1895. 



GARDENING. 



'39 



and vegetable seeds we should depend on 

 tried, standard sorts; a new kind, because 

 of its scarcitj' and hij;h price, is simply 

 grown on probation. Besides, all vari- 

 eties are not equallj- well suited to all 

 places, some melons that do well in New 

 Jersey have not done well on Long Island; 

 some potatoes that are superior in Ohio 

 are not first-class with us at Dosoris.and 

 so on. In the way of flower seeds this 

 diflVrence is less marked, so too it is in 

 tlie way of decorative shrubs. Straw- 

 birries are a pointed example of local 

 choice. 



Modern Greenhouse Construction is 

 what Hitchings & Co. 233 Mercer street. 

 New York, call their catalogue of green- 

 house designs. If you have got a green- 

 hou-e, are intending to build a green 

 house, or are interested in greenhouses in 

 any way send for this book. It contains 

 man}' splendidly executed designs of 

 modern greenhouses that the firm have 

 built, and it also shows many details of 

 construction. The arrangement of the 

 heating pipes in the greenhouses, the 

 staging, and manner of ventilating are 

 shown so lucidly that a child can under- 

 stand them. And even if we don't want 

 to get a builder to put up a greenhouse 

 for us. this little book is very suggestive 

 indeed, should we wish to build a home- 

 made greenhouse or pit for ourselves. 



.\ Grape Manual and Catalogue is 

 published by Bush & Son & Meissner, 

 Bushberg, Mo. It contains 200 pages 

 and is entirely devoted to grapes. It 

 costs 50 cents. This is no price list or 

 common trade catalogue, but an invalua- 

 ble book on grapes. The fourth edition 

 of it has just come to hand, and we place 

 it alongside of Fuller's Grape CultuVist on 

 our shelf of reference books. It tells us all 

 about the American native grapes and 

 their classification, and all about culti- 

 vated varieties. The practical cultivation 

 of the grape is dealt with very thoroughly. 

 The chapters on grafting, insects, injuri- 

 ous fungi, and spraying are full, very 

 interesting, and generously illustrated. 

 Wine making is treated as only those who 

 write from experience can handle it. And 

 aside from the general description of the 

 many varieties there is a capital index to 

 them as well as a table of the originators 

 of our good grapes. 



BLANCHE BURPEE SWEET PEfl. 



This is a new white flowered sweet pea 

 raised bj- Mr. Eckford, the specialist in 

 this line, and it is to be sold this year for 

 the first time. We have known of this 

 pea for a couple of years; it is said to 

 eclipse everything in the way of white 

 sweet peas ever before seen. The plant is 

 a profuse bloomer and the flowers are 

 pure white, very large, of perfect form and 

 have not got the notch peculiar to most 

 peas on their upper petal. 



AN ftSPflRflOUS BED. 



.\. B. H. has a space 50 feet long by 10 

 feet wide prepared and dug for an aspar- 

 agus bed, and he asks us: "How many 

 plants will it require? How far apart 

 should they be set, and how deep should 

 the crowns be covered? What varietj' 

 should I use? How should the vi-alks be 

 placed? It doesn't seem to me that by 

 planting the rows the regulation 3 feet 

 apart the bed would be of good shape, 

 if the rows run lengthwise. Another 

 year I could widen the space two to three 

 feet." 



.\s you can add 2 to 3 feet in width 

 another year begin now as if the bed 



were 12 feet wide instead of 10, and run 

 the rows 3 feet apart and lengthwise in 

 the bed. You don't need any walks. 

 Throw out the trenches nine inches deep, 

 strew a 2-inch layer of well rotted man- 

 ure in the bottom and a little earth over 

 it; on this set the plants, eighteen inches 

 apart, and so that the top of the plant 

 in light soil shall be five to six inches 

 lower than the surface of the ground. 

 Cover the crowns only two inches deep 

 to begin with; in hoeing and cleaning in 

 summer the trench will get filled up two 

 or three inches more, the next year it may 

 be filled up level In heavy land four to 

 five inches over the crowns may be enough. 

 Why plant so deep? You want the green 

 asparagus that grows above ground and 

 not the white that is blanched under the 

 soil. True, and that's what you'll get. 

 In a year or two the crowns will increase 

 in size and rise considerably. Being under 

 the ground a little gives one an oppor- 

 tunitv to fork the surface of the bed 

 lightly without injuring the eyes of the 

 crowns, it is also a protection against the 

 effects of freezing and thawing in winter 

 and excessive heat and drouth in summer. 

 "The best variety" is puzzling. If you 

 have to buy the plants get them from 

 some one you have confidence in, taking 

 what he has got, for, sub rosa, there is 

 more difierence in the names than in the 

 varieties. Colossal is the standby yet. 

 Most of our large market growers save 

 their seed from selected plants on their 

 own farm. Get 150 plants. You may 

 have a dozen left over, but there will 

 probably be that number of poor ones in 

 the lot that had better be discarded. 



The first summer we grow spinach, let- 

 tuces, early cauliflower, or snap beans on 

 the ridges between the rows in our aspar- 

 agus beds. 



MUSHROOMS. 



I send you a speciesof mushroom which 

 I would like your opinion on. Is it a 

 mushroom? It grew in cluster of about 

 40 to 50 in bunch under a partly opened 

 shed in a soil of cinder and ground where 

 horses have stood at times. 



