[8g8 



• • GARDENING. 



265 



It is well to head in the tree a little at 

 time of this spring cutting of roots and 

 again in the fall. Nurserymen can sup- 

 ply specimens almost sure to grow at a 

 small price. 



Some of our readers may not have 

 facilities for watering either new planta- 

 tions or their regular grounds. It may 

 be well for them to bear in mind that 

 frequent and thorough tillage of the soil 

 around the plants is not only a good 

 substitute but by some considered prefer- 

 able. As a rule there is enough moisture 

 in the soil to sustain plant life, if condi- 

 tions are such that it is available. Fre- 

 quent stirring of the ground is beneficial 

 in two ways: First, it aerates the soil, 

 which is essential, for a plant may be 

 smothered pretty much the same as the 

 genus homo. Secondly, it makes the 

 soil porous, and thus read} - to absorb 

 what rain or heavy dew may fall upon 

 it; moisture from below is also borne 

 upward by capillar}' attraction, and its 

 passage creates minute channels in the 

 soil, which in time reach the surface and 

 allow the moisture to escape. Stirring 

 the surface destroys these escape channels, 

 and, as it were, places a blanket of finely 

 pulverized soil over them, thus retaining 

 the moisture for the benefit of vegetation. 



We have received the preliminary pro- 

 gramme of the twenty-third annual con- 

 vention of the American Association of 

 Nurserymen, to be held at Omaha, Neb., 

 June 8 and 9. There will be discussions 

 at the sessions of matters of vital interest 

 and reports of committees charged with 

 important duties in the interest of nur- 

 serymen. Those who will address the 

 meeting, and their subjects, so far as 

 known at present, are as follows: Irving 

 Rouse, of Rochester, N. Y., President's 

 address; Prof. S. M. Emery, of the 

 Montana Experiment Station, Bozeman, 

 Mont., "Fruit Prospects in Montana"; 

 Prof. F. W. Taylor, of Lincoln, Neb., 

 "Relation of Agriculture to the Exposi- 

 tion"; Hon. C. L. Watrous, ofDes Moines, 

 la., "A Little Matter of Business"; Hon. 

 N. H. Albaiigh, Tadmar, Ohio, "Is the 

 Insect Agitation of the Present Day a 

 Good or Bad Thing forthe Nurseryman?" 

 President Gurdon W. Wattles, of the 

 Trans-Mississippi and International Ex- 

 position, will address the members and 

 welcome them to the city of Omaha and 

 the exposition. 



The results of thinning fruit are given 

 by Prof. S. A. Beach as follows : " From 

 a Baldwin tree, heavily loaded with fruit, 

 all wormy, knotty, and otherwise inferior 

 fruit was removed and all clusters 

 thinned to one fruit. A simiiartreewasleft 

 unthinned for comparison The thinned 

 tree yielded about 14% less marketable 

 fruit than the other tree, but 107c more 

 of its fruit graded No. 1, and it had one- 

 third as many culls. Three trees each of 

 Baldwin and Greening were thinned as in 

 the first case and in addition enough 

 more fruit was removed to leave the re- 

 maining fruit four inches apart. Three 

 trees each of the same varieties were left 

 without thinning for comparison. The 

 thinned Baldwins gave about 21% less 

 marketable fruit, than the unthinned 

 ones, but 22% more of it graded No. 1. 

 The thinned Greenings gave about 6% 

 more marketable fruit than the unthin- 

 ned ones and about 10% more of it 

 graded No. 1. A tree of Hubbardston 

 was thinned, as in the other cases, except 

 that the apples were left about six inches 

 apart. Another Hubbardston tree was 

 left unthinned forcomparison. The thin- 

 ned tree yielded about 20%- less fruit than 



the unthinned one, but 17%' more of it 

 graded No. 1. In all cases the thinned 

 fruit was so much higher colored than 

 the unthinned fruit of the same grades 

 that the increase in its market value, due 

 to thinning, was estimated at 10 to 15 

 The thinning and picking took about 

 twice as much time as the picking of the 

 unthinned fruit." 



What a pest a beautiful flower can 

 become! Any one who has examined 

 closely a dandelion blossom, especially 

 under a magnifying glass, must confess 

 that in itself as an individual flower it is 

 handsome; but when you apply the rule, 

 "Handsome is that handsome does," its 

 beauty dwindles away with astonishing 

 rapidity. When it once becomes estab- 

 lished in any given locality it cannot be 

 eradicated without thecousent and active 

 eo-operation of the entire community. 

