126 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



April, 



Grapes, the Banana of the North. 



E. P. POWELL, ONEroA CO., N. T. 



The letters which I have so freely received 

 in response to my Grape Notes, and which I 

 have not the time to answer by personal 

 correspondence, give me the glad assurance 

 that Grape growing is largely on the in- 

 crease. It is the Banana of the North, the 

 one fruit that we can produce in unlimited 

 quantities. Probably we can get more 

 Grapes to the acre than of most other pro- 

 ducts. It is estimated that at two cents a 

 pound, an acre of Grapes is more profitable 

 than Wheat at a dollar a bushel. But I can 

 easily average six cents a pound. Nor do I 

 fear that with discretion in planting I shall 

 be compelled to accept an average below 

 five cents for some years to come. 



For my Brightons, Hayes, Niagaras, Lind- 

 leys, Gaertners and earliest Wordens, I re- 

 ceived ten and eight cents a pound. Later 

 Grapes dropped to six and five; and jelly 

 Grapes were worth three cents. Concords 

 met such an overflowing market that the 

 sale was very slow at any figure. Whoever 

 grows Concorfls, should do so only in most 

 favorable localities. I have trellises that 

 ripen two weeks earlier than others. The 

 growing of Delawares and Concords also 

 for the most part should be left to those 

 who have a favorable climate. I can never 

 grow Delawares to compete with the Hud- 

 son Valley crop. The color is always in- 

 ferior, and so is the quality. 



One correspondent wishes tor a list 

 adapted to a much colder climate than this. 

 But it will probably be impossible to grow 

 Grapes extensively north of this latitude. 

 Grapes cannot often be relied upon to ripen 

 before September, at least in our short 

 seasons. To plant Hartford and Champion 

 will probably be as well as can be done in 

 Northern New York. In favored localities 

 I should try Adirondack, Brighton, Hayes, 

 Lady, Jewell, Green Mountain, Moyer and 

 Colerain, with perhaps Lindley, and cer- 

 tainly Worden. 



It must be always borne in mind in plant- 

 ing in a cool climate, that there are two 

 classes of Grapes, those that are sweet and 

 good as soon as colored, and those that are 

 not good to eat for a week or two weeks, or 

 even longer after coloring. A Worden half 

 ripe is a wonderfully different affair than a 

 Concord half ripe; but by the looks you can 

 not distinguish them. The first is fairly 

 good, the Concord terrific in the mouth and 

 dangerous in the bowels. Brighton is good 

 as soon as .it begins to color; so Hayes and 

 Lady. Of Moyer and Jewel and Colerain, I 

 .i udge entirely by report. They are certainly 

 early with me. 



Of Grapes purely detestable until fully 

 ripe you may set down, besides Concord, 

 Delaware, Duchess, Prentiss, Pocklington, 

 Woodruff. Jessica has the one trifling ad- 

 vantage of being as good green as when 

 ripe, but never good. Ives is another abom- 

 ination when greenish. That is, it takes 

 three times as long to ripen such Grapes, 

 but not to f(j!orthem. I find great difficulty 

 with Duchess. It is nearly impossible to 

 market them fairly. They do not ripen 

 evenly; and being white are deceptive. I 

 have lost more customers from selling them 

 Duchess than any other Grape. It is more- 

 over a Grape that half the people do not 

 like, even when it is at its best. I am very 

 fond of it, and so are all of my family; but 

 most people prefer a basket of Marthas, and 

 a few will even choose by preference, Pren- 

 tiss. The Martha is sweet; the Duchess tart. 



One correspondent asks for a list of five 

 suitable to a climate ending September 10th. 

 The trouble with such a climate is that it 

 does not open early enough in spring, and 

 pinches at both ends. I have suggested 

 above what I would do under similar cir- 

 cumstances. Plant on a sunny slope, facing 



the southeast or south,Worden, Lady, which 

 is not prolific, Moyer, etc. Then build a 

 high, tight board fence on the north and 

 west. Also, if possible, plantfor windbreaks 

 Evergreen groves or hedges. There is often 

 a difference of a full month in the fruitless 

 seasons within the space of one mile. Lo- 

 cation and protection tell wonderfully. For 

 an instance, on September 23d, 18i10, all veg- 

 etation to the east of me in the valley and 

 west of me on the hills was frosted sharply. 

 Situated on the slope in a swale facing the 

 southeast, I escaped. Nor were my Lima 

 Beans frozen to prevent ripening until the 

 first of November. I have lines of high 

 hedges of Arbor Vitse and Hemlock on the 

 west and north. Quinces are always 

 wrapped in hay and Grapes pegged to the 

 ground during winter, and both are a sure 

 crop, or nearly so. 



Another correspondent asks for further 

 information concerning keeping Grapes. Of 

 course a fruit house is the proper thing for 

 those who go extensively into the preserva- 

 tion of Grapes to supply a winter market. 

 My own success has been best in clean 

 drawers, where the Grapes, after being 

 spread without one bunch lying on or crowd- 

 ing another, are kept as cool as possible 

 without freezing. If I intended to make a 

 business of it, I would construct tiers of 

 shallow drawers as cheaply as possible. 

 The very best Grape for storage with me is 

 Diana. It is a rich Grape when slightly 

 dried, and keeps well into January or Feb- 

 ruary. Herbert is a grand Grape, but loses 

 quality by the end of December. lona, 

 although tender, thin-skinned and brittle, 

 is a capital keeper for early winter use. 

