I04 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



Charles Darwiu. When you ha^'e removed the 

 petals you are free from insect interference, in 

 my opinion. There have been many experiments 

 tried by Sir John Lubbock with Bees on colored 

 paper. The Bees are more attracted by the colors 

 t han by the honey or anything you put on the 

 tiowei's. So that if you take tlie coloi-s away you 

 remove the attraction. I have never detected 

 the insect fertilization on a ilower on which I 

 have operated ; and I do not believe it will be de- 

 tected in any case after such an operation. The 

 seed will mature just as well. Most flowei-s are 

 bi-sexual, and these are more difficult to treat 

 than those which are of either sex, because you 

 have to castrate the bi-sexual ones. If you want 

 variations, the way is to take out the bearing 

 organs before they bui-st. If you get seed from 

 that part of the flower after that, you are certain 

 to have a new variety, whether it is interfered 

 with manually or by the insect kingdom. In 

 \iew of the great demand that exists for distinct 

 varieties, it is almost impossible, in our day, to 

 keep pace with the times if we wait for varia- 

 tions in the natural way. 



good colored large flowers. Still another says 

 too much water is used. A florist near him who 

 grows several thousand plants has a dugout or 

 one sash frame connected with the foot of a Rose 

 house and the drip is such that the plants are 

 literally growing in a bog, and from these he gets 

 splendid flowers. Case after case might be enu- 

 merated where objections have been met with 

 the very conditions objected to, and yet let 

 another try to grow them under the same condi- 

 tions and utter failure ensues. 



The Culture of the Violet. 



llHr. L. H. Foster, of Dorchester, before meeting of the 

 Gardeners'' and Florists' Club of Boston, Dee, 6.] 



As to varieties, the Maria Louise is the 

 best for the Boston market, as the color is 

 dark and the keeping qualities 

 the best. Had grown it from 

 the same stock he began with 

 eight years ago, and on the 

 same land each year with one 

 exception, when he greensoiled 

 the land putting in oats first 

 and plowing that in, then sow- 

 ing Hungarian grass and turn- 

 ing that under also. 



He plants out eight inches apart- 

 in the rows with a space of twelve 

 inches between the rows so they 

 may be easily cultivated with a 

 hoe, this being all the care" they 

 receive until the latter part of 

 August. There was no sign of 

 disease until last year when about 

 a dozen plants in 10,(XX) showed the ^ 

 spot in August. 



To give good clumps for winter ,<ipring Second Year. 

 bloom, Violets should be planted 

 out about the lOth to the 15th of 



Grape Growing for the People. 



{_Fro7n a paperby C. A. Hatch before the Wisconsin 

 State Horticultural Society,^ 



The most important part is pruning. You 

 must prune your vine so as to start right, 

 tor that is half the battle. 



One \ine or cane to each root Ls all you want 

 to allow to grow the fli-st season, and this should 

 be cut back in the fall, after the leaves fall, to 

 two buds, from which your next year's vine is to 

 grow. No stakes will be necessary the first .vear. 



The next fall cut the two canes back to four 

 feet in length, and if you want to train in the 

 simplest way possible, cut one off the Janesvilie 

 (Concord or Worden will need the two), and tie 

 them up to a stake. Your vine is now in i*egular 

 shape, and each year's work will onl.v be a repeti- 

 tion of the former year's. You now have on the 



and the Potato crop only two-thirds. Statistics 

 were given showing the great increase in the 

 fruit product from 187.5 to 188.5, as follows: 



1S75. Apple, 3,2M,957 bushels, value $1,450,252 



Pear, 59,259 bushels, value 118,302 



Peach, 15,945 bushels, value 44,833 



Plum, 1,769 bushels, value 3,481 



Grapes, 672,590 bushels, value 67,259 



Strawberry, 1,156,801 quart.s, value 214,940 



Crauberr.v, 110,184 bushels, value 288,113 



Currant, value 10,605 



Raspberry, value 14,000 



Blackberry, value 14,000 



1885. Apple, 4,5M,5S0 bushels, value 1,174,462 



Pear, 153,:i74 bushels, value.. 



