26 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



a sketch of our home and grounds, asking you 

 the favor of suggesting improvements in the 

 lawn arrangement, as the features are not ex- 

 actly to my taste. T intend setting out some 

 shrubs and evergreens next spring, also laying- 

 out larger beds of Tulips,Hyacinths,Tea Roses etc. 



We have already decided if necessary to move 

 the office (a physician's) as it obstructs the view 

 to and from the road . 



In accordance with the purpose of these 

 papers therefore, and in answer to this sub- 

 scriber's request we present the plan re- 

 ceived and under it another containing cer- 

 tain added improvements The numbers in 

 the upper cut represent the following : 1, a 

 bed cut in lawn, occupied ^vith Tulips and 

 later with Dahlias, Gladioltis etc.; 2, bed of 

 Hyacinths ; 3, bed of Day Lilies ; 4, bed 

 of Coleus ; .5, bed of Tea Roses. Various 

 trees and shrubs besides, are scattered over 

 the ground as shown. The figures in the 

 lower plan may be explained as follows : 

 1 front entrance, 2 side and oflBce entrance, 

 3, 3, 3, beds of irregular outline tobeplant- 

 ed with shrubs, and hardy, tender plants, 

 bulbs, etc.; 4 an arbor to be covered with 

 hardy and tender vines ; .5, a shrubbery 

 walk in the midst of irregular masses of 

 hardy shrubs, and surrounding the arbor 

 and leading from the la*n to the small- 

 fruit plat; 6, fruit trees irregularly ar- 

 ranged in the rear lawn ; 7, 8, vistas ex- 

 tending from the house towards the 

 street; numerous trees and shrubs abound. 

 Some evergreens are located both to the 

 front and rear of the office. 



Now briefly for the lesson : That which 

 will impress the reader in comparing the 

 two sketches, is the angularity and lack of 

 general method and harmony in arrange- 

 ment of the features of the upper one. A 

 garden of any size to be most pleasing 

 should, especially in the growths, present 

 a degree of naturalness approximating the 

 pleasing arrangement of trees, shrubs, etc., 

 to be met in natural landscapes. It has well 

 been said that nature abhors straight 

 lines. But usually in starting out to make 

 a pleasing home garden we meet with a num- 

 ber of lines and angles in the outlines of 

 buildings, the boundaries of the place the 

 streets etc. Shall we therefore add more 

 straight lines by introducing such promi- 

 nently into walks, tree rows, outlines of beds 

 etc ? The aim should be the reverse of this 

 for all such features as will admit of 

 variations from straight lines, angles and 

 geometrical figures. Usually the walks, 

 drives, trees, plants etc., very readily har- 

 monize with this principle. 



The lower plan shows how we should 

 prefer the improvments. Here simplicity, 

 harmony of parts, graceful curves and Ir- 

 regularity are the order— with what gains for 

 garden beauty let the reader judge. Not 

 only do the objects seem to lit the places 

 well and serve to the making of a harmo- 

 nious whole but the grounds appear to be 

 larger, without this really being true, a 

 result of the tine open centers in the grass 

 plats and the delightful vistas that extend 

 from point to point. While the walks present 

 bold curves, it will be observed that they 

 lead very directly from the street to the 

 buildings. 



Let the reader in imagination pass over 

 the one plan and then the other as if ex- 

 amining the various features, and he cannot 

 but be impressed by the superior arrange- 

 ment of the lower one, this simply because 

 better principles areabserved inthearrang- 

 ment. Even the fruit trees at fl and the 

 front street trees are located with the idea of 

 keeping down straight lines and regular 

 distances apart. 



Jn having thus complied with our sub- 

 scriber's request for assistance, it is pos- 

 sible that more shrubs and trees have been 

 suggested than can at once be planted and 

 cared for. In that event it is only neccesary 



to carry out the improvements step by step 

 constantly having in view the completed 

 whole. 



To others who may favor us with sketches 

 of grounds to be improved, we would say 

 that such plans even if made crudely will 

 answer our ends very well. Of course if 

 pains are taken to locate the buildings, 

 trees and other objects by scale, the result 

 may be slightly more satisfactory. We will 

 be pleased to consider the arrangement of 

 the fruit and vegetable garden of home 

 grounds as well as the ornamental parts, 

 although it may be said that the former are 



Fin. 3. Fig. i. 



The Eumerlc Biush Lima. Henderson's Bitsh Lima. 



As sketched, life-size, on Pop. Gmd. Chvunds 



I less difficult as here straight lines should 

 largely prevail. 



Why Not Grow More Currants? 



] The possibilities of Currant culture, as 

 often as they may have been referred to by 

 the horticultural press, are not generally 

 recognized and appreciated by fruit growers. 

 The Currant takes the same place among 

 fruits that the mule occupies among draught 

 animals— being modest in its demands as to 

 feed, shelter, care, yet doing good service. 

