25° 



GARDENING. 



May /, 



Poscharsky No. 15 to 186 ounces with 

 Poscharsky No. 9, averaging 341.5 

 ounces. Poscharskv No. 15, Poscharsky 

 No. 3, Palmer and Hopkins gave an 

 average of 117 ounces of fruit before July 

 17 while Babcock No. 5, Mills, Babcock 

 No. 3, Pioneer and Palmer gave averages 

 of 117 ounces of fruit after July 23 and 

 369 ounces of total yield. 



Poscharsky No. 15 is remarkable in 

 giving the largest total yield as well as 

 largest early vield; Palmer has a very 

 long season, being classed with both early 

 and late varieties; and Babcock No. 5 and 

 Mills can safely be recommended for trial 

 as late berries. 



The best red raspberries gave somewhat 

 better yield than did the best blacks, the 

 averages for the first five varieties of each 

 class being 482 and 471 ounces respect- 

 ively; but the averages forall the varieties 

 tested were 341.5 ounces for the blacks 

 and 301.5 for the reds. Of the red rasp- 

 berries, the best yielder was Loudon, 

 503 ounces, followed by Cuthbert, King, 

 Kenyon and I. X. L.; while the early 

 varieties were Pomona, Cline, Superla- 

 tive, Pride and Harris; and late varieties, 

 Kenyon, Talbot. Olathe, Miller Wood- 

 land and Brandywine. 



The purple raspberries tested were only 

 seven in numb.r. The yields average 

 slightly above those oft he black varieties, 

 ranging from 481 to 123 ounces. Smith 

 Purple was most productive. This berry 

 has all the characteristics of the black 

 raspberries except that its color is purple. 

 Shaffer and Columbian were mos' satis- 

 factory in yield and quality, but Shaffer 

 suffered considerable winter injury. Tele- 

 taugh is a new variety and has not yet 

 been sufficiently tested as to its merits. It 

 has a tart, large, dark purple berry with 

 an abundance of bloom which gives a 

 moldy appearance. 



The blackberries gave heavier yields 

 than any other species of rubus, and also 

 lighter yields, the amounts ranging lrom 

 755 ounces to 71 ounces for a 25-foot 

 row, the average being 376 ounces. The 

 season lasted from July 15, first picking 

 of Early Harvest, to September 7, at 

 which date several varieties still bore 

 fruit. 



Dorchester, Success, New Rochelle, 

 Stone Hardy, Early Mammoth and Aga- 

 wam were most productive and include 

 the best of both early and late varieties. 

 Dorchester and New Rochelle have not 

 always been hardy at the Station, but 

 none of the blackberries suffered injury 

 during the winter of 1896-7. 



Lucretia is the only satisfactory dew- 

 berry, and that vielded only 198 ounces 

 for a 20-foot row, the yields of Bartel, 

 Austin Improved and Mammoth running 

 down to 38 ounces. 



STRAWBERRIES IN KENTUCKY. 



The conclusions drawn from some 

 strawberry investigations conducted by 

 the Agricultural Experiment Station of 

 the State College of Kentucky during 

 L897 are summed up in a recent bulletin, 

 thus: — 



The soil for strawberries should be rich 

 and moist, but well drained. Somewhat 

 elevated lands preferable to avoid the 

 late frosts. The soil should be thoroughly 

 and deeply pulverized before setting 

 plants. Barnyard manure the most gen- 

 erally used source of plant food, bone 

 dust and wood ashes found particularly 

 valuable by many growers. The matted 

 row system of growing the crop almost 

 universally used in Kentucky. Continuous 

 and frequent cultivation should be given 

 the crop, whether weedy or not, from the 



time of setting until late fall. Most Ken- 

 tucky growers find it profitable to fruit 

 their beds lor two or three years. The 

 average yield in Kentucky is 3,400 quarts 

 per acre. The lavorite market varieties 

 in their order are: Bubach, Haverland, 

 Gandy, Crescent, Michel and Warfield. 

 The favorite varities for home use now 

 vary slightly from the market list. 



THE ST. JOSEFfl STRAWBERRY. 



Ed. Gardening: — I notice in your issue 

 of January 1st, a cut of \ ilmorin's per- 

 petual strawberry St. Joseph. The writer 

 says, "It is a fair improvement upon 

 Louis Gauthier." 



Now as a matter of (act, it is no more 

 to be compared to the Gauthier than a 

 Shetland pony is to a draft horse. I grow 

 them, and consider the Louis Gauthier 

 vastly superior. The great house of Vil- 

 morin-Andrieux & Co. made a blunder in 

 not getting the Gauthier in 1S95, for 

 their rivals, Letellier&Son, of Caen, have 

 made a great hit with it. 



Last spring Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. 

 wrote me about their St. Joseph and com- 

 plained that Letellier & Son had sent out 

 the Gauthier as a remontant orperpetual. 

 In this I think the former were right, as 

 the Gauthier is only a twice bearer, by 

 means of its offsets or runners. 



Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co. did not cata- 

 logue the Gauthier in 1896 or 1897, but 

 evidently repent, for in their 1898 cata- 

 logue just received theylistit with thirty- 

 two other large sorts, and make it their 

 banner bern r as to price, it being double 

 that of anv of the rest. In fact his quota- 

 tion ($7.00 per 100 and 90c per 10 

 plants) is ten per cent higher than is 

 asked for plants of Gauthier in this 

 countrv. 



The St. Joseph is smaller than Beder 

 Wood. Except during hot, dry weather, 

 which is quite a time with us, it is a per- 

 sistent bearer of well flavored, well shaped 

 berries. The Gauthier is three times as 

 large, exquisitely flavored, unique and 

 attractive in color, with a solid, juicy 

 aromatic flesh. It is also very prolific in 

 fruit crowns and runners. 



A. T. GOLDSISOROl'CH. 



Washington, D. C. 



A WORD FOR THE SHARFLESS STRAWBERRY. 



I do not like to see old friends neglected. 

 In Prof. Troop's strawberry notes as 

 abstracted by you in the last number of 

 Gardening, there is no mention ol Sharp- 

 less. I have grown well over half the 

 varieties recommended in the list. They 

 will nearly all exceed Sbarpless in some 

 one or two respects but taking all the 

 good qualities of each, summing up and 

 striking an average Shaipless will come 

 out well in the lead as an all around good 

 berry for home use in this locality. War- 

 field we think is hardly fit to eat although 

 verv productive. A. W. B. 



Cook Co., 111. 



THE RADISH MAGGOT. 



Ed. Gardening: — Every season after 

 the first two sowings my radishes are 

 ruined by a small maggot which bores 

 through the roots in a hit or miss sort of 

 way, although they never miss spoiling 

 the radishes. Along toward fall the pest 

 disappears. Can vou suggest a remedv? 



A. A." 



[No practical remedy has yet been found 

 for the suppression of this pest, which 

 also attacks the rootsof cauliflowers and 

 cabbages. Entomologists have recom- 

 mended carbolic acid emulsion and car- 



bon bisulphide, but the application of 

 these is in line with catching the creature 

 and killing him. Trenching the ground 

 in autumn, leaving it exposed in a rough 

 state to the action of the winter's frost, 

 has been advised —Ed ] 



THE CURRANT BORER. 



Ed. Gardening: — Is there any remedy 

 for the currant cane borer. Every cane 

 on my currants without exception is 

 affected each season. They bore length- 

 wise of the cane. Some of the canes are 

 not, apparently, seriously hurt while 

 many of them bend over and lie on the 

 ground. The effects are not so bad in the 

 Dutch currants as in the Fay, although 

 the former is equally attacked. 



L. Murphy. 



[Remove and destroy the affected por- 

 tions of the canes in spring or autumn. — 

 Ed.] 



Miscellaneous. 



EXOTIG MAGNOLIAS IN ILLINOIS. 



Ed. Gardening: Growing exotic mag- 

 nolias in this section has been but little 

 tried, and the few experiments have gen- 

 erally resulted in failure. Fouryears ago 

 this spring a gentleman of this place 

 planted a small specimen of Magnolia 

 speciosa, obtained from Messrs. Ell- 

 wanger & Berry, of Rochester, N. Y. 

 During the intervening winters it has had 

 no protection except some manure at the 

 roots. It has bloomed each spring. I 

 examined it on the 23rd of last month; 

 and found it a little over four feet high, 

 very symmetrical and thrifty looking. 

 It is full of buds, some of which are show- 

 ing color. It belongs to the Chinese sec- 

 tion, and is evidently one of the hardiest 

 of the familv. W. C. Egan. 



Highland" Park, 111. 



MORE ABOUT COWSLIPS. 



Many additional replies to the queries 

 concerning cowslips have come to hand 

 since the publication of our last issue, 

 and again we publish a few, regretting 

 our inability to find space for more than 

 a very small proportion of them. 



Gardening for April 1 contained an 

 inquiry by one "Querist" as to whether 

 Calthapalustris or marsh marigold is not 

 known in England as "cowslips," and 

 also if it is not sometimes used as a pot 

 herb. 



Of course, Michigan is not England, but 

 with us the caltha is better known as 

 "cowslips" — sometimes, I regret to say, 

 even further degenerated into "cow- 

 slops" — than by its far more appropriate 

 and suggestive common name, marsh 

 marigold. 



By some of the early settlers the tender 

 stalks and young leaves of C. palus- 

 tris were used for "greens," serving the 

 same purpose for which dandelion and 

 dock were sought in the spring, the 

 method of cooking being the same. I 

 have a quite vivid recollection of hearing 

 my grandmother, a New Englander by 

 birth, express a wish for "a mess of cow- 

 slip greens" and taking it upon myself to 

 gratify her desire. My intentions, like 

 "Miss Miggs', " were virtuous, but not 

 fortified by knowledge. I returned with 

 wet feet and a big basket of cowslip blos- 

 soms, which I presented with great self- 

 satisfaction. The flowers went into the 



