24 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



Liable to Blight. He correctly states: 

 "Many Russian varieties that resist cold 

 suffer severely by blight in summer." This 

 is founded on Wisconsin experience with the 

 earlier varieties imported from St. Peters- 

 burg. Yet of these it may be said that many 

 blight as seriously as the Siberian Crabs, 

 and many others in the most unfavorable 

 positions blight as little as Duchess or any 

 one of the so- 

 called American 

 Apples. Grounds 

 in Iowa where 

 the Yellow 

 Transparent 

 cannot be profit- 

 ably grown on 

 account of its 

 tendency to 

 blight, we have 

 bearing trees of 

 over 70 varieties 

 from St. Peters- 

 burgh that 

 blight as little 

 as the Duchess, 

 and some that 

 have as yet never 

 shown a trace of 

 the disease. 



Again, the var- 

 ieties from the 

 Volga Provin- 

 ces, as a rule, are 

 less subject to 

 blight than any 

 of the west Eu- 

 ropean sorts or 

 their American 

 seedlings. 



Not of High Quality. Prof. Goff says: 

 " Few of them are of high quality." On this 

 point Dr. Hoskins wrote to-day, " You and 

 I know better." The Russians grow many 

 varieties of large smooth acid Apples ex- 

 clusively for culinary use. Among the var- 

 ieties classed by Schroder for dessert use are 

 many for all seasons which Downing would 

 have classed as "very good," and a few 

 which he would have called " best." 



Few of Them Will Keep. The sentence 

 reads, " Few of them are of high quality, 

 and most ripen early in the season and keep 

 poorly during winter." This is specially 

 true of all the varieties coming from a point 

 as far north as St. Petersburg or Moscow. 

 Yet among these are quite a large number 

 of really good keepers on the north limit of 

 their possible growth, which will prove of 

 untold value to the cold north where a home- 

 grown winter Apple is now hardly known. 

 Our list from Moscow only represents the 

 varieties grown in north Russia in part. 

 Dr.Schroder collected many varieties for our 

 use from points in the southeast where Dent 

 Corn ripens as perfectly as in Central Iowa. 

 These varieties, as well as those we imported 

 later from Bogdanoff, Orel, Voronesh and 

 the lower Volga region, ripen with us in 

 Central Iowa about as they did in their 

 natal home, as noted in our Imlletin of 1890. 

 Last winter we were able to show many 

 these on the 3.5th of Jan. in as perfect con- 

 dition as Ben Davis, Willow or Baldwin. 



Experimental Work. I write this to 

 impress the thought that as yet it is experi- 

 mental work. Our work has been to sift 

 the great list and sort out by actual trial 

 across the continent on our northern bord- 

 ers, the relatively few sorts coming nearest 

 to our ideal of hardiness of tree, productive- 

 ness and quality of fruit for all seasons. The 

 recent remarkably trying seasons at the 

 west have favored the work. In twelve 

 years we have been able to reach conclusions 

 by comparisons of reports from our many 

 trial stations, which in ordinary seasons 

 could not have been reached in a life time. 

 Hence the positive statement at this time. 



Notes from the Popular Gardening 



Grounds at La Salle-on-the- 



Niagara. 



The Lima Beans. Our last year's trellis has 

 a^ain done good service for our pole varieties. 

 Among these we have the Large Had and the 

 Speckled Limas, both thrifty growers and relia- 

 ble Beans. People who do not object to the color, 

 wiU find them excellent for home use, as they 



Pig. 1, (Upper). The Common Pole Lima Bean, sketched life-size, on the Popular Oardening Grounds. 

 Fig. 3, [Lower). Burpee's Bush Lima, as sketched, somewhat reduced, on the Popular Oardening Grounds 



have a peculiar richness of their own. The New 

 Evergreen differs only slightly from the common 

 older sorts. The Potato Lima is quite distinct, 

 having small pods, but a great profusion of them, 

 and these well-filled with medium-sized Beans of 

 good quality. The New Jersey Extra Early has 

 again proved good and reliable. 



One row ot the latter was tried without sup- 

 port, in the way suggested by a report coming 

 from Prof. Budd. The plants in this row were 

 given no chance to make runners, the tops being 

 mown or clipped off a number of times. This 

 treatment forced out strong lateral growth from 

 the stalks at the first joint, six or eight inches 

 from the ground, and produced plants having 

 somewhat the habit of growth of Burpee's Lima. 