 Clay soils, too tenacious, too rough, too 

 moist for most other fruits, will suit the 

 Currant. The winters' cold does'not freeze 

 it ; late spring frosts do not kill its blossoms. 

 Year after year it bears its crop, and this 

 keeps well, ships well, and sells well. 



Where there are so many acres of land 

 just suited for this fruit, and hardly for any 

 other, and in consideration of all the advan- 

 tages this fruit offers, it appears rather 

 strange that it is not more largely culti- 

 vated. The Currant worm, about the only 

 enemy which the crop has, can be kept in 

 check so easily by spraying with a solution 

 of white Hellebore, that it should no longer 

 be feared as an obstacle to success. 



We do not wish to be understood as ad- 

 vocating poor soil and slovenly culture for 

 the Currant. Liberal feeding, and good 

 cultivation will pay with this crop as well 

 as with any other. Our plants, set only in 

 spring of last year, were given a shovelful 

 or two of good compost to the hill, and the 

 soil, a strong clay loam, was kept well tilled. 

 The crop on these young plants, this year, 

 was quite satisfactory, and a full crop may 

 be expected next year. 



A Currant grower in Steuben county, this 

 state, Mr. Franz S. Wolf, writes us of the 



enormous crops which a neighbor gets every 

 year on a plantation of Currants trained to 

 two or three stalks per plant. The advan- 

 tages claimed for this form are (1) large fruit 

 and large crops : (2) ease of keeping the 

 patch clean ; no clumps of sod over the 

 roots ; (3) easy control over the worms. 

 The young larvae must have young foliage. 

 As there are no suckers allowed to grow, 

 the young leaves are found only at the top 

 ends of the branches, where the worms can 

 be readily discovered and poisoned. 



In a later letter to us, Mr. Wolf speaks of 

 his own crop as follows : 



"In 1886 I set 1000 Versailles and 100 Fays. 

 The past two seasons high water has made 

 it impossible to plow, cultivate or hoe, and 

 has washed the bushes and soil away so that 

 I have less than one-fourth of an acre, and 

 the crop this year was nearly a failure. 



The following statement covers the sales 

 this season : 

 July 3, 25 baskets, 106 pounds at 7c. $7.42 

 " 8, 78 " @ 4 •' " 30c. 23.40 

 " 9, 30 " @ 4 " " 30c. 9.00 

 " 11,31 " @4 " " 30c. 9..30 

 " 11, 4 " @ 8 " " 80c. 3.20 



Commission and express. 



32 baskets used, 



$52.32 

 $10.54 



J41.78 

 $7.68 



Total, S49.46 



The expense for baskets, picking and 

 putting on cars amounted to$21..S4, so that 

 the net profits from the one-fourth of an 

 acre, and with a very poor crop, reached the 

 sum of $38.12, or $112.48 per acre. There 

 were no other expenses than those stated, 

 inasmuch as the high water prevented all 

 work, and I think drowned the worms. 



Prices were good this year, considering 

 the quality. The bill for picking was ex- 

 cessive, as the bunches wer every poor, and 

 made picking quite laborious. 



To show the importance of shipping in 

 just such packages as the trade calls for, I 

 will call attention to the difference which it 

 would have made, had eight pound baskets 

 been used. I was away at the time, and the 

 notification from commission men to change 

 size was opened only when too late. I 

 shipped 164 four pound baskets and four 

 eight pound baskets to New York. These 

 if packed in eight pound baskets would 

 have made 86 baskets at 80 cents— .*68 ; 16 

 baskets used, §10.40— total *i79.20: expenses 

 SRl..i6; net profit, .*4T.64, or -?190..56 per acre. 

 Thus the change in price of a few cents per 

 basket almost doubles the net returns, all 

 charges save commission goes to profit. 



This season's e.xperience makes me doubt 

 the advantage of single-stem pruning ex- 

 cept with most careful attention. I have 

 now one and one quarter acre of Currants in 

 tree form, and two acres in bush form. 



Treating the Plum Curcullo with 

 Poison. 



The greatest enemy to the Plum is the 

 insect commonly known as the Plum cur- 

 culio. This is the cause of the wormy fruit 

 that so often falls from the trees. Various 

 remedies have been tried for this pest, and 

 for several years trials have been made at 

 the Ohio Experiment Station of the method 

 of killing the insects by spraying with a very 

 diluted mixture of Paris green and water. 

 The experiments were again repeated this 

 season by the station entomologist. Dr. C. 

 M. Weed, with good results. An orchard 

 of 900 bearing trees in Ottawa county, Ohio, 

 right in the heart of a great fruit growing 

 region, was selected for the experiment. In 

 the north half of it the method of catching 

 the curculiosby jarring on a sort of inverted 

 umbrella mounted on wheels was employed, 

 while the south half was sprayed four times 

 with pure Paris green mixed with water, 

 in the proportion of four ounces to 50 

 gallons of water. 



