1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



109 



542. Black Walnut Culture. Plant the nuts 

 with the soft shuck on, abf)ut thi-ee inches deep, 

 in rich, mellow soil, soon as convenient after 

 they fall, and in the field where they are to grow 

 permanently. This soft shuck is Nature's nutri- 

 ment for the young plant. The Black Walnut, 

 Hickory, Tulip, and the tap-ro(jt tribe generall.v 

 are apt to be harmed by transplanting and cut- 

 ting off the tap-root, however necessary that 

 unnatural process ma.v Ix^ to trees grown *iu the 

 nursery and first started in beds. By cutting off 

 the tap-root you may force out enough lateral 

 roots uistead to make it live, but not to thrive as 

 it would otherwise have done. It is satv- to study 

 the habits of each kind (»f tree, and tu follow Na*- 

 ture. To give one of mans' illustrations, the fine 

 groves on the farm of Gov. Morton, in Nebraska, 

 were planted in the manner above commended. 

 These Black Walnuts were twenty-five years old 

 when I saw them, some of them being four feet 

 and two inches in girth two feet above the 

 ground. This shows the Black Walnut to he a 

 rapid grower.— B. G. NonTHRirp, Oititaii, Conn. 



Ml. Hydrant Water in Sose Forcing. This is 

 not in any sense injurious when used for syring- 

 ing Roses, but wai-mer water, or that more near 

 the temperature of the house, would be prefer- 

 able in case it could be obtiiined.— ('. E. P. 



542. Black Walnut Culture. In general they 

 do well on any soil, but thrive best on one that is 

 deep and rich. Plant one or two-year-old trees, 

 and as early in the spring as possible. 1 would 

 plant them in rows five feet apart each way, as 

 by so doing a row of Carrots, Beets, or Parsnips, 

 or some other root crop, can be grown between 

 them tintil the trees require the space. As the 

 trees increase in size, remove every other one 

 from time to time, as occasion may require. 

 The only culture that they require will consist 

 in keening them clear from weeds by means of 

 the cultivator and hoe. There is only one kind. 

 Difference in color is owing to the difference in 

 soil. The better the soil, darker the color.— C.E.P. 



.543. CrotonCarrieri. Thisisdescribedbyjohn 

 Saul, of Washington, D. C, in his Plant Cata- 

 logue for 1KK7, as being a superb CVoton, with 

 finely-variegated foliage.— C. B. P. 



544. Triumph Aster. Seed of this variety can 

 be obtained of J. M. Thorburn & Co., No. 15 John 

 Street, New York.— C. E. P. 



546. Sweet Lavender. The Sweet Lavender 

 Lavemlula rera is a low shrub, growing about 

 three feet high, a native of the South of Europe. 

 The leaves are narrow, of a heavy green color, 

 and the flowers are borne upon long and slender 

 spikes. They are delightfully fragi-ant, owing 

 tn a volatile oil, which in various forms is used as 

 a perfume, and on account of its stimulant, aro- 

 matic qualities often used in medicine. It can 

 lie increased by seeds, or cuttings, the latter 

 taking root very easily. Seed should be sown as 

 early in the spring as possible, in a well-drained 

 pot or pan fllled with turty loam. Sow thinly, 

 (•over slightly, and jilace in a warm, moist situa- 

 tion, as close to the glass as possible. As soon as 

 the young plants are strong enough to handle, 

 transplant into other pans or boxes similarly 

 prepared, placing them about two inches apart, 

 and grow on until the weather becomes settled, 

 when they can Ije planted outside. They will do 

 well in any good garden soil. In this vicinity 

 the plant is rather tender, and requires the pro- 

 tection of a cool cellar, cold frame or greenhouse 

 during winter, so that the above directions apply 

 to its care when grown as a border plant.— C. E. P. 



.547. Arbor Vitae Hedge, The American (r/iiya 

 iiccidentalM is the very best variety. The plants 

 should be placed from one to three feet apart, 

 the distance depending upon the height of the 

 trees, as for instance trees, a foot in height should 

 be placed one foot apart. As there is no partic- 

 ular difficulty in transplanting them, you can pro- 

 cure such sized trees as seem most suitable for 

 your purpose, and plant about the 1st of May. 

