1891- 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



97 



Roses will reward him for all trouble taken in 

 flgbting insects by the superior flowers. If you 

 wish to see your Roses at their best don't spare 

 the manure heap. 



Regarding varieties, the Rose combining all 

 the good points has not yet appeared. The best 

 Roses of to-day have stood the test of a quarter 

 of a century, they are not those that arc found 

 in the list of novelties. 



CONDENSED GLEANINGS. 

 A Point for You. An Ohio amateur put his 

 Clandy Strawberries in new baskets and sold 

 them to a railway eating-house keeper, who sold 

 to passengers for 2j cents per quart. Compared 

 with ten cent Oranges and five cent Bananas 

 sold on the train, they were not dear. A western 

 New York berry-grower put his Bu- 

 bach Strawberries into pasteboard 

 trays, such as are used by grocers for 

 butter, etc. He had them sold on i 



commission by a confectioner and 

 realized 15 cents net per plate of 38 

 Strawberries. A Fredonia, N. Y., 

 Grape grower had some iive pound 

 baskets carefully packed with black, 

 red and white Grapes and stenciled 

 "fancy packed." In some markets 

 they brought 50 cents a basket, and 

 in a crowded market netted eight 

 cents a basket more than the same -r.rs=- 



varieties packed separately. Erie '."c=S 



Blackberries brought $4 a bushel 

 when Snyder brought but $3. Thus 

 one can get extra price by putting 

 superior fruit in flrst-class shape and 

 looking up a special market. -New York Tribune. 



Breeding Insects for Experiments. This is 

 what the California State Board of Agriculture 

 proposes to carry on. The " factories " are simply 

 glass houses built over large Orange trees where 

 the destructive cottony cushion scale ilcerya 

 purehasi) can be thickly colonized, and at the 

 approach of inclement weather, a lew of the 

 Nedalia cardinalis or ladybird, an imported insect 

 that preys upon the tioublesome scale insect, 

 will be placed in the houses too. It is hoped in 

 this way to keep the valuable little foreigner 

 through the winter, that he may be prepared to 

 clear the orchaids next year. The dimensions 

 of each are IB feet in diameter by 18 feet in 

 elevation; every part is well fitted and the ven- 

 tilation protected by very fine brass wire mesh 

 to guard against the entry of any ladybirds 

 before the cold weather sets in, otherwise the 

 scales would be destroyed by them early in the 

 season; and also to prevent the ladybirds from 

 escaping during the time they are being colon- 

 ized for distribution in the spring. — Rural New 

 Yorker. 



Hedge Fence the Best, I have one and one- 

 half miles of hedge that has been set tor thirty 

 years, and I must say I have had less trouble 

 from any kind of stock getting over or through 

 it, than with any other fence on the farm. The 

 most of my hedge has been lopped down ; I 

 think it the best way to make a tight fence. I 

 trim mj' hedge twice a year. There is no use 

 having a hedge over a foot wide ; the narrower 

 it is trimmed, the thicker it will grow at the 

 bottom. I like hedges so well that I have set one 

 and one-half miles more this spring. I set the 

 plants a foot apart. If a hedge is kept in the 

 right shape, a man can trim one mile a day, and 

 not tear his shirt, either. My hedges have been 

 good fences for twenty-Hve years, and I don't 

 see why they won't last fifty or seventy-five 

 years longer. Some farmers in this victnity 

 have lost enough by having valuable horses 

 ruined to have fenced whole farms with hedge. 

 —Farm and Fireside. 



A Sturdy Little Mountaineer. The most re- 

 markable fiower I have ever come across, says 

 Mr. B. C. Truman, is that lonely little thing 

 which grows H,UU0 feet above the sea on Mount 

 Whitney— at a point among the clouds where all 

 other vegetation has ceased. It is the monarch 

 of the world among flowers, and is radiant with 

 beauty, and freights the atmosphere with aro- 

 matic sweets. There is no soil, not even a 

 thimbleful, and no moisture except snow and hail 

 and ice, where it grows and looks pretty and 

 proud. It is shaped like a bell-Hower, and is 

 gaudy in colors of red, purple and blue. It is 

 Poiemonium confcHutn, one of the Jacob's 

 Ladder family. Its fragrance partakes of the 

 white Jasamine, with an assimilation of Musk. 

