r 54 



GARDENING. 



Feb. l 



BLACK HAMBDRGH GRAPES AT WHITINSVILLB. MASS 



smaller brush, much like a tooth brush only 

 softer and larger, is used around the eyes, 

 and the end of the handle, after it has 

 been given a rub on the grindstone, is 

 very handy in removing the loose bark 

 around the spurs and elsewhere. The 

 removal of a portion of the loose outer 

 bark is a necessity, for otherwise it is 

 practically impossible to get rid of in- 

 jurious insects and their eggs But this 

 must be done with care, so as not to 

 hurt or expose the solid wood, and before 

 attempting it I always prefer to give the 

 canes a thorough wetting with soapy 

 ■water. Some short time after the whale- 

 oil mixture is applied, the eyes and spurs 

 in their immediate vicinity should be 

 washed with a sponge and clean water. 



Whale-oil soap comes to us in packages 

 to all intents and purposes the same, but 

 in stern reality hardly two of them are 

 alike. The strength of the article varies 

 very much, and if one could afford the 

 time it would be an advantage to test 

 each package. But in the absence of 

 some such testing it is well to observe 

 caution, for I have noticed that where 

 the vines (including the eyes) have been 

 given a strong dressing of whale-oil soap 

 in solution many of the eyes failed to 

 start. This trouble, of course, as in all 

 such cases, has been attributed to any- 

 thing and everything, but I am now con- 

 vinced that the whale-oil soap is alone to 

 blame, or rather, perhaps, its quality of 

 varying in strength. Were it of even or 

 regular quality, we could quickly learn 

 to gauge and apply it to a nicety, and 

 that with much economy of time and 



labor. But we must take things as we 

 find them, and whale-oil soap is very good 

 when used with care and judgment. 



The borders here are all inside, and 

 when the vines and houses are cleaned I 

 have all the loose soil taken away. This 

 is something that cannot be done properly 

 with spade or shovel, for the roots run 

 well up to the surface. The soil therefore 

 must be removed by hand, and even by 

 this method the roots are sometimes dis- 

 turbed to a greater extent than is good 

 for them. But as the roots must have 

 something fresh to live on, there is no 

 help tor it, and the deficiency must be 

 made good now or preparations made 

 for the application of large supplies of 

 liquid manure. There is much economy 

 in the tormer plan. The borders cleaned, 

 the hose is turned on until they are thor- 

 oughly saturated with water. The 

 borders are then allowed two or three 

 days to dry, when they are given a liberal 

 top dressing of turfy loam, adding to and 

 thoroughly mixing with the same a small 

 proportion of fine bone and wood ashes. 

 The houses are then left pretty much to 

 themselves until such time as it may be 

 necessary to start the vines, keeping them 

 as cool as possible, or at a temperature 

 only sufficiently high to prevent the 

 water in the pipes from freezing. 



The accompanying picture shows a 

 house of Black Hamburgh grown on these 

 lines. George McWilliam. 



Massachusetts. 



Crotolaria longirostrata, of recent 

 introduction, is gaining in popularity. 



MUSHROOM CULTURE. 



The growing of mushrooms is rapidly 

 extending year by year, and although 

 there are many who aver that they could 

 never be persuaded to eat toadstools; the 

 taste ior them as a form of vegetable 

 diet is also growing, and the demand, 

 more particularly during the winter 

 months, largely exceeds the supply. Mush- 

 room culture is nevertheless something of 

 a lottery, for first-class practical garden- 

 ers, with every requisite of success appar- 

 ently at command, sometimes fail to 

 sight the eagerly scanned for button, 

 while cases are known in which amateurs 

 at their first attempt, under what would 

 appear to be doubtful conditions, have 

 raised surprising crops. It is probable 

 there is no other known vegetable the eul 

 tivation of which is so much a source of 

 interest and wonder to the beginner as is 

 that of the mushroom. 



Special mushroom houses are provided 

 on some few private places, but as a gen- 

 eral rule both private and commercial 

 growers more frequently utilize cellars 

 and the space under greenhouse benches 

 for this purpose. The best mushrooms 

 the writer has seen in Massachusetts are 

 grown underneath the benches of violet 

 houses, where an average night tempera- 

 ture of 47° is maintained in midwinter. A 

 sight of several houses, each 150 feet long, 

 thickly dotted with fragrant violets above 

 and literally swarming with the tooth- 

 some esculents below is when once seen 

 not readily forgotten. I have had good 

 crops under carnation benches, and know 

 several growers who raise large supplies 



