hearts and 

 Bigarreaus— Black Tartarian, Covernor 

 Wood, Napoleon, Yellow Sjjanish, Black 

 Eagle, and Ohio Beauty. Of .Morellos 

 and Dukes— Early Richmond, May Duke, 

 English Morello, Montmorencj-, Reine 

 Hortense and Late Duke. For a very 

 early kind the Early Purple Ouignc should 

 lie planted. It is so early that it seems 

 the blossoming is hardly over before ripe 

 fruit appears, and it is a good kind, too. 

 And for a late one take the English Mo- 

 rello. It is the only one of a large collec- 



tion noticed that escapes the robins. It 

 ripens here after June, when the birds 

 find abundance of wild ones ripe and 

 other fruit besides, hence this Morello 

 escapes them. It is a satisfactory sort, 

 too, in hanging on the tree a long time 

 without decaying. 



The cherry does not escape with so few 

 enemies as the peach. The curculio, so 

 destructive to the plum, is its enemy as 

 well, and has to be met by sprayings with 

 insecticides, as recommended for the plum. 

 The stung fruit does not fall as in the 

 case of the plum and the apple. The rot 

 is a well known evil, destroying great 

 quantities of fruit. Spraying of the trees, 

 while not curing fruit affected, prevents 

 the spread of the fungus spores, and is to 

 be recommended, and it should be com- 

 menced before the leaves unfold, to de- 

 stroy the fungus which may have lived 

 overwinter in the twigs and other places. 



Philadelphia. J. Meeh.\n. 



Pear Blight.— H. B. writes: "On iwo 

 of my pear trees the leaves turned black 

 last fall, and I cut the branches off into 

 the trunk; this spring young leaves 

 started out nicely, but they have now 

 turned black. Should I dig out and 

 remove these diseased trees and n place 

 with healthy ones, or would the young 

 trees become diseased?" Ans. By all 

 means root out the diseased trees, care- 

 fully removing all pieces of roots left in 

 the ground, then remove the soil from 

 where the old tree grew and replace it 

 with fresh soil; now replant with new 

 healthy stock. In renewing the soil it is 

 enough to throw out a load of earth 

 from each tree hole a little to one side, 

 and throw back from there into the hole 

 enough soil as an equivalent; this saves 

 carting. Our experience has proved sat- 

 isfactorily to us that j'oung pear trees 

 planted in the same holes from which 

 blighted specimens had recently been 



removed soon took the disease them- 

 selves. 



Miscellaneous. 



XflNTHOCERflS-FINK CHERRY BLOSSOMS- 

 EARLY COSMOS. 



1. I want to tell you my experience 

 with the seed of Xa'nthoceras sorbifolia 

 which you kindly sent me last fall. I 

 planted eight seeds in a small grape 

 basket set to the rim in a cold frame 

 according to previous direction given to 

 readers of Gardening. This was on 

 September 26. November 25 I found one 

 of the seeds had sprouted, but on attempt- 

 ing to examine it too closely inadvert- 

 ently broke the sprout off. This has since 

 lingered along, but will probably never 

 .imount to anything. All the' others 

 came but one and I have now five seed- 

 ling plants. Four have fine green foliage. 

 On the other the foliage is not so abund- 

 ant and it is of a light straw color. That 

 it should continue to keep this color, is 

 rather curious is it not? I propose shortly 

 to transplant these seedlings to such 

 position as I expect to keep them in per- 

 manently, and make provision to shelter 

 them during the winter. This is accord- 

 intitoyour previous directions I think? 



2. Among the curious effects of this 

 season's phenomenal weather, we have 

 had pink cherry blossoms and (3) what 

 1 consider still more rare, I now have in 

 bloom cosmos. The seed was planted 

 indoors between the middle and last of 

 February. The variety was the Giants 

 of California, but both plants and flowers 

 are small. H. R. V. 



Philadelphia, May 20, 1896. 



1. Glad to know that you have been 

 so successful with thexanthoccras plants. 

 Yes, plant them to permanent quarters. 

 The yellow-leaved plant is not strange, 

 such things often occur among tree seed- 

 lings, it will probably die. 



2. Something we had not before 

 heard of. 



3. Nothing uncommon. No doubt 

 your cosmos plants were pot grown 

 or otherwise restricted in root room, 

 which enervating condition is almost 

 sure to run them to bloom; after they are 

 planted out and start into vigoVous 

 growth, and the buds now formed have 

 all opened, probably the plants will stop 

 flowering and devote their complete 

 attention to growing, till next Septem- 

 ber or October, when they will return to 

 blooming in good earnest. 



Multiplier Onions. —E. J., Wacha- 

 preague, Va., asks; "How should I raise 

 sets of the Multiplier onions? Do you 

 merely let the onions stav in the ground 

 and then separate them as you do garlic, 

 and if so how long do you let them stay 

 in the ground?" Ans. Plant the sets in 

 rows a foot apart in earliest spring. If 

 you want them for use, pluck and use 

 them as soon as you think the young 

 green onions are big enough to eat; but if 

 you want them for sets, let them alone to 

 mature, when instead of forming one 

 bulb only all the larger ones will split up 

 into a nest of manv bulbs. If you arc 

 growing for sets, at plantingtime'use the 

 larger sets, as these are almost sure to 

 multiply, the smallest ones mav not the 

 same season. 



Gardening fills a niche no other horti- 

 cultural can or does at present. It is 

 unique. J. B. 0. 



Pennsvlvania. 



