1891. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



107 



don't like too much water, preferring to 

 operate in the well-drained knolls. It got 

 most of its work in during the short drouth 

 we had in August. As the wet weather 

 came on later, we didn't see much of it. 



The only way to fight white grubs after 

 once the plants are set out, is to dig out 

 each one as the plant is found wilted in 

 the sun. This grub, like others of "dark 

 deeds," performs its work during the night, 

 cutting off the roots just below the surface. 

 It more forethought were used, there need 

 be no such damage done by this enemy. 

 Hogs, moles and skunks are very fond of 

 them. I have seen fields entirely turned 

 over by hogs in rooting for these giiibs. 

 Would it not pay Strawberry growers to 

 have a corral of hogs or skunks on the 

 ground that is to be set to Strawberries, and 

 thus save themselves much time, money and 

 anxiety? I wish I could have kept 100 moles 

 in my Strawberry bed the past season. Just 

 as the grubs started to work, I noticed that 

 a mole had followed a few rows for several 

 rods in quest of grubs. Although the fur- 

 row was made close up to them not a plant 

 was disturbsd. But this mole was stopped 

 short in his good work by our pet cat, who 

 doesn't tolerate anything in the rodent line. 



Means of Getting a Competence. 



E. P. POWELL, ONEIDA CO., N. Y. 



It I knew how a young man could get rich 

 by any special line of farming or gardening, 

 I would not tell him of it. We have suffered 

 and are suffering enough from the passion 

 to get rich. But I would like to suggest a 

 few lines of fruit culture and other culture 

 that will, if properly pursued, enable a man, 

 accidents aside, to win a good competence. 

 I should preface my advice, however, with 

 the statement that I am a strong believer 

 in small farms — very small— and highly 

 cultivated. It is very impi-obable that any 

 one will thrive hereafter as a rule by culti- 

 vating large areas of land. The era of small 

 farms seems to have set in, and the same 

 necessity has come upon the horticulturist 

 and farmer that is on all other industries, 

 to understand specialties. 



No greater nonsense is abroad than the 

 groaning of farmers over hard times. Every 

 industry that falls into speculation reacts to 

 depression. You remember when someone 

 made ■*3,000 from an acre of Strawberries. 

 There has been a boom in Grapes and 

 another in Raspberries. Hops made for- 

 tunes for some and misfortunes for ten times 

 as many more. 



Our education from top to bottom, the 

 spirit of our common schools and higher 

 schools is to excite us to scramble for wealth 

 and position. This unwholesome spirit is 

 disastrous. We have no business to aim at 

 wealth; but at competence, comfort and 

 happiness. I live in the edge of the Hop 

 belt. Where money has been made at Hop 

 raising you would expect utter content. 

 Far from it. 



If I wanted to be sure ol a fair compensa- 

 tion for my work, and that was horticultural 

 work, I would argue in this way: 1. There 

 is a certain profit in forest planting. Tim- 

 ber is sure to be scarce and in better demand; 

 wood for fuel also will bring a good price. 

 To plant a forest of Chestnut, Walnut, Ash, 

 Butternut, Oak, Locust, will positively bring 

 in due time a steady income. 



3. Whoever plants an Apple orchard from 

 seed, planting hardy, enduring stock, can 

 grow cider Apples at a very fine profit. The 

 decrease of cider Apples is going on steadUy, 

 and little is done to supply the lack. 



■i. There is invariably a good money re- 

 turn from long-keeping Pears. An orchard 

 of Anjou Pears, handled well and kept in a 

 fruit house or cool cellar, for the Christmas 

 market, would pay well. This Pear is not 

 only first in quality, but admirable in 



growth, in health, in bearing power, in 

 keeping and in shipping. I would far sooner 

 trust myself to the Anjou Pear than to 

 Peaches or Grapes. 



4. A good, large Currant orchard com- 

 bined with Red Raspberries, will surely pay 

 if near a good market. The crop is easily 

 handled and in large demand. 



5. A large orchard of sour Cherries, Early 

 Richmond for early, followed by Mazzard, 

 and then by Montmorency, will be a sure 

 source of profit. I say a large orchard, be- 

 cause so fond are the birds of Cherries that 

 we must expect to allow a large percentage 

 to them,'which is all right. 



I have named a few of thelinesof planting 

 that open before us. But in no case should 

 any one not already possessed of a fortune 

 rely on one item of culture. The secret of 

 success is to make provision each year for 

 failures of some crops. This year I lost 

 Apples, ;Pears, Plums, one-half Strawber- 

 ries, one-half Currants, Corn, and one-half 

 Potatoes; but am quite content with Rasp- 

 berries, Grapes, Cherries and Blackberries. 

 Without a division of crops I might have 

 been badly crippled. Last year the crop 

 was Pears, Raspberries, Blackberries, Cur- 

 rants, and a total loss of Grapes and Plums 

 and Apples. I think there are are not one- 

 half as many berry gardens hereabouts as 

 there were five years ago. Many rushed in 

 to reap a fortune, and got nothing. 



It is not easy to estimate the loss of time 

 and loss on stock, crates, baskets, etc., in 

 such a change of production. Yet mean- 

 while the demand for berries is not decreas- 

 ing, but increasing. The trouble was this 

 crop or that failed once or twice, and 

 swamped the growers. One-half of the Hop 

 raisers cannot stand two successsively bad 

 seasons, or a low price for two years. They 

 mortgage themselves to get stocked, and 

 must have immediate returns or go under. 