 It is best to open a trench, or work in a supiJlj' 

 of well-decayed manure before planting. Keep 

 well cultivated for a year or two, and trim into 

 shape at least once a .year.- C. E. P. 



5.50. Salt for Quince Trees, I consider salt of 

 little or no \alue, and would not bother to apply 

 it. Rather plant in a deep, well-etiriched soil, 

 and keep them clean and free from weeds by 

 good cultivation. Then apply a dressing of well- 

 decayed manure e\ er.v fall, and fork it in early 

 the next spring. — C. E. P. 



.552. Wintering Fansies. Do not remove the 

 sash, and protect fvtmi frost at night by means 

 of straw, mats or shutters. Air freely whenever 

 the opportunity offers. Keep the plants free 

 from weeds by stirring the gr(»und bctwi-cu them 

 occasionally. See that they are prcipirly supjplied 

 with water, and after March 1st gi\ e liquid ma- 

 nure at least twice a week.— C. E. P. 



(i04. Shropshire Damson Flum. Shropshire 

 Damson is equally productive, larger, and better 

 quality than the common Blue Damson. If 

 either do well with you, plant largely. There is 

 no present danger of overstocking the markets 

 with such good canning Plums.— D. B. W. 



551. Manure for Small Fruits. Stable manure 

 can be supplemented to gieat advantage with 

 bone dust or wood ashes for stiawbeiTies, but 

 for all other small fruits I prefer it alone. No 

 danger of too much if properly applied.— C. E. P. 



603. Coal Tar and Peach Trees. To prevent 

 injury to the trees from the Peach Ijorer coal tar 

 should be ajiplied directly after the trees bloom. 

 It is rather a heroic and hardly safe preventive 

 at best. For perfect safety from the borer the 

 soil should be taken away, so as to expose at 

 least three inches of the trunk, the tar applied, 

 and then covered with strong liglit-iolon-d ] paper 

 putting the soil back tohiild the piii'ci- in place. 

 The old plan of banking the soil up ;iniuiiil the 

 stem firmly eight to twelve inches diiiitlv after 

 blooming, anil taking it away the middle Of the 

 following August, and destroying all borers vis- 

 ible at that time each year, is safest and best. 

 Many intelligent men are now advocating bud- 

 ding all Peaches on Chickasaw Plum seedUngs a 

 foot above ground, clainjing that this plan will 

 I )re vent borers, and yellows, and give more pro- 

 ductiveness and hardihood of tree. Peaches 

 may also be budded in the branches of this Plum 

 for farther north.— D. B. WiER. 



603. Plums in Sod. One could force a success 

 in such a case, but it would be laborious and ex- 

 pensive. To succeed, one should spade u)) a 

 circle six feet across, a spit and a half deep. 

 Make all fine, then plant the tree in the center. 

 Then, two or three weeks after planting, .stir up, 

 and fine the surface at least six inches deep. 

 Then in a few days mulch the whole worked sur- 

 face four or fl^e inches deep with partially-rotted 

 dung, straw or chips. Early the next spring 

 turn this under, and in a few weeks cultivate 

 and mulch again. It would be very much cheaper 

 to plow deeply, mark both ways straight with a 

 double jjlow, plant, cultivate thoroughly, and 

 keep on cultivating and manuring when needed, 

 so long as your orchard lives.— D. B. Wier. 



605. Lime for Grapes. As a rule soils have 

 enough lime for the Grape. Where there is 

 plenty already it would do no good, and no 

 harm, unless applied in great excess. Where 

 lime is wanting, or the land has a tendency to 

 sourness or mucklness, it would be of benefit. 

 i Ine peculiar value of applications of lime where 

 the season is short is that it induces early and 

 sound ripening of woody growth.— D. B. Wier. 



606. Quince on Muck. Quinces should do well 

 on muck, if it is not too wet, and so fine and close 

 in texture as to be impermeable to air and rain 

 water. Where quite moist it would be best to 

 plow in lands the width of the rows, then plant- 

 ing on the ridges. If the muck is of a sourish 

 nature it should have a good coating of hard- 

 wood ashes, with an occasional sprinkling of salt 

 after the bushes are established.— D. B. Wier. 



