1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



35 



to seven years after graftini?, varying:, of course, 

 with the age of the stooiss they are worlced on. 



Varieties. An orchard of Numbo or Paragon 

 Chestnuts will become profitable asearl.vas an 

 orchard of Baldwin or Smith's Cider Apples, and 

 pay as well. Both of these varieties possess 

 hardiness, productiveness and early bearing, 

 with large size and fine appearance of nuts. 

 There are many other fine varieties of Chestnuts 

 which have local reputations for superiority, but 

 before they are introduced to the public, like 

 other fruits, they will have to be tested in differ- 

 ent loc-aiities and under varied circumstances. 



Chestnut culture is in its infancy yet. As the 

 demand for improved new sorts grows, they 

 will be found and offered. In flavor no large 

 Chestnut, and no European or Japan Chestnut, 

 large or small that I have eaten, is equal to the 

 small ones found in our native woods and 

 meadows. The.v lack the sweet, delicate flavor 

 which is the standard of excellence in nuts, and 

 in most large nuts there is more or less astrin- 

 gency in the skin which covers the kernel, but 

 boiling or roasting corrects this defect, and after 

 they are cooked and the skin removed, which 

 peels very readily from large nuts, there is but 

 little ditference in the taste of different kinds. 



When the culinary uses of Chestnuts are more 

 generally appreciated in this country, as they 

 are in Europe, the demand for those of large 

 size will be greatly increased. When boiled alone, 

 or shellfed and boiled with Lima beans and prop- 

 erly seasoned, they make a delicious dish. 

 European cooks know how to utilize them in 

 various ways The Maron de Lyons and other 

 large varieties cultivated in Europe, are not 

 hardy in this latitude. The majority of im- 

 ported trees and seedlings raised in this countr.v 

 from imported nuts, are injured or killed by our 

 severe winters. But stock raised from seed of 

 the few exceptionally hardy trees which do 

 flourish here, is generally hardy. 



In habit of growth the European Chestnut 

 differs from the native species about as the Nor- 

 way Maple differs from the Sugar Maple. The 

 foreign species branch low and form a round- 

 headed tree, while the American grows taller 

 and more spreading. Another characteristic 

 distinction is in the nuts; the fuzz about the 

 point being thicker, and covering a much 

 larger proportion of the shell on the American 

 than on the foreign species. 



The Japan Chestnut appears to be a smaller 

 tree than either of the other species and a val- 

 uable introduction. It has slender branches and 

 handsome foliage, is of compact symmetrical 

 habit and will be found a useful ornamental 

 tree for small plantations where there would not 

 be room for some of the larger shade trees. All 

 the fruit that I have seen that grew in this 

 country was quite medium in size. 



I have found it expensive to raise good Chest- 

 nut trees ready for sale, and the cost of produc- 

 tion is one of the obstacles in the way of their 

 more rapid introduction into general cultivation. 

 The chief point of difficulty arises from the loss 

 attendant upon transplanting and the difficulty 

 ot ingrafting. 



Graftine. My method of grafting them is to 

 cut the cions early and keep them dormant in 

 an ice house until the stocks start and their buds 

 are well swollen, usually about the middle of 

 April. Then cut off the tops and insert tongue 

 grafts and wrap with mixed muslin in the or- 

 dinary manner. It is important that the stock 

 and cion be nearly of the same diameter, other- 

 wise the union is apt to he imperfect. 



There is not much difficulty in grafting well 

 established thrifty trees of any sizf, provided 

 branches can be found of proper size to fii; the 

 grafts. I have tried grafting one year seedlings 

 at collar as they stood in nursery row, also by 

 taking them up and grafting on whole roots as 

 apples are done, but without success. Have 

 also failed entirely with budding in the ordinary 

 way. In some cases where grafts take and grow 

 for one or two years, they do not make a per- 

 fect union ; there appears to be a lack of affinit.v 

 between cion and stock. Three years ago a 

 good -sized tree of European Chestnut was headed 

 in with about ttfty grafts of the Japan. Nearly 

 ever.v graft took and looked well the first year, 

 but I now find the unions are swelling and in- 

 dicating an apparently imperfect joint and they 

 will evidently decline prematurely. 