 I have watched this business; tariff or free 

 trade, or Farmers' Alliances cannotcure the 

 trouble. The bottom is in a false education. 

 We must teach our children that the true 

 aim of an American is not to be a million- 

 aire, but to have a happy home and charac- 

 ter in it. 



Early Potatoes for Market. 



It seems reasonably certain that Potatoes 

 will be very scarce long before the next crop 

 begins to come in, and that the chances for 

 the earliest "new" ones are decidedly good. 



Here is a golden opportunity for the truck 

 gardener. A little pains taken with his 

 crop will pay him well. One of the difficul- 

 ties which he may have to meet is that of 

 getting good seed when he wants it, and the 

 high price he may have to pay for it. Of 

 course he wants the " earliest good Potato." 

 The Early Ohio will fill the bill for the rich 

 and well-tilled soils of the market gardeners 

 in most cases. The Ohio Jr., Early Sunrise, 

 and Burpee's Extra Early, also will answer 

 this purpose admirably. All these are sorts 

 especially suited to garden culture, and cer- 

 tainly much more so than for field culture. 



Fortunately some of these sorts are good 

 keepers. But what stock there is left of them 

 on hand, should be carefully saved. They 

 are too good for the table this year, and will 

 be needed for planting. It will be wise to 

 purchase, or at least engage, at once the seed 

 we may require next spring. Such foresight 

 will save us money, and put us at ease con- 

 cerning our supply of seed. Under ordinary 

 circumstances we believe in rather heavy 

 seeding, but for next season it may, for obvi- 

 ous reasons, be necessary to cut the seed 

 tubers a little closer than usual. 



In order to forward the crop us much as 

 possible, the warmest piece on the place, 

 both in regard to soil and exposure, should 

 be selected, and this be plowed in narrow 

 beds in fall giving thorough surface drain- 



age. In early spring, say two weeks previous 

 to planting time, spread the seed, ready cut, 

 thinly upon the floor of a light, warm room 

 (garret), giving it a chance to develop strong 

 sprouts even if these are not more than a 

 quarter or a half inch long. Prepare the 

 ground well, have trenches 30 inches apart, 

 and place the seed pieces 13 inches apart, 

 three to four inches deep in the drill. 



The great ad vantage which early Potatoes 

 give us over late varieties is their compara- 

 tive exemption from blight and rot. The 

 professional Potato grower who almost in- 

 variably plants late varieties for "main 

 crop," has to face these and other uncertain- 

 ties, which hardly exist for the gardener 

 who plants only for early market. Our 

 fields are now filled with blight and rot 

 spores. Should the coming season be fav- 

 orable for their growth, late Potatoes are 

 very liable to be ruined again. It may be 

 wise and advisable for all to plant more 

 largely of the earlier sorts, and thus secure 

 our supply, rather than run the risk now 

 connected with the culture of the later ones. 



On the other hand we can hardly afford 

 to neglect the precaution of spraying our 

 vines with a good fungicide, preferably with 

 the ammonical copper carbonate solution. 

 This remedy is now put on the market in a 

 very handy and cheap form as "copperdine." 

 A quart of it, costing 50 cents, contains three 

 ounces of copper carbonate dissolved in 

 liquid ammonia, and when diluted with 

 water to twenty-two goUons, is ready for 

 the sprayer. 



Even the early sorts may thus be saved 

 cheaply from an attack of the blight that 

 might reduce the yield. Portable spraying 

 pumps are now offered by a number of 

 manufacturers, among others by the Field 

 Force Pump Co., of Lockport, Niagara 

 County, at about 14 dollars each. The 

 possession of one will make the work of 

 fighting the Potato bugs and diseases much 

 lighter and more convenient than it ever has 

 been before. 



Carbon Bisulphide as a Remedy for 

 Insect and other Pests. 



Bean and Pea weevils are destructive 

 creatures, and we have not yet found a 

 practicable method of keeping them out of 

 garden crops. Still it is easy enough to rid 

 seed Peas and Beans of the pest. Bisulphide 

 of carbon is a sure cure. All that is neces- 

 sary is to put the seed in an air-tide room or 

 box, in which the vapor can be confined, 

 pour in the liquid, and have the seed ex- 

 posed to the vapor for 48 hours. 



Prof. Cook, of the Michigan Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, has used it very suc- 

 cessfully in killing ants. He made a hole 

 in the nest with an iron bar, poured in one- 

 half to one ounce of the liquid, according to 

 the size of the nest, and then quickly plug- 

 ged the hole by stamping in the earth. 



He has also found it very effective in rid- 

 ding mills and grain bins of the numerous 

 insects that infest them. It is only neces- 

 sary to pour plenty of the liquid around the 

 mill, close the windows and doors as tightly 

 as possible and allow it to remain so 48 

 hours. So readidly and completely does the 

 liquid evaporate that it can be used to ex- 

 terminate insects in flour, and yet not taint 

 the flour. 



In the west it is used to destroy the prairie 

 dogs, and it has been used successfully to 

 destroy woodchucks which are so trouble- 

 some in the east. The method employed is 

 to roll up a ball of cotton batting the size of 

 a small hen's e.gg, saturate it with the 

 liquid, throw it in the hole, and quickly 

 stop the mouth of the latter with earth, 

 making it as nearly air-tight as possible. 



The drug, when bought from the manu- 

 facturer (Edward Taylor, chemist, Cleve- 

 land. O.,) is cheap enough. In .50 or 100 



