174 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May. 



^;2kht ■ttsocieties 



3ein(jMatteRThat Deserves 



TO BE WIDEXYKNOWtt. 



Grape Buds. A mature 

 \ine should liave from 

 40 to 45 buds left at each 

 pruning. The number of 

 canes there are on is im- 

 material. Mr. Skinner of 

 Cliavlauqita Cimiitji, iV.I'. 



The Children's Plat. In 



our arrangement of the 

 garden this year let us not forget the children, 

 give them a corner for their very own, guiding 

 the management, but allowing full scope for 

 their taste and .iudgment.— C. IT'. Garfield. 



The Glass Area. Mr. Thorpe estimates that 

 there are three hundred and thirty acres of 

 ground c(»'ered with glass in this country, about 

 one-half of which is devoted to the growing of 

 plants and one-half to the production of cut 

 Howers. There are probably not less than fifteen 

 thousand individuals engaged in growing plants 

 (for sale or for cut flowers), and employed in 

 llorjsts stores in the cities. 



Be Fair With Your Trees. One speaker at a 

 meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural So- 

 ciety in accounting for the failure of the average 

 Illinois orchard,in addition to planting unsuitable 

 varieties, said that if we were to draw a life-like 

 picture of one, it would be in a wheat field, and 

 in a year or two seeded down to Timothy, and 

 mown, or used as a pasture. An orchard so 

 treated could not thri\e any better than a Corn 

 field in a meadow. 



Failure of Russian Apples. Many of the Rus- 

 sians fall. They ha\c sadly disappointed their 

 friends, as they ha\e blighted badly, failed to 

 withstand the alternate heat and cold of our 

 winters, and the rain and sunshine of our sum- 

 mers. It is this alternation which kills, and not 

 the extreme and steadj- cold of their native 

 country. We in Illinois e.xpect better success 

 from the Apples of the Southern States, Ken- 

 tucky and Arkansas.— Mr. Duiilap. 



Grapes all Winter. While in Plattevillc, Wis- 

 consin, in January, 1 had the pleasure of eating 

 Catawba, Diana, Salem, Agawam and Tokaloo 

 Grapes as fresh as if they had just been gathered. 

 I found upon inquiry that the family used Grapes 

 in mnter as freely as Apples and that the method 

 of preserving them was to place when dry, after 

 careful selection, in earthen jai-s and seal with 

 grafting wax, keeping in a cool place until used. 

 See. Oarfield, hefiire llie MU-liigan State Society. 

 A Cheap Manure. When I was raising Pota- 

 toes I tried making the manure myself to get it 

 cheap. I took meadow muck and thirty per cent 

 of sulphuric acid and forty per cent of phosphates 

 and a bushel of ground bone. I tried planting 

 Potatoes on that. It only cost me two or three 

 dollars a cord, work and all. I believe any one 

 who has plenty of meadow muck can make 

 manure in that way at less price than they can 

 on barnyard manure. I am very much in favor 

 of commercial fertilizers and barnyard manure 

 to help out to fertilize the lands. I con.sider in- 

 vestments in fertilizers excellent.— Jlfr. Li/ke, he- 

 fore the Mctxa. Mowmaii Association. 



Manure for Strawberries. The best plant food 

 for Strawberries is grain-fed horse manure, com- 

 posted and fermented. Hen manure, properly 

 reduced and fined down is excellent. Fish, com- 

 posted with earth and fermented is valuable. 

 Ashes mixed with ground bone is also valuable. 

 The best form in which we can apply potash to 

 the soil is in the form of good unleached wood 

 ashes. The German potash salts are (juite ad- 

 visable, but chemical fertilizers must be used 

 with caution. These special fertilizers are valu- 

 able to supplementothermanures, butwe must 

 not depend upon them to take their places. Have 

 a good barn with cemented tie-ups for obtaining 

 the li(iuid voidings of the cattle, use plenty of 

 absorbents, and it will be found the very best 

 manure for all the small fruits.— P. M. Auyur, 

 liifore tlie Maine I'iimoUiy,eal Society. 



Tarring Trellise Posts, In answer to the query 

 "Does it pay to tjir posts," the following re- 

 sponses come from members of theChautauquB 

 County(N.Y.)Horticultural Society: Mr. Skinner. 

 One well tarred post is worth two untarred. I 

 had some jiosts tarred six yeai-s ago which were 

 lioiled in tar for six hours. They are sound to- 

 day, but posts tarred poorly two years ago are 

 rotting fast. The tliiii coating of tar lets the 

 moisture in between itself and the post and the 



post decays faster than if the tar were not pres- 

 ent. But if the posts are boiled until the tar has 

 penetrated the timber the effect is very beneficial. 

