I89I. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



95 



on seedling Peach trees and twenty were grafted 

 on seedling Peach roots. For grafting Plums 

 we use whole roots, graft at the crown, using as 

 near as possible a graft the size of root. 



The forty trees budded on Peach stock com- 

 menced dying at six years old and are now all 

 dead, the twenty grafted on Peach roots soon 

 grew on their own roots and thirteen are yet 

 alive and healthy. A Plum tree grafted as de- 

 scribed will throw out sprouts which will bear 

 the same fruit as the parent tree. One half of 

 my Early Richmond Cherry trees have been 

 killed by gophers eating the roots off. If hogs 

 run in a Plum orchard they will eat them very 

 readily, and Cherries will sprout but little. 

 Plum trees will get their full growth in about 

 eight years. I planted mine twelve feet apart* 

 should be eighteen to twenty feet apart. Plums 

 require such land and culture as Peaches, but 

 the Peach tree needs more pruning than any tree 

 I know. The Plum needs the least. Pick Plums 

 for market three or four days before you would 

 for family use. No fruit or grains pays better 

 for the amount of work required than the Plum. 

 One acre of Plums will make more pork than five 

 acres of corn. 



Crape Experience in Kansas. 



(Abstract of paper before Kansas State Horticultural 

 Soi-ietu by E. P. Fisher.) 



The past season has been one of the most 

 unfavorable ever known here for Grapes. 

 A late frost in the spring injured the bloom 

 and a long drouth caused many Grapes to 

 rot on the vines before ripening. Many of 

 the finer kinds did well this season and bore 

 a heavier crop than the Concord which bore 

 only a light crop. 



Worden heavily loaded fruit, bunch and ber- 

 ries large— quality better than Concord. This 

 kind seems likely to supercede the latter. 



The Pocklingtou bore heavy fruit, large, good 

 quality though fo.ify. 



Niagara quality better than Pocklington, not 

 quite as hardy. 



Moore's Diamond large attractive of fine qual- 

 ity; pulp tender and without foxiness. Vine 

 vigorous foliage healthy. 



Mills fine new black Grape clustei-s good size, 

 berries medium, rich in quality with a tine mus- 

 cat flavor and a long keeper; vine vigorous and 

 healthy. 



Oriental exquisitely fine quality, large and at- 

 tractive, vine healthy and vigorous. It should 

 be more extensively planted. 



Among all the late Grapes none surpassed 

 Goethe. 1 am also much pleased with Etta for a 

 tine late Grape. Both last season and this it has 

 borne heavily without any imperfection; bunch 

 medium, compact, berry medium, color white 

 and quality excellent. 



Duchess bore well. The fruit is small but 

 quality equal to Delaware; the bunches are 

 medium long, compact; must be given winter 

 protection. Prentiss has also done well the past 

 season and has borne a full crop. The quality 

 is much better than Pocklington. It should be 

 covered in winter. The Victoria bore a little 

 fruit; similar to Pocklington in quality, healthy 

 and hardy. It is late ripening, three or four 

 weeks after ("oncord. The Vergennes stands 

 nearly at the head, healthy and productive fruit. 

 A long keeper and good shipping Grape. 



Empire State bore well but wilted on the vines 

 from the severe drouth. One vine carefully ir- 

 rigated, bore 1;20 fine clusters. I would prefer 

 Moore's Diamond over Empire State in size of 

 fruit and healthiness of foliage also hardier. 

 Moore's Early bore well. I place it at the head 

 of all early black Grapes so far tested. 



The Eldorado has always made a vigorous 

 growth; fruit excellent, not productive. 



Ann Arbor failed to come up to my expec- 

 tations in the quantity and quality. 



The Willis fine quality but weak grower; fruit 

 small. 



The Pearl good quality, rine healthy and hardy. 



The Iterckra.tns, I am much pleased with; 

 about the size of Brighton and of very fine 

 iiuality. The vine is vigorous and healthy. 



The Jewell seems healthy and hardy, has not 

 fruited yet. 



The Lindley has done well this season. Not as 

 reliable as the Goethe. 



The Wilder and Salem have made a good 

 growth and have borne a good crop but the foli- 

 age of the Salem was injured and the fruit failed 

 to ripen properly. 



The Herbert fruited this season. I am much 

 pleased with it. lona bore heavily and the fruit 

 was of the finest quality. The Amber Queen 

 bore a little this season. It is very early and the 

 fruit of fine quality. 



