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POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



surface soil loose, mulch with prairie hay, straw 

 or other coarse litter to depth of six inches, ex- 

 tending a foot beyond ends of roots. 



Neglect to mulch, or frequent stirring surface 

 soil, kills many trees, especially if they are 

 daily deluged by water. In a season of pro- 

 tracted drought watering may be necessary. 

 Dig a hole near the tree, water bountifully, then 

 return the earth after water settles. 



Wrap bodies of newly-set trees with burlaps 

 or any cheap material, to shade from hot sun. 

 In a hot summer, if this Is not done, bark is often 

 killed in spots on south or southwest side In- 

 sects, having a fondness for the diseased sap, are 

 found and borere are generally accused of caus- 

 ing the damage, when it should be charged to 

 the neglect of the planter to properly shade the 

 body of tree. Spraying trees in the evening in 

 a dry time would often save them. 



The Family Fruit Garden 



{Extract of paper by Frank Brace read before a recent 



New York Farmers' Institute,) 



There is no need to urge the average far- 

 mer to give more attention to the pig sty, 

 the Cabbage patch, or the Potato field. 

 These are thought to be matters of necessity. 

 With no greater labor and care than these 

 staples require, every landowner may pro- 

 vide his tamily for several months o£ each 

 year, with a diet which, compared with hog 

 and hominy, is as the " nectar of the gods." 



To have an abundant supply upon the table, at 

 each meal, and every day for four or five 

 months, means 300 or 400 quarts of berries cost- 

 ing at the lowest calculation $)!5 to 830. None of 

 them who prefer buying to growing intend to 

 purchase anything like this amount. Yet it may 

 be easily grown on less than one-fourth of an 

 acre. No tamily can buy such supply of fruit 

 cheaper than they can raise it. A great advantage 

 of home-grown fruit over that purchased in the 

 market in its freshness. It can be allowed to 

 ripen thoroughly before it is gathered. It is 

 richer, sweeter and better in every way. 



Planting. Select if possible a piece of ground 

 that has been well enriched and thoroughly til- 

 led the previous year. Avoid wet land; it is 

 worthless for fruit of any kind. A long, nar- 

 row plat is much to be preferred to a square one, 

 as it enables one to cultivate with a horse with 

 less turning about. Do not crowd .your plants; 

 give them plenty of room. Set Strawberries 3)4 

 by 1 fool; Black Raspberries, H by 3; red varieties, 

 6 by 2; Blackberries, 8 by lij^; 100 plants each of 

 Black and Red Raspberries and Blackberries, 200 

 or 300 Strawberry plants, and '.'5 Currant bushes, 

 will be sufficient for an ordinaiy family. A 

 quart to the plant is no unusual yield. 



Varieties. Success with small fruits depends 

 largely upon a wise choice of varieties. Begin- 

 ners should plant only old and tried varieties 

 and leave the testing ot novelties to experts. 

 Buy your plants of some reliable nursery. Of 

 Strawberries, I would name Crescent, Sharpless, 

 Bubaeh, Manchester; Black Raspberries— Ohio, 

 Gregg, Tyler; Reds— Cuthbert and Marlboro, 

 (Schaffer's Colossal, a purple berry, and Golden 

 Queen, a yellow variety, are flrst-class); Black- 

 berries— Snyder and Taylor. In Currants, Fay's 

 Prolific stands at the head. 



A winter protection of strawy manure is bene- 

 ficial to all Small fruit plants, and is indispen- 

 sable to the Strawberry. Apply as soon as the 

 ground freezes in autumn. 



Causes of Failtire, A prominent cause of fail- 

 ure is careless planting. Never expose the ten- 

 ter roots of any plant to sun and air. Keep them 

 in a pail partly filled with water, and take them 

 out as fast as planted. Always "firm" the earth 

 about the roots. C:hoose a cloudy day if possible 

 for setting. Another cause of failure is poor 

 plants, and still another is poor cultivation or 

 other neglect. Many fail to get good results 

 with Red Raspberries or Blackberries, because 

 they allow them to sucker too freely; four or 

 five canes to the hill is enough; all others should 

 be treated as weeds when they appear above the 

 surface. 



Finning. The first season after planting 

 Blackberry and Raspberry plants will require 

 little pruning. In succeeding years, pinch back 

 the new growth when about three feet in height. 

