254 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



738. Layering strawberry Plants. Pots from 

 two to three inches in diameter arc the most 

 .suitable. These should be flUed with soil similar 

 to that in which the Strawberries are growing, 

 and plunscd to the level of the surface. Then 

 the layers or runners can be laid on the pots and 

 held to their places by small stones. It all is fa- 

 vorable they will be well rooted in about two 

 weeks, when they can be cut off, and placed in a 

 shady situation for four or Ave days before they 

 are planted out. After they are cut off water 

 must be very freely given until they are planted 

 out. The earlier these plants are set out the 

 larger and finer the crop next year. 



753. Culture of Freeeias. Freesias require but 

 little skill or cai-e to cultivate them successfully. 

 They should be potted in October, and treated 

 precisely as Hyacinths until started into growth, 

 which can be done as soon as the pots become 

 well filled with roots. Water should be sparingly 

 given at first, but as growth commences the sup- 

 ply should be increased. After the season of 

 flowering and growth is over gradually reduce 

 the supply of water, and when the plants pass 

 into a state of rest, store the pots in a dry place 

 until October,when they should be re-pott€d for 

 another season. They prefer a compost com- 

 posed of two-thirds turfy loam one-tliird weU- 

 deoayed manure, and a fair sprinkling of sand, 

 Use porous or soft-baked pots, and see that 

 they are well drained. In potting, rememl)er 

 that to be effective from three to si.x bulbs should 

 be placed In a pot, as for instance a four-inch 

 pot would require four or Ave bulbs, according 

 to their size.— C. E. P. 



737. Cauliflower Slug. I don't understand 

 this query. Do the pests attack the stems, roots 

 or leaves ?—C. E. P. 



750. Worms in pots and Fern Cases. A thor- 

 ough watering with lime water once or twice 

 will destroy them.— C. E. P. 



7.56. Propagating Magnolia grandiflora. Sow 

 as soon as gathered, in a nicely prepared cold 

 frame. Water carefully and keep clear of weeds. 

 Shade from hot sun by means of a lath frame, 

 and avoid extremes of drought and moisture. 

 Or if you have the aid of a greenhouse sow in 

 shallow, well-drained pans filled with turfy loam 

 and keep in a warm, moist situation. When well 

 up, and the weather permits, plant out carefully 

 in a cold-frame, treating as above advised. 



757. Potatoes: two Crops a Season. Yes, but 

 the second crop will not, as a general thing be as 

 good as the first. We have had reports from 

 parties who raised two crops a year of Lee's Fav- 

 orite. Any very early variety will do the same. 

 F. Ford, Ravenna, U. 



7.57. Mushroom Culture, (a) Perfectly well. 

 (b) Yes, providing the manure maintains a tem- 

 perature of at least tiO", and the surface of the 

 beds is covered over with straw, (c) When the 

 crop is done, don't make over the beds, but com- 

 pletely remo\'e them and replace with fresh 

 beds. Good second crops, however, are oft«n 

 obtained from l)eds, but we have had best suc- 

 cess by cleaning the old beds right out as soon as 

 they have finished their first crop. We do not 

 recommend spawning beds more than once when 

 they are fresh.— W. Falconer. 



798. Boses from Cuttings. Before I had the 



conveniences of a greenhouse I succeeded in 

 each of the following ways: 1st. By summer 

 propagati(in, taking off three inch cuttings hav- 

 ing two or more eyes at the base, put in a shal- 

 low bo.x or saucer of sandy soil, then place un- 

 der the north side of thick luliaged shrubs, keep- 

 ing moLst till well started, when the.v should be 

 transplantrd. 2d. li\' runtin^' in bottles of water. 

 3d. Layeritl^^ this being d)»ne principall.v with 

 the hardy sorts, the hr.st two being most appli- 

 cable to Teiis and other tender kinds.— W.F.Lake. 



