44 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[February, 



Besides this it may be of service to remind the 

 reader of ,thc admirable plan of Mr. Harris, of 

 Philadelphia, as described in our magazine by Mr. 

 Peter Henderson, in which the flues after going the 



round of the house, takes its upright position right 

 above the furnace. This is practically a perpet- 

 ual bunch of burning shavings at the outlet of the 

 flue. 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



When fruit trees are grown with root or other 

 crops, it is well known that such root crops will 

 not do without manure. In this operation the 

 trees steal a little intended for the root crops. 

 Hence trees so grown are very likely to have a 

 green, nice color, in strong contrast with neglected 

 trees in grass. It must not be forgotten that trees 

 need as much food as any other crop, and that 

 there is no better way to feed them than by apph - 

 ing at this season on the surface ; give them some- 

 thing, if only ditch cleanings. Pruning of fruit 

 trees should be completed as soon as possible, and 

 as a general thing the least pruning the better. In 

 apple or pear trees, strong stout sprouts are apt to 

 come out along the main branches of the tree. 

 These are best cut out, as in time they take to 

 themselves the food destined for the branches be- 

 yond, and in this way injure those branches. At 

 other times a branch for some time bearing becomes 

 weakened by some cause, in which case it is often 

 a benefit to cut this off back to a vigorous sprout. 

 This is particularly the case when bark gets what 

 the gardeners call hide-bound. In this case 

 the branches are bettered by slitting the bark long- 

 itudinally, or by cutting back to a young sprout as 

 aforesaid. 



Some have found injury to the trees from slitting 

 hide-bound bark. The writer practiced it for 

 years on apple and pear trees, and always with ex- 

 cellent results. In pruning dwarf pears cut out the 

 weaker branches where pruning is believed to be 

 at all desirable, even to thinning out the spurs, 

 rather than cut back the strongly vital wood which 

 many do. 



The grape is very apt, when trained on trellises, 

 to get its bearing wood weakened. In this case it 



is always wise, in pruning, to watch for a chance 

 to get a strong young branch from near the base 

 as a renewal cane. 



Manuring of grapes should be regulated by the 

 nature of the soil. If it be damp — in most cases 

 a bad condition for grape growing — stable manure 

 in great quantities means diseased vines. In dry 

 ground, it has a beneficial effect. Many persons 

 of small places have grapes in damp ground, or 

 can have none. They must take care to keep the 

 roots near the surface ; never crop the ground 

 about them to destroy the small fibres, if it can be 

 avoided ; and even good may often follow, when 

 the vines seem failing, to carefully follow up the 

 roots, lift near the surface, and encourage, as 

 much as possible, those remaining there. Wood- 

 ashes, bone-dust, and such like fertilizers are best 

 for grape vines in low ground. 



In the vegetable garden the work for Februar)" 

 will for the most part consist of preparations for 

 future operations, and particularly for dealing with 

 the manure question. All those kinds that are 

 grown for their leaves or stems, require an abun- 

 dance of nitrogenous manures ; and it is useless to 

 attempt vegetable gardening without it. To this 

 class belong cabbage, lettuce, spinach, &c. The 

 other class which is grown principally for its seeds 

 or pods, as beans, peas, &c., do not require much 

 manure of this character ; in fact they are injured 

 by it. It causes too great a growth of stem and 

 leaf, and the earliness — a great aim in vegetable 

 growing — is injuriously affected. Mineral manures, 

 as wood-ashes, bone-dust, etc., are much better 

 for them. For vegetables requiring rich stable 

 manure, it is best that they have it well rotted and 

 decayed. Nothing has yet been found so well fitted 

 for the purpose as old hot-bed dung ; though to the 

 smell no trace of "ammonia " remains in it. 



