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POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



Mildew and Aphis on Roses, Etc. 



PETER HENDERSON. .TERSEY CITY HEIGHTS, N. J. 



I noticed in your November issue an en- 

 quiry from M., McHenry Co., Ills., asking 

 for the best remedy against mildew and aphis 

 on Roses. I can offer nothing new in the 

 antidotes against these, but think we have 

 something not generally known in our 

 manner of applying them. 



Roses, Grape-vines and Chrysanthemums, 

 besides hundreds of other species of plants 

 cultivated both in the open air and under 

 glass, are more or less affected by mildew 

 and aphis. A certain remedy is to apply a 

 mixture of 1 part of black or virgin sulphur 

 to 9 parts of tobacco dust, applied with a 

 sulphur bellows when the leaves are wet, at 

 least once a week, — twice is better. We 

 have used this as a preventive remedy for 

 many years with the most excellent results 

 on all plants subject to mildew or aphis. 



It is best to apply the sulphur and tobacco 

 dust mixed, the sulphur being the specific 

 for the mildew and the tobacco for the aphis. 

 This saves time by " killing two birds 

 with one stone." 



The main reason why these remedies fail 

 is owing to the fact that they are rarely long 

 enough persisted in. One or two applica- 

 tions may check the trouble— but will check 

 it only. My rule for these pests is preven- 

 tion, which need never fail if the remedy is 

 steadily applied. 



In our own practice every kind of plant 

 that we know to be liable to be attacked by 

 aphis or niUdew is dusted over with the 

 mixture of sulphur and tobacco dust twice 

 each week from June to October. Of course 

 at such times as the Roses or Chrysanthe- 

 mums are in flower, or when the fruit of 

 Grapes is ripening, it must not be used; but 

 these conditions only occur for a short sea- 

 son during summer, and there is no necessity 

 for using the dust in winter, as then some 

 sulphur on the pipes checks mildew and fum- 

 igation with tobacco stems kills the aphis. 



Practical Notes on Winter Covering. 



W. FALCONER, OLENCOVE, N. Y. 



The cover will depend on the sort of plants 

 to be protected, the exposure of the land in 

 which things are grown, the part of the coun- 

 try in view, and local circumstances. And 

 whatever may be written on the subject can 

 only be suggestive. 



Sheltei! is the first essential in winter 

 protection. In exceptionally well sheltered 

 parts of Long Island Cunniughamia Sinen- 

 sis, Cephaiotaxus Fortunei and Magnolia 

 grandiflora live and appear to do well, but 

 in an open unsheltered position on the same 

 place any of these plants would not survive 

 a single winter. In building a greenhouse 

 we seek the warmest and most sheltered sit- 

 uation available, both for the good of the 

 plants and economy in heating. Gardeners 

 select a warm sunny spot for their cold 

 frames and hot-beds, and if the shelter is not 

 already good they make it so by erecting 

 close board fences around their frame 

 ground, especially on the north and west 

 sides, and there is no gardener so particular 

 in thus providmg shelter as the market gar- 

 dener—he who makes his living by raising 

 early vegetables. Contiguous buildings, 

 trees, shrubs, hedges or undulations of the 

 land often afford the necessary shelter. 



A GuEEN Cei).\r Shelter Fence. Red 

 Cedar grows abundantly around here in 

 woods, waste fields and by the seashore. 

 About the first of December, before the land 

 is locked by frost, 1 go out into the fields cut 

 down and haul home enough of these Cedars 

 to form a close hedge fence around my frame 

 ground and a nursery patch containing extra 

 choice and somewhat tender stock. The 

 Cedars are 8 to 10 feet high. First, a three- 

 barred 4K foot high fence (if for temporary 



use a two-barred one is just as good) Is set 

 around the gi'ound, then the Cedars are 

 placed upright against this fence and close 

 up against each other, hedge fashion, and 

 their lower ends inserted into the soil a few 

 inches deep to keep tliem in place. Then a 

 couple of light wooden rails tacked back of 

 them and fastened here and there with mar- 

 line holds them perfectly secure; or mar- 

 line altogether may be used, but in this 

 case every upright must get a turn around. 

 Now this fence keeps good till next May, 

 when I strip it; then I also strip the Cedars 

 and use them for bean poles and stakes. 

 Evergreen trees or branches cut in summer 

 very quickly lose their foliage, but cut in 

 winter they retain them for months. Where 

 the above three-barred fence is permanent, 

 as around my frame ground, I use it in sum- 

 mer as a trellis for Tomatoes, and a support 

 for tall pot plants plunged alongside of it. 

 Evergreen Branches of most any kind, 

 say Pine, Spruce and Hemlock are capital 



Bow Mr. Falconer protects Delicate Trees, in- 

 creasing the Cloth sometimes to cover the top. 



material for protecting all manner of plants. 

 They don't lie flat upon the plants, nor is 

 their foliage so thick as to tend to rot rather 

 than protect the subjects meant to be pre- 

 served, and as light covering, where pro- 

 tection against bright sunshine in winter is 

 the object in view, there is nothing better- 

 Branches of deciduous trees lose their leaves 

 too soon to be of much avail, but Oak and 

 Beach, cut early, may come in useful. 