Wyoming Red not as early as expected. Ripens 

 with Brighton. Fruit medium size and fair qual- 

 ity. The vine is vigorous, healthy and hardy. 

 No doubt valuable for general cultivation. 



The Ulster Prolific and Poughkeepsie Red seem 

 to be similar in vine and fruit. Vines of slow 

 growth, fruit small but of the finest quality. 

 Hayes, or F. B. Hayes I have not fruited yet but 

 the slow growth will be against it for general 

 planting. The Catawba has done well, healthy, 

 hardy and productive. Fruit should be thinned. 

 The Telegraph also bore heavily; thin. Very 

 subject to the attacks of birds. The Amber 

 has not borne a large quantity but the crop was 

 fair, fruit good. 



Gieen Mountain and Mason's Seedling both 

 early white Grapes, have made a fair growth. 

 Jessica bore well but wilted badly from the 

 drouth. It is small but of fine quality. The 

 Moyer and Witt have made a moderate growth 

 and proved quite healthy in foliage but have not 

 fruited. 



I will give a listof reliable varietiesfor general 

 vineyard planting; white, red and black kinds 

 in order of ripening. White, Moore's Diamond, 

 Mason's Seedling, Niagara, Martha, Empire State 

 Pocklington, Victoria, Etta, Red, Wyoming Red, 

 Buckmans, Vergennes, Goethe, Catawba, Amber, 

 Black, Moore's Early, Early Victor, Telegraph, 

 Worden and Concord. Promising new varieties 

 likely to prove hardy and reliable : Jewel, Green 

 Mountain, Moysr, Witt, Eaton. 



Fine table Grapes that it will pay to give 

 special care for their fine quality and attractive 

 appearance are : Herbert, Duchess, .lessica, 

 Jeflcrson, Amber 1 Queen, Oriental, Lindley, 

 Salem, Brighton,Prentis8, Mills, lona and Wilder. 



Ferns as House Plants. 



{Extracts of papers before the Columbus Ohio Horticul- 

 tural Society.) 



Mr. W. C. Werner, read a paper on " The 

 Culture of Ferns in the Conservatory and 

 Window Garden." He remarked that the 

 culture of Ferns in the conservatory and 

 window garden is becoming more general 

 every year. They are becoming almost in- 

 despensable for decorative purposes. Ferns 

 require a light open soil, a mixture of equal 

 parts of thoroughly decomposed sod, leaf- 

 mould or woods earth and clean sand is the 

 best for general use. 



Strange to say, Ferns require good drainage and 

 the hole in the bottom of the flower pot should 

 be enlarged. This enlarged opening should be 

 covered with a few pieces of broken flower pot. 

 It must not be inferred from this however that 

 Ferns require but little moisture. Liberal sup- 

 plies of water are necessary when the plants are 

 growing freely, and unless it can drain away 

 quickly the soil is apt to become sour and the 

 roots are in.1ured. 



A great mistake is often made by keeping 

 Ferns in a higher temperature than they require, 

 and when— as is often the case in living rooms— 

 this high temperature is combined with a dry 

 atmosphere, insect pests put in their appearance 

 at once. The most persistent of these is the scale 

 insect which attaches itself to the stems and 

 under side of the leaves. The only way to eradi- 

 cate it, is by using a damp sponge or soft rag and 

 gently rubbing them off. The green fly will 

 sometimes appear on the young growth and will 

 dwarf and deform the plant. Careful fumigating 

 with tobacco will exterminate the green fly and 

 thrips. The former will succumb at once, the 

 latter will not be got rid of so easil.y. if careless- 

 ly performed this remedy is sometimes worse 

 than the disease, as the curled and scorched 

 leaves often testify. Laying the plant on its side 

 and gently syringing with weak tobacco water, 

 or carefully immersing the plant, it it is not to 

 large, is a good way to destroy insect enemies. 



One of the essentials of growing Ferns is a 

 moist atmosphere. Frequently, in very hot, dry 

 weather, it is best to reduce the quantity of air 

 in day time and increase it at night. W. R. La- 

 zenby said that one very good way to grow Ferns 

 was in a Wardian case. This case in some of its 

 forms offers the simplest means of window gar- 

 dening. When a Fern case is once stocked it 

 requires but little attention, is not easily attected 

 by changes of temperature, is not injured by 



dust, or by the exhalations from coal fires or gas- 

 light. The Fern case supplies the following 

 conditions: A moist atmosphere, free from dust 

 or poisonous gases; an equable temperature; 

 diffused light, and a moist soil. A good soil for a 

 Fern case is equal parts of leaf mould, sand and 

 decayed turf. 