 Lt blooms alone, for it has not any tloral 

 associates, not even a spear of grass or shrub. 



There is no creature, not even bird or insect, to 

 keep it company a single minute of the year.— 

 Prairie Farmer. 



A Good Word for Hedges. It your hedge is 

 thin and scattering it must be bent down ; let 

 the stalks grow till an inch or an inch and a 

 quarter thick, then bend and weave together. 

 In weak places it will be well to throw earth 

 upon it after bending down. To have a neat 

 hedge, trimming twice a year is necessary; the 

 best times I find to be June and September. 

 With the hedge cut square across it is easy to 

 cut the young tender sprouts close down and 

 even with the cut of the old stalk; with a curved 

 stick in left hand throw off as fast as cut : 

 never leave the brush on the hedge, it looks 

 miserable when dry. I hear men say that a 



APPLE ORCHARD TREES GOOD AND OTHERWISE. 



hedge is a very e.xpensive fence ; true there is a 

 good deal of work the first three or four years, 

 but after the fence is made and properly shaped 

 up and cleaned off 1 find I can keep it trimmed 

 for a little over a cent a rod per year.— Ind. Far. 



How to Orow Mushrooms in the Fields. Most 

 people like Mushrooms, but I do not meet with 

 many people who know how to grow them. I 

 allude to those grown in the open fields and 

 parks. I have picked a basketful of Mushrooms 

 of all sizes each day on a field of about eight 

 acres of old pasture, on which, about ten years 

 ago, I appUed, in the month of February, about 

 three cwt. of ordinary rough salt to the acre, 

 and soon after dibbled in by means of a sharp 

 spud, bits of Mushroom spawn as big as a Bean 

 all over the field. This I did by myself by de- 

 grees during a space of a month or more, and 

 the result has been that on this field I have had 

 a grand lot of M ushrooms every year, from about 

 May until Sept. I have some salt put on this 

 flield more or less every year since 1 first did it, 

 and shall continue to do so, as the dressing not 

 only assists in the production of Mushrooms, but 

 it also improves the quality of the grass, which 

 is grazed by cattle and horses, and sometimes by 

 sheep alternately.— Land and Water. 



Japan Plums. While it is not likely that the 

 new plums from Japan will endure the winter of 

 New York and New England, it might be well 

 for persons farther south to plant a tree or two, 

 selecting a protected situation. At the end of the 

 house, near where this is written, a tree of Kel- 

 sey, one of the best of the Japan varieties, was 

 planted four years ago, and it has done well. It 

 was an experiment, the position being chosen to 

 shield it from the cold west winds and also give 

 it the benefit of some warmth from the house. 

 The appearance of the ti-ee, wholly unlike Dam- 

 son and some others, indicates that the new 

 strain will be proof against the black knot, 

 which is ruining the Uamson, and the Morello 

 cherries. The only hope of saving the cherry 

 trees is to cut down and burn every Damson tree 

 in the country, and every cherry tree that be- 

 comes affected.— National Stockman. 



The Oleander Poisonous. A German paper 

 says that it is perhaps not generally known that 

 the leaves of the beautituland gorgeous Olean- 

 der are endowed with extremely poisonous 

 properties, and that injurious effects may follow 

 the cultivation of the plant in inhabited houses. 

 The poisonous character of the plant is men- 

 tioned by Pliny, and in Madrid, several persons 

 were poisoned by eating game which had been 

 roasted with Oleander leaves. In the southern 

 parts of Spain and Italy, the grated bark is used 

 as poison for rats, mice and vermin, and places 

 where the Oleander grows in abundance are 

 considered as unhealthy as the terrible fever 

 swamps, In Northern Africa, where the Olean- 

 der grows luxuriantly and adds a wonderful 

 cbaim to the banks of every stream, it is not 



tolerated near human homes, and in some dis- 

 tricts its cultivation is prohibited.— Florida 

 Dispatch. 



Watch the Insect Wrappings on Fruit Trees. 

