40 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



CorreDporutenta are urged to anticipate the season in prr- 

 aentina queationa. To aak, for instance, on April 16 or 20 

 u>h€it Peaa had beat be aotcn, could brino no answer in 

 the May issue, and none be/ore June, when the answer 

 vsyuld heunaeaaonable. Que stiona received before the lith 

 of any month stand a good ohance of being answered in the 

 next paper. Not more than three quest ion a should be sent 

 at one time. Anawera to questions bearing on the com- 

 parative t^lue of implements, etc.. offered by different 

 dealers must not oe expected. Seither can we promise to 

 oomply toith the reoitest sometimes made to "please answer 

 by matt." Inquii^ua appearing without name belong to the 

 name next fotlotcing. 



Replies to Inquiries are eameatly requested from our 

 readers . In anat^ring such give the number, your 

 looality and name, the latter not for publication, unless 

 you desire. Write only on one side of the paper. 



2.054. Hoya as Tree. Can Hoya carnosa be trained 

 in tree form and bloom well? 



2.055. Transplanting Hybrid Perpetual Roses. 

 Can this be done in the fall, If proiection is given them 

 and In early winterV— Mks. M. A. H. 



2.056. Celery Leaf Blight. Do you know of any 

 simple means of preventing It?— G. S. F. 



2.(67. Chrysanthemum Leaves Dying. Lower 

 leaves turn black and drop off. What Is the cause, 

 also the remedy, if any?— H. C, Jrotito7i, O. 



2,05S. Remedy for Plum Rot. Nine-tenths of all my 

 Plums rotted the wasps took the rest. How can this 

 be stopped?— F. W. S.. West Roj^bur}/, Mass. 



2.059. Reliable Commission Men in Eastern 

 Cities. Please give name and address of reliable party 

 in New York, Philadelphia and Boston?— G. H. B. & 

 Son, Ills. 



2.060. Gooseberry Plants from Cuttings. When 

 are cuttings taken off, how planted and how man- 

 aged?— J. P. T., Mass. 



2.061. Bodies oi Pear Trees Ailing. I have several 

 trees, the trunks and large limbs are black and appar- 

 ently dying, while the tops are still green. What ails 

 them?— Inquirer. 



2.062. Wire Guards for Trees. Can you give ad- 

 dress of party manufacturing or selling wire screen 

 guards to protect young trees agaiust rabbits?- J.W.P, 



2.063. Composition of Paris Green. What is it?— 

 F. N. T. 



2.(Ht4. Alpine Strawberry Seed. Where can I pro- 

 cure seed of the regular bush varieties, such as do not 

 Increase by runners?— R. W., Clinton. Ills. 



2,065. Heating Small Greenhouse ior Forcing. 

 What is the best way of heating?— C .J .S., EdgevUle. la. 



2,06H. Hardy Fruits for Northern Illinois. I wish 

 to raise some fruits for the children, but do not luiow 

 which are hardy here. Please give list.— Mrs. E. F. E.. 

 Wtlmettf, nis. 



2,Ub7. Grapes for Early Market. Which is the most 

 profitable? Is Moore's Early productive enough to be 

 profitable?— J. F. C, North Topeka, Kans. 



2,06a. Garden A^iling. 8oll sandy loam; have potted 

 and fed it liberally^ with stable manure for the past IS 

 years. Have prided myself in having the best garden. 

 Now for two years a portion has acted asif full of plant 

 poison. Seeds germinate poorly and plants struggle 

 tor life. What is the matter?— H. P. M., Plahxjickl. IS J. 



2,0^9. Fall Management of Caladiums. The bulb 

 purchased last spring has made a tine plant and I do 

 not wish to lose it. How shall 1 proceed?— W. A. M., 

 Mogadore, Ohio. 



2,070. Bug on Japan Anemone. Bug resembles 

 Squash bug, but odorless. Attacks nothing else, but if 

 left alone they would eat down a large plant in a day. 

 What is lt?-G. B. 1).. Va. 



2,o7i. American- grown Cauliflower Seed. Has 

 It proved to be as good as the European?— S. F. F. 



