POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE."— MtLTOV. 



Vol. III. 



JTTXiY, 1888. 



No. lO. 



July. 



KIseed by the bright rays of the auu. 



The liot July comes round at last ; 

 Full half the year its course has run. 



Yet who will e'er lament the past ? 

 Thehnytlelils scent with rich perfume 



The calm air : harvest Is bcKun ; 

 But yet the rarest flowers bloom. 



Kissed by the bright rays of the sun. 



PnooRESs. Pi'e%"ioiis to .50 years ngo scarcely 

 any attention was given to the eulti\ati<)n of 

 small Iniits. One needs but to contemiilate the 

 protliict in the same line at this time to realize 

 the advances we are making in horticulture. 



One of the first pieces of work carried out at 

 " Woodbanks " was the planting of a line of Nor- 

 way Spruce trees within three feet of the north- 

 ern boundary of the place for a windbreak. The 

 trees were set two feet apart witha %'lew to thin- 

 ning them to four feet later. 



Simple Beautt. On a neighbor's lawn Is an 

 attractive mound of rockwork with not a thing 

 growing on it but the common Moneyvine. 

 When the crop of bloom is out nothing scarcel.v 

 could e.vccl the beauty of this mound. The plant 

 is to be had without cost everywhere. 



First-rate Manure for Asparagus. Those 

 who have the pinvilege of residing within easy dis- 

 tance of the sea should gather as much sea-weed 

 as possible, and give their .Asparagus beds a 

 heavy dressing with it. It is one of the best 

 manures for the Asparagus, and dispenses with 

 the necessity of having in the spring to apply 

 common salt to the teds. The Asparagus is a 

 seaside plant, hence its fondness for saline ma- 

 nures. Winters would be perhaps the best time 

 to appl.\- the weed, afterwards covering it with 

 an inch or two of soil. 



A NEW ENEMY to the Peach is reported from 

 Delaware and Maryland. It is a worm from a 

 quai^er to three-eighths of an inch long, and 

 about as thick as a pin. Its color is dark brown. 

 These worms eat out the entire hull or leaf end 

 of the young shoots, which, of course, kills the 

 ends of the twigs. Some orchards in Kent and 

 Su.sse.\, Delaware, look as if a Are had passed 

 over the ends of the limbs and scorched the twigs 

 and leaves. Its origin and habits are not yet 

 known. The area in which these worms appear 

 in destructive numbers is comparatively limited. 



No Nursery .Stock to Sei.i,. From the numer- 

 ous orilers for seeds, ))lants, etc., addressed to this 

 office throughout the year, and which no doubt 

 come frimt our new subscribers, it seems neccs- 

 Siir.v to agiiin and again rei^eat that the owners 

 of this paper have nothing, absolutely nothing 

 in such a line to sell. ThLs journal was stjirtcd 

 as a strictly independent paper which with ha\- 

 ing no outside interests at stake could siK-ak the 

 whole truth concerning any kind of plant, tree 

 or article that might be under consideration, and 

 so long as our readers continue U^ st4ind b.v it as 

 they have in the past we could not think of de- 

 parting frfmi the rule. Such a course is also the 

 only just r)ne t<iwards the numerous advertisers 

 who iiatronize its columns. The fact that we 

 are now conducting experimental groun4ls in 

 coiinei;tion with the paper docs not ell'ect any 

 change whatever in our attitude towards this 

 matter. Send us uf) money thei'efore for any 

 kind of planting stock as it will be returned. 



The Cherry Tree Slug. 



BT CLARENCE M. WEED. OHIO EXI-ERIBIENTAI. .STATION. 



This insect often does serious dannige to 

 Cherry trees by eatin;? off the tipper epiiler- 

 mis of the leaf, nuil as it is one of the most 



widely distributed species of fruit insects, a 

 few notes on it may be of interest. 



The sluifs liatch from ckk-s laid on the leaf 

 eai'ly in summer by fotir-wiiiKed saw-flies 

 (called by entomoloKists niil<iii(liin wruxi). 

 These egKS soon hatch ottt olive-Krecn slimy 

 slugs, having twenty short legs, which eat 

 the upper surface of the leaf, and cause a 

 badly infested tree to look as if severely 

 scorched. After the last moult the slimy 

 covering is lost and the worms become yel- 

 low. During Jtdy and August, larviis be- 

 come full grown and go into the ground 

 two or three inches and pupate. In two or 

 three weeks the flies come forth and lay the 

 eggs for a second brood. Besides the Cher- 

 ry this insect attacks Pear trees, and is said 

 to sometimes attack the Mountain Ash. 