607. Increasing Nut Trees. We have had 

 good success by cleft grafting the Chestnut quite 

 low in the stock, waxing, and then raoimding 

 the soil up to the tnp bud of the graft, pressing 

 it firmly around it, and have succeeded fairly 

 well by splice-grafting in the branches. When 

 this is done the scion and twig grafted shfiuld be 

 very nearly of a size. Side grafting near the 

 surface and mounding up should be good with 

 the Chestnut, for it is best with the Walnut, 

 Hickory, and many other things. Most of the 

 modes of grafting are fairly illustrated in Web- 

 ster's Unabridged Illustrated Dictionary, ex- 

 cept the modern side-grafting. In it we cut 

 a sloping cut downward through bark and 

 wood, then cut the graft wedge-shaped, same 

 as in cleft-grafting. Insert the graft by bending 

 the top of the tree from the cut, then cut it ott' a 

 half-inch above the top of the cut, leaving a rim 

 of bark all around the top of the stock; then 

 wax and bank up. In this way the fine English 

 Walnut grafts readily on the Black Walnut, and, 

 we have read, the Black Walnut on the Butter- 

 nut, and we suppose the Pecan on mfist of the 

 Hickories. In all cases the scions should be in 

 perfect condition.— D. B. Wier. 



608. Gooseberry for Maine. For ordinary up- 

 land Houghton SeedUng is the most profitable, it 

 being the hardiest, most thrifty, and very i)ro- 

 ductive. The fruit is small, which is no detri- 

 ment for home use, but will not probabl.v .sell as 

 well as the larger varieties in a large market, 

 although it makes the best preserves, tin a deep, 

 mellow, moist soil, the Downing makes a large 

 bush, is equally productive, and a miu-h larger 

 berry. Smith's Improved isverygncid, but liable 

 to mildew here. The Houghton never has. It is 

 my main croji.— E. W, Mehritt, Hoidlon, Me. 



.582. Keeping the Hibiscus Dwarfed. If the 

 tops were pruned to correspond with the roots 

 cut off by the course you refer to no material in- 

 jury would accrue to the plants, and they could 

 no doubt be well grown in this dwarfed form. 

 But at best the treat III i_-nt is some what unnatural. 

 and to our notion less satisfactory than to ha\c 

 young fresh plants coming on totake the place 

 of the older ones when the latter bettnme un- 

 wield.v. We have seen sti much working and 

 fussing to keep ui> overgi'own plants that we 

 have bet-ome somewhat tired of it, and do not 

 hesitate to advise instead the course suggested 



m9. Montbretia Pottsi not Blooming. Some 

 people Hnd it difficult to flower this plant. I have 

 no trouble in getting it to bloom if I take care 

 of its leaves and keep them green— (. e.. if they 

 chose to remain s<i all winter. Sometimes we 

 lift the bulbs in Oi^tober with a fork, droji them 

 into lai-ge pots, and keep them there in a cool 

 house until spring, when they are planted out in 

 the borders. A way which with me has never 

 failed to induce it to flower is to secure some 

 strong offsets with green leaves upon them and 

 put half a dozen of them in a 6-incli pot, keeping 

 the pots in a greenhouse all the winter, where 

 they will continue to grow slowly. Towards the 

 end of April they should be hardened off, and 

 then planted out in a fairly rich and deep piece 

 of ground. As the leaves are somewhat delicate 

 after being kept under ghuw all the winter, a few 

 green branches should be .stuck in the ground 

 round them when the wind is \ery cold. After 

 the middle of May they will take iio hann from 

 the weather, unless it should be very dry, and 

 then tlicj- must have water as often as' they want 

 it. Phuits treated in this way will flower in July 

 and August.— A. H, E. 



