236 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



THE EARLY CLUSTER BLACKBERRY. 



This was a chance seedling, discovered 

 about ten years since on the farm of 

 Charles W. Starn, of Camden County, 

 N. J. 



It has so far proven very vigorous, 

 healthy, and wonderfully productive. 

 We are told that thirteen quarts of ripe 

 berries were picked from a single hill 

 at one })icking. It is of good size and 

 of excellent quality. 



A new blackberry is only a black- 

 berry and might at first sight be con- 

 sidered of little account, but when it is 

 known that hundreds of car-loads are 

 grown and marketed yearly from the 

 three States of New Jersey, Delaware, 

 and eastern part of Maryland, and when 

 we take into consideration the thou- 

 sands of acres of vines that are required 

 to produce such an amount of fruit, we 

 are led to believe that a new black- 

 berry, even if only a blackberry, if an 

 improvement on all the older varieties, 

 might not be such a small alBfair. — Farm 

 and Garden. 



GRAPES IN THE LAKE ERIE VINE- 

 YARDS AND IN NEW JERSEY. 



George W. Campbell, widely known 

 as a skilful grape culturist, in a letter, 

 dated July 24, says : " I am sorry to 

 say that in a recent examination of the 

 vineyards on the islands of Lake Erie 

 I found them generally in a very un- 

 promising condition, the early appear- 

 ance of rot and mildew having already 

 so much injured the grapes that one- 

 third of a crop would probably be a full 

 average estimate, with favorable wea- 

 ther the remainder of the season. Cat- 

 awbas seem most injured. Concords 

 next, and Ives and Delawares the 

 least." 



A cultivator in the northern portion, 

 of New Jersey writes us : ''I have had 

 the blues for the last three weeks over 

 my grapes, which are mildewing and 



rotting badly. I have been treating it 

 with sulphur, a thing I never did be- 

 fore, and bagging the best clusters, 

 hoping to save some of the unafiected 

 ones. In a recent letter from Mr. 

 Downing, in answer to my inquiry, he 

 says : ' If I begin using sulphur as soon 

 as the leaves are the size of a half dol- 

 lar,, and renew it after each rain, it will 

 generally prevent it, but not always.' 

 The fact is the mildew did not appear 

 till the grapes were set, and I did not 

 apply sulphur till then." — Country 

 Gentleman. 



SALVIAS. 



For the production of a brilliant, 

 massive, floral effect during late sum- 

 mer, and all of autumn until frost, no 

 plant can compare with the Scarlet 

 Sage, Silvia sjplendens. Its large, pen- 

 dent, plume-like racemes of brightest 

 scarlet form a strikin<? contrast against 

 its glossy green foliage, and in fact 

 against that of any green-leaved plants 

 and shrubs. 



The plants may be gi'own from cut- 

 tings or from seed, the latter method 

 being the one generally adopted. The 

 seed is sown very early in spring, in a 

 greenhouse or hot-bed ; when of proper 

 size, the seedlings are planted in small 

 pots, and toward the end of May trans- 

 planted to the open ground. They are 

 now raised in immense quantities by 

 florists and nurserymen, and the young 

 plants may be purchased cheaply in 

 every flower market. The Salvia is 

 naturally a rank grower, forming long- 

 jointed stalks ; and in order to produce 

 its best effects, the plants must be 

 pinched back from the start, so as to 

 shape into a compact bush. 



They delight in deep, rich soil, and 

 should be watered evenings during very 

 dry weather. Toward the end of Sep- 

 tember they may be taken up, potted in 

 soil consisting of three parts loam, one 