Transplantinr. Almost ever.v time a block of 

 Chestnuts are transplanted from .5 to 2b per cent, 

 of them will die. A chief cause of this appears 

 to lie in the extreme sensitiveness of the roots to 

 exposure to air, and their slowness in re-estab- 



lishing themselves in the ground again; con- 

 sequently, if the roots get at all dry, the vitality 

 of the tree is wasted by evaporation before the 

 roots get into condition to meet the drain upon 

 them. I therefore make a point of digging or 

 handling (^hestnut trees on damp or drizzling 

 days, and puddle them as soon as possible after 

 digging. None of these difficulties are insur- 

 mountable, but they call for extra care in every 

 part of the work of handling the trees, from 

 the time the seeds are sown until the graft- 

 ed trees are planted in their permanent po- 

 sitions, and I believe that when the intelligent 

 efforts and experiments of a larger number of 

 our practical nurserymen are turned in this 

 direction, that means will be found by which 

 trees can be produced as rapidly and as cheaply 

 as they are needed. 



Freservine Nuts for Flantine- Mr. Moon 

 gathers the nuts as fast as they fall; the.v are 

 then spread upon the floor about two days, until 

 they go through the process ot sweating and the 

 moisture is dried off. They are then stratified in 

 sand, placed in a cool cellar and kept until 

 spring. Sometimes as many as ninety per cent, 

 of the nuts would sprout in the spring ; in other 

 instances, they would , nearly all be mouldy. 

 The reason for not planting in the fall was to 

 prevent the destruction of the nuts b.v vermin, 

 squirrels and mice. Mr. Storrs, of Ohio, stated 

 that he bought the nuts in the fall from the 

 growers, i)ut them into boxes, three parts sand 

 and one part Chestnuts. These boxes were 

 buried about one foot deep under the soil. He 

 had always been successful in keeping them in 

 growing condition. He had not succeeded so 

 well when they were put in cellars. Mr. J. T. 

 Lovett stated that he had abandoned the attempt 

 to graft Japanese varieties on European stock, 

 as the union was not perfect. 



Earlier History of Cultivated 

 Narcissus. 



[Extract of paper &// F. W. Bin-bridge read at the Nar- 

 cissus Conference, Royal Horticultural Societj/ of 

 England . ] 



lyove for the fraerant blossoms of the 

 Narcissus is almost as olrl as human history 

 Itself. In the Homeric " Hymn toDemeter" 

 (B. C. lOOli), and the " (JMipus at Colonus " 

 of Sophocles, the Narcissus Tazetta is men- 

 tioned for its Elitterina; beauty and fra- 

 grance nearly :i,000 years ago. 



Mr. W. Flinders Petrie, the celebrated Egypt- 

 ologist, in 1R8S at Hawara, in Egypt, discovered 

 actual flowei-s of Narcissus Tazetta, these blos- 

 soms having been deftly woven into funeral 

 wreaths or votive garlands as long ago as the 

 first century before the Christian era. These 

 offerings to the dead are supposed to have been 

 made by Greek residents in Egypt, and are now 

 preserved in the collections at Kew. 



The early Greek physicians, such as Hippoc- 

 rates, and later flalen, recommended the nar- 

 cotic roots of Narcissus for anjesthetic and 

 medical purposes. 



Theophrastus of Eresus (B.C. 374—286), de- 

 scribed the plant, and first alluded to its increase 

 by means of seeds, which he tells us "were some- 

 times gathered for sowing," and he further says 

 that the fleshy roots or bulbs were someiimes 

 planted. As a beautiful and variable wild and 

 garden flower in Southern and Western Euro])e, 

 in North Africa and in the Eas*, there is no 

 doubt but that this flower has ever been popular, 

 but in English gardens the Narcissus seems to 

 have first become famous during, or shortly pre- 

 vious, to Elizabethan times, when all the greatest 

 poets mention it; and during the same epoch, 

 both Gerard and Parkinson, the royal herbalists 

 of their day, illustrate or describe at least one 

 hundred kinds, and of these old Gerard (l.ifl" to 

 1633) more especially writes that " all and every 

 one of them " abounded in London gardens. No 

 doubt the common yellow Daffodil of the woods 

 and meadows had been popular in England as a 

 flower for the making of festive wreaths or 

 garlands long before exotic kinds were intro- 

 duced and cultivated in gardens. 



Early in the seventh century choice Narcissi 

 were imported from Constantinople and the 

 Levant generally. 



In the old Dutt'h paintings of garden flowers, 

 dating from ir>nO to 16.W, many kinds ot Narcissi 

 flnd portraiture. In '• Le Jesuite d'Anvers," the 

 flower wreath contains lite-size portraits of 14 or 

 1.5 kinds of Narcissi and of Daffodils, some of 

 which are rarities of to-day. Queen Elizabeth 

 seems to have been fond of them, since in a por- 



trait of her b.v Zucchero, hanging in the Ex- 

 amination Hall of Trinity College, Dublin, there 

 is a flower of a purple-ringed, or Poet's Nar- 

 cissus, painted prominently by her side. 



