1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



40 



THINCiS TRIKl) AND REPOKTKI) ON. 



J. S. Metiers, of Mississippi, says he made un- 

 productive Pear trees yield heavy fine crops of 

 fruit by driving nails into the body. " Such fine 

 fruit I never saw as has g:rown on that tree since." 

 Of coui'se the iron and rust, as also bruisin;? the 

 body, may cause fruitfulness. So many have 

 tried it with success that we advise those having 

 unfruitful trees to give it a trial. 



S. F. Johnson, of Ohio, writes us: " I have tried 

 your remedy for fire-blight on Pear trees with 

 perfect success;" which was to slit the bark of 

 limb and body on one side iis the blight shows, 

 and putting on body and limbs imre linseed oil. 



Kalph Romer, of Maine, writes us he has had 

 fine success growing a few Peaches by trimming 

 limbs low to the ground and covering with earth 

 through the winter; and, t<M), that he has grown 

 splendid Kittatiny Blackberries in the same way. 



S. R. Hooton, of this State, writes that he has 

 had a perfect crop of Cherries and Plums this year 

 by spraying trees twice— a week apart —just 

 after blossoms had fallen, with Paris green water. 



A Promisingr Early Crape— The 

 Jewel. 



Favorable mention has several time.s of 

 late been made in these cohiiiins to the new 

 black Grape Jewel. This month we .show 

 an engraving of a cluster of the fruit, and 

 oflfer some further information regarding 

 its unquestionable merits. 



It is a seedling of the Delaware, originat- 

 ing with John Burr, of Ijeavenworth, Kan- 

 sas. Its most striking qualities are extreme 

 earliness, healthiness of growth, fine eating 

 qualities, and firmness of skin, adapting it 

 remarkably well to shipping. From all we 

 can learn of this variety its qualities may be 

 summed up as follows: 



Bitnch medium; often shouldered, com- 

 pact and never straggling; heavy in propor- 

 tion to size. Berry medium size, black, with 

 a heavy bloom, and ripens evenly. Skin 

 very firm, enabling it to be much handled 

 without bursting, and does not crack in wet 

 weather. PuJp rich, sprightly, sweet to the 

 center; two to three seeded. yi(of(fj/ almost 

 if not quite equal to the Delaware, and the 

 best flavored of any early black Grape. T'('hc 

 vigorous, very hardy, healthy, a short jointed 

 grower, almost too productive, hence must 

 be pruned short; foliage thick and heavy; 

 never has been affected by mildew or rot; 

 early in ripening up its wood. Scftaon one 

 week earlier than Hartford, Victor and 

 Champion, ripening its fruit in a short time 

 after it commences, and keeps a long time 

 on the vines; does not drop from the stem 

 when ripe. 



Mr. George W. Campl)ell, excellent au- 

 thority, ha.s recently said of this variety: 

 " It has much to recommend it, as the vine 

 and foliage seem very hardy and perfectly 

 healthy, having shown no signs of mildew 

 or rot. Its extreme earliness will render it 

 specially valuable for those localities so far 

 north that the Concord does not ripen. It 

 was well colored and on August .5th w as in 

 better condition than Hartford and Cham- 

 pion usually are when sent to early markets, 

 and on August l.'jth it was quite ripe. It 

 hangs remarkably well to the cluster, and 

 may be left on tlie vine without dropping 

 for weeks after ripening. Its skin, though 

 medium thin, is quite tenacious, which will 

 make it a good shipping Grape. It is a little 

 pulpy, but the pulp becomes quite tender 

 when it is fully ripe, and is not very objec- 

 tionable, as the seeds are very small and the 

 pulp is sweet to the center. In size of cluster 

 I think it will fully equal the Delaware, with 

 somewhat larger berries. In flavor I find it 

 very nearly worthy to take the place among 

 black Grapes that Delaware does among 

 red ones. The vine seems as hardy and as 

 healthy as Concord, but not as strong in 

 growth. 



The Jewel is in the hands of Messrs. 

 Stayman & Black, Leavenworth, Kas., for 

 dissemination. 



Distance from Market. 



.loHN M. STAHL, QUINCV, ILL. 



The distance of the berry grower from 

 market plays an important part in his bus- 

 iness. To illustrate: Quincy has a ijopula- 

 tion of IK.IKKI, that has been well eilncated 

 to eat berries three times a dav. Hence the 

 local demand is not small; and the near-by 

 growers can control the local market. They 

 can drive to the city in an hour, or le.ss 

 time, and deliver the berries from their 

 wagons to the dealers; whereas, the grower 

 twenty miles away must drive to the rail- 

 way station, put liis berries on the cars, and 

 ship them l)y rail to Qviincy. Though gath- 

 ered at the same time, they will be at least 

 two hours later in reaching the dealer tlian 

 the berries brought in by the near-by 

 grower; and to tlieir cost is added the ex- 

 pense of shipment. On accotmt of the lon- 

 ger time, as well as greater expense re- 

 quired to get berries twenty miles away to 

 market, they must be sold at a very small 

 profit in competition with the product of 

 near-by growers; and as a result the grow- 

 ers twenty miles from Quincy rarely mar- 

 ket here; they ship at once to Chicago or 

 St. Paul. This gives the near-by growers a 

 good local market; and as the cost of mar- 

 keting a product is always borne by the pro- 

 ducer, and the cost of marketing in Qtiincy 

 is much less than the cost of marketing in 

 Minneapolis, the grower within an hour's 

 drive of Quincy makes more per quart than 

 if he had to market farther away. 