813. Stove Plants. Bioadly speaking they are 

 those requiring a night temperature of not less 

 than .55 to ti5°. In other words they are hot-house 



E hints, reijuiring more heat than most green- 

 ouse subjects, to obtain best growth. Among 

 such are the Croton, Eucharis, Stephanotis, Co- 

 leus. Begonia, etc.— W. F. L. 



801. Fir Tree Oil is an English combination of 

 hydrocarbon oils, made soluble in wat^r, for de- 

 stroying insects infesting trees and plants, both 

 at the to]) and roots.— W. F. L. 



844. Marguerites. The plants with thick stems 

 that you saw are the result of several years' cul- 

 ture, anfl with but little trouble you may get 

 equally large specimens. Paris Daisies are of 

 remarkably easy culture, and are best grown in 

 the open air through the summer months in a 

 sunny iilace. Young plants should be shifted 

 along as the pots get full of roots, and when in 

 the course ot a year or two they come into eight- 

 inch pots they .may be allowed to remain in them 

 for some years, i\s by giving some liquid 

 manure occasionally, and taking care that they 

 never fail for want of moisture, they may be 

 kept in a prosperous condition. Paris Daisies 

 do not care for much rich food; the.v flower Viet- 

 t<ir when the root,s are rather confined, giving 

 them good food as they need. Good U)am with 

 a little leaf soil is the best compost for them. 



808. Increasing Amaryllis Johnsonii, I have 

 never been troubled to get an increase, often it 

 is larger than I desire. My mode of treatment 

 is practically the same as stated on page ^^O of 

 the July number, excepting when planting out, 

 to place in a sunny position, with no more than 

 two hours' shade at midday, taking out of the 

 pot and setting so deep that the neck of the bulb 

 is covered. They should have no water except- 

 ing that supplied by rains.— W. F. Lake. 



845. Fly on Clirysantliemnms, The plants will 

 be effectually crippled if the parasites are not 

 destroyed. They usually cluster thickly on the 

 points of the shoots. A good plan is to take the 

 shoots in the hand, and with a pepper-box dust 

 amongst them with Tobacco powder. If they 

 are dwarf plants with numerous shoots, the l)est 

 way would be to syringe with Tobacco water or 

 soft, soapy water strong enough to kill them. 



846. Pbloxes Bare at Bottom- The Perennial 

 Phloxes go bare of leaves at the bottom through 

 mismanagement. There is one error in your 

 treatment, namely, the forking in of the manure 

 in spring. Phloxes make a thick mat of roots 

 near the surface, and search every particle of 

 the soil for food and moisture ; they also start 

 into growth early. Any disturbance of the soil 

 about them means wholesale destruction of the 

 roots and a check to the plants, which hardens 

 the lower parts of the stems and makes them 

 drop their leaves. It cannot be too widely known 

 that the greatest part of the vital energy of 

 plants is concentrated in the tips of the feeding 

 rootlets ; there cells form most quickly, and any 

 injury to these rootlets weakens the life of the 

 plant. Any disturbance of the soil about a plant 

 should be well clear of the roots, and should 

 never be done while the roots are growing. A 

 light hoeing of the surface that docs not go 

 deep enough to disturb the roots will do good 

 and not harm ; but that is impracticable in the 

 case of shallow rooting plants like Phloxes. I 

 do not find they take kindly to manure unless 

 rotted to powder and mixed with the soil before 

 planting. The only way to get a really good 

 bloom is to strike cuttings early every spring, 

 and plant out in good well-prepared soil in April, 

 keeping the plants growing straight on from the 

 first. They may be left in the borders a second 

 year, but only a few ver.v strong and mostly in- 

 ferior roots will grow on from year to year with- 

 out moving.— J. D. 