In the rare old folios and other books of the 

 same epoch (1.590 to 16.50), many species and 

 varieties, including several natural or wild 

 hybrids, are illustrated by engravings or by 

 cojiper plate etchings, especially the works of 

 the pre-Linnean botanists, such as L'Obel. 

 Dodoens, L'Ecluse-who was one of the first and 

 best of European plant collectors— Jean Robin, 

 Gerard and Parkinson. 



Portraits of two of the beautiful white Span- 

 ish Daffodils were seen by Salisbury (a noted 

 authority on these flowers about a century ago), 

 in the palace at Fontainebleau. They were 

 worked in colored silks on a Are screen, said to 

 have been given by Henry IV. to La Belle 

 Gabrielle. 



Small Fruit Growlngr for the Home. 



[Extract 0/ address by J. M. Smith. Pres. Wis. State 

 Sort. Sac. before Wis. Farmers' Irtstitule.] 



Nearly every farmer in the state, can, and 

 ought to have a full supply of small fruits 

 for the entire year. Although we cannot 

 yet boast of a general and complete success 

 in growing Apples and Pears, there is no 

 state in the Union, that can show a finer 

 record in the yield of small fruits per acre 

 than Wisconsin. 



I prefer a rather damp, sandy loam, but if this 

 is not to be had, any land that will grow a good 

 cro]) of Corn or Potatoes, will grow a fair crop 

 of Strawberries, Raspberries, Blackberries. Cur- 

 rants or Grapes, and any manure that will make 

 Corn or Potatoes grow will make the above 

 named fruits grow. It is safe to say that every 

 square rod of land devoted to Strawberries, and 

 fairl.v well cared for. will give .you at least one 

 bushel of nice berries. Raspberries and Black- 

 berries will yield about two-thirds as much as 

 Strawberries ; Currants should yield at least four 

 quarts to the bush, and Grapes at the rate of at 

 least three tons per acre. These are all very 

 moderate yields. 



The Strawberry. It is well to manure the 

 land even it it is in good condition. It should 

 also be so well drained that no water can 

 stand upon the beds. In short, put it in as good 

 condition as you would if you expected to raise 

 on it 100 bushels of shelled < 'orn or 2.50 bushels of 

 Potatoes per acre. As to varieties I will say. if 

 the Wilson does as well in your vicinit.v as it 

 does about Green Bay, I truly believe that you 

 will get more fruit from it than from any other 

 Strawberry plant in exi.^tence. It has a perfect 

 blossom and needs no other near it as a fertilizer. 

 Next to the Wilson with me comes the Manches- 

 ter, and the Crescent. These last two named 

 are both pistillates, and need some perfect- 

 flowering variety among them in order that they 

 may do their best, or even fairly well. I have 

 u=ed the Wilson as a fertilizer by setting about 

 one-third of the plants of this variety. 



Novfllties. In my opinion, the slower you go 

 upon them the bet tter it will be for .vour peace 

 of mind. Let the professional growers test them 

 thoroughly, and when any good variety is pro- 

 duced, the public will soon be made acquainted 

 with the fact, and you will be less likel.y to waste 

 both your time and mone.v. For Wilson mark 

 the rows not less than three feet apart, and then 

 set the plants 12 or 1.5 inches apart in the rows. 

 In setting be sure to press the earth firmly about 

 the roots of the plants, and if the weather is dry, 

 give them a thorough watering. If you set 

 Crescent, Warfield No. 2, or any other of these 

 very strong growers, make the rows four feet 

 apart, and set the plants 18 inches apart in the 

 rows. Keep down all weeds and grass by culti- 

 vation, and go through them when in bloom and 

 clip off all the blossoms so as to throw the en- 

 tire growth into the plant liuring the whole of 

 the first season. .After the ground is frozen in 

 the fall go over them with marsh hay and cover 

 sufficiently to hide all the leaves, and lea\e them 

 until spring. Straw is equally good for covering 

 if it has no foul seeds to grow and choke the 

 plants in the spring. 



A New Bed Every Spring. I flnd it better, 

 and quite as cheap, to set a new bed every 

 spring, as the weeds and grass will come up and 

 annoy you in the old bed; and even if .you succeed 

 in keeping them down for two or three years, 

 the fruit is not quite as fine nor the yield as 

 large as the first .vear. In selecting plants for 

 setting I make it an invariable rule, never to set 