In addition to almost every variety of Fern, 

 the following plants will often do well in a War- 

 dian case: Partridge vine {Mitchella), Arbutus, 

 Wintergreen, Pitcher plants. Club mosses, (I^y- 

 cnpotUum), Orchids, Violets, &c. 



Tomato Culture in the South. 



iJ. W. Day. before Mississippi Horticitltural .Soeiel y.) 



To grow a crop of Tomatoes as a success 

 flnaneially, requires considerable muscle, 

 mind and money. The aim of all who grow 

 is to get them early, prolific and of good 

 quality. When this is accomplished there 

 is money in the crop, but if neglected it is 

 poor pay. 



Select a good Tomato, as Livingston's Beauty, 

 Essex's Hybrid, Acme, Livingstone's Favorite. 

 The three first named are of a red, pinkish color, 

 which is a decided advantage in the market. 

 Sow seed the 1.5th of January. 



Sowjne Seed. Have a rich, fine soil on hot- 

 beds, then mark off a few rows four inches apart 

 the short way of bed, and about one inch deep. 

 Sow at the rate of 250 seeds to six feet row. 

 Keep thermometer from si.xty-five to eighty de- 

 grees. Set the thermometer in the bed with 

 bulb, in the soil two or three inches facing the 

 sun. When the glass begins to sweat, the beds 

 need ventilating by pushing a sash a little. 



Transplanting. After three or four weeks the 

 plants will need resetting They are ready [when 

 the third leaf above the seed leaves shows. We 

 transplant at this stage under glass right where 

 the seeds were sown. We set them down to seed 

 leaves and press the soil a little to the plant, but 

 at the same time press downward. Shade the bed 

 a day or two if the plants wilt much. 



When the plants get four or five inches high 

 and about the size of a lead pencil, they should 

 be transplanted again to cold frames. They now 

 should stand five in a square, and if rather shaky 

 set pretty deep. We never made our cold frames 

 very rich, as we then get too much top and not 

 enough roots. 



In preparing our cold frames about the first of 

 February, we put on a small sprinkle of fine 

 stable manure, say twenty bushels to one hun- 

 dred feet, and twentj' pounds fertilizer, or rich 

 soil about a chicken roost is good as any. Then 

 we plow and harrow up with soil where our cold 

 frames are to stand, leaving the soil in a ridge. 

 When plants are nearing the time of going to 

 field, they should have all the sun and air they 

 can get day and night when there is no fear of 

 heavy rains or storms. The plants will need one 

 good shower about ten days before they go to 

 the field to settle the dirt firmly. 



Flantinf; to Field. .About the first of April, in 

 this latitude we find that the heaviest frosts are 

 over and plant a few hundred of the largest. 

 The evening before planting, we water heavily 

 the plants we intend to plant next day. This 

 makes the dirt remain in square sods Just as cut. 

 We usually use a mason's trowel with about two 

 inches of sharpened end off and ground round 

 and sharpened. With this we cut each row of 

 plants both ways, in cold frame, then run 

 under a plant taking about four inches of soil. 



Preparation of Land. The lands should be 

 bedded in five feet rows or beds in late fall. 

 Three weeks before planting time, center fur- 

 row deep and throw two light furrows on center 

 furrow with a light plow, then smooth with a 

 harrow; then put on the manure and fertilizers. 

 We use principally commercial fertilizers to the 

 amount of 600 to 800 pounds to the acre. Rich 

 soil does not require any ammonia, as it makes 

 too much weed and causes too much cracking in 

 the Tomatoes and rot at the blossom end, should 

 a drouth set in. 



We prepare land by breaking out all of old or- 

 iginal bed, run a harrow over it, then open with 

 a turning plow right on top of the ridge over 

 where the fertilizers are lying; run two furrows 

 one in the other so as to stir up fertilizers, and 

 throw a little on top. After the land has been 

 stirred in this manner in early spring, there is 

 not much chance for cut worms to do any dam- 

 age because they are used up. 



.*s planting begins, a man goes ahead and 

 opens up smooth places every two or three feet 

 where plants are to be set; then come two men 