 One small unmolested back yard can 

 by the aid of friendly winds seed a whole 

 township. We have our national holi- 

 days and our Arbor Days, why not dande- 

 lion days, on which all turn out and fight 

 the pest. Two methodsof extermination 

 should be adopted. First dig the plants 

 up as fast as can be done, endeavoring to 

 get them out root and all. Cutting the 

 heads off just below the surface is but a 

 makeshift, as at this point two or more 

 heads are developed next season and you 

 have a much larger plant. The removal 

 of the roots takes time, and while it is 

 going on the second method of extermi- 

 nation should be practiced. This consists 

 of picking the flowers daily to prevent 

 seeding. All flower heads and plants 

 should be burned; thrown in a pile they 

 will mature their seedseven when severed 

 or out of the ground. 



PLANT LABELS. 



Every gardener has been annoved times 

 without number at the loss of the labels 

 of valuable plants by reason of the rotting 

 away of the thin wooden labels ordinarily 

 used, or of their becoming illegible. Nearly 

 all of the indestrucLible labels in use are 

 either expensive or require too much time 

 in preparation. 



For cheapness and convenience com- 

 bined we have found nothing so good as 

 sheet zinc cut to the proper form, using 

 a chemical ink for the writing. The ink 

 is made by dissolving a few crystals of 

 chloride of cobalt in water, and can be 

 used with a clean steel pen. The writing 

 is allowed to dry without blotting and 

 makes an indelible black stain. Labels of 

 this kind have been buried in the ground 

 for over four years and remained perfectly 

 legible. These labels can be attached by 

 tacks or copper wire to orchid cribs. 

 They can be bent into hoop form and 

 forced down to "straddle" the edge of a 

 pot, or can be used with the seed, inserted 

 in the soil as an ordinary label. For out- 

 door use they can be attached to a piece 

 of heavy wire; telegraph wire answers 

 nicely. The wire is forced into the ground 

 leaving the label suspended or lying on 

 the ground or buried in the ground, as 

 desired. 



A very convenient form for tree labels 

 is made from a strip of zinc twelve inches 

 long and one inch wide. This is cut 

 diagonally from a point one inch from 

 one end to a point on the opposite side 

 one inch from the other end, this making 

 two labels with one end square for the 

 inscription and the other tapering to a 

 point. The tapered portion can be twisted 

 around a branch of the tree and will not 

 strangle it or cut the bark, as it expands 

 with the growth of the tree. X. 



JOHN ASH. 



WORKERS IN HORTICULTURE. IX. 



The subject of our present sketch, Mr. 

 John Ash, is among the most successful of 

 the young gardeners of the present gen- 

 eration. An Englishman by birth, his 

 experience in horticulture began in that 

 country when he was thirteen years of 

 age. His first employers were Messrs. A. 

 Goodwin & Sons, nurserymen and seed 

 merchants of Derbyshire, with whom he 

 served four years. He was afterwards 

 engaged in several of the more important 

 private gardens in England, including 

 Alton Towers, the country home of the 

 Earl of Shrewsbury, under Mr. Thomas 

 Kabone. He was also at Knowsley for a 

 time, the Lancashire seat of the Earl of 

 Derby, under Mr. Frank Harrison. On 

 leaving Knowsley he came to this countrv 

 and was fortunate in securing a position 

 with Mr. F. L. Harris, gardener to H. H. 

 Hunnewell, Esq , of Wellesley, Mass., 

 where he remained two years. Later he 

 was in the employ of Mr. James H. Bow- 

 ditch a landscape gardener of Boston, 

 Mass., and finally settled down in his 

 present situation as gardener to Miss E. 

 J. Clark of Pomfret Center, Conn. Here 

 he has distinguished himself in various 

 ways, especially in the cultivation of 

 grapes under glass. In a future issue he 

 will tell our readers how he manages to 

 grow the fruit with which he takes so 

 many prizes at the exhibitions. 



Fruits and Vegetables. 



SECURING fl CROP OF GRAPES. 



It is not too early in the season to form 

 plans for the preservation of the grape 

 crop. The damage to unprotected fruit 

 by fungus and insect attacks is so great 

 that where nothing is done to prevent 

 them, but little fruit is to be had. 



With grapes of somewhat tender foliage, 

 liable to fungus attacks, such as those of 

 the Rogers' hybrid type, it is best to rely 

 on spraying with copperas mixture, but 

 with those of hardy foliage, such as the 

 Concord and its seedlings, bagging the 

 fruit answers all purposes. I prefer bag- 

 ging where it will answer, because it not 

 only keeps off fungus germs, but bees as 