 I use gas tar. Mr. Ryckman. 1 think oil tar bet- 

 ter. It is obtained from the refining of kerosene 

 oil. Schoenfeld. The greener the posts are the 

 farther the tar will penetrate. I know it. Ryck- 

 man. Can't agree with that. I think tar will 

 penetrate much farther in seasoned timl)er. It 

 is no benefit to tar a green post. 



Some Worthy Fears. At the very last Exhibi- 

 tion Mr. Lovell attended, he concurred in the op- 

 ion that, of all Pears of foreign origin and recent 

 introduction, Ansault is easily the best. It would 

 appear designed to supply the place of Belle Lu- 

 crative; manifesting the same extreme fecundity 

 with similar juiciness and a much higher flavor. 

 Its season endures for weeks and, taken all in all, 

 it is a decided acquisition. As much may be al- 

 leged of Dr. Reeder— an old acquaintance, whose 

 surpassing excellence was especially evident this 

 last Autumn. And it may be appropriate here, 

 and in this connection, to repeat the hope that 

 Earle's Beigamot will be disseminated more 

 widely. This local novelty commended itself to 

 critical judges, in 1887, as never before. As 

 the one Pear of pre-eminent high quality, " Na- 

 tive here, and to the manner born," it merits 

 peculiar encouragement.— Secretary Lincoln, of 

 the Worcester {Maj*s.) Society. 



Bose Forcing, Most growers now Umit them- 

 selves to a few vai-ieties, and the best success is 

 attained where each variety has a separate house. 

 The number of varieties of Roses which may be 

 considered as staple is about twenty-five, as fol- 

 lows: Bon Silene, Saf rano, Isabella Sprunt, Ni- 

 phetos, Perle des Jardins, Sunset, Papa Gontier, 

 Souvenir d' un Ami, Mme. Cousin, Souvenir 

 de Malmaison, Marechal Niel, Cornelia Cook, 

 William Francis Bennett, Pierre Guillot, Bride, 

 Catharine Mermet, American Beauty, Gen. Jac- 

 queminot, La France, Baroness Rothschild, Mme. 

 Gabriel Luizet, Magna Charta, Anna de Diesbach, 

 and Duke of Connaught. Other varieties which 

 are gi-own for the market, but less generally, are 

 Doughts, Duchess of Edinburgh, Yellow Tea, 

 Royal Tea, Lamarque, Reine Marie Henriette, 

 Climbing Devoniensis, Boule de Neige, and an 

 assortment of Hybtnd Perpetuals, which are 

 forced for winter consumption. The most de- 

 sirable points in a market Rose are continuous 

 and abundant blooming, long stems bearing sin- 

 gle buds, and robust foliage, with fragrance, 

 clear color, and good keeping qualities in the 

 flower. The shipping trade has grown to be a 

 very important item, and is the outlet for our 

 surplus and which keeps prices up so as to afford 

 a fair remuneration.— IT'. I'. Stewart. 



Blackberry Culture. That the Blackberry can 

 be successfully grown in Wisconsin has been 

 practically solved. Prepare your soil well, ma- 

 nuring liberally. Plow thoroughly and drag all 

 lumps down. Set your plants carefully at 7 by 3 

 feet apart and press the dirt around them firmly, 

 hoe well, keeping the center of the rows well 

 cultivated. In the fall cover your plants with 

 earth. The first year you are laying the founda- 

 tion for a profitable undertaking, and no care 

 should be neglected. The second year more care 

 is needed than the first. The new wood of this 

 year is to give a bountiful ci-op of fruit. Protect 

 the growth from being broken by the winds by 

 placing a wire on each side of the row, support- 

 ing the same by stakes a rod apart. When the 

 new growth is two feet high, nip the top off to 

 cause the new growth to form strong side 

 branches, and be better to handle. Covering also 

 produces more fruiting wood. In laying down 

 remove a little earth from the side you wish to 

 lay the bush, then press the foot firmly against 

 the crown and a fork to the top to bend it down. 

 After it is over put a few spadefuls of dirt upon 

 it, and the next plant will lop upon the first, and 

 so on to form a close, compact row. After your 

 row is down cover the plants just well out of 

 sight, as more is not necessary.— (;. H. Hamilton, 

 before tViseonMn Institute. 



Celery Seed Baising and Sowing. For grow- 

 ing Celery it is customary to sow seed under glass 

 early in December; in March the plants will need 

 transplanting into another bed under glass at 

 three inches apart, and arc to be set in the field 

 about May 1, and will ripen a crop of seed in Sep- 

 tember. It was formerly the custom to set out 

 in the spring old roots that had been kept over 

 winter, but it is not so easy as the above de- 

 scribed method, which makes just as good seed. 

