362 



GARDENING. 



Aug. is, 



berry exactly until ripening time comes, 

 when dryer weather is better. 



There were many new kinds on trial 

 this year, and with others introduced 

 within the past few years there are now 

 many kinds evidently worthy of a place 

 in gardens alongside such old favorites as 

 Cumberland, Capt. Jack, Sharpless, 

 Gaudy and Buback. New York and near 

 by markets see great quantities of Gandy 

 brought in from southern New Jersey. So 

 popular is this sort for market purposes 

 that the sellers are apt to call other sorts 

 Gandv when short of the real thing. 



Among other kinds doing w<dl almost 

 everywhere and worth planting arc the 

 following: McKinley, Seaford. William 

 Belt, Brandywine, Marshall, Clyde and 

 Nick Ohmer These sorts are such as pro- 

 duce large, healthy looking leaves, the 

 first essential of a popular variety. Sea- 

 ford, with me, made uncommonly large 

 leaves. The fruit was borne on stiff 

 stalks, well above the foliage, and in 

 quality was very good. McKinley was 

 good in the same way. 



1 Hiring the strawberry season I made a 

 flving visit to North View, the home of 

 Wilmer Atkinson, of the Farm Journal. 

 The farm and trial grounds adjoin the 

 home and it was a treatto be amongthe 

 strawberries, which were then in their 

 prime. The proprietor, I found, was an 

 admirer of the Wm. Belt and certainly 

 thev were producing fine crops of fruit. 

 Sorts with poor foliage are not given a 

 place at all, as they cannot produce good 

 fruit. The fruit of the Brandywine is 

 excellent but I should say hardly the 

 equal of Wm. Belt. Marshall, Clyde and 

 Nick Ohmer are large sized berry pro- 

 ducers. 



Strawberries are nowgrown with more 

 room to individual plants than used to be 

 given. One plant in good soil and well 

 cared lor will give more fruit than a half 

 dozen which are crowded. The keeping 

 up of old beds year after year is another 

 thing which is not practiced as it once 

 was. Two seasons are long enough for 

 any bed, and some of the best growers 

 are satisfied with one season. It is a fact 

 that a strong runner set in July or 

 August in such a way, with bailor other- 

 wise, that there is no flagging, will give 

 as good results in the way of fruit as a 

 spiing set plant, grown for a year before 

 fruiting. Growers will see that some 

 perfect flowered sorts are set with the 

 pistillate ones should any of the latter be 

 used. The Seaford for instance, is pistil- 

 late. Two very good late varieties are 

 Gandy and Barker lvarle. Gandy pro- 

 duces the larger berry, but perhaps is not 

 as abundant a bearer as Parker Earle. 



Philadelphia. Joseph Meehan. 



BEST OF ALL TOMATO. 



The specimens from which the accom- 

 panying illustration was taken were 

 grown by Edwin Lonsdale, of Chestnut 

 Hill, Philadelphia. Best of All is an 

 exceedingly proliBc variety and a capital 

 sort for forcing under glass. Here are 

 the weights of the fruits in one cluster: 

 101,, \n't. 6%, '.» 1, 8 1 1, 7%, 8 1 i.T' 1, I-,. 

 total, 72% ounces. From all appear- 

 ances Sutton's claims for this tomato are 

 well founded. They are as follows: 



"When first offering this fine tomato in 

 1895 we especially recommended it, -is the 

 most profitable variety that could be 

 grown for market purposes, and increased 

 experience has confirmed our opinion. It 

 very freely and is an itnmensi >p 

 per, producing heavy bunches of fruit at 

 sh^rt intervals all over the plant. In a 



given space we question whether any 

 other variety would produce so great a 

 weight of fruit. A peculiarity of this 

 tomato which has attracted the attention 

 of experts is that the first cluster is borne 

 very low on the stem. The color is a 

 deep scarlet; form admirable; good size, 

 and the fruit is so solid that very little 

 seed is produced." 



I do not know whether any one has 

 tested Best of All in comparison with the 

 Lorillard which is at present considered 

 our best forcing variety. When selected 

 stock of the Lorillard is available it is 

 hard to beat, but in Best of All there are 

 evidently some additional points of excel- 

 lence that make it a welcome addition to 

 our list of forcing tomatoes for market 

 purposes. G. C. Watson. 



HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS. 



Procure fresh horse droppings in as 

 large a quantity as possible, shake out 

 the longest straw and add to the pile 

 one-third its weight of new loam, inter- 

 mixing thoroughly. Thecompost should 

 be kept under cover, so as to preserve it 

 from wetting by rains, until a sufficient 

 quantity has been collected to make a 

 bed of the desired size. 



In making the bed spread out a layer 

 of the material thus prepared from three 

 to four inches deep and of the required 

 dimensions as to length and width. 

 Tread or tamp this layer until it is quite 

 firm and add others in the same way 

 until the bed is ten or twelve inches in 

 depth. 



The temperature of this compact mass 

 of soil and droppings will in a few days 

 rise to 100° or over, as may be ascer- 

 tained on plunging a thermometer into 

 it, and then gradually decline. On going 

 down to the 90 mark it will be in a 

 proper condition for spawning, and this 

 is accomplished by making holes three 

 inches deep and twelve to fourteen inches 

 apart in the bed with a hard trowel, 

 inserting therein pieces of brick spawn 

 about two inches square and replacing 

 the compost. 



( )n the completion of this operation it 

 will be found necessary to level the sur- 

 face again, and the bed should also be 

 made as firm as before spawning. About 



one week later apply a layer of loam one 

 and a half inches thick to the surface, 

 smoothing and tamping it lightly with 

 the back of a spade. 



The temperature and moisture of the 

 mushroom house must now be given 

 daily attention, maintaining the former 

 at from 60° to 70° with a moist air. The 

 bed will not need water until the mush- 

 rooms appear five or six weeks after 

 spawning, and when they show on the 

 surface as large as peas, a light watering 

 should be given with water heated to 

 about 100°. 



I find the best temperature of a mush- 

 room house to be 60°, with the air moist 

 to a perceptible degree only. The surface 

 of the bed should also be kept moist, 

 appl3 - ing water when necessary by means 

 of a watering pot with fine sprinkler, or 

 a hand syringe, using water never below 

 80°. Air should be admitted to the house 

 from the top, and must always be under 

 control at a temperature never below 

 45°. LIpon entering or leaving, all cur- 

 rents of air likely to pass over the surface 

 of the bed should be guarded against. 



The dry spawm will become active 

 fourteen days after insertion in the bed, 

 but in cases where the bed has been 

 allowed to get dry after the cessation of 

 fermentation — which often happens in the 

 absence of close attention — when two 

 weeks have elapsed since spawning, 

 apply water through a fine sprinkler until 

 it penetrates the bed to a depth of two 

 inches, with the water at 90°, at the 

 same time increasing the house tempera- 

 ture 10°. Mushrooms will then appear 

 in four or five weeks. 



John G. Gardner. 



HORTICULTURISTS INTERMINGLE. 



The fraternal relations existing be- 

 tween the horticultural societies of south- 

 western Iowa and Nebraska culminated 

 in a union meeting at Board of Trade 

 Hall, Omaha, July 26 and 27. The meet- 

 ing was very well attended by the lead- 

 ing horticulturists of both states. The 

 general desire to get through with a 

 three days programme in a day and a 

 half, that all present might attend the 

 exposition, shortened the discussions. 



The first order of business was a paper 



BEST OP ALL TOMATO 