 This ciuses the canes to branch, thus producing 

 more bearing surface and rendering them 

 stocky. It too long, the side arms may be cut 

 back to within a foot of the main stock in the 

 fall. Treated in this way no stakes are required, 

 and much more truif is produced. The shoot 



that springs up this year bears fruit the next. 

 All wood that has borne fruit then is valueless, 

 and should be cut out and burned as soon after 

 fruiting as possible. 



With proper care, a plantation of black Rasp- 

 berries will last five years, the red varieties a 

 little longer, while the Blackberr.v will often 

 yield profitable crops for twelve or fifteen years. 



Time of Planting. Either fall or spring will 

 do for bush fruits. There is usually more time 

 in the fall, and spring planting is often delayed 

 so long by the hurry of other work that there 

 is much to be said in favor of the former time. 

 Fall planting may be done any time after the 

 leaves drop. 



For the Strawberry, spring setting is the safest, 

 surest and best; but fair returns can be secured 

 by planting as soon as new plants can be obtain- 

 ed in the summer, which is usually in August. 

 Plants set at this season should be shaded from 

 the hot sun for a few days. I would not advise 

 letting a Strawberry bed run over two years. In 

 garden culture it is possible to keep cleaner than 

 where one has an acre or more, but the more 

 common practice with large fields is to allow 

 them to fruit one season only— it being much 

 easier to set a new bed than to weed out an old 

 one. and the fruit is much finer the first season. 

 As to cutting runners, I never do it. In the 

 garden it is well to cut out a part ot the late 

 growth. 



Cultivation of the Pose Under Glass. 



[Abstract of paper by John J. May, read before the 

 Massachusetts Hort icuttu rat Society.) 



Some of the varieties that were in their 

 glory many years ago have not yet been 

 eclipsed, but still retain their places in the 

 front rank. Among them I may mention 

 General Jacqueminot and Geant des Ba- 

 tailles. Among the tea Roses, Niphetos, 

 Lamarque, Gloire de Dijon and others still 

 rank as first favorites. 



On the other hand, many improved varieties 

 have been introduced within the last ten or 

 twenty years, for instance, the magnificent 

 Ulrich Brunner, Mrs John Laing, Earl of 

 Dufferio, T. W. Girdlestone, and many others of 

 the same family. Among the Teas, the most 

 graceful ot all, combining as they do, elegance 

 of form, beautiful color and fragrance, stand 

 preeminently Catherine Mermet and her ofi'- 

 spring, the Bride, which to-day is recogniztd all 

 over the civilized world as the finest Tea Rose 

 in cultivation; and of this year's introduction, the 

 glorious Waban, and its mother and sister grown 

 and produced at the celebrated Waban conser- 

 vatories in Massachusetts. These clearly de- 

 monstrate that the cultivation of the Rose has 

 wonderfully advanced within the last decade. 



Cultivation. Twenty years ago the principal 

 Roses grown for our market were Bon Silene, 

 Safrano, Lamarque and a few others of like 

 character. The only Roses of any size then 

 grown were Mareehal Niel and Cornelia Cook; 

 to-day these are almost supplanted by much 

 superior varieties. To attain this end, consider- 

 able skill has been brought to bear on their cul- 

 tivation. Twenty years ago possibly five thous- 

 and Roses per day was the limit of supply for 

 New York city; now as many as fifty thousand 

 Roses per day can often be found there. To 

 meet the demands of the public many changes 

 in the cultivation have been brought about; 

 where from the olil system one Rose was cut, at 

 the present time ten are cut from the same 

 space. How has this tieen brought about? 

 Largely by superior cultivation. Formerly 

 they were all grown on the solid bed of the green- 

 house; now they are grown on raised benches, 

 beds, etc., and with the greatly improved style 

 of greenhouses now at the command of the 

 grower, he is enabled to produce large quantities 

 with little expense compared with formerly. 



The modern general practice is to replant fine, 

 healthy, new stock every year, or at most every 

 two years. The finest Roses in the country are 

 now produced on benches, etc., with from two 

 and a half to four inches of soil. To keep plants 

 in such a shallow bench constantly bearing, they 

 must, ot course, have liberal treatment. 



