1 88 8. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



237 



the earth. The sprouts from stumps or 

 arouml growing trees, being well banked 

 up, will readily root as high as moist eai'tli 

 presses against them. 



Plioi'AGATiON BY CUTTINGS is probably 

 the best method of multiijlying Quince trees. 

 Cuttings of large branches are better tlian 

 those of small shoots. The amount of wood 

 seems to measure the vital force to form 

 both roots and tops. From twelve to fifteen 

 inches is a good length, enabling us to plant 



t 



Pig. 1. Q^itlC€ Propagation by Layers. 



deeply, and so guard against drought. Small 

 cuttings may be cut shorter, and have a 

 piece of Apple or Quince root grafted on to 

 push them. The chief thing is to guard 

 against the exhaustion of sap by evaporation 

 until roots are formed. Facilities for regu- 

 lating light, heat, air and moisture with 

 precision will enable us to succeed with a 

 succulent cutting furnished with a few 

 leaves. When the air is warmer than the 

 earth, buds are excited more than roots; 

 and when the ground is warmest, root 

 growth is most excited. 



In preparing the small cuttings to receive 

 the pieces of roots grafted on them, the chief 

 thing is to have their cut ends fit, .so that 

 the inner bark shall match at least on one 

 side and at the end of the cutting. 



The grafted cuttings may be quickly 

 dibbled in, making a hole deep enough to 

 receive the whole length except a bud or 

 two above the surface. Holding the cutting 

 in the hole at the right depth with the left 

 hand, push the earth firmly against the cut- 

 ting with the dibble, as you would in plant- 

 ing a Cabbage. For lack of such firming 

 of the earth there are many failures. 



The fall, after the leaves have dropped, is 

 generally preferred for taking the cuttings; 

 but tliey may be taken much later. I have 

 had some cuttings grow in the open air, 

 w li i c h were 

 made in May, 

 after the trees 

 were growing. 



Root C u t- 

 TiNGS a foot or 

 so long are best 

 prepared before 

 the l)uds swell 

 in spring. I 

 have trees from 

 pieces of root 

 cut off by the Pig. 2. MoutuI Propagation. 

 plow as late as June. Plant at an angle of 

 about forty-five degrees, or as near as you 

 can to their natural position. 



PUOPAGATIOX BY GRAFTING IS SUCCeSSful 



where the inner barks of both stock and 

 cion are made to fit together. A union 

 forms most readily between varieties of the 

 same species; next between species of the 

 same genus, and is limited by genera of the 

 same natural order. By this law one variety 

 of Quince will do best grafted on another; 

 and next on the Apple, white Thorn, and 

 Juneberry. On the white Thorn it escapes 

 the attacks of the Ijorer. 



The choice of wood for cutting is last 

 year's growth from near the center of the 

 tree. Be sure they are from healthy and 

 vigorous trees. If trees are propagated from 



bearing wood they will come into fruit 

 sooner than if from blind wood. Here is a 

 reason for the difference in the bearing age 

 of trees from the same parentage. 



Spring is the best time for grafting, except 

 the root grafting already described. In 

 March we work by the methods best suited 

 while the bark adheres to the wood, and 

 later by those suited to a bark easily sep- 

 arated from it. 



PnorAGATION BY BUDDIN'G follows the 



same law of affinity observed in grafting. 

 The buds may be taken from wood of the 

 growing shoots well matured, or from the 

 preceding year's growth. A cion too late 

 for grafting may be treated as a cutting till 

 Its buds can be used. The bark of a Quince 

 tree can be raised for the insertion of a bud 

 most of the growing season. The best place 

 to insert it is near a bud, or where a bud has 

 become a branch, as the supply of cambium 

 is there most abundant. 



Failure may arise from injury to the cam- 

 bium in cutting and raising the bark of the 

 stock, from too narrow a cross-cut to receive 

 the .shield of the bud, from using immature 

 l)uds, from the shield being too short (it 

 should be at least an inch long), and from 

 being loosely tied, so as to dry out. The 

 south side of a stock is dryer in summer, 

 and is to be avoided.— From Quince Culture. 



The Fall Web Worms. 



BY LYMAN F. ABBOTT, ANDROSCOGGIN CO.. MAINE. 



The web worms (Hyphantria (cj-foii, Harris) do 

 a good deal of damage to orchards in the late 

 summer and early fall. Herein Maine, the home 

 of the wiiter, the lirst webs are usually seen 

 about the middle of July, and the caterijillars— 

 later broods— continue their depredations fre- 

 quently until frosts occur. Apparently this in- 

 sect has been on the increase in New England for 

 the last few years, and it is safe to 8a.y that no 

 insect which infests our orchards, with possibly 

 one or two exceptions, is so destructive to the 

 fruit trees the last half of the season as this. 



Unobserving farmers often confound the web 

 worm with the tent caterpillar, but although be- 

 longing to the same family the web worms come 

 into a different class, possessing different habits 

 in their ways of working, as well as coming on 

 to the stage of action just as the tent caterpillars 

 have passed of. Both are leaf eatei-s, and both 

 spin webs and construct tents, but the latter only 

 uses its tent for a house or covering, passing out 

 to the extremities of the branches for its food, 

 while the web worms enlarge their tent as it 

 feeds, enveloping the foliage in its web until 

 several branches become covered with their un- 

 sightly webs and sere and dried foUage. 



