1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



49 



our home trade wanted them all, and I did 

 not go to Akron again. 



As for cultivation to raise such fruit, we 

 set out the plants as early in the spring as 

 the ground was fit to work, and let the run- 

 ners grow as soon as the plant was able to 

 throw out strong and thrifty ones in abun- 

 dance, which was about the 20th of June. 

 We went over the piece two or three times, 

 training the runners a little, after they got 

 well started, so they would as soon as pos- 

 sible cover all the surface with plants. We 

 cut the runners just near enough so they 

 would not cross and get mixed. About 

 the middle of October, we stretched lines 

 through between the rows ; and one man 

 with shears cut runners, and another, with 

 a hoe, cleaned out paths 1(5 inches wide. 

 This left two-thirds of the ground covered 

 with plants. Next we went through these 

 plants and took out the old ones, set in the 

 spring, all the little weak ones, and enough 

 of the strong ones so that what were left 

 stood not less than six inches apart on an 

 average. 



I am more than ever convinced that the 

 very heavy manuring practiced by some is 

 all unnecessary on good soil where clover is 

 grown in rotation and the best of tillage is 

 given : also that fresh manure plowed un- 

 der is better than rotten manure harrowed 

 in on the surface. The latter will be more 

 likely to grow an excess of vines, on my 

 soil, with small fruit-yield ; and the former, 

 moderate vines and abundant fruit. 



A Purslane Tool. 



ErGESE WILLET, ERIE CO., S. Y. 



In answer to a recent inquiry in these 

 columns I enclose a rough draft of a tool I 

 have built for u.se in eradicating Pur.'slane. 

 The one I made is for use in my Grape 

 nursery where the rows are 18 to 20 inches 

 apart. Where rows are farther apart it 

 would have to be larger. 



This tool has much the look of a cultivator 

 at work with the ends reversed. In using it 

 we let the weeds get large enough to pull 

 nicely from ia the row, cultivate with a 

 common horse or hand cultivator; following 

 with the tool described, and if the rows are 

 not too long it will clean them perfectly. If 

 it should be necessary to unload before 

 getting to the end of row, lift the tool 

 without stopping the horse, this leaves it in 

 a bunch when it can be carried from the 



A Subscriber's Tool for Destroying Parsla 



field if desired though it will nearly all die 

 in the pile. 



For the teeth I use roimd iron 1 ^ or % inch, 

 have the teeth about three inches apart and 

 one in the centre behind. I cut the iron for 

 teeth about 14 inch. 1 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to which all are incited to send notes 

 0/ experience and observation concerning topics that 

 recently have been treated on in this journal. Many 

 such contributions monthly are welcome. 



Utilizing Tin Cans. I have noticed a number 

 of the suggestions in Popular Gardening 

 about using tiu fruit cans to pot Tomatoes in, 

 and will illustrate my way of preparing them for 

 use; After melting the cans apart, cut and bend 

 the comers as shown to the left. Then close the 



can by hooking together and clasping the cor- 

 ners, as shown to right. The can is then in shape 

 to hold dirt without spreading apart. The tools 

 to use are a pair of old shears and pinchers. With 

 a little practice the work can be done quite rap- 

 idly, but the thrifty gardener should do this part 

 during winter. To remove the plant simply 

 bend back the clasp with a knife and open the 

 can. After setting out the Tomatoes you will 

 find these tin foils useful to put around Melon 

 hills, etc., to keep off cut worms. By careful 

 usage they will lust several years.— S. H. Tyler, 

 Oakland Co., Mich. 



Grafting HirKORiES. I have succeeded by 

 the method known as crown grafting, setting 

 dormant cions just as the leaves were expanding 

 on the twigs.— C. K. Meyer, Tagewell Co., III. 



Bagging Plums is a success. Several clusters 

 of European and native varieties that I bagged 

 when of the size of large Peas, ripened to per- 

 fection, while those not so treated all rotted.- 

 C. K. Meyer, III. 



Japan Wild Olive. I wish to endorse all that 

 Mr. Wm. Falconer says in regard to the beauty of 

 the shrub, and even the excellence of the fruit 

 for some culinary uses. But the remark '' per- 

 fectly hardy " should be modified. Our summers 

 that ripen Corn and the Grapes so perfectly, suit 

 this plant perfectly, but our hard winters kill it 

 back to the snow line, or below it if there is no 

 snow. In hardiness it is not much superior to 

 the common Peach. — J. L. Budd, Aincti Co., Ia. 



The Scilla (page 9). The Hardy Scillas or 

 Wild Hyacinths on my lawn always attract at- 

 tention in the spring I remember them in my 

 grandmother's garden. The larger sorts throw 

 up very pretty flower stems. The Scillas are 

 for the most part hardy early-flowering bulbs 

 with flowers of a blue, pink or whitish hue. As 

 thespikes are but a few inches high, one gets the 

 best show from Scillas when planted in a bed by 

 themselves. I have had excellent results by 

 planting in (Jctober in light, rich soil. Most 

 kinds are hardy, yet like all bulbs they succeed 

 better if protected during the winter with leaves 

 or manure. My favorite sorts are the S. hy acinth- 

 oides. one of the tallest of the species, of a soft 

 subdued blue; S. Sibirica, quite hardy and a 

 much smaller variety, flowers intense blue; S. 

 amcena, also deep blue, later than the preceding; 

 S. Peruviana, a blue species, of which there is a 

 white variety, not quite hardy but welt suited to 

 pot culture. I leave my Scillas undisturbed for 

 five years, then take up, divide the clumps and 

 replant.— f7ias. Meyers, Cole Co., III. 