854. Cyclamen Treatment, When the bloom 

 is over, the pots should be plunged in a rather 

 shady border. Leave them there until they com- 

 mence to grow again, then take them up, turn 

 them out of the pots, remove what old soil you 

 can without injuring the roots, and repot in a 

 mixture of loam, leaf-mold and some silver 

 sand ; rotted manure may be added with advant- 

 age; and cover the corm only half its depth. By 

 following the above you should succeed well. 

 They are rather troublesome to raise from seed ; 

 you would have to wait two yeai-s or more be- 

 fore getting them to a blooming size.— C. W. 



850. Muslin for Hot-beds- I have used the 

 oiled muslin only on hot-beds in the spring, and 

 never grew better plants under glass in forty 

 years. I doubted if they would do to winter 

 things tinder, as the snows get too deep with you 

 and would break through. The light through 

 the muslin is sufficient to give the plants the 

 right color and no appearance of blanching 

 whatever.— S. Miller. 



862. Camellia Ailing- Your Camellia is in a 

 bad state at the root, and will never improve un- 

 til it has been again properly re-potted. The 

 leaf sent indicates a sour soil and the retention 

 of moisture about the roots in excess of their 

 requirements. It should be shaken out, all the 

 old soil romoved, the roots trimmed, so far as 

 the removal ot the decayed portions, and be re- 

 potted in turfy loam with well packed drainage 

 m as small a pot as it can be put in consistently 

 with its size. If this is done at once, and it is 

 kept rather close and warm, with but little 

 water at the root, and regular syringing over- 

 head, it will probably regain its health, and make 

 a good growth for blooming next season. 



739. Watering Strawberry Beds. Nothing 

 would be better than an abundant supply of 

 water during their fruiting season, and a good 

 soaking twice a week would be none too much. 

 It will not make the berries any softer.— C. E. P, 



759. Arsenical Poisons and Bees. There is no 

 use of applying arsenical poisons to Apple trees 

 for the codling moth until the petals have nearly 

 or quite all fallen, at which time the dried blos- 

 soms will contain no honey, and so will no longer 

 attract the bees.— E. S. G. 



776. Improving Tankage. We packed our 

 hams and shoulders in clean, dry ashes for years 

 successfully, but have abandoned it. Now as 

 soon as the meat is taken out of the pickel and 

 well dried we tie them up in canvass sacks, hang 

 them up in the smoke house, and when suf- 

 ficiently smoked hang in a dark place until 

 needed. Lime is a preserver and could not fail 

 to answer the purpose. I should prefer It to 

 ashes now it I were to pack in tanks.— S. M. 



8.52. Worm on Alternanthera- A solution of 

 one-half ounce of Paris green, or same of com- 

 mon Arsenic, te four gallons of water, stirring 

 the powder, after first making it into a paste, 

 into the wat>er, and syringing an.v affected plants, 

 should kill every kind of worm that eats foliage. 

 The liquid should be stirred frequently whUe it 

 is being applied. 



824. Fertilizer From Blood. If you refer to 

 fresh blood, the most convenient way to use it will 

 usually be to throw it on a manure pile at the 

 rate of, say, not to exceed, five gallons to a ton. 

 In making hot-beds, a little blood will stimulate 

 fermentation. If you refer to dried blood it is 

 best to use it in connection with superphosphate. 