 For general crops seed is sown in April under 

 glass, and is a job demanding a good deal of care. 

 The bed should not be under the south side of a 



fence, but should be where there is a free sweep of 

 air, and if partly shaded is better. The ground 

 must be well manured and worked fine, and then 

 beaten down firmly. The seed must be sown 

 evenly and not too thick, and covered by sifting 

 on one-fourth of an inch of loam. The sashes 

 must be well aired as soon as the plants come up, 

 which will usually be about four weeks after 

 sowing, and they must be watched to keep them 

 cool and moist, otherwise the hot sun will burn 

 them off. It is a mistake to remove the glass too 

 soon. About June 1 the plants will be ready for 

 transplanting, either to a plant-bed, three inches 

 apart, or to the rows in the field where they are 

 to grow. The rows in the field are set four to 

 five or six feet apart, and the plants at ten or 

 twelve inches apart in the row, usually among 

 the growing crops of early Onions, Beets and 

 other crops.— IT. IT. Hawson. hefore the BoMon 

 Market Gardeneis' Association. 



The Use of Shrubbery and Flowers. There is 

 a growing inclination to improve grounds and 

 dooryards by the planting of ornamental shrub- 

 bery, vines and trees. Floriculture is also in- 

 creasing, and greenhouses in the rural districts 

 are no longer unusual. The following expres- 

 sions bearing upon this matter have been culled 

 from the sub-reports received from all over the 

 state: "Marked improvement, especially in 

 flowei-s." " Lawns about the houses are being 

 improved, and annuall.\' a great many new things 

 are planted." "Our people are beautifying their 

 homes, this being particularly noticeable in our 

 town." " Progress in floriculture quite notice- 

 able." "In looking back o\er the hist thirty 

 years the progress in this line is wonderful, and 

 is increasing yearly." " There has been more 

 special interest taken in shrubbery, flowers and 

 greenhouses during the yeai- just closed than 

 ever." " Taste in the decoration of grounds in- 

 creasing." " Our people are gradually making 

 advances." "The cultivation of shrubbery, 

 plants and flowers is increasing." These are but 

 a few of many like statements of correspondents. 

 The celebration of " Arbor Day " is another 

 beautiful observance introduced in this State, 

 which it is hoped may be perpetuated. It is de- 

 veloping a taste for tree planting, and especially 

 among school children. Through its kindly in- 

 fluences every school yard will in a few years 

 be provided with grateful shade, and every man 

 of prominence will have some tree named after 

 him by the school children of the State. The 

 pupils of the public schools will also acquire in- 

 struction through the planting of trees, and will 

 learn that nothing valuable is to be obtained or 

 preserved without labor, care and attention.— 

 E. B. Engle, before Pennsylvania State Society. 



The Newer Garden Vegetables. 



[Read be/ore the Western New York Hurliculluial .S'o- 

 ilety by K. S. Ooff of the .leie York .^tate Farm. 



With vegetables, as with fruit, many var- 

 ieties are called, but few are chosen. Last 

 spring ushered in the usual number of so- 

 called novelties, some of which were olJ, 

 many of which proved in no sense superior 

 to what we had before, and most of which 

 would not be missed if they were withdrawn. 

 But it is as necessary to test a thing to find 

 out that it is worthless as to discover its 

 good qualities. 



Beets. The Dracsena-leaved is a very distinct 

 dark leaved variety. The root is small, conical, 

 dark red. Its chief merit seems to be in its dis- 

 tinct appearance. The New Early Red Flat 

 Turin is a small flat deep-red sort, excellent for 

 use while young; less productive than the Egypt- 

 ian or Eclipse. 



Carrots. The Chantenay is a blun1>rooted 

 orange variety resembling the Nantes, but larger 

 and more productive. I consider it a valuable 

 addition to the list. 



Lettuce. The Buttercup, introduced the past 

 season, deserves especial mention. It is a fine 

 heading variety of a beautiful golden yellow, 

 suggesting the color of butter, and was one of the 

 very latest to run to seed. In table quality it 

 was pronounced the best among many varieties. 

 I think it has come to stay. The Defiance Sum- 

 mer, offered as new by a New Y'ork firm, could not 

 be distinguished from the old Perpignan, de- 

 scribed many years ago. The latter is, it should 

 be added, a very excellent summer Lettuce. The 

 Imperial Select Cabbage, of Landreth, was the 

 old Imperial, little changed except in the two 

 new wordsadded to the name. The Prize Market, 

 of Sibley, was the well known Ii iw Head, under 