The Dwarf Juneberry (page 3). I have 

 grown a Dwarf Amelancheir tor many years and 

 prize it highly. Its productiveness has always 

 been a surprise to me. During the fruiting 

 period the bush is one mass of berries, and these 

 when ripe are nearly the size of small Cherries. 

 The large size attained by mine may be due to 

 the tact that the patch is on new land. 

 Its season of ripening lasts several 

 weeks. The bush has a fine appear- 

 ance when properly caied for, and 

 may be grown either as a small tree 

 with a single stem or in clumps and 

 stools. My bushes have never been 

 troubled with insects or anj' disease. 

 It has one feature which makes it 

 especially desirable for small gardens, 

 namely, that it does not throw up 

 suckers and spread. The only defect 

 I find is the fruit is so palatable, that 

 birds leave Rasptierries and Cherries 

 for the Juneberries as soon as they 

 begin to ripen. Perhaps this could be 

 utilized where the birds are very de- 

 structive to other small fruits, bj' 

 planting Juneberries and thus save the others. 

 —TV. A. Ruse, Knox Co., Ohio. 



HoT-HOtJSE Vegetables for Profit. In ( )c- 

 tober issue the article "Tomatoes for Profit in 

 California," impressed me that at present there 

 is a great tendency among farmers to erect 

 greenhouses under the impression that little if 

 any experience is necessary for success. This is 

 a great error, and I think such articles as the one 

 referred to is apt to lead people headlong to fail- 

 ure. The writer speaks of Tomatoes as probably 

 bringing 81.00 per pound in New York and 

 Chicago markets. I know nothing about Chicago 

 markets, but this is a figure seldom reached in 

 New York. Last season a greenhouse of Tomatoes 

 coming in bearing February 26th, and having 

 very fine specimens, retailed tor GO cents per 

 pound. February is late for New York City, 

 owing to the southern Tomatoes arriving thus 



early. Had my crop been earlier I could have 

 realized more. To the inexperienced who intend 

 building greenhouses for forcing, I say beware! 

 Tomatoes are posted desperately with red spider 

 on account of the high heat to be maintained— 

 SO" F. bright days and no less than 60° F. at night. 

 Tobacco worms which are easily overcome, also 

 bother them. There is one other obstacle, and 

 that is mildew. In all my visits to greenhouses, 

 managed by professionals. I have found only one 

 exception to mildew. Benches that are made 

 of slatting is the best preventive. A bench that 



Utilizing Old Cans in Tomato Culture 



is solid and tight retards a free circulation of air 

 under the leaves, and this induces mildew. I 

 have one solid bench and one made of slats, and 

 the plants on solid bench are mildewed while the 

 others are free. Do not attempt forcing Toma- 

 toes unless you have a properly constructed 

 house, light and ventilation being essential to 

 success. If you think of forcing Tomatoes re- 

 member that you probably will not meet with 

 much success the first, or perhaps the second 

 season. If you are going into the business inex- 

 perienced to make a living, you had better let 

 the job out to some other fellow the first season. 

 If you have plenty of money, so that you can 

 afford to give one or two yearsattention and work 

 to this branch of business, and are a person of 

 indomitable courage, and have a knowledge of 

 plant life complete with good judgment, you 

 will ultimately succeed, and that handsomely 

 too.— One who luis succeeded at last. 



Spraying Plu.m Trees. Your recent article 

 on "Spraying Plum Trees" deeply interested 

 me, and I will give my experience in that line: 

 I used four ounces of Paris green to .50 gallons of 

 water. I sprayed the Plums eight times, and it 

 proved a success an three different trees. On 

 two trees which had never borne any fruit, they 

 were literally loaded. We had to prop up all of 

 the limbs, and even then many broke below the 

 braces. One person gave me one-half for saving 

 his Plums. I got 2^^ bushels for my share 

 and sold them for $4.00 per bushel; so I was 

 pretty well paid for my trouble. Man.v thanks 

 for the information Last year I jarred the trees 

 with a mallet, and sold $10 worth of Plums from 

 two trees, besides what the family used. I think 

 it pays well to raise Plums if they are sprayed.- 

 Herbert Munson. 



The Plume Poppy. The Bocconia cordata re- 

 ferred to in the (Ictober issue, and having tall 

 stems hidden by deeply lobed, gloucous leaves, 

 and ending in cluster* of creamy-white flowers, 

 which fade into a unique rich brown, is one of 

 my favorites. When one sees this valuable plant 

 it is generally in the back of some border, where 

 it likely has been in a half-starved condition for 

 years. But such plants will not compare with 

 those planted on fresh, rich soil, for in the latter 

 a growth of nine feet may easily be reached, 

 and with some of the terminal panicles of bloom 

 nearly a yard long, besides laterals. Add to the 

 fine creamy flowers the picturesque foliage and 

 you have a hardy plant of so striking an appear- 

 ance as to fit admirably into most any collection. 

 --<Mrs. C. W. Chapin, Kings Co., N. T. 



Keeping Cabbages (page 15). I have had the 

 best results in keeping Cabbages by burying 

 them heads down under six inches of earth, and 

 then afterwards throwing over them a foot of 

 sea weed, although straw or leaves would answer 

 as well. I select a gravelly hillside— any slightly 

 elevated spot where water does not collect will 

 do— and with a spade dig a furrow long enongh 

 to hold twenty Cabbages. The soil from a 

 second opening is thrown upon the first row of 

 Cabbages. This trench is than flUed with giound 

 of a third opening, and so on. When steady 

 freezing sets in I cover with the seaweed. The 

 advantage of preserving Cabbages thus, aside 

 from their reraaininginexcellent condition until 

 spring, is that they can be so readilj' reached 

 during the winter by simply removing a 

 portion of the seaweed and earth.— Jarnc* W. 

 Crossicell, Middlesex, Co., Conn. 