 Fruit growers should exercise great care and 

 watch closely, trees, the trunks of which they 

 have wrapped with cloth for the destruction of 

 insect pest. The wrapping should not be too 

 tight and of a material least likely to shrink, 

 after having been wet. A piece of burlap is the 

 best. Cotton cloth wrapped closely about the 

 trunk of the tree, becoming wet by rain, will 

 shrink considerably and if wrapped about a 

 number of times and tied, will not expand to 

 allow for the growth of a young tree, which is 

 very rapid. If you fail to inspect such trees 

 often, when your attention is called to them and 

 you remove the cloth, you will find the tree has 

 been seriouslj' damaged by an over 

 growth above and below the portion 

 , around which the cloth was wrapped, 



and will resemble a tree that has been 

 girdled.— California Fruit Grower. 

 Bleached Dried Fruit Vnhealthfnl. 

 Director Hilgard of the California 

 Station believes that the public 

 should be taught to prefer "healthy, 

 brown, high-Uavored fruit to the 

 sickly-tinted, chemically-tainted pro- 

 duct of the sulphur-box." When 

 freshly sliced fruit is treated with 

 sulphurous acid for a short time, the 

 effects are slight, yet such as to pro- 

 tect the fruit from insects. When 

 thoroughly sulphured after drying, 

 however, the fruit is injured in flavor; 

 and, worse still, sulpuric acid is 

 formed in sufficient amount to be injurious to 

 health. By analysis, sulphured apricots have 

 been found to contain .333 per cent of sulphuric 

 acid, or 15 grains oil of vitrol per lb. and prunes 

 'iAti per cent of sulphuric acid (35 grains per 

 lb). In most countries of Europe the sale of 

 sulphured fruit is forbidden. —U.S. Dept. Report. 

 Orchards Good and Otherwise. A common 

 mistake in years past was in supposing that 

 orchards did not require care anil enriching. A 

 neighbor transplanted a hundred tine Peach 

 trees into a Clover meadow, and allowed such 

 chance as the place afforded them. In two 

 years only three remained. In contrast with 

 these was an orchard of a lew Apple trees, 

 in an adjoining state, on a place of a few 

 acres, the owner of which made it a rule to 

 spread all the enriching material he had of any 

 kind, the manure of the horse and cow, on the 

 orchard ground. No crop was raised beneath 

 the trees, and the ground was so rich and mellow 

 that it could be easily kicked ioote with the foot. 

 The trees were loaded with large and beautiful 

 fruits, while in other orchards in the neighbor- 

 hood they were small and few. Another owner 

 of a hundred and thirty acres in this state made 

 the raising and sale of fruit his chief business and 

 source of profit, selling his entire annual crop 

 for about 500 dollars. The rest of his farm was 

 tributary to his orchards, nearly all the manure 

 was given to Iruit trees.— Country Gentleman. 



Money in Cabbage Plants. I plowed a strip 

 of sod about 3x10 rods, spread broadcast a big 

 load of horse manure, and after thoroughly pul- 

 verizing with a spring tooth harrow, drilled in 

 three pounds of Cabbage seed. The seed cost 

 $3.40 per pound, and the job was done April 29. 

 By May 30 I began pulling plants to set, and sold 

 plants at 35 cents per 100 or $3 per 1000, selling 

 $55.50 worth at these prices. When the plants 

 began to be more plenty, I dropped to 30 cents 

 per 100 or $1..00 per 1000, and continued selling at 

 that price until I realized |115 besides the 13,000 

 plants I set myself. I plowed under the weeds 

 about July 1st, and sowed to flat Turnips, and 

 shall have a fair crop, which will pay for all the 

 labor. The manure cost $0, the Cabbage seed 

 $7.30, and the labor Sv). — Farm and Home. 



Lilies in Late Summer. Good white flowers 

 are scare during the latter part of summer. If 

 the florist has a spare bed si.v leet wide, he can 

 obviate this trouble b.v planting white lilies. 

 The Candidum is the first to bloom, coming 

 about June 30tb, then Speciosum album prascox, 

 followed by Speciosum album, and last Speci- 

 osum album corymbiflorum. To prepare the 

 ground properly, thoroughly fork to the depth 

 i of twelve to fllteen inches; no stable manure 

 should be used, but ground bone, at the rate of 

 two tons per acre, can safely and profitably be 

 worked into the ground, but it must be well 

 mi.ved before planting the lily bulb. October is 

 I the lime to plant.- The Florists' Exchange. 



