1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



tion. My plan is to splice graft other kinds 

 on the terminal twigs of their leading 

 branches. Any one who can whittle can do 

 this. With a thin, sharp knife cnt off a 

 terminal twig with a sloping, smooth cnt 

 upwards, two or three inches from its base, 

 and an inch long. Cut a graft from last 

 seiison's gri)wth of the kind wanted, three 

 to four inches long, with a downward slope 

 at as near as possible the same angle that 

 the twig was cut, I>ay the slopes together 

 with their barks on one side exactly coin- 

 ciding. Hold with the thumb of left hand, 

 wrap and tie tightly with strong string, 

 afterwards covering the splice witli any suit- 

 able grafting wax or clay. The Plum must 

 be grafted early, any time in March, or in 

 February South, when the weather is mild, 

 with scions cut in the fall and properly cared 

 for through the winter. 



When grafting the Plum and Cherry 

 they are liable to become bark bound im- 

 mediately below the graft and perish. To 

 remedy this, about the middle of June, if 

 growth is started, cut through the wax, 

 string and bark, and also slit through the 

 outside bark on all sides from the base of 

 the graft downwards. If there is afterwards 

 any swelling seen at the base of the graft it 

 is best to remove all the hard outer bark 

 down to the green bark for several inches 

 below the graft. 



The Cherries of the hardy sour families, 

 and Apricots, Peaches and Nectarines, graft 

 freely on the Native Plums, especially of the 

 Chickasaw tribe, but for the North they are 

 best on the hardy Northwestern Plums, 

 and they do better on these everywhere than 

 on any other stock, as well as all the other 

 fruits named above, and Prunus Simoni. 

 AU of these can be fruited much farther 

 north on the Plum than on any other stock, 

 also the hardier line European Plums can 

 be satisfactorily fruited in this way, North 

 or South, if grafted high up. 



Nebraska Fruit Notes. 



A. M. DANIELS, YORK CO., NEB. 



Last winter and spring were the most dis- 

 astrous on fruit trees, shrubs and vines 

 known in seven years. Many old and tried 

 kinds were injured. 



Of Grapes none have stood better than the 

 Worden and Moore's Early. They are doing 

 better with me than the old and reliable 

 Concord. Pocklington and Elvira have also 

 done well, though the fruit on the latter 

 has been scalded badly by our hot sun. 

 Brighton, .Jefferson and many other half 

 hardy kinds died to the ground, but most of 

 them started again. None of my Grapes 

 had any protection, not even snow. 



The leaves on my Red Dutch and Cherry 

 Currants have commenced to turn, while 

 those of the Victoria hold their dark green 

 foliage and are still growing. I have faith 

 that we can succeed nicely with the Currant. 

 Give them as much care as you would to 

 raise good Com, and my observation is you 

 wUl be rewarded with fruit. 



Of Raspberries Tyler and Ohio are far 

 ahead of other black caps. Turner and 

 Shaffer's Colossal are the best of the reds on 

 my grounds. There is no other Blackberry 

 for us as good as the Snyder, and no other 

 Dewberry as good as the Lucretia. 



As to Plums, all do well. It is as natural 

 for these to grow here as wild Sunflowers. 



Among the varieties of Cherries, I have 

 the Early Richmond, English Morello, Oli- 

 vett, Reine Hortense, Dyehouse, Montgom- 

 ery and Ostheum. I have the finest rows of 

 the latter that I have ever seen in any state. 

 I have very many of the best varieties of 

 Apples growing, and all are doing well, in- 

 deed they could do no better anjTvhere. As 

 to their fruiting I cannot yet say, but have 

 no reason to believe they will not do well as 

 they get size and age. 



Crescent, Downing and Sharpless are my 

 choice in Strawberries. Sweet Chestnuts 

 do well. The .Japanese die. Norway and 

 Scotch Pine never faU. White Pine and 

 Noi-way Spruce hardly do as well. 



On Raising Seedling Strawberries. 



BY THE ORIGINATOR OF THE JESSIE. 



Mr. F. W. Louden, the now weU-known 

 originator of new Strawberries, gave an in- 

 teresting account of his past and present 

 methods of raising seedlings, before a horti- 

 cultural society of his State some time ago. 

 This we lay before our readers in a some- 

 what condensed form as follows: 



Of the varieties extant thirty years ago I 

 procured somesixty different ones, and from 

 these began to raise seedlings. My plan 

 was to select large berries from each variety 

 in my collection. 



The first year after fi-uiting I sowed the 

 seed from two quarts of berries. This I con- 

 tinued to do for three years, and at the end of 

 five years I had about 100,000 plants in bear- 

 ing. I was astonished to see the immense 

 variety; no two plants or fruit were alike, 

 and scarcely a family resemblance in the 

 whole patch. I found many very large ber- 

 ries with but few on a plant, and many 

 plants bearing medium or small sized ber- 

 ries. I was not pleased with the result, not 

 having made much progress, yet the yield of 

 fruit had paid expenses. 



For a few years I tried the Wilson as 

 mother, crossed with Longworth's Prolific 

 and McAvoy's Superior. Soon after this 

 there began a general boom in seedlings. 

 Upon the advent of the Sharpless we con- 

 sideranew era in Strawberry culture begun, 

 a very flue, healthy plant, producing a large 

 berry, but non-productive. 