Muslin. I use many hundreds of yards 

 of this every winter. It is the best, most 

 serviceable and easily handled protecting 

 material for the money it costs and available 

 for many things. It is not in general use 

 and I don't know why, but I strongly advise 

 your readers to try it. I get mine from 

 printing offices. It is the cloth that has 

 been used in cleaning the presses, and costs 

 little more than the price of old rags. I have 

 them sewed into sheets as wide and long as 

 I desire. In October, in the event of frost, it 

 is a very easy matter to run a few sheets of 

 this muslin over Tomatoes and Snap Beans 

 and save them. During the winter and 

 spring months, when our cold fi'ames and 

 hot-beds are covered over with thatch, straw 

 or mats, some of these sheets that had been 

 oiled are spread over the covering to keep it 

 dry from rain and snow, and wonderfully 

 well it does it too. Every year I raise a 

 thousand or more Chrysanthemum plants to 

 bloom out-of-doors, and about the first of 

 October lift and mass them together where 

 I want them to flower, and erect over them 

 a light wooden skeleton frame, which in the 

 event of frosty or wet weather I cover over 

 with this muslin, and in this way get good 

 Chrysanthemums till the end of November. 

 We have many somewhat tender trees, 

 as Deodar, Photinia, Podocarpus, .Japanese 

 Persimmon and some others that need a 

 little protection in winter. Around them I 

 drive in some stakes and to these tack some 

 muslin (see engraving). This completely pro- 

 tects the plants from wind. In the case of 

 rather tender sorts, as English Holly, Pho- 



tinia, Laurels and Araucaria, I throw a few 

 armfuls of dry Oak leaves inside the muslin 

 enclosure, then tack another piece of muslin 

 over the top to keep all snug and dry. I also 

 use this muslin for shading frames and 

 greenhouses, filling holes in buildings in 

 winter, for lining boxes and baskets and for 

 tying up small bundles of plants in. Strips 

 of it also make capital tie-bands for trees. 



Tree Leaves. Among leaves for all pur- 

 poses of winter mulching I prefer dry Oak 

 leaves, because they keep so open and dry, 

 and do not settle down and rot so soon as do 

 Maple, Linden or other leaves. But for 

 mulching Rhododendron, Azalea, Androm- 

 eda and Kalmia beds in spring, where the 

 object is a summer mulching, a protection 

 against heat and drought, I would not much 

 care what sort of leaves I should use. For 

 many things Oak leaves are a capital mialch, 

 as, for instance, around Hollyhocks and 

 Foxgloves close together in beds, but for 

 miscellaneous herbaceous plants in order I 

 would sooner have manure. In the case of 

 small rockeries or groups of choice delicate 

 plants a few armfuls of dry Oak leaves 

 scattered over them, and on top of that some 

 evergreen branches, is a better and safer 

 covering than manure. 



Rotted Manure. About the first of No- 

 vember I cut over Phloxes, I^arkspur, Koem- 

 pfer's Irises, Day Lilies, Plantain Lilies, 

 Paeonies, perennial Sunflowers. Asters, Balm 

 and other herbaceous perennials, and 

 for tidiness sake clear away all the tops to 

 the root pile, then root out all rough weeds. 

 If we have only a few perennials scattered 

 here and there we may manure or fork over 

 the ground at once. But as my borders are 

 very large and the number of plants grovsTi 

 in them cjuite numerous, and in fall a mul- 

 titude of self-sown seedlings of Larkspur, 

 Foxglove, Salvias, Coreopsis and other 

 plants come up, I do not fork over the 

 ground till spring, because I may wish to 

 save many of these seedlings. I therefore 

 merely spread a liberal dressing of well- 

 rotted manure all over the surface of the 

 ground, there to remain till spring, when I 

 fork it under. This not only helps the little 

 seedlings but protects the crowns of the old 

 plants, and in considerable measure pre- 

 vents lifting by frost in winter. Indeed, one 

 of the evils of digging among perennials in 

 the fall is in thus rendering them more 

 liable to be raised by frost. In the case of 

 evergreens, as Thrift, Statices, Penstemons, 

 some Veronicas and the like, avoid covering 

 over the leaves with manure. But as re- 

 gards .Japanese Anemone, Sargent's Plum- 

 bago, Mist flower and some others that are 

 not extra hardy and die down to under 

 ground in fall, we can mulch pretty thickly. 

 See that you mark the places of Gypsophila, 

 Platycodon, Fraxinella and Asclepias when 

 they are cut over, as they are hidden from 

 sight in spring. In the case of Siberian, 

 Koempfer's, and other Irises that grow up 

 in clumps, we may mulch quite liberally 

 about them, but we should avoid mulching, 

 more than very lightly, aboiit German, 

 Crested, Florentine and other kinds of Irises 

 that have surface-running rhizomaton root 

 stocks, else they will rot after they begin to 

 grow in spring. 



About the end of October I clean my 

 .Strawberry patches and spread a good dress- 

 ing of short manure between the rows. In 

 December as soon as we have a good crust 

 of fi'ost I add a slight mulching overhead of 

 sea thatch. Field mice are extremely de- 

 structive in winter where they get any cover, 

 as in a strawy or grassy mulching, and even 

 in the case of young evergreen conifers 

 where some grass and leaves collect under 

 them the mice find a pleasant home, and 

 bark the trees in payment for theii- hospi- 

 tality. Knowing this, I clean out everything 

 from under young evergreens in October 



