1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



255 



THE COMPLETE GARDEN.* 



XVIII. 

 BY A WELL-KNOWN HOKTlcrLTURlsT. 



Continued from page 2;J2. 



PnmiiKj. The Cherry is readily controlleil 

 as to size ami form of tree by suitalile iirun- 

 inf?. Usually it is trained as a standard with 

 the trunk four or five feet hip;h in the clear, 

 and this does very well wherever room is 

 abundant and in climates where the bark is 

 not liable to burst. In grounds of limited 

 area the low standards with two or three 

 feet of trunk or the dwarfs made to l)ranch 

 within a foot of the soil are the most suita- 

 ble. Sometimes the Cherry is grown as an 

 espalier against a north wall, with a view 

 to extending the season of its fruit. Aside 

 from working the slow growing sorts such 

 as the Dukes and Morellos near the ground 

 on the Mahaleb stock to form mere bushes, 

 the variations of form alluded to are prin- 

 cipally seciired by pruning to a higher or 

 lower trunk, and in confining or extending 

 the growth by suitable after-pruning. Root 

 pruning is also resorted to, to effect dwarf- 

 ness. In general the main points to be se- 

 cured in pruning the top is to have a well- 

 balanced head, which, while open enough to 

 admit streams of sun and air freely through- 

 out its parts for preventing rot, is yet suflB- 

 ciently close to break the force of the sun's 

 intense heat on the branches and trunk of 

 the tree. Young succulent shoots should 

 be removed as soon as they appear. 



A Selection of Varieties. For a list of 

 thirteen varieties out of many which have 

 been tested on the writer's grounds, the fol- 

 lowing have proved their value for general 

 productiveness and reliability. 

 Heart Cherries. Elkhnru. 

 Black Tartarian. Yellow Spanish. 



Early Purple. Duke and Morello 



KItoD. Cherries. 



Governor Wood. j,„^,y Kjehmond (Com- 



Kmght's Early. ^^^ j^^^ j,^,^^ , 



BiOARREAC Cherries, jjay Duke. 

 Napoleon. Montnuirency. 



Bockport. Morello English. 



THE CURRANT. 



This healthful, handsome and productive 

 bush fruit is of the easiest culture. It will 

 indeed yield fruit under quite unfavorable 

 circumstances; on the other hand no fruit 

 better repays for clean culture and a rich 

 soil. Its compact form of gro^vth adapts it 

 to close garden quarters, while its ability to 

 thrive in partial shade is again in its favor. 

 The fruit lasts long on the bu.sh and affords 

 one of the most healthful acids, being equaled 

 in this respect only by the I^emon. 



Soil and Culture. The Currant thrives 

 in any tolerable soil. Under generous cul- 

 ture, four to five feet apart is the right dis- 

 tance for the plants. The plants should 

 receive clean culture for the best results. 

 Mulching i.s also in order, enjoying as the 

 plant does a cool, moist soil. 



Traiitiiiij. It is of imi)ortance that a suc- 

 cession of strong liranches be maintained, 

 as the fruit is produced upon the shoots two 

 or more years old. The most simple course, 

 and usually satisfactory is to let the plants 

 sprout from the root, allowing only from 

 four to seven of the strongest shoots to grow, 

 removing the others and also all old wood 

 as signs of feebleness appear. By dressing 

 over the roots with stable manure each fall 

 the bushes may be kept in a vigorous cfm- 

 dition almost indelinitely. 



A more pleasing form is to train as a bush 

 or small tree with a stem of less than half a 

 foot in height, and a head comprising six or 

 eight main branches well distributed. The 

 growth should be annually shortened one- 

 third or one-fourth, to cause new side 

 branches and stronger fruit spurs. To 

 insure against suckers the lower eyes on the 

 stem should be cut out before the planting. 

 •Copyright, 1887, Popular Gardening Publishing Co. 



The Currant can be trained ioth as an 

 espalier against a wall or trellise where 

 s|)ace must be economized, and asa pyramid 

 to form pleasing garden objects. For the 

 former use, the branches may be arranged 

 either fan form or else by securing two 

 strong ones for horizontal arms, and from 

 these allowing laterals to proceed up- 

 wards. In training pyramids the main 

 principle is to obtain a strong central shoot 

 at the start, and by heading back secure the 

 required side shoots. These then l)y sum- 

 mer pinching should be treated to keep up 

 an equality of growth, and to check mi.s- 

 placed or superfluous ones, aiming at 

 obtaining a handsome pyramieal outline. 



Varieties. Hid. For general use and 

 for marketing this color is the best. The 

 most valuable sorts: Cherry, Fay's Frolitic, 

 Victoria, Red Dutch, Versailles. White. 

 White Grape, White Dutch, Dana's White. 

 Black. Black Naples, Crandall. 



THE GOOSECERRY. 



This fruit, which in England leads all 

 other bush kinds for dessert purposes, suc- 

 ceeds not so well in this country owing to 

 our hot and dry summers which tend to 

 cause mildew on the plants and fruit. The 

 kinds most commonly grown are the off- 

 spring of the native sorts, which, although 

 comparatively free from mildew, are interior 

 in quality to the English kinds. Still there 

 are many painstaking gardeners who suc- 

 ceed in raising the foreign sorts in a very 

 satisfactory manner by planting under the 

 shelter of fences, trees or buildings, and 

 through mulching or other means keeping 

 the soil cool and moist. A deep, substantial 

 soil of northern aspect .should always be 

 chosen to plant the Gooseberry if possible. 