 It is not necessary to mix the two together 

 before sowing them. They can be sown separ- 

 ately or mixed, as most convenient. Nothing is 

 gained or lost by mixing them. The proportion 

 in which it is best to apply them depends on the 

 kind of crop and the condition of the land. A 

 fair average will be .300 pounds of superphos- 

 phates per acre, and from 250 pounds to 500 

 pounds of dried blood per acre. Dried blood 

 contains about 11 per cent, of nitrogen ; good 

 stalk manure, about eleven pounds per ton, so 

 that 100 pounds of dried blood will furnish as 

 much nitrogen as one ton of manure. The 

 nitrogen in the dried blood however, is in a much 

 more available condition. So far as the fruit 

 crop is concerned, it is safe to calculate that 100 

 pounds of dried blood will furnish as much 

 nitrogen as three tons of manure. If you wish 

 to use dried blood as a substitute for manure, 

 you may calculate that so far as the nitrogen is 

 concerned, 500 pounds of dried blood is equal to 

 fifteen tons of stalk manure. For a crop that j'ou 

 will use more stalk manure, use more dried 

 blood in the above proportion. As a rule, it is 

 not necessary to use more than the 600 pounds 

 per acre of superphosphates for any crop. Gar- 

 deners sometimes use a ton per acre, but they 

 are wasting their money. They had better buy 

 dried blood, or some other nitrogenous manure, 

 and use in connection with the superphosphate. 

 —Joseph Harris, Monroe County, N. T. 



832. Climbers. Actinidia polygama is the only 

 species with which I am acquainted. It is a na- 

 tive of Eastern Siberia, and is perfectly hardy in 

 this vicinity. It is one of our most valuable 

 hard.v vines, being quite ornamental, of rapid, 

 vigorous growth, and perfectly free from all in- 

 sect pests. Its rich green foliage is produced 

 early in the spring and remains until late in au- 

 tumn. All these qualities make it very valuable 

 and desirable for covering arbors, trellis work, 

 etc. The flowers are produced in auxUliary ra- 

 cemes; white and fragrant. All vines are not 

 fertile, but those that are bear clusters of small 

 edible fruit. It succeeds best in a very deei), 

 well-enriched soil. I am not acquainted with the 

 long-fruited variety you, refer to. PcripUiva 

 Grmca is a hardy deciduous climber, growing 

 from ten to twenty feet high. The flowers, 

 which are quite insignificant and of a purplish 

 color, are produced in auxilUary clusters during 

 the months of July and August. It is a native 

 of the south of Europe, and succeeds best in a 

 deep well-enriched soil. It is well adapted for 

 covering arbors, trellis work, ete., as it is free 

 from all insect i>ests, and after it becomes wele 

 established of rapid, vigorous gro>vth. Thel 

 juice of this plant is said to be exceedingly pois- 

 onous, so it is well to exercise a little cai*e on this 

 account.— C. E. P., Queenn, L. I. 



836. Early Strawberry. The one berry that I 

 I can recommend with confidence as being 

 earlier and more productive than the Wilson, is 

 the Crescent, especially as it succeeds every- 

 where, It requires very little skill or care to 

 grow it, but after one has it, it possesses so little 

 real merit as a fruit, that one can not prize it. 

 The May King is Just as reliable, about as early, 

 a little less productive, of larger size and better 

 quality, decidedly a better berry for home use. 

 From what I have seen and heard, Warfield's 

 No. i is more desirable than either of the above, 

 and will probably supersede them, as it may l)e 

 obtained from almost any nurseryman, I would 

 advise all to try it in a smallway. The ('ovell is the 

 earliest of all. quite productive, and a firm, 

 attractive-looking berry of good flavor. All 

 that prevents it from being very valuable is its 

 small 'size. In the matted row, with ordinary 

 culture, the fruit is about an inch in diameter 

 for two or three pickings, and with better 

 culture the size is httle if any larger. I can 

 scarcely recommend it for market.— M. Craw- 

 ford, Summit Cottnty, Oliii). 



811. The Cinnamon Bose. (a) Cinnamon Rose 

 is very common in Michigan, being found around 

 nearl.v all the old houses. It was (luite popular 

 once, but is much neglected now.— F. L. W. 



806. Mulberry Dropping its Fruit. Russian 

 Mulberries will not fruit unless two or more 

 trees are set close together.— F. L. Wright. 



804. Setting out Strawberries. My experience 

 is that well-rooted young plants, .set out on well 

 prepared soil just before a rain, will fruit the fol- 

 lowmg season as well as potted plants. But I 

 have never been able to secure a full crop the 

 following season from plants set in summer, 

 whether potted or not.— E. S. G. 



