1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



15 



have ill the organization and promotion of 

 horticultural interests. 



As to the Product. The climatic coiiditidns of 

 North America in comparison with ours are not 

 ai* Kood for horticulture as with us. The fruits 

 of North Ameiica which can come into competi- 

 tion with (mi's are mostly Ajiplcs, Teaches, and 

 small fruits. The Plum, 1 undei-staud, cannot Ix; 

 succe.ssfull.v raised on account of a certain insect, 

 t'heriies do not seem to increase to an.v extent 

 and are greatly inferior to oui-s in <iuality. 



Pears seem to do well all over the United States 

 and are of excellent quality, yet the trees are 

 sulijeet to a certain disease, whit^h will trreatly 

 limit the culture. The Pears of California do not 

 ^•ow as perfect, nor are they of such j^ood 

 quality as those grown in the Ea.sterii States. 



Strawberries grow in abundance, but they are 

 inferior in (luality to those of Centnd Europe. 

 Blackberries and Currants produce e.xcellent 

 crops in nearly all of the States. 



The European vine does not succeed in the 

 United States, e-xcepting in California, and their 

 Native (! rapes are inferior to ours. 



The European Filberts and Walnuts can- 

 not be grown in the XTnited States, and theii' 

 Native sorts arc of little value. Attempts 

 have been made with our roots in California, 

 t >ut with what success I have not yet learned. 



Fruits for Export. The articles of export 

 to Europe will continue to be Apples and 

 Peaches. The climate of the United States 

 seems to Ix; excellent for these. The Apples 

 are sent here both green and evaporated. 

 Many ai-e sold in Ru.ssia. 



The evaporated Apples, which are mostly 

 in thin, -white slices, are packed in neat little 

 boxes adorned with fancy etiquetts. These 

 fruit packages on account of their corai>lete- 

 ness ha\'e been successfully introduced in 

 all parts of Europe. 



The manufacture of Apple cider in th^' 

 United States is also on the increase and it is 

 Ijecoming quite an article of export to En- 

 gland and Eurojie. 



Culture. As to the methods of culture of 

 the Apple and other fruits in North America, 

 I have been informed that the trees are 

 gi'own in the shape of half standards, and 

 not as standards, as we do. The American 

 fanner is not obliged to use his orchard for 

 the eultivatif^n of other crops, which cer- 

 tainly must influence their trees to a gi-eat 

 extent. Another fact, too, is tliat their 

 fields have not, as with us, been cultivated 

 until exhausted of plant food. Such ground 

 mu.«t be very suitable for fruit culture. 



What of the Future. I do not think that by 

 the time the fruit culture of America is as old as 

 it is heiv, it will rank as it does now. The soil 

 will finally get exhausted, and whether it can 

 then be kept up with fertilizers as we have to do 

 is a question. Americans have the credit of being 

 the inventors of everything that is practical for 

 helping themselves out of any dilBcult.v; whether 

 he will know how then is very doubtful. 



J ha\'e been informed that in some sections the 

 average yield is greatly decreasing. The land 

 seems to be getting exhausted. In the methods 

 of agriculture which our farmei's are used to, to j 

 comjtare with those of America, I find a great 

 advantage. Americans wiU see the time when ] 

 they will have to make different calculations I 

 and adopt different methods. They cannot al- 

 ways expect from their fields what they do now. 

 They will then have to invent things which will 

 require more brains than all of their superior 

 machines. 



As to the different sorts of fruits which are 

 cultivated in America they are mostly seedlings 

 of European fruits. A great many sorts have 

 been imported within the last few years from 

 Moscow, St. Petersburg, Riga Schessien, Austria, 

 ete., etc., mostly to get such as can stand the 

 severe climate of the Northern States. 



Mr. Seraler, a horticulturist of California, has a 

 great deal t*^) say in his work as to the superior 

 (luality of American fruits over ours, claiming 

 that our best sorts are greatly inferior to theirs. 