I am raising the mushrooms from both 

 English and French spawn, and have 13 

 beds in my cellar now all spawned. The 

 cellar is heated by steam, temperature 

 70°. Should the temperature of the bed 

 after spawning be kept 90° for the ten to 

 twelve days after being planted by cover- 

 ing, etc., when the temperature goes 

 down, or should we let it alone after 

 planting at 90°, until we put the clay on 

 in ten days later. Should the tempera- 

 ture of the cellar be kept at 60° after 

 planting the spawn or should it be kept 

 higher, say 70° to 75° directly after plant- 

 ing and then reduce the room to 60° when 

 mushrooms appear? .\. I'. M. 



Wilksbarre, Pa. 



The mushroom, or whatever it was, 

 was packed with cotton and paper in n 

 small paper box and sent bj^mail. When 

 it reached us the box (as all paper boxes 

 are apt to be) had been squeezed out of 

 shape in the mails, and the contents were 

 a crushed, black, putrid, indistinguishable 

 mass. 



At this time of \ear before the mush- 

 rooms appear, provided the beds arc cov- 

 ered with hay, straw or litter and the 

 atmosohere is fairly moist a temperature 

 of 70° may be all right, but let it fall 

 gradually to 58° or 60" as soon as there 

 are signs of mushrooms. While it is well 

 to cover the beds after spawning to keep 

 up warmth and encourage the spawn to 

 run according to circumstances, to arrest 

 condensed moisture, also to prevent over- 



drying be very careful not to overcover, 

 and don't try to keep up 90° if it takes 

 much covering, for such a high tempera- 

 ture is apt to dry out the manure in the 

 bed, and that means ruin the crop. 



you WANT OUR ... . 



Weather ^bbU^. 



START OL'ICK, so .l,ey get ahead 



(I ROW STRONd drought 



High qualit.v and low prices. 

 _,___,_, Trial, one packet each Fi owkk 



r K r r (sweet Ptasi, garden and farm 

 ■ ■ > L^ ■_ SEEDS, sent to every one enclos- 

 ing 6c. in stamps to pay postage on our 112 

 page Illustrated Catalogue, a Money saver of 

 Itself. 7//f seals -.enl ui,- i,;,illi duuhlr i., , 



Vaughan'sSeed Store, 



WANTED 



Salisburia adiantifolia, 12 feet high. 

 Perfect trees in tvery p.irticular. 

 JAMES H. BOWDITCH, 



62 Devonshire St., BOSTON, MASS. 



herbaceous 



plants, etc, for landscape gardeners, parks cem- 

 eteries and private gardens 250,000 Berberis 

 Thunbergii. red berried Berberry. Calilornia and 

 Common Privet, Spiraea Thunbergii, Buckthorn, 

 Honey Locust. Japan Quince, Hedge plants. 

 Woodbine, Wistaria, Periploca. Bignonia, 

 Ainpelopsis, Honeysuckles. Viiicas. and Ever- 

 greens. Catalogues free. Prices low. 

 8. M. WATSON. Old Colony Nurseries, P ymouth. Mass. 



Trees # Plants 



We offer a large and fine stock of every description 

 of Fruit, and Ornamental Trees. Shrubs. 

 Roses, Vines, Small Fruits. Hed^e Plants. 

 Fruit and Forest Tree Seedlings. Priced 



Catalogue mailed Tee. Established 1852, 



PHOENIX NURSERY COMPANY, 



(Sue. to Sidney Tuttle i Co.) Uloomlngton. lU. 



HOW TO GROW 



Pine=Apples. 



J OHN ASPINWALL. Eau Gallie. Fla. 



HOMES BY THE SEfl. Kft'Sf K 



I iv-^iTEi-**^ j^^^^ (iame. Oysters and FlBh In 

 abundance. Lemons. Oranees. Pineapples tind all Sub- 

 tropical Fruits and Flowers are trrown to perfection. 

 CIlinatedellKhlful. Summer and Winter. Land fertile. 

 high and dry. A nook In pi OPIDA * 

 tlvely unknown that offers rLVIKIU/\ ^ 

 and to winter vlsltort* aa vantaKCs not f« 

 Seekers after health, pleasure, or protit should read 

 our booklet, h^ent fret-, LEMON KAV I AND «'<•. 

 - • ■■ CHICAGO. 



COLUMBIAN. ,',':■; iXJuc^ed" ^fr^iJS'Vil^S 



hlyh fu ! 1- 1. ,.r sUOU quarts per acre. Cata- 



V^\l\\v ii. ■•■'■[1i.mil; w ;m ■! tin- BKlST BtrawberDeB and 

 <aher!5ii.i.i. irun^ in.ni.lhi^r the TRI I'M l»H Goose- 

 berry. Al?u hanly fnilt and ornamental trees, shrubft 

 and vines. I^artje stock. KiKht prices. Send for one 

 ti>-day. Its free. Address 

 COE & CONVERSE, No. 13. Ft. Atkinson, Wis. 



PLANTS BY MAIL — ^ 



Fine well rooted stock, to pot up and forward for the 

 garden. Amatear»' special extra 



DOLlflRS FUN AND COMFORT 



j£l'^' ':':,1'L' ',.;:,: 'l--'lN"pRlJlf 



H.II.K UKOS., So 