After they are planted, sa.y in July, and get 

 fairly started into growth, they need a mulching 

 ot the best manuie they can have. This induces 

 surface root action, which roots should never be 

 disturbed. In the course of eight or ten weeks 

 the plants will have absorbed this coat of 

 mulching. My jiracticc is then to give a light 

 dressing of pure, fine-ground bone, covering it 



with another thin coat of manure; this is feeding 

 the plants where it will do the most good, and at 

 the same time keep up their roots where they 

 will get all the benefit of the fresh air circulat- 

 ing through the house This process is repeated 

 as often as required, and where the plants are 

 growing very strong, careful application of 

 other stimulants, such as liquid manure, nitrate 

 of soda, etc., is of great benefit to them, pro- 

 vided of course, that due care is used in their 

 application. 



To apply such strong stimulants injudiciously 

 means simp'y ruin not only to the flowers but 

 the plants also. I do not hesitate to say that 

 more plants have been killed by over-feeding 

 than b.v all other causes put together. To main- 

 tain a i)lant in fine health and vigor it requires 

 careful and judicious feeding, just as an animal 

 does, and the harder it works the more care it 

 requires. 



In growing Roses in the open ground the con- 

 ditions are totally different. The action of the 

 air, the wonderful power of absorption of 

 the soil of unlimited depths, dew by night, rains 

 and sun by day— all tend to produce such a vast 

 difference from the conditions of a greenhouse, 

 where every drop of water or particle of manure 

 has to be brought into direct contact with the 

 roots of the plants that it would seem almost an 

 absurdity to make any comparison whate\'er. 



Simple Sules for Success. For the successful 

 cultivation of the Rose under glass, there are a 

 few simple rules to follow: First, to procure a 

 suitable soil, which should be, it possible, sod 

 freshlj- taken from an old pasture; that having 

 plenty of grass root fibre in it, is generallj' the 

 best. If vex-y heavy, the addition of a litieral 

 proportion of sharp sand will improve it, but if 

 of a very light sandy nature, the addition of 

 some of a clayey nature will, for most Roses, be 

 beneficial. When carting together in the spring 

 mix with it one part of good, clean cow manure 

 to six, eight or ten parts of soil, according to the 

 quality of the soil. Turn it over two or three 

 times and it is ready to put into the Rose house. 



The next thing is good, strong, clean and 

 healthy plants, for without such no one need 

 expect the best results, and the next thing is to 

 keep the house, after the Roses are planted, in a 

 good condition as long as they are in it, which 

 means all the year round. This is more import- 

 ant than many suppose, for no plant can reason- 

 ably be expected to thrive, where dirt, mud and 

 decaying vegetable matter are allowed to lay 

 unmolested for weeks or months together. 



Lastly comes the watering and general care of 

 the plants. As a general rule, a Rose in full 

 growth should never be allowed to become dust 

 dry, neither should it be flooded with water till 

 the soil becomes almost of the nature of mud, 

 but for nearly all soils it is better to water the 

 plants immediatly after the soil shows the least 

 indication of getting solid, or turning slightly 

 light in color. 



-CONDENSED GLEANINGS. 



The Swamp Lily {LiUtim superhum). The 

 only recognized varie'y name of the Swamp 

 Lily that I can find, LUhim superbiim pjfraini- 

 dale, might be truthfully applied to all or nearly 

 all of the more vigorous specimens, as the ele- 

 gantly reflexed blooms are arranged in an al- 

 most perfect pyramid. In color the flowers of 

 the Swamp Lily vary from a pale .vellowish tint 

 to a rich orange red. The number and arrange- 

 ment of the spots, too, show a great difference. 

 There are two beds ot the Swamp Lily at Kew, 

 and last August they were the admiration of 

 everyone, as in many cases the spikes were near- 

 ly as thick as a broom-handle, and carried a 

 large pyramid of Howers. While some reached 

 the hight of 8 feet, or thereabouts, many of the 

 shorter ones bore Bowers equally fine with 

 thera. In its native state this Lily is said to 

 grow on the outskirts of damp woods and in the 

 neighborhood ot streams, so that moisture is 

 essential to its well-doing; but, at the same time 

 the soil needs to be drained. The beds at Kew 

 in which this Lily did so well are situated at the 

 back ot the Palm house, where the soil is at all 

 times fairly moist. A gi'oup of North American 

 Lilies is distinguished by their peculiar rhizoma- 

 tous bulbs, and in L. superbum this character is 

 very pronounced. When established this Lily 

 will push out a rhizome to an extent of perhaps 

 I) inches from the old bulb, and on the point of 

 this rhizome another bulb will be formed, which 

 in its turn will search for new quarters. While 

 the connection between the old bulb and the 

 new is usually totally devoid of scales, occasion- 



