i8g8. 



GARDENING. 



153 



gators. The composition of a multitude 

 of plants has been determined. Not to 

 weary you with details, it may be said 

 that the scientist has given to the farmer 

 many, very many, new and valuable 

 facts. \t no period in the world's history 

 has there been such an interest in science 

 and its application to rural affairs as 

 during the last twenty-five 3'ears. The 

 public press of America teems with the 

 results of this arm}- of investigators. 



Is there danger that the farmer will be- 

 come cloyed and unable to digest this 

 vast array of facts? These facts secured 

 in the laboratories must be applied by 

 the tiller of the soil at the right time, in 

 the right place and with suitable 

 environment, or they will be of 

 little use to those for whom this vast 

 labor has been undertaken. Much has 

 been done by the experiment stations 

 and colleges for the rural population. Is 

 it not time for the farmer to put his 

 shoulder to the wheel and help himself by 

 making an application of the knowledge 

 which has been so freely furnished to 

 him? Before the scientific truths can be 

 of full value to him he must learn how to 

 use them wisely. 



In other words, he must become an in- 

 vestigator. He must question the soil 

 and the plant. To do this he will have 

 to learn, for he hasnot been trained, how 

 to see accurately, and the way to get 

 this training is to have interesting objects 

 to see. These objects must be those 

 which have an economic value and they 

 must be at hand on his own land where 

 he can watch them, become acquainted 

 with their habits of growth and develop- 

 ment, their likes and dislikes. Many 

 forces are acting, and varied conditions 

 are present during the life of the plant, 

 all of which must be studied before con- 

 clusions can be drawn. 



The farmer now has unexcelled facili- 

 ties for securing vast stores of useful and 

 pleasurable knowledge at his home. This 

 paper is written with the distinct view of 

 pleadirg with the farmer to make the 

 Dest possible use of these facilities that he 

 and his children may no longer be called 

 "clod-hoppers" but take their places 

 among those who follow honorable and 

 learned professions. 



Take one of the many bulletins which 

 have been issued during the last year. 

 Study it as carefully as you should study 

 the Bible. Get thoroughly saturated 

 with the subject and then go to work on 

 some line of research. Begin with the 

 soil, take as proven what you find in the 

 bulletins and give due weight to the re- 

 sults reached by other experimenters. 

 Try all things, hold on to that which is 

 good. Fityourexperimenttoyour tastes 

 and environment, measure and weigh 

 accurately and take full notes of all con- 

 ditions. Try but one experiment at a time 

 and aim to discover but one truth at a 

 time. The stations and colleges will be 

 of comparatively little value in the future 

 to agriculture if the knowledge secured is 

 not applied to your particular case, sub- 

 ject to the home conditions. The chemist 

 can tell you only a fraction of what you 

 should want to know. The knowledge 

 he has secured will be as valueless to you 

 if you do not use it as are the postage 

 stamps which are locked up in the safe if 

 they are never used. The experiment 

 stations, and I believe I soeak the senti- 

 ments of the state as well as of the federal 

 station, wash their hands of the respon- 

 sibility which rests with you. If you 

 make no use of the information which 

 their publications contain the sin be upon 

 your own heads. 

 But you may say all this is too indefi- 



nite. Then let us be specific. Ask ques- 

 tions of the land in your orchard. Take 

 two or ten rows of trees — find out if those 

 trees like potash, phosphoric acid or 

 crimson clover. Find out if those trees 

 are dry. Find when and how they prefer 

 moisture. Comirune with that old 

 dried up pasture, find its ailments and 

 a remedy for them. The experiment 

 stations can give you only a little counsel 

 and advice as to this sick patient. Look 

 straight into the eyes of the potatoes 

 which you have planted and see how they 

 weep from neglect. See if some bulletin 

 may not help you to alleviate the suffer- 

 ing of this much abused tuber. 



Opportunity presents itself on every 

 hand for questioning the soil. The infor- 

 mation you desire can only be secured by 

 yourselves. I appeal to you who are 

 gathered here to-day and who are among 

 the more intelligent farmers of this state 

 to give this matter your most careful con- 

 sideration and come up here next year 

 with facts gleaned from your own inves- 

 tigations — so many of them that we old 

 professional speakers will be crowded off 

 the stage. 



Vermont Horticultural Society. — 

 The Vermont Horticultural Society held 

 its annual winter meeting at Middlebury 

 January 11 and 12. The president, Mr. 

