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POPULAR GARDENING. 



June, 



A Successful Fruit Farm.— Some 

 Other Matters. 



F. E. SKEELS, GRAND RAriDS, MICH. 



The November meeting of the Grand Kiver 

 Valley (Mich.) Hortlcnltural Society was 

 held at the farm of E. C. Phillips, whose 

 Apples and other f rait have graced the tables 

 of the society for years, and always snperb. 

 Thi.s place has all varieties of npland soil 

 from heavy clay loam to light sand, is very 

 rolling and of sufficiently high altitude to 

 insure a crop of Peaches and other tender 

 fruits each year. The principal orchard lies 

 on a forty-acre plat, northwest of the home 

 farm, and the south twenty acres of this 

 contains as fine an array of Cherry, Plum, 

 Peach, Pear and Apple trees as one can find 

 about here. The original growth upon this 

 forty acres was an immense stand of Oak 

 grubs, and a portion ofthisijrimitivegrowth 

 yet remains, soon to be cleared away to 

 make way for a vineyard. 



Mr. Phillips first came here some twenty- 

 six years ago and commenced work in the 

 city, but his health falling later he sought a 

 location upon which to gi'ow fruit. He was 

 shown the place which he now occupies, 

 which, at that time, could be reached only 

 by a narrow foot path. The land was bought 

 at fifty dollars an acre, cleared up and plans 

 for a fruit farm laid, which have been de- 

 veloped until Mr. Phillips now has in liear- 

 ing 4,000 Peach, .500 Apple, 100 Plum, .500 

 Cherry and 100 Pear trees, with several acres 

 of Strawberries, Raspberries, and other 

 small fruits sufficient for market and home 

 use. His favorite variety of Peach is Foster, 

 his orchard containing besides these Early 

 and Late Crawford, Hill's and Hale's Early. 



Mr. Phillips at the meeting displayed his 

 favorite Apples in bushel packages contain- 

 ing Jonathan, Wagner, Northern Spy, Green- 

 ing, Twenty-ounce, or Cayuga Red Streak, 

 Red Canada King, and Ben Davis, and all 

 but the last two were endorsed by the Society 

 as the best to grow for market and home 

 use. Mr. Phillips would never set another 

 Ben Davis, because it is so poor in qualitj, 

 and thought the Wagner the most profitable 

 Apple for him to grow. In Cherries there 

 were principally Early Richmond and May 

 Duke, with a few other varieties of sweet 

 and sour intermingled among them. Plums 

 were represented by the Lombard, Pond's 

 Seedling and Green Gage; and in Pears he 

 had Clapp's Favorite, Flemish Beauty, Bart- 

 let and Seckel. Souhegan, Gregg and Cuth- 

 bert Raspberries; and Crescent and Wood- 

 ruff Strawberries on light soil, and Sharpless 

 on clay, were vigorous; shown in clean rows. 



About the first of February each year Mr. 

 Phillips begins his pruning, and the work 

 lasts about four weeks. He does the work 

 himself and in the following order: Apples, 

 Pears, Peaches, Cherries, painting the cuts 

 made upon the Apple within two days after 

 priming. He does not plow his orchard, but 

 keeps it thoroughly cultivated with ordinary 

 cultivator or spring-tooth harrow. 



At this meeting mtich fault was found 

 with nurserymen, nearly every member 

 having experienced some loss by having his 

 order filled by replacing the varieties ordered 

 by other varieties or from poor stock. Mr. 

 PiUimons, of Wyoming, had ordered a young 

 orchard of choice varieties from a prominent 

 nursery firm of Rochester, N. Y., and after 

 waiting seven years for fruit, giving good 

 care and attention, was rewarded by finding 

 them all one poor worthless sort not ordered 

 at aU. Mr. Phillips recently pui'chased di- 

 rectly from headquarters twenty-five Hub- 

 bardston's Nonesuch and got only three 

 trees true to name. He further said the 

 finest orchard he had ever seen was prodticed 

 by planting seeds where the trees were to 

 stand permanently. Selecting the best one 

 and top grafting with scions from known 

 trees, and he thought this the only safe way 



of getting what was wanted. Mr. Garfield 

 asked for a good, red, winter sweet Apple 

 and was referred to Bailey's Sweet and 

 Hendrick's Sweet. Mr. I'hillip.s keeps his 

 Apples for home use in bushel baskets in the 

 cellar until wanted, and i)icked them this 

 year the first week in October. 



Mr. Altord had found that the Wagner 

 would not do well on heavy clay and that 

 the Baldwin was tender; for a good fall 

 Apple he would plant the .Jeffris. Oakland 

 Co. Seek-no-further was spoken of by Presi- 

 dent Garfield as being very popular in some 

 parts of the State, but not known in this 

 vicinity. On motion the President was re- 

 quested to obtain for the Society a barrel of 

 these Apples to have on exhibition at the 

 next meeting. 



Not Over Production but Poor 

 Distribution. 



PARKER EARLE, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN 

 HORTICUT.TURAL SOCIETY. 



It appears to me that there is no subject 

 of more immediate practical interest to the 

 commercial fruitr^grower than this one of 

 the means for a wide distribution. 



All are well aware that our most im- 

 portant and staple fruits often sell at 

 ruinous prices in our leading markets, not 

 only on particular days, but for long periods. 

 The shippers of Pears from California, of 

 Peaches from Delaware, of Apples from 

 Michigan, of Strawberries from Illinois, and 

 of Oranges from Florida, can all testify to 

 this. Yet I do not think that too many of 

 either of these fruits of good quality have 

 ever been grown in any of these states, nor 

 enough for the markets that there were 

 within practical reach of them, or the mouths 

 that were hungry for them. 