.588. Defective Hot-Water Apparatus. It is 

 undoubtedly the confined air in the pipes which 

 prevents the water from circulating, and if there 

 is no air pipe to allow of its escape you will have 

 to get one fitted. This should be at the end of 

 the flow, just at the lioiid, and need not be more 

 than 18 inches long. At one time when we were 

 running a greenhou.se heated with some wanied 

 lour-inch hot water pijies we found that the 

 upjier bends, however slight, caused trouble in 

 this way. \Vv drillr^il -., sinail ho\f at caih of the 

 highest points into wliirh we titled a tapering 

 wooden plug. By reimning these plugs for a 

 short time after first starting ui> fire each au- 

 tumn we overcame the trouble easily. The fact 

 ot the water surging u|i and down iii the supply 

 cistern is a sure sign that the air cannot escape 

 from the pipes. Are you sure that the tlow-i)ipe 

 does not dip, as if it docs, however slightly, the 

 water will have great difficulty in foniiig its 

 way along it. See that this is at least le\el— it 

 ought to rise a little-that the return pi|ie falls, 

 and fix an air pipe as above indicated, and you 

 will find that circulation will go on all right. 



577. Bouvardias After Flowering. Like all 



plants, these do better to be treated for a period 

 of rest after blooming. They requre for flowers 

 a warm greenhouse, of a temperature of 4.5° to 

 .50° as the lowest at night. When they cease 

 flowering keep them rather dry at the root, set 

 them in the coolest part of the house, cut them 

 down pretty close, and let them have a month's 

 rest ; then put them into the warmest iiart of the 

 house, or, if planted out, give them more heat, 

 and water moderately. They will soon push 

 forth abundance of shoots, which, when long 

 enough, may be pinched back, did plants may 

 be shaken out, and repotted in light, rich soil, 

 and grown on for early flowering. A mixture of 

 turfy loam, leaf-mold, and sand suits Bouvar- 

 dias, and, if kejit free from the attacks of fly by 

 timely fumigation, no plant that we cultivate is 

 more useful or lieautiful, either as a pot iilaiit or 

 for supplying cut flowers. After potting, con- 

 siderable care must be exercised not to over- 

 water ; but as growth advances more liberal sup- 

 plies will be needed. When the pots are fairly 

 fllled with roots shift into larger pots. 



609. Peach from Northern China, The new 

 Peaches from North China and the Steppes of 

 Asia are new in North America. They have 

 pa.s.sed only two winters as young trees, and arc 

 rated about a.s hardy in wood as our apple trees 

 that are fairly hardy in Northern Illinois. But I 

 think they seem hardier than that here, for they 

 withstood :)1 fU-grees below zero in Northern Illi- 

 nois last \\intoi:. «-ithont an.\' more (if as much) 

 di.scoloralion of the wood than the hardy North- 

 ern Wild Plums. How hardy the fruit liuds are 

 we do not know. They have withstood 2(1 de- 

 grees liclow zero this winter, where fully half of 

 thi' buds oti eoinnion Peach seecllings are killed. 

 We expert to ha\e it in fruit at many points in 

 the Northwi-st ni'.vt somnier, then we will know 

 something abiait them. They might succeed at 

 Shawano, Wis., buddeil into the branches of 

 hardy nati\'e T*lums.— II. B. Wier. 



.510. To Build a Brick Fine Build an arched 

 fireplace with fire bricks, 2 feet deep, 16 inches 

 high in the center, II inches at the siiles, and 17 

 inches wide, fire-bar 2 feet long, leaving a space 

 of 3 inches between end of bars and furnace 

 door; the ash-hole same size as fire-bar, with 

 door to match. The Hue carried round on the 

 level of floor of the house must be 6 inches higher 

 than top of fire-bar, with a gradual rise of 6 

 inches about 6 feet from chimney end, and built 

 3 bricks deep edgeways, 1 foot wide within, lined 

 witli silt nioi'tar. and covered with Yorkshire 

 slabs :^'-,. inihi-s thick : a chimney 15 feet high to 

 inatih tlie tine will give sufficient draught. At 

 thr l)ott(iiii of rhimney put in small door, and a 

 damper 5 leet aliove. The Hue must not be built 

 to turn at riglit angles, but with a curve on the 

 out,sidc. When all isi-omplete, to get it to draw 

 place a double-handful of shavings at bottom of 

 chimney, set on fire, chise the door, and when 

 blazing light the fire, leaving the ash-hole door 

 open.— F. A. Harrison. 