The eggs of the web-worm moth are attached 

 to the underside of a leaf in patches of .50 to 100 

 eggs. They are of a yellowish color, and may be 

 found by the 1.5th of July in this latitude. The 

 eggs hatch in a few days and the young cater- 

 pillars at once begin to spin their webs, soon co\'- 

 ering the leaf to which the eggs were attached 

 with silk under which they feed, eating only the 

 tender cuticle of the leaf. They then proceed 

 from leaf to leaf, and as they increase in size, 

 from branch to branch, covering quite a portion 

 of a fair-sized tree by the time the caterpillars 

 attain their maturity. 



\Yhen full grown these caterpillars are rather 

 more than an inch in length. They feed about 

 six weeks, then separate and seek a place to spin 

 their cocoons. They pass the winter in the pupa 

 state; the moths, which are pure white, appearing 

 late in June and the flrst of July the next year. 



Ilemedies; Pyrethrum and arsenitcs— London 

 puri)le or Paris green— will quickly destroy this 

 pest, but the difficulty of reaching the caterpil- 

 lars with Pyrethrum on account of their web,ren- 

 ders this remedy nearly useless. The arsenitcs 

 aijplied to the foliage before being inclosed in the 

 web will kill all the worms which eat the sprayed 

 leaves, but the objection to the use of these 

 poisons is the danger of its adhering to the fruit 

 when applied to bearing trees. An effectual 

 method, but one entailing considerable labor and 

 time, is to search for the young colonies, which 

 may bediscovered about as soon as they enveloiw 

 the few leaves contiguous to the one in which 

 the worms hatched, cut off the twig they occupy 

 and crush them under the foot. Quite effectual 



work can be done with a sponge attached to a 

 polo and dipped in kerosene oil, thrusting this 

 into the nest and winding off every piirt of the 

 nest and worms together. Contact with the oil 

 will speedily destroy the caterpillars. 



Small Fruit in Delaware. 



DAVID S. MYEK, SUSSEX COUNTY, DEL. 



Strawberries yielded a good crop, which was 

 on the whole a paying one. There is no boom in 

 new varieties. 



Wo find nothing to yield and pay like the 

 Ci*escent when it is properly grown and i)roperly 

 mixed to insure good fertUization. We think 

 every third row of Hidwell the best, as Bidwell 

 is one of the best early Strawberries for the 

 sandy loam land of Delaware. A berry of 

 sui^erior (luality, when once known for table 

 use, few, if any others will be inquired for, while 

 taking one year with another, it will nearly 

 equal any variety in quantity. May King is a 

 fine mcilium-sized berry, fine quality, and eaiiy; 

 but too soft for distant market. Belm(»nt is a 

 sort that, with extra high culture, produces ex- 

 tra fine berries of good shape and superior 

 quality, it is an improvement over Sharpless. 



In Raspberries, Souhegan comes at the head of 

 early lilack-caps, and is the most valuable of all 

 the Rlack-caps we have tested. Hansell is the 

 first of the Ueds to ripen, and proves to be the 

 most profitable of all the early ones. The Marl- 

 boro is of no value as a market berry, not being 

 hardy or vigorous. Cuthbert stands next to 

 Hansell, these two being the most valuable Iteds. 



Early Harv&st Blackberry has fruit of much 

 better (juality than the Wilson Early, but will 

 not be a success with every grower, as it re- 

 iiuires very peculiar training. 



Straw/berries in Indiana. 



O. COWING, DELAWARE COrNTY, IND. 



The strawberry crop in Delaware County was 

 almost a failure this season. The drought Isist 

 autumn, the almost total absence of snow, the 

 rain in the early part of May, followed suc- 

 cessively by sharp frosts, drought, intense heat, 

 and a fiood of water, were the causes that 

 reduced the crop, in many cases, to less than 

 one-sixth of the general yearly average. 



Of old varieties. 

 Crescent, Kentucky, 

 and Jersey Queen 

 proved most produc- 

 tive and profitable. 

 In consequence of 

 blight and frost, Cum- 

 berland produced but 

 few perfect berries. 



Of new varieties, 

 Logan, Jessie, and 

 Bubach were the best. 

 They are all strong 

 growers and but lit- 

 tle inclined to blight. 

 Logan is productive 

 as Crescent, and its 

 berries are much 

 larger. The lierries 

 t >f Bubach average 

 larger than those of 

 any other variety; 

 \ariable in shape, 

 bright scarlet in color, 

 of good flavor, and 

 attractive in appearance, and productive, sur- 

 passing Cumberland when in its prime, in that 

 respect. Jessie furnished me with the largest 

 berry of the season, but it did not furnish as 

 many very large berries as Bubach, nor was it 

 as productive or as sweet, but it was more shajx:- 

 ly. Frost did not allow it to be fairly tested. It 

 is certainly a fine variety.worthy of general trial. 

 Ohio resembles Kentucky and proved even 

 later. It is very productive, but subject to 

 blight, and its berries are too small and too sour 

 to allow it to become popular. Belmont is a 

 strong grower and its berries of delicious flavor, 

 but when fully ri(>e, too soft to be marketed. 

 It is also unproductive. Itasca bloomed caiiy, 

 and its flowei-s were destroyed by frost to such 

 an extent that a fair estimate of its value cannot 

 be made this season. It did much better last 

 year. Its berries are very firm and very sweet. 

 Haverlanil fruited only on plants set last 

 spring. It resembles (.'rcscent in plant, habit of 

 growth, and iiroductiveness, with a fair promise 

 of a larger berry of much better flavor. 



Fig 3 A Largt Quince 

 Cutting 