 He has a good deal to say about two cider Apples, 

 Harrison and Hyslop, and thinks that they would 

 prove valuable with us. In regard to the best 

 sorts of fruits, my correspondent in Missouri has 

 sent me sciims of all the named soi-ts and they ' 

 ha\'e been received in fine condition. 



The grafting was successful and as I put them 

 iil'on Ijearing trees hope to fruit them next year, 

 if not this. At present can only say, that they are j 

 rather poor growers. 



iLPFLTL 



Information 



/=■I^o.^1 Various Sources. 



Fig Culture in Pots Where there is bottom- 

 heat, the Fig is easy to propagate from eyes or 

 cuttings put in in .January or Februarj'. They 

 should be potted iuto (i-iuch pots, which will be 

 quite large enough for the fii"st season to ripen 

 their gi-owth well. For pyi'amids stop the cut- 

 tings at 8 or 9 inches; but for standards do not 

 stop; after the first year train them to a stake, 

 and they will reach about 4 feet. Then, by re- 

 moving the terminal bud the following season a 

 fine standard will result. With brisk heat young 

 trees will carry a small crop of fruit the third 

 year. Those who do not possess a glass house, 

 may also grow one good crop of fruit every sea- 

 son. Fine Figs can be grown in ordinary brick, 

 or wooden pits, I or 5 feet high, if fully exposed 



FIQ CULTURE IN POTS: OSBORNE'S PROLIFIC. 



to the sun. The best plan for cold-pit culture is 

 to cfinflne the roots entirely to pots. Re-pot 

 every season before starting into growth; 12-inch 

 pots will be large enough when the toijs are kept 

 restricted to a limited size: root-prune according 

 to the quantity of roots. It is better to remove 

 a portion of the roots than to push them into the 

 pots in masses. Use good, rough clayey loam if 

 possible, adding some lime-rubble, burnt clay, or 

 charcoal, the size of Walnuts. Drain the pots 

 well, placing some Moss over the di-ainage. 

 Start the plants al)out May 1. Give plenty of air, 

 and do not keep them too hot during the day- 

 time; s.yringe, and close up, with sun-heat, as the 

 the crop advances, and feed with liquid manure 

 when the pots get full of roots. After fruiting 

 let the atmosphere be warm and dry to ripen the 

 wood, when the trees may be plunged in a light, 

 dry shed, or be left in the pits, and material 

 be added, so that the pots may be buried tw(j 

 or three inches deep, keeping the roots secure 

 from frost. Good sorts for pot-culture are the 

 Black, Brown, and White Ischia, Dr. Hogg, 

 Negro Largo (very fine black), White Marseilles, 

 and the kind we figure, Osborne's Prolific, one of 

 the very best.— Gardening Illustrated. 



Hyacinths. We cannot yield the palm to the 

 double varieties ; no true lover of the flower 

 ever does, fur the single present the perfect 

 beauty of color and form. If we c<nild make 

 but one selection, it would be the single Amy, a 

 perfect carmine, then add to it, if possible, Gi- 

 gantea, Norma, Veronica, Lord Wellington, 

 L'Amie du Cceur, Agnes and Solfatare, given in 

 their order of merit. These are shades of red 

 of which there cannot be too many in making 

 the selection. If possible arrange the bulbs in 

 two bed.s, ime of these to gladden the eyes of 

 your neighbors, the other to pick from. (!la.sses, 

 etc, tilled with cut spikes of brilliant bulbs will 

 last for a number of days, requiring no attention 

 whatever. For the succession of bloom it is ad- 

 visable to mix the double with the single ; gen- 



erally they are longer coming into flower, and 

 the beauty of the bed is prolonged at least a fort- 

 night. Among the reds select Goethe, Gross- 

 furst, Wilhelm II and Regiiia Victoria, Lord 

 Wellington and Napoleon. Ch*>ose Prince of 

 Waterloo, Venus,Ciistf)r, Je!ui.y Lind and Uui-hcss 

 de Bedford for the best etfc'ct in snowy, and 

 Jeune Supreme, La Grandeur, Van Speijk for 

 perfect shades of yellow. Give them by all 

 means a dry, free and ri(^h soil. If damp and 

 clayey the winter wetness is retained too near 

 the surface, and the bulbs dnqi ofl' and decay. 