 Goethe keeps fairly, but loses fiavor. 



That the American people are getting to 

 be less a nation of meat eaters and more a 

 nation of fruit eaters, I am pleased to make 

 sure of. The consumption of Grapes is 

 enormous, but so far the supply is not in- 

 creasing beyond the increase in demand. 

 However, the main thing to aim at in horti- 

 culture is well supplied houses. Every 

 house should have a Worden, a Diamond, a 

 Niagara and a Brighton Grape vine; and if 

 climate is too severe, cover them winters. 

 They will endure almost any degree of frost 

 while leafless. Pack snow about them to 

 induce slow starting in spring. At all events 

 have them, even if you must grow them 

 under cover. They furnish the very best 

 food product known. Eat less meat and no 

 pastry; and eat all the fruit you desire, and 

 see how great is the advantage to health. 

 My own children never eat meat or butter, 

 but Grapes and honey and cereals, and 

 never know an ill of stomach or head. 



Not the least advantage about Grape 

 growing is that the fruit of choice sorts is an 

 educator quite as much as pictures educate 

 through the eye or music through the ear. 

 I believe that comparative fruit growing 

 will banish rudeness and grossness as fast 

 as books can do it. 



How to Crow Beets. 



H. W. SMITH, EAST BATON ROl'OE CO., LA. 



The Beet needs for its most successful 

 culture a light sandy loam, but it can be 

 grown with good results on any kind of soil. 

 Strong manures should not be applied to 

 land intended for Beets within a short time 

 before sowing the crop, as it is very liable to 

 cause a rank growth and to impair the fla- 

 vor, besides causing them to become forked 

 and unshapely, and so to render them un- 

 salable. What manure is applied should 

 be in a thoroughly decayed condition, but it 

 would be much jbetter to sow the crop on 

 some land that had been heavily manured 

 for some previous crop such as Cabbage. 

 Strong clays will also produce a Beet of in- 

 different flavor. 



The ground should have been deeply 

 worked and got into a nice friable condition, 

 and then be laid off in beds about six feet 

 wide. Where there is a hand drill it may 

 be used to sow the seed, but where no such 

 implement is at hand, drills must be drawn 

 with the hoe about fifteen inches apart and 

 an inch and a half deep, and the seed be 

 sown thinly in the drill and covered with 

 the back of the rake. It is a good plan to 

 moisten the seed and then whiten it with 

 plaster or flour. Thus we can more easily 

 see how thickly the seed is being sown. 



When the young plants come up they 

 should be hoed with a hand-wheel 

 hoe and the young plants be thinned to six 

 inches apart in the drills. Wherever gaps 

 occur they should be filled with the plants 

 that have been pulled up. These trans- 

 planted Beets will be up about a week later. 

 During the growing season the ground 

 should be kept clear of weeds and the soil 

 stirred frequently. Roots of a medium size 

 are the most salable, and the darker the 

 color the better the price. 



The seed may be sown from the middle of 

 April to the end of June. The best varieties 

 are the Eclipse, Early Bassano, and the 

 Blood Turnip Beet. The crop of late sown 

 Beets should be taken up before the occur- 

 ence of heavy frosts and stored away in a 

 cellar out of the reach of frost. They will 

 be found to keep better if some dry sand is 

 mixed with them. The place must not be 

 too warm, otherwise the plants will grow 

 and if this happens they will soon become 

 unsalable. 



Seed may be sown early in the year in a 

 frame or greenhouse so as to obtain plants 

 to set out as soon as the weather becomes 

 warm enough. These Beets, if properly 

 managed, will come in early when the crop 

 is scarce and so will bring a better price. 

 Beets are greatly benefitted by a light dress- 

 ing of salt or guano. This should be applied 

 after the plants are thinned. 



Manuring Cabbage in the Hill. 



To grow a good crop of Cabbages, the 

 soil must be well provided with plant foods. 

 Not only the minerals, but nitrogen also 

 must be in full supply. Plowing in Clover 

 stubble, and still better a good stand of 

 Clover, makes a most excellent preparation 

 for Cabbages, but if they are to be set very 

 early, the green manure should be plowed 

 under early enough the preceding season 

 to give a chance for the decay of the ma- 

 terial plowed in. For late Cabbages, the 

 plowing can be done in spring. In either 

 case, however, some additions to the soil 

 fertility must be made. 



If the Clover plants furnish the nitrogen 

 and carbon that may be needed for the 

 thrifty growth and full development of the 

 Cabbages, we will make sure that the pot- 

 ash and phosphoric acid is not wanting by 

 applications of wood ashes and bone flour. 

 Such applications may also assist in the 

 change whereby the unavailable nitrogen is 

 changed into the available nitrate form. 



A good way of applying these materials 

 is suggested by Mr. James J. H. Gregory in 

 American Cultivator. It has given him 

 great satisfaction. I first spread a two-inch 

 layer of fine soil, he says, on the shed floor, 

 which I moistened well with the sprinkler, 

 and then had two inches of flour of bone, 

 also well sprinkled, and then finally from 

 one to two inches of unleached wood ashes, 

 which was also well moistened. In this 

 order I formed a heap about three feet high. 

 In about a fortnight this heap had heated 

 sufficiently to dry the moisture, when it 

 was cut down with a hoe, and all the dry 

 lumps knocked up fine. I used a closed 

 handful of the mixture in each Cabbage 

 hill before planting. 