Peach, value 



Plum, 5,948 bushels, value 



Grapes, 2,975,824 pounds, value 



Strawberr.v, 3,929,407 quarts, value.. 



Cranberry, 315,387 bushels, value 



Currant, 318,588 quarts, value 



Raspberry, 176,168 quarts, value 



Blackberry, 882,l(i3 quarts, value 



Fall Second Year. Spring Third Yea 

 GRAPE-VINE SECOND AND THIRD YEAR AFTER PLANTING. 



147,013 

 1,839 

 12,381 

 117,022 

 406,859 

 788,467 

 28,631 

 38,621 

 788,467 



Though our soil and climate are favorable, we 

 cannot depend on those alone. The soil must be 

 fertilized, the trees fed. He favored turf culture 

 for Apples, because in some instances the trees 

 could be set on land unfit for cultivation, and 

 trees in grass yield fruit of high color and good 

 keeping qualities. We raise too many small 

 inferior Apples and thus hurt the market. Good 

 fruit is always in demand. 

 Insects and diseases must be fought and good 

 selections of varieties made. We 

 have no perfect varieties. We 

 want new ones combining the 

 good qualities of all our liest. Test- 

 ing should be done in a public 

 way, and he hoped the Hatch bill 

 appropriation would in part at 

 least be applied to experiments in 

 testing new fruits. 



Of Pears we had in 1875, 303,000 

 trees, and 10 years later 358,000. 

 This fruit must be treated more 

 tenderly than the Apple, must be 

 nurtured in a deep, rich soil, and 

 manured with bone and potash, 

 for example. For blight, cultivate 

 the tree to keep it in a healthy and 

 \igorous condition. 

 Of Peach trees we had in the 

 3 State in 1875, 82,844, and in 18,S5. 

 -' .'276,800. Prof. Maynard dwelt on 

 Fall Third Year, the characteristics of this fruit, its 

 needs in the way of soil and situa- 

 tion, and of its diseases. New trees 



May so they will become well rooted before the 

 hot season. Then they will cariy through the 

 summer. Beware of late planting. 



They should be well cleaned in the field and 

 moved into the house early. After taking in and 

 once cleaning, incessant care and watchfulness 

 are necessary ; early and late airing, watering 

 and cleaning must be attended to with much 

 caie. From fall till the middle of January is the 

 critical time, requiring all the skill of the grower. 

 If they are well and healthy theu, there will be 

 comparatively little trouble thereafter, though 

 the care and attention to detail can not be relaxed. 

 He would sura up the subject of growth thus; 

 Have clean, healthy cuttings in spring, plant by 

 May 15, keep clean from weeds through summer, 

 clean from runners and decayed leaves by Sept. 

 1, remove to winter quarters by Oct. 15 at the 

 latest, then watch, work and think. 



The Disease. In regard to the disease he be- 

 lieved plants were susceptible to certain diseases, 

 as is the case with the human family. As to how 

 it comes there are many theories but the secret 

 remains hidden. One grower thinks a change of 

 plants from another locality is a remedy. But 

 he related the experience of a grower in Newport 

 who grew Violets for years, and had no disease. 

 One spring he found a little spot and thereupon 

 threw away all his plants and procured others 

 from a distance. The next fall he had not a 

 healthy plant. How should we account for that? 



Another says itTs a minute insect which bores 

 into the stem. He had never seen the insect, and 

 hoped it was only a supposition. Another says 

 starve ia the field and feed in the house, but he 

 did not think this fully met the case, as he be- 

 lieved large plants were needed to insure an 

 abundance of bloom. 