2.or2. Keeping Cabbage for Spring Sales. Will a 

 good cellar do? Should roots be left on or cut oflf?— 

 J. V. (»,, Indiana. 



2.073. Removing Blossoms from Newly Set Straw- 

 berry Plants. Why shoulil It hurt the plants if allowed 

 to bear a little the tlrst season?— P. H. K.. JVis. 



2.074. Steaming Bones. Are bones deprived of any 

 of their fertiliziuK qualities by steaming?— S. J. F., 

 W. Va. 



2.075. Niagara Grapes Rotting. What Is the cause 

 of their rotting before ilpening? 



2.076. Hardy Passion Flower. Huw to be treated 

 during first winter after planting? 



2.077. Clematis and Honeysuckle. What care do 

 they require after planting?- J. L J., Brooklyn, N. Y. 



2.07S. Cranberry Culture. Please tell me the essen- 

 tial points.- S. T. W. 



2,(»7*t. Making Cold Soil Warmer. Sollclayey.with 

 cold atlir clay subsoil, somewhat moist. How can I fit 

 It for the cultivation of vegetables, Corn, etc.?— D. D. L., 

 Ont., Canada. 



2.080. Strawberries for Hill Culture. What varie- 

 ties are best for this on sandy loam?— W. E. C, Iowa. 



2,0'Sl. Raspberry Tips frcm Old or Young Bushes. 

 Will plants taken from yimng bushes do better than 

 those taken from plants that liave borne fruit for sev- 

 eral years?— B. E. H., Rvadiny Ccnterc, .V. 1'. 



2.082. Wintering Verbenas. Is It advisable to lift 

 the old plants from beds and keep over?— S. s. N. 



2.083. Raspberry Blight. My second year's growth 

 was badly attacked Just as fruit was forming. Soil 

 rich clay. No variety exempt. Had to dig up all. 

 What Is lt?-R. O. H., Ont. 



2.084. Fertilizer for Bearing Grape Vines. What 

 Is best, when and how applied and how much?— W. H. 

 C. P., Ohio. 



2.085. Gesnera Species. I enclose flower. Is this a 

 Genera, and if so, what species? 



2.086. Melia Azedarach. I have this as " Umbrella 

 Tree." Seems to be not hardy. How can I winter It? 

 Is it an Evergreen? 



2.087. Crinam Americanum. Is it hardy? I have 

 lost mine- 



2.088. Iris Susiana. Should I give it winter protec- 

 tion?-L. B., New York. 



2,039. Strawberry Leaf Roller. This pest has been 

 troubling me for years. How can I best get rid of it?— 

 M.N. O. 



2,0&0, Insect on Ampelopsis Veitchii. Leaves look 

 burnt and curled up. On unrolling a leaf find acluster 

 of eggs like Poppy seed, only larger. Quite disfigures 

 the vine. What Is the insect and remedy?— G. B.D., Va. 



2.091. Weaver Plum. Please describe its character- 

 istics. Is It any good?— A. B. D., Fa. 



2.092. List of Gladioli. Would like to have list of 50 

 best. Where do you buy your stock?— A Gladiolus 

 Crank, 



2.093. Earliest Market Tomato. Which has proved 

 most reliable this season?— J. M. N. 



2.094. Wood Ashes for Clay Soil. Are unleached 

 or leached ashes better for small fruits on such soils?— 

 R.S. T. 



2.095. Cultivating Huckleberries. Have recent at- 

 tempts to cultivate it been successful? If so. what are 

 the conditions of success?— Home Grower. 



2.09fi. Home-Made Fertilizers. Can any great sav- 

 ing in cost be expected from buying unmixed plant 

 food materials, and mixing and preparing them at 

 home? Or is it preferable to buy the prepared hlgh- 



firiced manures of the fertilizer manufacturer?- 

 NQf isixrvE. 



2,097. Parsley in Winter. What is the simplest 

 method of securing a home supply during winter?— 

 G. S.F., Ohio. 



REPLIES TO INQUIRIES. 