The best method of destroying this insect 

 is to spray thelnfested trees with hellebore 

 in the jiroportion of a pound to 40 gallons of 

 water, or an ounce to a pailful. This rem- 

 edy is cheap, effective and easily applied. 

 Almost any of the numerous spray force 

 pumiis now on the market will serve the 

 purpose very well. 



Summer 



Transplanting ; 

 Plants. 



Shading 



L. B. FIERCE, SUMMIT COtlNTY, OHIO. 



After Strawberries were about half grown 

 I learned that three of the largest straw- 

 berry growers in the county had about gone 

 out of the business, and that another was 

 planting no new ground. 



This foreshadowed a meagre supply and 

 advancing prices for the next two years, and 

 I concluded to put out nearly an acre more, 

 as I had ground that I could use, so we 

 manured and fitted it, after we had first 

 dug the plants, which is the other end fir.st, 

 from what is accepted as good practice. 



Our object in doing this was to give the 

 plants a chance to recover somewhat by a 

 preliminary planting and shading. I>ittle 

 trenches are dug, six inches apart, and the 

 plants set thickly and watered. Then a 

 fence rail is laid on either side and other 

 rails laid cross-ways over the plants, a few 

 inclies apart. These are allowed to remain 

 a few days when they are gradually separ- 

 ated, and then entirely re- 

 moved. This process protects 

 from the sun all the plants 

 in a compact bed while they 

 are throwing out new feed- 

 ing roots and after ten days 

 the plants can be finally 

 planted out witlumt wilting 

 or protecting each plant 

 separately. 



Some plants that we used 

 yesterday, which were trench- 

 ed in two weeks before, 

 had triple the root development that they 

 had when dug, and I cannot too earnestly 

 recommend the same practice, somewhat 

 modified, for all vegetable transplanting. 

 ( 'abbage |)lant.s, carefully trenched or heeled 

 into shallow boxes of earth, thoroughly 

 watere<l, and ,allowed to stand where shaded 

 from i> A. M. to 4 P. M., will in three or four 

 days throw out scores of little white feeding 

 r(jots that retain the earth and permit the 

 plant to be set regardless of the weather. 



This process allows a buyer of plants to 

 secure them whenever it is convenient, or 

 he ran obtain really good plants, and then 

 l)laiit at leisure in the cool of the evening. 

 According to the ])resent way nf w.'iitingfor 

 a rain, everybody rushes at once and botli 

 growers and dealers are crowiled to .supply 

 the demand. Many plants have been kept 

 standing around waiting for the rain until 

 too big or too spindling, and the dealer, not 

 being able to anticipate the shower, runs 

 short or uses culls to help out. 



Where it is necessary to plant imme<li- 

 ately after digging, late in the season, .some 

 means of shading each plant is desirable. 

 The two old time methods of using Burdock 

 leaves or covering with a handful of green 

 Clover or Gra.ss does very well in the case of 

 a dozen Cabbages or Tomatoes in the 

 garden, but it is not very practicable with 

 Strawberries. The leaves dry in a day and 

 blow away, while Clover bends the leaves 

 of the Strawberry plants to the ground, 

 holding them there and sometimes killing 

 them. What is wanted is a, good shade at 

 first that gradually grows less until it is 

 gone a week or ten days later. 



The one that to my mind best answers 

 these conditions is a bunch of leaves on the 

 end of a twig. My favorite for this work 

 are Dogwood or Sassafras. The Dogwood 

 makes a flat fan-like protection that does 

 not interfere with the plant in the least. 

 The Sassafras grows in a cluster, but 

 breaks off easily, and having a straight, stiff 

 twig, sticks into the ground easily. I stick 

 them in the ground about two inches south 

 of each plant. At first the shade is den.se, 

 but the gradually-withering leaves lessen it 

 from day to day, until they drop or are 

 knocked away in hoeing. The ground is 

 kept damp and cool and the plants are pro- 

 tected in a measure from drying winds. 



Some Ways of Using the Virginia 

 Creeper. 



One thing decideilly in favor of the Vir- 

 ginia Creeper (.4);i()('(o;).>,;.>i iiiiiiKiiifUiliii) 

 as a popular plant is that it thrives to per- 

 fection with the most ordinary kind of 

 culture. It requires no petting or nursing. 



,^^^ 



Oate Posts and Fence etnwed xttilli Virginia Creeper. 



Unlike many things of like easy growth, it 

 never assumes the character of a trouble- 

 some weed. It is, in fact, the ideal climber 

 for draidng buildings, arbors, walls, fences, 

 posts, stumps, etc., with handsome verdure. 

 The pity is that such a useful, handsome, 

 hardy vine should not Ije more widely 

 employed than now by the masses, for the 

 ornamentation of home surroundings. 



In this connection we desire to present a 

 few uses to which we have seen this vine 