 There is no doubt in our mind that a continua- 

 tion ot such treatment would in a very few years 

 result in the fixation of the bush form. We do 

 not now wonder that bush forms of the different 

 Lima types have appeared, we only wonder that 

 they have not been brought out before. 



On the whole, our experience with all varieties 

 of the Lima indicate that they require very rich 

 soil to do their best. Paying crops, such as alone 

 are satisfactory, cannot be grown on thin soil, 

 and people should not make the attempt to thus 

 grow them. With plenty of good compost, how- 

 ever—yes, very plenty of it, our clay loam is 

 well adapted to the production of the crop, and 

 we doubt that Liraas could do better on soils of 

 sandy character. 



The Bush Limas. There has nothing been of 

 greater interest in our vegetable garden this 

 year than these. The good points in Henderson's 

 Bush Lima we did not appreciate until this 

 season, and we can hardly speak too highly of it. 

 The bush-habit is so thoroughly fixed that we 

 have not yet seen a single attempt at returning 

 to the running habit in any plant. The growth 

 is vigorous and strong; pods are produced in 

 immense numbers, and continuously until the 

 end of season. As they grow in clusters, picking 

 is quite easy and (luick work. Of course the 

 Beans are small, but they come considerably 

 earlier than the other Limas, and the crop is 

 easily grown. In quality we think there is noth- 

 ing that can surpass this variety, and there is a 

 richness and delicacy about them hardly met in 

 any other Bean. Wc have gathered plenty of 

 seed, and shall plant freely of it another season. 

 The majority of the pods have three Beans, a few 

 only two, and quite a number have four. 



Burpee's Bush Lima is the novelty of the 

 season, as Henderson's was of last season. It 



makes a magnificent plant, with strong stem and 

 perfect bush form. The Beans are large, not 

 differing inform orsize from the old Large Lima. 

 Usually there are only three in a pod, sometimes 

 only two, seldom four. The variety Is a little 

 late, and this seems to be its only fault. Of 

 course the seed has been carefully saved, and 

 will be planted next year. It will be some time 

 —probably not until 1892— that people will have 

 a chance of testing the table qualities of this 

 Bean more gener- 

 ally. At present 

 prices of seed, a 

 hungry person 

 might easily eat ten 

 or twenty dollars' 

 worth at one meal. 

 The Kumerle is 

 not so upright in 

 growth, and some- 

 what inclined to re- 

 vert to the old run- 

 ning habit. It is also 

 very late, we think 

 still later than Bur- 

 pee's. In pod and 

 seed the variety does 

 not differ from the 

 old excellent 

 Dreer's Lima, and in 

 all probability it is 

 as good in quality, 

 although we can- 

 not vouch for it, as 

 we did not have 

 enough for a thor- 

 ough test. As with 

 the other two bush 

 sorts, three is the 

 usual number of 

 seeds found in one 

 pod, but four are 

 more frequently 

 met with, perhaps, 

 than in Burpee's. 

 We shall plant every seed we have next year. 



Henderson's Lima is just the sort to be planted 

 where the ordinary Limas are a trifle too late; 

 and all three varieties will be welcomed by the 

 general grower everywhere, who does not wish 

 to go to the trouble or expense of getting and 

 setting poles, or putting up trellises. 



The illustrations on Ipages 24 and 35 were in- 

 tended to be life-size, but the engraver has 

 slighly reduced Burpee's Lima Bean as compared 

 with the ordinary large Lima. At the samestage 

 of ripeness we have not been able to discover 

 any difference between the two, so far as size of 

 pod and Bean is concerned. The illustration on 

 page 28 shows pods and Beans of the three varie- 

 ties as sketched on our grounds, reduced to one- 

 half in size. 



The Lettuce Patch. There are so many really 

 good varieties of Lettuce, we would hardly know 

 which to select as best if we were confined to 

 one, two or three sorts. For forcing. Tennis 

 Ball, and its sub- variety, Boston Market, are yet 



Fig. . 



lUustrating a Shnib bed nn 

 <}ardeninu Grounds. 



Poindor 



in the lead. Grand Uapids, favorably men- 

 tioned by Michigan and Ohio people, we have 

 not tried, much to our regret. 



Salamander, the old stand-by ot the market 

 gardener, does not show to best advantage 

 among all these excellent sorts, and we would 

 not select it as best for home use; but it is 

 yet reliable, and good enough, especially for 

 market, althougn it was one of the first in the 

 lot to go to seed. 



Drumhead or Malta, one of the largest, forms 

 good heads, and has especially large, somewhat 

 coarse-appearing leaves. Goes to seed early. 