2,082. "Wintering Verbenas. We have never 

 thought it paid to keep our old lifted plants, but 

 instead have relied for new stock upon outting-s 

 of young wood put in about October 1st. For 

 successful culture in winter Verbenas require a 

 cool place, plenty of air and light. 



2,022. Calla and Amaryllis Propagation. In 

 the case of the Caila take the offsets that form 

 about the main root, and pot them singly in 

 smEill pots, or prick thera into flats of light rich 

 earth. This should be done at the time of over- 

 hauling the roots, summer being the rational 

 season for tbe operation. Where Callas are 

 grown without removing the offsets, some of 

 these will shoot up and soon reach a flowering 

 size, and then the clump may be divided in the 

 summer season of rest, repotting each sepa- 

 rately. To raise Amaryllis from seed is not 

 difficult. The seed should be procured as fresh 

 as possible, then it will come up with vigor if 

 sown in light sandy loam, in jiots kept in a warm 

 place. If the young plants are potted off as soon 

 as they are an inch or two high, and shifted fre- 

 liuently in the course of the growing season, 

 they will reach a flowering size in about a year 

 and a half . The pots in which either Callas or 

 Amaryllis are grown, should be well drained by 

 the use of broken pots laid in the bottom of each. 



2,063. Composition of Paris Green. Paris green 

 is arsenite of copper obtained by mixing solu- 

 tions of sulphate of copper with arsenite of soda. 

 It is also known under the the name of Scheele's 

 green.— G. U. 



2,08.5. Gesnera Species. But as you enclose 

 corolla and stamens onlj', we cannot determine 

 the species from such scant material.— W. F. 



2,086. Uelia Azedarach. It is hardy in the 

 warmer Southern States, but not at all hardy in 

 the north. The typical form is a shade tree and 

 not worth a place in a northern greenhouse, but 

 there are some dwarfer varieties cultivated along 

 the gulf coast and in the West Indies, which, on 

 account of their free-blooming nature and 

 pretty, fragrant, lilac-colored flowers, are well 

 worth and often get a place in our greeuhouscs. 

 When treated as greenhouse plants the dwarf 

 varieties are evergreen; out of doors the trees 

 are deciduous to half deciduous, according to the 

 locality and circumstances under which they are 

 grown.— Wm. Falconer. 



2,071. American-Grown Cauliflower Seed> We 

 were again much pleased with the results from 

 such seed. Not only that it is heavy and plump, 

 and hassuperior vitality and germinating powers, 

 but the plants also make as good heads as any 

 foreign seed we ever tried. The variety sent us 

 by Mr. March (Fidalgo, Wash )as American Early 

 iJw arf Erfurt proved especially fine. The intro- 

 ducer promises that he will sell American-grown 

 Caulitiowfir seed at one-half or less of the price 

 usually asked for imported seed With goodseed 

 to start with, good Cauliflnwers are almost as 

 easily grown in many localities as Cabbage: Init 

 such good seed has heretofore been sn high that 

 Cauliflower growing has been almost nut of the 

 questitm witn the average home gardener. We 

 hope seed will be cheaper hereafter.— G. K. 



2,088. Iris Susiana is hardy in the Middle 

 States conditionally, but where these favorable 

 conditions and attention cannot be afforded, it is 

 not hardy. Altogether, however, it is better to 

 protect it in winter. It should have a warm, 

 sheltered, open position in winter and spring, 

 and shade from warm sunshine in summer. Like 

 some of our finest Narcissi it starts early into 

 growth, often in fact before winter sets in, and 

 a long, hard winter is sure to prey severely upon 

 any plants that have started prematurely.— Wm. 

 Falconer. 



2,087. Grinum Americanum is hardy in tbe 

 Southern States, but not hardy in the north. All 

 plants are hardy where they are indigenous. 

 Some plants, Alpines for instance, are cold hardy 

 and hot tender; tropical plants are hot hardy and 

 cold tender. Horticultural writers, in writing 

 about plants being hardy, mean that the plants 

 are hardy in the writer's locality, be this Mon- 

 treal, New York, Washington or New Orleans, 

 and readers should so understand it, and make 

 allowances accordingly.— Wm. Falconer. 



