i8g8. 



GARDENING. 



167 



so satisfactory that in the spring of 1S97 

 the company announced through the 

 association that it would furnish choice 

 shrubbery and seeds at wholesale prices 

 to all members of the association and 

 employes of the factory, and also that 

 the company would give $200 in gold 

 divided into four purses as follows: 1. 

 $50 for the best effects in landscape gar- 

 dening, as in 1S96. 2. $50 for the best 

 kept street, divided into three prizes. 3. 

 $50 for the cleanest and best kept back 

 yards, open only to boys and girls, the 

 work to be done by them. 4. $50 for the 

 best vegetable gardens divided into five 

 prizes open only to boys between the 

 ages of S and 15 years. The company 

 also announced that they would plow 

 and harrow a piece of ground and divide 

 it into forty plats 10x130 feet and give it 

 to forty boys to cultivate and furnish 

 them tools and seeds and plants free, also 

 a competent instructor to teach them 

 how to plant and cultivate vegetables— 

 the boj's to have and own all they raised 

 and the privilege to compete for the 

 prizes offered above. 



The success of this work has been so 

 great that the company has enlarged the 

 prize list for 1898 and offers cash premi- 

 ums to the value of $200 for competition 

 under the following heads: "Landscape 

 gardening," "best kept premises," "vine 

 planting," "boys' and girls' prizes," 

 "window box gardening," and the "best 

 vegetable gardens." 



Publications. 



BOOKS AND BULLETINS. 



Catalogue of Fruits. — By the Ameri 

 can Pomological Society. — Department 

 of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, 1897. 

 — Notwithstanding some inaccuracies 

 which appear to have crept into the 

 work, more particularly with reference to 

 the fruits of California, this is certainly 

 the most valuable work the department 

 has published in all the years of its exis- 

 tence. The work on this catalogue was 

 begun fifty years ago by the men then 

 interested in American fruit culture,'and 



the list was first published by the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society (then the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Congress ) in its proceed- 

 ings of 1852. The names of 159 varieties 

 were given in the original list, but this has 

 since been many times revised by the 

 most competent authorities. The pres- 

 ent compilation, says Mr. G. B. Brack- 

 ett in his letter of transmittal, is a revised 

 catalogue of fruits, comprising such vari- 

 eties as have been found best adapted to 

 the various fruit districts of the country. 

 We may add that the committee of the 

 American Pomological Society charged 

 with the latest revision, which included 

 such fruit experts as T. T. Lyon, L. H. 

 Bailey, Henry L. Lyman, Louis A. Berek- 

 mans and C. L. Watrous, is sufficient 

 guarantee that no effort has been spared 

 in making the catalogue as complete as 

 possible. No progressive fruit grower 

 can afford to be without it. 



Spraving to Prevent Gooseberry 

 Mildew.— By C. P. Close.— New York 

 Experiment Station, Geneva, N. Y., 1897. 

 — For ten years this station has advo- 

 cated potassium sulphide as the best 

 remedy for gooseberry mildew. During 

 the season of 1897 potassium sulphide, 

 Bordeaux mixture, lysol and formalin 

 were tested side by side, with the result 

 that the station authorities still pin their 

 faith to potassium sulphide (one ounce to 

 three gallons of water) as the most 

 effective fungicide for gooseberry mildew, 

 It is claimed that as a rule only the 

 English varieties and their seedlings are 

 attacked by mildew, although the Ameri- 

 can varieties are not always exempt. 



Insect Life.— By Prof. J. H Cowstock. 