 By a free soil is meant one that is easily worked 

 and thoroughly drained, and richness is also 

 necessaiy.— Harper's Bazaar. 



Hardy Koses. We find Roses to be gross feed- 

 ers, so, in making permanent beds fully one- 

 third of the soil in which they will naturally 

 extend their roots is of cow manure. Each 

 winter after the ground is frozen, we place 

 around the roots of each bush a large shovelful 

 of coai*se manure; when the ground is settled in 

 the spring, this manure is wtirked in, and, as a 

 result, we have large and beautiful Roses at the 

 regular times of l)loom. There is nothing 

 gained by allowing a Hybrid Perpetual Rose 

 to blossom the first year, as a Gen. Jacque- 

 minot, which did not flower when fii"st set 

 on our grounds, gives much stronger stems 

 of Roses than one which blossijmed the first 

 year. There is no flower easier grown than 

 a Rose; after it is once established, nothing 

 troubles the plant save insect pests, which 

 can be easily eontr<illed if taken in time. 

 We found yellow snutf sprinkled freely on 

 the under side of the leaves excellent to 

 disperse the white Aphides which congre- 

 gated there last spring, and the sheai's to 

 \- remove leaf and feeding the surest remedy 

 for slugs.— N. Y. Independent. 



Braining the Orchard. We fear some of 

 our readers may couchnle that all "sandy 

 loam " orchards re<iuire no drainage, and 

 that drainage may be f>verdone as a matter 

 fof expense, not to produce injury to the 

 crop. We desire to allude to the conditions 

 under which light sandy soils need drainage. 

 On a portion of our grounds, of sandy sub- 

 soil, with a surface layer of sand containing 

 vegetable matter, we jilanted Apple and 

 Pear trees. To iUl appearances the soil is 

 dry; but low on the bank of the river water 

 is seen oozing out even in the dryest sea- 

 sons, showing that an orchard on the bank 

 would suffer from wet. We dug drains 4)4 

 to 5 feet deep, and at these depths found 

 several springs. Thus it is very easy to be 

 deceived about the dryness of the soil. If 

 a sandy soil has goi>d natural drainage the 

 vegetation should be early, and by comparing 

 this with that on similar soils near a fixir conclu- 

 sion with reference to moisture can be drawn. 

 It is a great mistake to sujjpose that excessive 

 rains can be removed too rapidly by drainage. 

 With reference to subsoiling, the difference in 

 the effects of this and draining is one more of 

 degree than of principle, drainage producing 

 subsoiling effects in the most practical and effi- 

 cient manner.— Farmers' Advocate. 



The Salsify or Vegetable Oyster Crop. This 

 desirable vegetable succeeds liest in a light, rich, 

 sandy loiun, well worked before sowing, and with 

 the same treatment that suits Carrots and Pars- 

 nips. The seed should be sown as early as the 

 ground can be worked and the roots will be ready 

 for marketing the following fall, winter and 

 spring. The winter supply has to be dug and 

 stored before the ground freezes up, although 

 the roots are not injured in the least by freezing, 

 and may, if desired, be left out ft>r early spring 

 digging. In marketing the roots are tied in 

 bunches of twelve each, in»ne but weU shaped 

 roots being used.— Essay tefore the Mass. Horti- 

 cultural Society. 



The Blackberry from Seed The seeds, like 

 Peach seeds, should be frosted before sprouting. 

 Many years ago I used to i)ut the seeds on the 

 surface of the ground, and place a large, flat 

 stone on them for protection until spring; then, 

 on removing the stone the seeds were nicely 

 sprouted and could be planted wherever wanted 

 to grow. Now I select the berries, put them in a 

 box or basket for a week or more initil they are 

 well ripened or partly rotted or dried up so that 

 the seed can be easily separated, then I sow in 

 a small, shallow box of earth three inches deei». 

 cover shallow with flue earth or sand, then set 

 the box in a shady place, generally in the green- 

 house, give one good watering, which will last a 