Since the large influx of new varieties came 

 in, I can date my success in raising seed- 

 lings. I have bought every new kind, feeling 

 at the time that nine out of every ten would 

 prove a failure. The object in view, select- 

 ing those free from rust, ^vith size, flavor 

 and color to suit, was to mix theu- blood 

 with that of my own seedlings, and avoid 

 " breeding in and in " — not merely a whim. 



About twenty years ago I changed my 

 method and adopted one more scientific. 

 My aim was to produce a large, very prodii- 

 ive berry of fine quality, beautiful color, 

 firm and uniform in size, running large to 

 the last picking, and the plants of strong 

 constitution with a clean, healthy foliage. 

 Claiming to have a berry with all these re- 

 quisites, I will try and tell how I produced it. 



Some blossoms having both sexes (pistil 

 and stamens) in one flower are called 

 hermaphrodite or perfect. Some have but 

 the pistils with no stamens; such are termed 

 pistillate. The same laws that govern the 

 animal kingdom rule in the vegetable. In 

 crossing I use a pair of small pointed scissors 

 and a microscope. The manipulations are 

 delicate. Suppose we have a variety that 

 yields a large berry, but lacking productive- 

 ness, if a staminate we cut out the stamens, 

 leaving the pistil. Then having selected a 

 sort that we know to be productive, we take 

 a camel's hair brush and collect the pollen 

 from the stamens and apply it to the stigma 

 at the summit of the pistil. If the operation 

 is a success the germ wiU soon begin to swell 

 and produce a fruit. This fruit contains the 

 seed for the new varieties we are after. 

 Plants raised from these seeds will possess 

 the qualities of one or both of the plants; 

 "blood will tell." After this the plant must 

 be covered to prevent insects from bringing 

 pollen from other flowers. 



For the past seven years I have been using 

 a more simple method. I decide upon the 

 parents, selecting twelve plants (two of a 

 variety). Around these I sink twelve .?-inch 

 pots with soil, fastening runners to each 

 pot and watering a few times. Later a shift 



is made to 8-iiu-h pots. I keep in cellar 

 through the winter, then about the middle 

 of March place close to each other in a hot- 

 bed, cover with sash, and air as often as the 

 weather will permit. 



My object is to have the plants bloom be- 

 fore the field Strawberries, thus escajiing 

 outside pollen. After the berries are half 

 grown I thin out to three to a plant. To 

 make sure that seed is ripe I allow the fruit 

 to decay on the plant. 



I sometimes sow the same season about 

 .luly 1st, but prefer to keep the seed until 

 the next spring. The seed will genninate 

 without frosting. I use eight-inch pots filled 

 with clean, sharp sand, sow the seed from 

 one ben-y, press it in with the bottom of 

 another pot, water with fine hose, sink the 

 pot in soil in a frame, cover with sash, then 

 shade with lath. By keeping the sand damp, 

 in twelve days the plants will appear. When 

 the leaves are the size of the thumb-nail, 

 they are ready for the open ground. 



The land is prepared the same as I would 

 for the regular field crop. I turn the plants 

 out of the pots, and am careful that the roots 

 do not get dried. I have evei-y fibre of root, 

 so lose no plants. I hoe about every ten 

 days. I allow but one runner to each plant 

 to root, and this in the row. At the end of 

 the season every plant will be strong and 

 bear a full crop the next season. I cover 

 with straw for winter protection. 



When fruiting I go through the rows 

 every day and writemy conclusions on stakes 

 put in the ground close to the fruit. I re- 

 peat this daily untU the season is over, usu- 

 ally finding about eight per cent e.xtra prom- 

 ising. From these I raise from ten to twenty 

 plants of each. I then prepare a piece of 

 ground long and narrow, set seven plants in 

 a row of each variety, giving each a name. 

 I subject my seedlings to a severe test, 

 which, when completed satisfies me as to 

 what varieties wiU gi'ow and fruit in any 

 place where the Strawberry has a home. 



House Slops for the Garden. 



SUSAN POWERS, NORFOLK CO., MASS. 



Don't throw slops round the house, or 

 drain them into sink ana cess-pool, to taint 

 the house in summer. They are far too val- 

 uable on farm or garden. 



The proper course is to plug up the sink 

 drain and substitute a cask on wheels to re- 

 ceive all slops, and have them liberally be- 

 stowed on all growing trees and shrubs, 

 which can in summerdisposeof half a barrel 

 weekly apiece, and will surprise with their 

 growth. The soil should be hollowed about 

 the stem, basin-like, to hold water, else it 

 runs off without reaching the roots. 



In dry times empty the tub of suds from 

 washing on the lawn at evening. It is water 

 and fertilizer for both. A Sweet Briar under 

 the dining-room window had a basin in the 

 soil over the roots, and received all the water 

 left in pitchers, waste coffee and tea grounds 

 after each meal. This matter was occa- 

 sionally forked into the soil; the result of 

 the daily waterings was that the bush grew 

 six times the size of those in the garden. 



An old pump in the cess-pool (which holds 

 the writer's slops) with hose to carry the 

 water to the compost heap is invaluable, and 

 all the water can be pumped on the heap, 

 making a lighter job of very disagreeable 

 work, and saving excellent fertilizer. 



A new invention is said to filter all house 

 slops, taking out soluble matters for fertiliz- 

 ers, and leaving the water clear enough for 

 use hi sprinkling plants or for many manu- 

 facturing uses. All solid wastes, whether 

 from closets, or scraps from the kitchen, il' 

 not fed to animals, should be composted 

 daily, covered with old sods or common soil 

 and ashes, thus preventing a very common 

 source of disease, while making the most of 

 everything for enriching the land. 