 — D. Appleton & Company, New York, 

 1897 It is rather unfortunate that the 

 author selected for this work a title pre- 

 viously borne by a publication of seven 

 complete volumes issued in the form of a 

 periodical by the Division of Entomology, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. Though 

 the title fits the work admirably, thisfact 

 ought to have precluded its adoption in 

 this instance, where an original title 

 might have been just as appropriate and 

 attractive, and certainly would have 

 avoided more or less confusion. This 

 volume of 349 pages contains chapters 

 on Pond Life, Brook Life, Orchard Life, 



Forest Life and Roadside Life, besides a 

 chapter devoted to the collection and 

 preservation of specimens. One of the 

 best features of the book is Prof. Com- 

 stock's advice about taking notes and 

 labeling specimens. He says: "Altermany 

 years' experience I am sure that nothing 

 more important can be said to the young 

 student regarding the taking of notes 

 than, to urge him to take them at the 

 time the observation is made. If you 

 make an observation in the field do not 

 wait till you return to the study to record 

 it, but write an account of what you 

 have seen immediately, and do this if pos- 

 sible while observing the fact. Almost 

 invariably the writing of an account of 

 an observation will suggest queries, many 

 of which can be answered at the time the 

 observation is made, but not after the 

 observer has returned to his study. * * * 

 Make your record while the occurrence is 

 fresh in your mind, before it loses the 

 charm of novelty and becomes a common- 

 place. Many an account is very incom- 

 plete simply because the writer has 

 become so familiar with certain details 

 that it does not seem to him worth while 

 to record them. * In making ob- 



servations be sure you are right and 

 then look again." As a guide to nature 

 study the work is unsurpassed. Mam- 

 books have been written that contain 

 popular sketches of insects and among 

 these the writings of the late William 

 Hamilton Gibson occvtpy a prominent 

 place, but few if any of these writings 

 make any attempt at classifying the sub- 

 jects of the text further than to give the 

 scientific appellations of the insects. Prof. 

 Comstock's book contains eighty-five 

 pages on the classification of insects, and 

 explains the relationship not only between 

 the different orders of the true insect class, 

 but between this and closely allied classes. 

 Nearly all the illustrations in this work 

 (and there are many) are from wood 

 engravings made by Mrs. Comstock, and 

 they are far better than those found in 

 most works of the kind . The text is writ- 

 ten in a pleasant and popular style, and 

 is interspersed with selections from some 

 of our modern nature poets. As a guide 

 to science teaching and nature study, it is 

 one of the very best books that have yet 

 been published. W. E.B. 



A BACKYARD PRIZE-WINNER 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Henry A. Dreer, Philadelphia, Pa., gar- 

 den calender; Elhvanger& Barn-, Roches- 

 ter, N. Y., trees, shrubs and fruits; Spauld- 

 ing Nursery & Orchard Co., Spaulding, 

 111., trees, shrubs and fruits; Storrs & 

 Harrison Co., Painesville, O., seeds and 

 plants; W. B. Cole, Painesville, O., fruits 

 and flowers; Jno. D. Imlay, Zanesville, 

 O., seeds and plants; Nanz & Neuner, 

 Louisville, Ky., seeds and plants; John 

 A. Bruce & Co., Hamilton, Can., seeds; 

 Luther Burbank, Santa Rosa, Cal., fruits 

 and flowers; Lewis Roesch, Fredonia, N. 

 Y., trees, shrubs and fruits; Schlegel & 

 Fottler, Boston, Mass., seeds, plants and 

 bulbs; Dwight Seed Co., Reading, Pa., 

 garden and farm annual; Win. C. Bab- 

 cock, Bridgman, Mich., fruits and plants; 

 S. D. Woodruff & Sons, Orange, Conn., 

 seeds; Sunset Seed & Plant Co., San 

 Francisco, Cal., seeds; The Conard & 

 Jones Co.. West Grove, Pa., seeds and 

 plants; Win. Baylor, Hartland, Cork, 

 Ireland, seeds; J. Lambert & Sons, Trier, 

 Prussia, seeds; W. F. Allen, Jr., Salisbury, 

 Md., fruits; Reasoner Bros., Oneco, 

 Florida, plants, trees and shrubs, whole- 

 sale and retail; Sander & Co., St. Albans, 

 England, florists' orchids; George C. 

 Watson, Philadelphia, Pa. 



