r8g6. 



GARDENING. 



9i 



STIPA PENNATA 



ning to flower nicely; it is better than the 

 Chinese one lor cutting, and we like it 

 very much. D. F. 



The Fruit Garden. 



FRUIT TREE BORERS. 



Theborerinapple trees comes from eggs 

 laid in the ground by an insect, close to 

 the trunk of the tree, in July and August. 

 When hatched the grub bores into the 

 tree, to make a home tor itself for awhile. 

 The boring is usually an inch or two be- 

 low the soil, and its track is easily seen 

 by the sawdust like exudations which 

 appear wherethegrubentered. In August 

 and September the search for it should be 

 made; and a second one should be made 

 in the spring following, to be sure that 

 none were overlooked in the fall. It will 

 pay well to do the work thoroughly the 

 first time. If the borings were always 

 straight there would be but little trouble 

 to dislodge the pests at anytime, but 

 sometimes the route of the grubs is an 

 extremely tortuous one. 



To be ready for the work of finding the 

 enemy one needs a trowel to remove the 

 soil from around the tree, a wire to insert 

 into the hole, to pierce the grub, and a 

 knife to cut away portions of the bark 

 when the hole is so crooked that the wire 

 must have a way cut for it. The grub 

 oftentimes takes a circuitous route in its 

 travels, but it works comparatively slow 

 and there is no trouble in following it up 

 the first season, which fact, as will be 

 seen, renders the proper doing of the work 

 the first season a matter of the first im- 

 portance. 



In young orchards that have been 

 neglected, it is a good lesson to walk 

 through them and see the number of pros- 

 trate trees which have been so honey- 

 combed by borers as to break off at the 

 base in high wind storms. There are 

 more apple trees destroyed in this way 

 than in all others combined. When the 

 soil about orchard trees is level it is some 



labor to dig out enough earth to work 

 properly at getting out the grubs. It 

 simplifies the work very much to have a 

 slight mound about the trees it only an 

 inch or two high, because the borer's 

 work is generally just below the surface, 

 and by digging away the two inches when 

 time to look for them, the work can be 

 much more expeditiously done. 



In regard to preventing the borer, there 

 is nothing that is not as much or more 

 trouble than the looking for them and 

 getting them out, which really is not hard 

 at all. Strong washes in the soil are 

 undoubtedly distasteful to them. It is a 



ENGLISH GOOSEBERRIES. 



Notwithstanding the many attempts to 

 grow the English gooseberry and the 

 many failures, there are enough successful 

 ones to cause other persons to make an 

 effort to succeed with them. Failures us- 

 ually come from mildew of both the foli- 

 age and fruit, and this mishap generallv 

 occurs in hot seasons and in the hottest 

 weather. In the face of the fact that 

 many have failed with them, there is the 

 record of many others who have suc- 

 ceeded, even when no extra pains to suc- 

 ceed have been taken. 



About Philadelphia there are many gar- 

 dens where these bushes flourish. In some 

 eases the plants are entirely in the full sun; 

 but the most flourishing ones are those in 

 small yards, where the soil is cool, be- 

 cause of the shade the buildings give. 

 And these bushes bear not only one year, 

 but every year. In one garden where the 

 bushes bear unfailingly every year they 

 are planted where the sun gets to them 

 but little at all, because of large pear 

 trees which almost surround the patch 

 they are in. This particular lot of plants 

 has been in the charge of the owner for 

 thirty years that I know of, and, he tells 

 me that a crop never fails him. 



Of late years an English sort called In- 

 dustry has gained much prominence here, 

 because it has done better than other 

 ones that have preceded it. Even when 

 in the full sun it has done very well in 

 many situations. The English goose- 

 berry is, however, a cool country fruit, 

 and to succeed with it, it should be set in 

 cool situations. A favorable place for ama- 

 teurs to plant it is where it would get the 

 morning sun, but none or but little after 

 midday. The eastern side of a building 

 would be a good place, arid then in earlv 

 spring give the plants a good mulching 

 of some kind, to keep the soil cool and 

 moist. It need not be a thick covering; 

 just enough to well cover the soil is 

 enough; long grass is as handv material 

 as any and costs nothing. And when 

 mulching this kind do the same with all 

 other gooseberries in the garden as well 



GROUP OF SINGLE STEM CHRYSANTHEMUMS 



fact that in country vards where dish 

 water from the kitchen finds its way to 

 apple, quince, peach and trees liked by 

 borers, they are never troubled by them; 

 and how the trees flourish when they get 

 this kind of food! 



Though old trees are not exempt, 

 younger ones with more tender bark suf- 

 fer the most. When setting out trees 

 examine them well that no grubs are 

 overlooked. Do not reject a tree because 

 it has been bored. If set so that the hole 

 is below the soil, as it should be, it will 

 flourish well enough. M. 



ascurrants. It will pay. Mulched bushes 

 retain their leaves later in the summer 

 than others, and this retention of foliage 

 means good strong bushes the next season. 

 Gooseberries do not need very much 

 pruning. They rarely grow so much as 

 to need a great deal of it. A shoot mav 

 be out of place and should be cut off close 

 to the main stem, that it will not sprout 

 again, and old bushes need some cutting 

 back to force out fresh growth, but to 

 prune back the most of the previous sea- 

 son's wood is wrong. 



Joseph Meehan. 