The fault is with our transportation, and 

 our lack of any far-reaching and elaborate 

 system of distribution. I think I have 

 known good Oranges to sell at not much 

 over one cent apiece at wholesale in Chicago, 

 the market being overloaded, when there 

 were a thousand towns within a day's ride 

 of tjhat city in which you could not buy an 

 Orange for less than five cents — and not 

 many at that— and millions of people within 

 the same radius who did not taste an Orange 

 in the whole winter. Yet the fruit distri- 

 bution from Chicago is more closely worked 

 than from any other American city. 



There have been many winters in which 

 the price of winter Apples has paid the 

 producer very lean profits, and paid the 

 large dealers more losses than gains, while 

 at that same time an apple was a rarity, if 

 not an absolute stranger, in half the farmers' 

 homes and laborers' cottages in America. 



The delicious Apricots of the Pacific coast 

 are often left to decay in the luxuriant 

 orchards that bear them for want of a mar- 

 ket, while not one-tenth of the people of the 

 United States ever tasted an Apricot in their 

 lives. Yet, by using the liest modern means 

 of transportation, the most delicate varieties, 

 picked ripe from the trees and full of excel- 

 lence — and not.as they now are for long ship- 

 ment, too green to be of higli quality — can be 

 laid down in all of the great eastern markets 

 in very perfect condition. 



The same difficulty exists with most of 

 our fruits. So many of our availal)le mar- 

 kets are not reached; and the fruit-growers 

 suffer from an apparent over-production 

 when half of the people go hungry for fruits 

 whicli they need and cannot obtain. 



This condition of trade is not found in the 

 case of staple goods of other kinds, and 

 manufactured articles; for all these goods 

 are handled according to a most thorough 

 business system. The more perishable na- 

 ture of our fruits must of necessity modify 

 and limit the same system of thorough 

 commercial canvassing l>y which more dur- 

 able products are placed constantly in every 



town and hamlet in the country; but I feel 

 sure that regular fruit markets can be built 

 up in thousands of towns that now get no 

 supplies, except in the most irregular way, 

 by an energetic system of canvassing. 



This subject demands the serious attention 

 of our growers and dealers. 



Raising Winter Squashes. 



E. W. L., SCHEN'ECTADY, N. V. 



Any one who has room for a few hills of 

 Squash should by all means plant the Essex 

 Hybrid. It is a wonderful keeper; will keep 

 until the middle of April. I have just (May 

 8th) cut the last one and find it partially de- 

 cayed, though it was apparently sound on 

 the outside. 



Squash should be planted about the first 

 of June in rich sandy loam. If the bugs 

 trouble the young plants, drive them alWly 

 by strewing pieces of muslin saturated with 

 kerosene among the plants, and for several 

 mornings pour a little more kerosene on the 

 muslin, being careful not to touch the plants. 



Later on, if the vines are troubled with the 

 borer, which will be known by the vines 

 wilting, near the root will be found a dark 

 spot; with a penknife cut into the vine and 

 dig out the worms and kill them, and then 

 cover the spot with a little earth. 



When the Squashes are ripe and ready to 

 gather, about Oct. 1st, be very careful not to 

 bruise them, handle them very carefully, 

 and keep them through the winter in a dry, 

 warm place. I keep mine in the cellar under 

 the heater pipes on a table. 



Last fall I bought a few Hubbard Squashes, 

 but 1 lost them; they had been bruised and 

 they soon decayed. Those who raise Squashes 

 tor the market should handle them very 

 tenderly, as they are sure to rot if they are 

 cut or bruised; and a variety that will keep 

 until the middle of April I should think 

 would be very profitable. 



Cauliflower as a Market Crop. 



D. N. LONG, ERIE CO., N. Y. 



There is probably no other vegetable with 

 which there is so much of uncertainty con- 

 nected in the securing of a sticcessftil crop as 

 with growing the Cauliflower. The season 

 has much to do with its successful growth 

 and maturity, and the treatment resulting 

 in a good crop one season may result in 

 almost complete failure the next year. Con- 

 sequently prices are often two to four times 

 higher one season than in the next or pre- 

 ceding one, and even in different parts of 

 the same season. As a rule Cauliflower is a 

 doubtful crop, and although prices are some- 

 times very high, yet the same time, atten- 

 tion, manure, and money devoted to the 

 Cabbage crop will usually bring as great 

 or greater returns, unless one has specially 

 favorable facilities for its culture. 



The seed of the best varieties of Cauliflower 

 is very costly— about *S.OO per ounce this 

 year,— and on this account most gardeners 

 satisfy themselves at sowing time by putting 

 in cheaper seed, and this is one coinmon 

 cause of failure. The Cabbage maggot is 

 very fond of Cauliflower, destroying it when 

 Cabbage next to it remains unmolested. 

 This is the greatest hindrance to growing 

 early Cauliflower, and it is a pest for which 

 no effective remedy has yet been made 

 known. The fly (Anthomyia brassica) lays 

 its eggs about the stem of the plant at the 

 surface of the ground. If the soil, eggs and 

 all are removed every week during the lay- 

 ing season and replaced by fresh earth, its 

 ravages may be greatly checked. As the 

 fly lays eggs for the first brood from about 

 the time Pie-plant is ready to tise tintil it 

 blossoms, two or three operations will usually 

 save most of the early Cauliflower. For the 

 main late crop the plant beds should be pro- 

 tected with mosquito netting and none 