Culture and Training. The indications 

 being clear that the great enemy to this 

 plant mildew, is invited by an enfeebled 

 growth, which is caused by our dry climate, 

 one of the first things to be aimed for in its 

 cultivation is a vigorous condition of the 

 growing plant. This conclusion is borne 

 out also by the fact that young plants 

 usually bear well for several years, but as 

 they become stunted the fruit is so affected 

 by mildew and rust as to be worthless. 



The best form of bush is one having a 

 short trunk, say four inches in length, from 

 which arise about six main branches, dis- 

 tributed at equal distances apart. As fruit 

 buds and spurs are only produced on wood 

 two years old or upwards, it is important to 

 always keep a lookout for enough of these 

 bearing branches. Starting with a young 

 plant which should be disbtidded below 

 where branches are wanted, the best course 

 is to prune away all but three properly sit- 

 uated branches. These should be cut back 

 to two buds from one of each of which a 

 shoot is to be raised in the first season. These 

 at the fall pruniug are to be cut back to 

 about three buds, and two shoots alloweil 

 to form the next season from each, giving 

 six altogether by the end of the season. 

 After this tlie shoots are annually cut back 

 from one-third to one-half and the fornuition 

 of lateral branches and fruit spurs encour- 

 aged. When the iilants feel the effects of 

 liberal bearing some of the fruit branches 

 should be headed in and replaced by strong 

 y<mng shoots for future bearing. As a rule 

 the American varieties need much closer 

 pruning than do the English. It i.s well to 

 provide new shoots for rejdacing any that 

 become subject to mildew. An aunual top 

 dressing of manure or wood ashes, which 

 the latter suits this plant admirably, is 

 necessary along with judicious pruning for 

 securing the best results. 



V.\i;iKTiKs. Aineri<<in. Downing,Hough- 

 ton. Smith's Improved. EnnUxli. Cream 

 Bob, Whitesmith, Green Ocean, Industry. 

 (Tu he Continued.) 



Chrysanthemums as Standards. 



Chrysantliemnms are not commonly 

 grown as standards, owing to the time and 

 attention they reiiuire, while some do not 

 approve of the close training of the shoots, as 

 is sometimes practised. Pompijii and Ane- 

 mone pompon varieties are well adapted for 

 this purpose, being free-llowering, while the 

 growth is generally stocky. Where close 

 training of the branches is practised, the in- 

 curved varieties are to be recommended, and 

 some few of the .Japanese kinds. In all cases 

 where standards are required, the .strongest 

 plants should be selected from the earliest 

 struck batch of plants intended for the pro- 

 duction of large blossoms. Tho.se selected 

 for standards should not be topped, but se- 

 cured to the upright growth of the single 

 stem by fastening to a small stake as a pre- 

 ventive against accident. Treat the plants 

 in the same way as for other purposes as re- 

 gards potting, position, and the like. 



The height of stem i\ill depend upon cir- 

 cumstances. Some sorts naturally branch 

 into new growth much earlier than others; 

 the tallest need not be more than three feet 

 high before the formation of the head is com- 

 menced. This is a suitable height for the 

 incurved section, while the pompons are 

 best when the head is formed on a shorter 

 stem. If the plants grow to this height be- 

 fore their first natural break so much the 

 better, but if a break occurs earlier, the 

 shoots so formed must be reduced to one, 

 which is allowed to grow until the necessary 

 height is reached. The topping induces 

 other shoots to form, which are the founda- 

 tion of the future head. Reduce these to 

 four, and when they have grown si.\ inches 

 long top them, continuing this process until 

 the requisite number of branches are ob- 

 tained to cover the trellis. Topping should 

 not take place later than the middle of .June 

 in the case of incurved varieties, but pom- 

 pons may be topped a month later. Some 

 of the dwarf varieties of the last-menti<med 

 section may be allowed to grow without top- 

 ping after the first break occurs. The re- 

 sult is a mass of shoots anil a profusion of 

 blossoms the whole length of each stem. 



When all fear of frost is past, pUice the 

 plants in such a position out of doors that 

 a light covering can be thrown over them 

 should frost occur, which wouhl otherwise 

 seriously cripple the points of the shoots. 

 The position finally selected for their sum- 

 mer quarters should be thoroughly exposeil 

 to the sun and air, but .should be sheltered 

 from east and south-westerly winds. Alioid 

 the 1st of June the plants will reijuire their 

 last shift into the pots in which they are to 

 bloom. Those 11 inches in diameter should 

 be used for the incurved ami .Japanese sorts, 

 while !>-inch pots will suffice forthep<im- 

 pons. Plunge the pots to about half their 

 depth in iishes, which keeps the roots cool 

 during a hot summer. The roots are easily 

 damaged by the continual rocking about of 

 the plants by the wind; to prevent this three 

 stakes are driven (irmly into the grouml in 

 triangular fashion, to which the stake in the 

 pot is connected. It is a mistake to attempt 

 to produce too many blooms on one plant. 

 Far belter limit the number and have them 

 of lietter (juality. On plants of the small- 

 (lowercd varieties of such incurved kinds as 

 Mrs. G. Rundle, if the heads are grown, say, 

 about two feet in diameter and about 

 one foot four inches in depth, fifty blooms 

 will be enough; but in the ca.se of While 

 Venus, a larger growing kind, not more 

 than thirty (lowers on heads of the same 

 size. As the foundation of the head is laid, 

 the shape the plants are to a.ssume must be 

 determined. Pieces of galvanized wire, twd 

 feet in length should be bent over, each 

 fastened to a circular ring a.s the founda- 

 tion, and all secured to the top of a stout 

 stake fixed in the center of the pot. Fix the 



