364 



GARDENING. 



Aug. IS, 



When the berries commenced to color 

 both side and top ventilation was left on 

 da.v and night, commencing with a little 

 at'first'and gradually increasing it till all 

 is left open when the weather is dry. 



About watering: I believe in giving 

 grape vines a deal of water at the root. 

 I never yet have seen grape vines that 

 were hurt by over watering before the 

 fruit began to color, providing the drain- 

 age, either natural orartificial was good; 

 but I have seen many a house of grapes 

 sufi'ering for want of water. The la t 

 heavy watering I gave our vine borders 

 was when about one fourth of the berries 

 were shovi-ing their ripening color. After 

 that the borders get a good damping 

 everv bright morning, and the pathways 

 two or three dampings in the course of 

 the day, and the borders in the houses 

 where the truit is ripening get a heavy 

 damping down every bright morning, and 

 I will continue to do this till the weather 

 gets cooler. It is a mistake to withhold 

 water from the vine borders too soon. 



Firing: I am using a little fire heat on 

 cold or damp nights. One surnmer I 

 didn't do this so was caught napping. I 

 had given the borders a heavy watering 

 as above described, the borders being all 

 indoors, and no heat was turned on that 

 night and the weather sprung up quite 

 cold and damp; the following day was 

 bright and warm and I got several 

 bunches of grapes scalded. The airing 

 was in no way neglected. 



1 am glad to say that not a berry of 

 the Madresfield Co'irt has cracked with 

 me this ^.season, and they are past that 

 stage now. You know how few garden- 

 ers grow this variety and all because of 

 its inclination to crack its berries when 

 thev are coloring. Some growers 

 keep their borders dry, but I find this is a 

 mistake. Keep the borders open, well 

 cultivated on surfac , and well watered, 

 and have a sweet, clear atmosphere in 

 the house. Stagnant moisture to settle 

 on the berry when it is swelling is sure to 

 injure it. George McWilliam 



Whitinsville, Mass., August 11, '96. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



OUR VEGETABLE CROP. 



Our seed sowing is over for this season 

 and we are now engaged in destroying 

 the weed by keeping the cultivator and 

 hoe in use when admissible, and hand 

 ])ulling of weeds in crops where cultiva- 

 tion has ceased. 



All past plantings should have been 

 noted both in trial book and by the use 

 of marking sticks so that we may enjoy 

 noting results of the different sorts. 



Our early bush beans are past, we were 

 favorably impressed with th? New String- 

 less, a green pod sort of recent introduc- 

 tion. We prefer the Thorburn Valentine 

 Wax and the Improved Prolific Black 

 Wax to the Vosemitc. This last is not 

 productive with me. For a later crop the 

 old Refugee is most productive, of good 

 (juality and fine shape. We were par- 

 ticularly impressed with the good points 

 of the Chelsea pea, it being earlier than 

 the Ocms, with a longer pod, beautifully 

 curved and well filled with peas of deli- 

 cious quality. [\Vc grew it some years 

 ago, as soon as ft was sent out and noted 

 it as an A 1 dwarf variety. — En.] Wc are 

 now getting the first of our tomatoes. 

 The Early Red Apple now known by its 

 new name the Early Michigan, pleases us 



better than many of the other early to- 

 matoes. 



The Pride of America from Frank Ford 

 & Son was the earliest sweet com out of 

 a dozen extra early sorts, the White 

 Cory and Marblehead giving a larger ear 

 but two days later. The Melrose, a 

 new sort following just after the Cory 

 has an ear much larger. This corn is ot 

 f.ne quality and no doubt will supersede 

 the Perry Hybrid among -market garden- 

 ers Our medium early sorts are not yet 

 in an edible condition but are promising 

 a good crop. In making a trial ot Lima 

 beans we planted 12 sorts comprising 

 2 hills of a kind. One hill of each sort we 

 planted the beans eye down, the other 

 hill was planted flat.' All the hills planted 

 flat (with one exception) came up better 

 and made a stronger growth whileyoung 

 than those planted with the eye down. 

 So in the future I will save labor by plant- 

 ing Lima beans flat. [We have always 

 noted that the only advantage ot plant- 

 ing Lima beans on edge or eye down is in 

 early sowing or wet weather, the beans 



are less liable to rot when set edgewise 

 than when tlat.— Ed.] 



Silas L. Albertson. 

 Market Gardener, Long Island, August 

 7, '96. 



(lOOD Lettuces.— M. F. M.. Detroit, 

 writes: "I wish you would tell us how 

 to grow solid heads of lettuce so as to 

 rival that grown in the markets in ap- 

 pearance and flavor, that growing in my 

 garden having little heart and getting 

 bitter almost as soon as ready to be 

 eaten." Ans. Flabby or soft-hearted 

 lettuces are a good deal a matter of vari- 

 ety, and not infrequently of ill selected 

 seed. Read the article on lettuces in 

 Gardening, page 364-, .August 15, '93; it 

 will give you the plain truth as regards 

 varieties of lettuces and their behavior in 

 summer. Lettuces to be good should be 

 grown in rich, moist, clean and well cul- 

 tivated ground, and from the moment the 

 seed germinates till the lettuce is cut for 

 use, it should be one unchecked rush of 

 [concluded page 366.] 



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Pot=Grown Plants Ready Aug. 1st. 



Price, $1.00 per Dozen; $5.00 per Hundred. Descriptive Circular on request. 



ELLWANQERiSc BARRY, 



Mount Hope Nurseries, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



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