 T. L. Kinney, a prominent apple grower 

 of South Hero, and secretary, Professor 

 Waugh. of Burlington, were re-elected. 

 The meeting was devoted almost entirely 

 to pomology, All the papers on the pro- 

 gramme were interesting and practical. 

 Professor G. H. Perkins, speaking on 

 "Orchard Insects," said in part: "The 

 forest tent-caterpillar has been unusually 

 abundant and destructive the past year. 

 Prevention is better than cure, and the 

 pests may be largely prevented by des- 

 troying their egg clusters when the trees 

 are leafless in fall or winter. The oyster- 

 shell scale has been very injurious in some 

 orchards. The best remedy is spraying 

 with kerosene emulsi u about the last of 

 May and again early in June. The San 

 Jose scale has appeared in one place in 

 the state. The round-headed apple borer 

 is best prevented by a coat of strong 

 alkaline wash or kerosene emulsion. In 

 spite of the cold climate in this state the 

 apple has been gradually introduced, 

 thanks to crab and dwarf apples and 

 Russian varieties. Especially native 

 hardy seedlings have been selected and 

 better orchard practice adopted, till now 

 apple orchards are generally distributed 

 throughout the state, and in some 

 sections the fruit is grown on a commer- 

 cial scale." The society agreed on the 

 whole that the varieties best suited to 

 Vermont are Baldwin, Rhode Island 

 Greening, Northern Spy and Fameuse, 

 though it was generally understood that 

 this list is not satisfactory, and hence not 

 without criticism. Among grapes, only 

 the earliest varieties should be planted, 

 such as Green Mountain, Moore's Early 

 and Wyoming Red. But these can be 

 grown in nearly all sections of the state 

 for home use, and in some parts com- 

 mercially for the supply of local markets. " 

 Vines should be covered in the fall and 

 special attention paid to ripening the 

 fruit, which should be left on the vines as 

 long as possible. During recent years 

 plums have received considerable atten- 

 tion. There is an especial interest in the 

 Japanese varieties. These have been 

 thoroughly tested in various parts of 

 the state. The varieties recommended 

 are Red June, Abundance, Burbank and 

 Chabot. Of these tbe Burbank is the 

 most successful commercially. 



P L. HARRIS 



WORKERS IN HORTICULTURE. II. 



The name of F. L. Harris, whose por- 

 trait appears above, is familiar to all our 

 readers, and deservedly known far and 

 wide through his long labors in connec- 

 tion with the most elaborate private gar- 

 den in America, namely, that of Mr. H. 

 H. Hunnewell, at Wellesley, Massachu- 

 setts. Here every form of ornamental 

 horticulture is given that generous treat- 

 ment which only a master hand may 

 attempt, and Mr. Harris has been unusu- 

 ally fortunate in the result of his efforts, 

 as the numerous illustrations of his work 

 which have appeared in these pages from 

 time to time fully demonstrate. Nature 

 has helped him to some extent, for the 

 site of the estate is an ideal one. But his 

 is the art which mends nature, and he has 

 not been behindhand in taking advantage 

 of the opportunities presented. Mr. Har- 

 ris has been favored also in having a 

 keenly interested employer, and it is 

 pleasing to note that for forty four years 

 he and Mr. Hunnewell have been linked 

 together in the common cause of horti- 

 culture. Mr. Harris was born in Eng- 

 land in 1822. 



Fruits and Vegetables. 



GRAPERY WORK. 



The vines in general will be pruned by 

 this time, but if there are still some 

 awaiting the annual trimming, they 

 should be given prompt attention that 

 the wounds may have proper time to 

 heal over before the canes start into new 

 growth. The wounds of the vines made 

 in pruning are not coated with paint 

 here, as is the rule of most places in this 

 part of the country, but dressed with 

 shellac. Both vines and houses should 

 now be thoroughly cleansed. Any common 

 washing powder may be used in remov- 

 ing the dirt from the woodwork of the 

 houses, but it should not be prepared very 

 strong as it will then injure the paint. 

 Ordinarily I find about a teaspoonful in a 

 pail of water to answer the purpose. 



In washing the vines I use whale-oil 

 soap, and find it quite efficient, applying 

 it with a soft cloth in the case of young 

 canes, and employing a soft scrubbing 

 brush where they are old and rough. A 