This is not the only advantage of being 

 near a city, small or large. The berries can 

 be got to the dealer in better condition. 

 They are fresher, and not so near crushed 

 by transportation and more handling. 

 Also, the grower near a city can get cheaper 

 labor and more of it when needed. In the 

 city there is a large number of girls and 

 boys who are willing to work at very low 

 wages; the grower near a city can get all 

 the pickers he needs. Away from the city, 

 the growers can get only a limited amount 

 of help. And as the demand in the picking 

 season is fully equal to the supply, wages 

 are sure to be good for the laborers. 



But near the city land is higher than 

 away from it. Tlie crop must be charged 

 with interest on the price of the land. How- 

 ever, I do not think this will 

 oft'set the advantages point- 

 ed out above; and unless the 

 land near a city is already 

 occupied by berry growers 

 and competition in the local 

 market is very sharp, it will 

 be better to get within driv- 

 ing distance of the city than 

 farther away, notwithstand- 

 ing the higher price of the 

 land. When locating, the 

 character of the roads must 

 be considered, The berry 

 growers can afford to pay 

 something for smo(ith, hard 

 roads over which to trans- 

 port his products to market. 



But, a person situated far- 

 ther than driving distance 

 from a city, or who finds it 

 very inconvenient to locate within that dis- 

 tance, nuiy well grow berries away from a 

 city. Often it is possible to build up a 

 splendid home nuirket in the near village 

 and among tlie farmers round about. It is 

 wonderful how nice berries will increase 

 the demand for themselves. For every 

 neighborhood in which the consumption ol 

 berries cannot be increased, there are ten 

 neighborhoods in which this consumption 

 can be ijuadrupled. Among the berry 

 gi-owers of my acquaintance there are none 

 doing better than some who settled down 

 near a railway station in a country neigh- 

 borhood, where berries ha<l been little 



grown and not at all intelligently. They 

 have liuilt up a splendid local demand, and 

 although there is now competition, they 

 " have the inside track," while any surplus 

 can be shipped from the railway station. 



While, as I have tried to show, there are 

 advantages in being near a city market, yet 

 this does not cut so much figure now as it 

 did some years ago, as my readers know, 

 and I would place above nearness to city 

 special adaption of soil and situation, espec- 

 ially if there was much difference in the 

 price of land. With express trains on which 

 to ship, and pint boxes in which to carry the 

 berries, a market five hundred miles distant 

 is not far away, and berries, with the pos- 

 sible exception of some very soft varieties, 

 can be put before consumers in good order. 



A Convenient Strawberry Packing 

 Shed. 



A. A. WILOUS, HADISON CO., ILL. 



Having a little leisure I send to you 

 a rough sketch of my packing shed, built 

 last spring, and which has been found very 

 satisfactory. It is a simple affair made of 

 seven-eighths inch planed boards, and is 

 painted externally. The building is ren- 

 dered portable through resting on two run- 

 ners made of 3 x 6 pieces, and thus is easily 

 drawn from one berry patch to another. 



The end of the shed is open as shown in 

 the engraving. On each side two openings 

 three feet wide and running the length of 

 the building are provided for, the parts cov- 

 ering the openings being hung by hinges 

 above, which allows them to swing out like 

 two awnings, providing shade, with full 

 currants of air. 



The interior is occupied with two tables 

 hinged against the outer walls with a four 

 foot passage between. These tables are let 

 down after the fruit season is past, at which 

 time the shed Ls converted into a store room 

 for crates, baskets, picking stands, etc. A 

 month ago I closed down the side doors and 

 boarded up the open end. In this shape the 

 shed will remain until next year's berry 

 season opens again. 



The benefits of a shed of this kind arise 

 through the ability to simplify the handling 

 of a large lot of fruit as it comes from the 

 patch, and of keeping it in the best possible 



A CONVEMENT STRAWBERRY PACKING SHED. 



sliape out of the wind and sun from the 

 picking time until it is loaded for market. 



P. M. ArouR in answer to bow he had ob- 

 tained 81,200 worth of Strawberries per acre says: 

 1. Use only such varieties as will respond to gener- 

 ous treatment. 2. Plant, early of kinds as by 

 feeding will give a pint and a half of berries from 

 a i)lant. 3. Apply and mix thoroughly with the 

 soil 1(X) tons of best horse manure. 4. Set tl\e 

 plants in rows two feet by one and a half, and 

 nip all runners. .'>. Hoe, up to freezing, and then 

 mulch until the ground ceases to freeze in the 

 si)ring, and re-mulch when the fruit is half grown, 

 ti. Allow plants to fruit but once; and 7. Get 

 stock plants from those not allowed to fruit. 