2,061. Bodies of Fear Trees Ailling. This I 



would not call regular blight, as it begins at the 

 wrong end. It is a different disease, but none 

 the less fatal. That the top and tbe branches of 

 a tree may be green, and the trunk black under 

 the bark, is because the sap ascends up the tree 

 through the wood and comes down between the 

 wood and bark. Hence, so long as the root is 

 not entirely dead, the top is supplied with sap. 

 But when such a tree goes, it does it in a hurry. 

 I had Le Conte trees black from the ground up 

 to the limbs where the Idaho grafts were set, the 

 latter as fresh and green as if nothing had been 

 wrong with the base. But this did not last long, 

 and they had to die.— S. Miller. 



2,084. Fertilizer for Bearing Grape Tines. 



Good compost of course is the old stand by, and 

 may be applied in the usual way, i. c, broadcast 

 all over the ground, to be worked into the soil 

 by ordinary cultivation. Such treatment is es- 

 pecially desirable where the soil is too scantily 

 supplied with nitrogen to make a satisfactory 

 growth of cane. Usually, however, the wood 

 growth is all right, and in such case the mineral 

 elements of plant food, especially potash, are 

 needed much more than nitrogen. We know no 

 better manure than wood ashes. Apply them in 

 fall, winter or early spring, broadcast, at the rate 

 of from one to three tons ner acre, according to 

 the needs of the soil, and the quality of the asnes. 

 Leached ashes might be used to still greater ex- 

 tent or supplemented with some sort of potash. 

 Where wood ashes cannot be had at a reasonable 

 price— say $13 to $14 per ton for best unleached— 

 we would use 800 to 1,000 pounds of bone dust, 

 and 500 pounds of kainit per acre, to be applied 

 in fall or early winter broadcast. In place of 

 kainit 150 or :;00 pounds of muriate of potash 

 may be used. 



2.U81. Baspberry Tips from Old or Toung 

 BusheS' For the same reason that we prefer to 

 plant Strawberry plants taken from a young 

 plantation that has never borne fruit, we would 

 also use Raspberry tips from young plants in 

 preference to those grown on old bushes. The 

 largest, best and most vigorous tips, as also the 

 most of them, are usually grown on plant-s set in 

 spring previous and well treated.— G. K. 



2,080. Strawberries for Hill Culture. We do 

 not believe in, nor practice, hill culture with any 

 Strawberry variety, unless the "hills" be great 

 clumps of plants to be cultivated both ways. 

 Just as large berries, and many more in number, 

 can be grown by the matted row system than in 

 hills, and the strict single plant system requires 

 more labor and pains tnan we can bestow on the 

 plantation. What have the readers to say on the 

 question of best variety for this system?— G. R. 



:2,07it. Making Cold Soil Warmer. To render 

 strong clay loam, which is moist and cool, warm 

 and suitablefor the production of general gai'den 

 crops, we should first see that the drainage is 

 perfect. The more drains, and the closer to each 

 other, the better will they serve your purpose. 

 Subsoiling will also assist in this. After the 

 lower strata are properly seen to, the top soil 

 should have attention with a view towards the 

 improvement of its structure. If scantily sup- 

 plied with humus (organic matter), this should 

 be adde<l to the soil by the liberal applicationsof 

 good compost or dry muck, or both. Also cart 

 all the sand j'ou can get and draw, and plenty of 

 lime or marl, and mix into the soil. Wood and 

 coal ashes are also valuable additions, and will 

 serve to make the soil looser and warmer. Plow 

 in autum, and leave in rough furrows. During 

 summer give good cultivation. This treatment 

 will fit any soil for the production of good vege- 

 table crops. 



2,074. Steaming Bones. The mere process of 

 steaming does not remove any of the plant foods 

 from bones. Steamed bones, dried aud ground, 

 make a good fertilizer, although not a complete 

 one, since the potiish is lacking. For use in a 

 small wav, we usually burn what few bones we 

 can get irora kitchen, etc., and use the ashes. 

 In this process the bones lose all their nitrogen, 

 and retain only the phosphoric acid. 



