48 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



WALKS AND JOTTINGS. 



BY A. M. PURDV, PALMYRA, N. Y. 



BLACKBERRIES IN THE NORTHWEST. 



While living in Indiana we repeatedly 

 layered Blackberries after the manner de- 

 seribed below by a writer in the Prairie 

 Farmer, with the best kind of success. Had 

 w-e not removed from there, we should have 



grown them largely, comitinc 

 through winter. 



" Blackberries 

 can be successful- 

 ly grown in the 

 coldNorthwestern 

 States.if the plants 

 are laid down and 

 covered with earth 

 in the autumn. 

 The Wilson's Ear- 

 ly is the most suit- 

 able for planting 

 where this course 

 is pursued. The 

 canes of this va- 

 riety are slender, 

 bend readily and 

 are not easily 

 broken, and in the 

 North where it is 

 protected in this 

 manner, it yields 

 fine crops of fruit. 

 A location where 

 water does not 

 stand any length 

 of time should be 

 chosen, and the 

 plants set about 

 three feet apart in 

 a single row. As 

 they are set all the 

 roots should be 

 turned in one di- 

 rection—to one 

 side of the row. 

 In the autumn 

 after growth has 

 ceased and before 

 the ground freezes 

 the canes should 

 be thinned to three 

 in a hill and 

 shortened to about 

 three feet In 

 length. Then dig 

 a trench extend- 

 ing from close 

 under the plant 

 three feet outward 

 on the side oppo- 

 site to the roots, 

 the whole plant to 

 be pressed down 

 into it, and entire- 

 ly covered with 

 earth. Here they 

 remain until dan- 

 ger from frost is 

 over in spring. 

 All mulch and 



fertilizers should be applied to the side 

 where the roots are, and the cultivation on 

 that side should be with the hoe, and very 

 shallow. On the opposite side the soil should 

 be cultivated deeply, to prevent strong roots 

 from forming on that side, as it would b^ 

 necessary to cut them in opening the trenches 

 and the plants would thus be weakened. 

 One man can lay and cover .50 or 100 plants 

 in a short time, and the fine crop of luscious 

 berries thus assured will doubly repay the 

 expense. It is best to set rows east and west 

 and bend plants north." 



strung on posts, say eighteen inches apart, 

 and first year train on one and second year 

 on the other, and so on alternate. In starting 

 Grape-vines use best and most thrifty canes 

 that grow nearest to ground for the standard 

 or upright cane. 



It's a good plan in severe sections to bury 

 Grape-vines under earth, or even if laid on 

 the ground and held there by a shovelful 



L'lyiTinii of earth over vine in two or three places. 



This is certainly an easy way to double one's 

 crop of Strawberries, and is well worth try- 

 ing, but it might not always work as well 

 as In this case." 



With this idea we can unite. We have 

 scattered manure, phosphate and other 

 commercial manures over the Strawberry 

 beds in the fall with the very best results, 

 obtaining from rows thus fertilized fully 

 one-third to one-half more fruit, and of a 

 far better quality. 



THE JEWEL GRAPE. FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF MEDIUM SIZED BUNCH AND BERRY. 



wiU do, and be much better than leaving 

 them on the trellis exposed to the severe 

 winter weather. 



ABOUT GR.\.PES AT THIS SEASON. 



No better time for pruning Grapes than 

 now. The alternate cane or •' Kniffen " plan 

 is best, which is simply to have two wires 



STIMULATING STRAWBERRIES BEFORE WINTER 



" I notice," says W. D. Philbrick in the 

 N. E. Farmer, "that a correspondent has 

 experimented with stimulating Strawberry 

 plants in the fall by applying nitrate of soda 

 in solution, a pint of nitrate to twenty gal- 

 lons of water, xising ten gallons of this 

 liquid to 100 feet of a Strawberry row once 

 in ten or twelve days. He says the growth 

 of vines was immense, and when picking 

 time came the next .lune those rows which 

 received the nitrate bore more than double 

 what was picked from the rows along side 

 which were not stimulated in this way. 



EV.^PORATED AP- 

 PLES, ETC. 



In answer to 

 some questions re- 

 ceived I would say 

 that I do not think 

 it advisable to 

 hasten the sale of 

 evaporated Apples 

 or Raspberries, or 

 any other kind of 

 dried fruit. 



I received circu- 

 lars from scores 

 (if commission 

 merchants East 

 and West, in July 

 and August, and 

 without exception 

 they stated that 

 the old stock was 

 all cleaned out 

 and that " the 

 deck was clear." 

 The crop of Apples 

 the country over 

 is exceedingly 

 light, while 



Peaches have been 

 almost entirely 

 used up in their 

 fresh state and by 

 canning, the stock 

 of evaporated 

 Raspberries is not 

 over one halt what 

 it was last year 

 the country over. 



We are confi- 

 dent, from good 

 evidence in our 

 possession, that 

 there is a great 

 effort being made 

 by a combination 

 of certain com- 

 mission dealers to 

 send prices down 

 now to the very 

 lowest point, and 

 to do this they are 

 crying "An abun- 

 dant crop," "Big 

 stock on hand," 

 " Crop larger than 

 was expected," 

 etc., etc., and 

 when they find 

 the crop is pretty weU out of the hands of 

 producers, then you will see a " boom " and 

 prices will shoot up for certain. 



We say hold on to your stock a few weeks; 

 prices can't be any lower and must go up. 



We do not always pack as fast as the fi-uit 

 conies in from the evaporators, but put it 

 away in large store-rooms and hold till rainy 

 or damp weather, at which time fruit not 

 only packs better, but then our help cannot 

 work outdoors. 



We pack in both barrels and boxes. To 

 get 50 pounds in the ordinary boxes the 

 fruit must be "sweating" and packed in 

 hard as fast as put in. 



We prefer to burn coal fast and then sift 

 out the ashes and use sittings in our house 

 stoves after wetting them well with water. 



