82 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January. 



2,081. Baspberry Tips from Old or Younp 

 Bnshes, The reason that tips taken from newly 

 set plantations are usually considered better, is 

 because young plantations generally receive 

 better culture, manuring-, etc., and consequently 

 are more vigorousanrt produce better plants. It 

 a plantation of Raspberries is free from disease, 

 and is given good culture and liberal manuring, 

 although it may be several years old, the tips 



2,1H6. Peach and Cherry Seedlings. We should 

 be glad to see move of the disposition among 

 fruit growers to experiment with tree seedlings. 

 It is true the chances of bringing out valuable 

 new varieties are not exceedingly good; but 

 when man.v trials are made some good should be 

 evolved from them. Try to get pits of some of 

 the best varieties of Peaches and Cherries and 

 plant them. The trees are easily raised and will 



About Some Remarkable English 

 Fruit. 



The representation of a large Apple on 

 this page, is of a sample shown at a fruit 

 fair in Guildhall, London, last September, 

 and illustrated in the Journal of Horticul- 

 ture of that city. So large was the specimen 

 that we could not spare the space to show 



taken from it will be as good as from a newly 

 set plantation. We think a comparison can- 

 not be made between Strawberries and Rasp- 

 berries. Raspberries produce good crops on the 

 same soil tor years. Strawberries produce their 

 best crops the first year of bearing. They may 

 bear several crops year after year, yet each suc- 

 ceeding crop is generally inferior in appearance 

 and quality. If the fruit is inferior, why not 

 the plants? We will admit that plants taken 

 from a cultivated old bed, kept free from weeds, 

 etc., are superior to the choked little things we 

 find in the plantations grown up to weeds and 

 grasses.— L. J. Farmer. 



3,1.59. Tomatoes Crossing. Different varieties 

 of Tomatoes planted side by side are liable to 

 " mix." Self-fertilization, however, seems to be 

 the rule, and crossing the exceptioo. At least, 

 we have for years planted a great number of 

 varieties side by side, and annually selected seed 

 and planted seed from many of these test lots, 

 without ever striking one that we could have 

 recognized as a cross between varieties with pro- 

 nouncedly different characteristics. Among our 

 Peppers such'chance crosses have appeared quite 

 frequently, never among Egg Plants, Tomatoes 

 or other members of the Nightshade family.— O. 



3,1.=I5. Best Apples for Maine. The selection 

 of varieties depends on your market facilities. 

 If you have local sale for earliest Apples, Yellow 

 Transparent will be the first variety to select. 

 Closely following this comes the Red Astrachan, 

 which is quite salable in many markets. Later 



name Oldenb h ""d 'l-T'on-foin Ml »ho=o 



varieties are 



come into bearing in a few years. If no good i 

 they may be destroyed. Of course, such seedlings 

 may be planted very close, say in rows eight feet 

 apart, and only four feet apart in the rows. 

 When the worthless kinds are taken out there 

 will be room enough for the good ones. The 

 chances to strike something valuable are better 

 with Peaches than with Cherries. If the seeds 

 are taken from trees of different good kinds 

 standing close together, the chances with getting 

 crosses with really novel features are igreatly 

 increased.— G. R. 



2,165. Bean Weevil. If the Beans are badly 

 infected they are hardly worth saving for seed. 

 Cook them for the chickens or feed them to 

 sheep. If only a part of the Beans are weevil 

 eaten, the weevils may be destroyed by exposing 

 the Beans to the fumes of bisulphide'of carbon 

 in a closed box. If your druggist cannot or will 

 not furnish .vou a small quantity of this drug 

 for a few perinies, get some fresh insect powder 

 and mix it with the Beans, preferably in a tight 

 box or bag. Exposure to heat, say 150° Fahr., 

 for several days, will also kill the weevils.— G. R. 



2,073. Bemoving Blossoms from Newly Set 

 Strawberries. The reason that plants are injured 

 by bearing fruit is obvious. We are trying to 

 secure a stand of vines the first year, and if the 

 strength of the plant goes to the forming fruit, 

 less plant growth will be secured. In testing 

 new varieties we often let a few plants bear one 

 berry each, just to see how the fruit looks. This 

 Hn^e nnt iniiire the growth very much. Some 

 ably so the Haverland and Parker 



more than sections of it, these being, how- 

 ever, of natural size, and placed at proper 

 distance for giving the exact height of the 

 specimen. So apply your foot rules, Ameri- 

 can fruit men, and .see if you can match it 

 for size on your own fruit farms. 



It is proper to say, however, that this re- 

 markable specimen was raised in an 

 orchard house, thus having the benefit ',ot 

 all the nice attention that could be brought 

 to bear for inducing large development. 

 The variety is known as Peasgood's Non- 

 such. Its weight, we understand, was 

 30 ounces; the variety being by no means 

 one of dense, hence heavy flesh. What did 

 the owner of the big Apple do but express 

 his devotion to the Queen of England, by 

 making a present of it to that estimable 

 personage. This was done along with the 

 cream fruit of the entire show, which 

 together made an extremely handsome gift. 

 It was offered in the name of the Fruiterer's 

 Company, of London, and as showing the 

 appreciation of the executive committee of 

 the show, of the patronage graciously be- 

 stowed on it by her Majesty. 



Along with the gift was sent a beautful 



MONSTROUS APPLE: The parts our space allows of »how>iing are in the exact naturnl size. 



will leave it to our readers in Maine to name the 

 varieties of winter Apples best suited for market 

 In that state.— G. R. 



3,161. Bast on Erie Blackberry. This disease 

 Is liable to spread if not checked in time. The 

 only remedy known to cultivators now is to 

 promptly dig out the affected canes, andspeedily 

 burn them.— G. R. 



Earle, will send out new fruiting stalks after all 

 the first ones that appear have been cut off. One 

 of my friends writes that the Parker Earle bore 

 five crops of fruit with him last summer. Such 

 varieties should have the first crop of blossoms 

 removed, and afterwards, if they show any in- 

 clination to bear fruit, let them do so. They 

 have generally enough vigor to make enough 

 plants to fill the space and produce a fair crop of 

 fruit. -L. J. Farmer. 



copy, bound in Morocco, of Mr. J. Wright's 

 gold medal prize essay on " Profitable Fruit 

 Culture " for cottagers and small holders of 

 land. That the exalted, but matter-of-fact 

 recipient of the beautiful present was de- 

 lighted with the attention thus received, 

 cannot at all be doubted. 