Another says we grow them too warm. Last 

 winter he visited a neighbor's Rose house which 

 was some fifteen feet high and ventilated from 

 the top. Some Violets were planted on the front 

 bench at least ten feet from the ventilator and 

 over two 4-inch hot water pipes and they were 

 doing well all winter— some spot, but producing 



Janesvilie one ^ine four feet long, and on the 

 other kinds two of the same length; these will in 

 the fall each have branches or laterals, as they 

 are called, on which the fruit, if any, will be 

 borne. These laterals must be cut back to two 

 buds each, every fall before burying for winter. 



And right here let me caU your attention to a 

 fact not generally recognized, that the vine on 

 which fruit is grown is a bud in the spring, the 

 \'ine as well as the fruit growing the same sea- 

 son. One hundred and fifty buds are considered 

 the greatest number allowable on a vine, so do 

 not think it destruction if you do cut away nine- 

 teen-twentieths of the snne in pruning. 



Some may say summer pruning is necessai'y, 

 or that an expensive trellis is necessary. I have 

 not found it so, and think summer pruning and 

 treUises of any kind, except what is really needed 

 to support the vines, are worse than useless. 



And now you ha\e all that is necessary to raise 

 grapes. As a covering I have used dirt only, put 

 on four or five inches deep, and have had good 

 success. 



Fruit Culture in Massachusetts. 



[By Prof. S. T. Maynard before the Massachusetts 

 Board of Agriculture.'] 



This State is within the " frait^belt " so 

 favorable to Apples, Pears, and other fruits. 

 In this belt, extending from southern Con- 

 necticut to the Canada line. Apples are 

 grown of the highest color and best flavor. 

 Grapes and Peaches also do well in favored 

 localities. If farmers would encourage their 

 sons more by giving them a pecuniary in- 

 terest in the orchard and garden, fewer 

 would be found leaving the farm. 



Fruit growing in Massachusetts is a larger in- 

 dusti*y than many suppose. In 1875 the sales 

 amounted to $3,000,000, while garden vegetables, 

 including those raised on farms, reached only 

 $2,.')0O,00O, and butter a trifle more. The corn 

 crop was only one-third the value of the fniit. 



had better not be planted in old places. The 

 roots should be covered. 



Plum trees numbered 3,795 in 1875 and 7,590 in 

 1885. They are easy to produce and are not in- 

 jured by high cultivation. The hen yard is a 

 good place in which to plant. Worms, rotting 

 and the black rot are the chief causes of loss. 



Quince trees have increased in number since 

 1875 from .3,000 to 51,000. They never will be ex- 

 tensively cultivated, and low prices must rule 

 soon, from the fact that many trees have lately 

 been planted and will soon begin to bear. They 

 require a deep, rich soil and are of slow growth. 

 A well-drained soil is the best cure for blight on 

 these trees. 



Grape-vines numbered 224,000 in the State in 

 1875 and .3.56,0ai in 1885. A south slope, sandy soil 

 and careful winter pruning, will make it an easy 

 and paj-ing fruit to cultivate. 



The Strawberry crop has not been paying in 

 the last two yeais, but the growers are to blame 

 for producing so much small, inferior fruit. HUl 

 culture produces the best fruit; and thus, by using 

 the cultivator instead of hoe, production can be 

 cheapened and bettered every way. 



In Blackberi'ies and Raspberries the demand is 

 for large fruit. The Turner and the Black Caps 

 are the best. A plantation should last 10 years 

 without resetting. 



The Summer Propagation of Roses. 



iContin ued from page 81.) 



It may be inquired where are Devoniensis, Mme. 

 Margottin, Louis Richard, Mme. Camille, Beauty 

 of Stapleford, Souvenir Elize Verdou, Mme Che- 

 dane Guinoiseau and perhaps othere. The above 

 are so well known that we might with propriety 

 give reasons for their omission from the list; 

 besides every one has some mai-ked faults. Dev- 

 oniensis too flimsy; Mme. Margottin opening im- 

 perfectl.v, often the petals rot; Mme. Camille, 

 color a dirty, dingy, flesh pink; Louis Richai-d 

 fails ti) open its buds: Beauty of Stapleford mil- 

 dews badly; Mme. C. Guinoiseaii nearly single. 



