I50 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



Apple Varieties. To those who con- 

 template planting Apple trees extensively, 

 I would advise to avoid many varieties. 

 Look around, find out what sorts do well in 

 the kind of soil you intend planting in, and 

 confine yourself to but a few, say five varie- 

 ties. Here that selection for winter would 

 be Jonathan, Ben Davis, Winesop, Willow 

 Twig, and York Imperial. 



The Clayton is attracting considerable 

 attention. It is of good size, handsome, an 



having rows about twelve or fifteen inches 

 apart, and plants ten to twelve inches apart 

 in the rows. If planted too early it is liable 

 to run up to seed. 



When large enough for blanching, in 

 September or October, the leaves of each 

 plant are gathered up and tied around their 

 middle with string or matting. In about 

 three weeks they will be blanched enough 

 for use. We have blanched them in less 

 time, and very beautifully, by putting a 







proper depth and spreading them well. 

 This is much better and safer than planting 

 with a dibber. 



iVi-.--^ 





^-^, 





ENDIVE DWARF GHEEN CUHLED. 



early and abundant bearer, hardy tree, and 

 the Apple will keep as long as any. But to 

 my taste the quality is not up to the mark. 

 Ben Davis still takes the lead here, and it 

 doesn't matter how much the quality is run 

 down, it still takes. Why not? If the 

 Wilson and Crescent Strawberries stand 

 first and the Early Richmond Cherry, and 

 the Concord Grape, neither of which can 

 claim much in point of quality, why may 

 not old Ben hold its place? 



What we want is an Apple just like Ben 

 Davis in all respects, but with the quality 

 of a Jonathan or Newtown Pippin. 

 Whether such an Apple is among the 

 coming ones or is already here, I don't know. 

 So long as I can have Jonathans, Grimes' 

 Golden, Winesop, Yellow Bellflower, and 

 Newton Pippin, I am satisfied. Jennetting 

 may also be in the li.st. In my family Ben 

 Davis is not eaten if any of the others are 

 to be had. 



Fruit Outlook. A month ago the mild 

 weather threatened to advance the fruit 

 buds so as to threaten their destruction by 

 late frosts, but now we have real winter for 

 some weeks. This has kept them back so 

 that at this time the prospect for a fruit 

 crop is good. Strawberry heds look well, 

 and it is with some anxiety I look forward 

 to see the new ones, many of which are to 

 fruit for the first time. Out of some fifty 

 new varieties it is possible that a perfect 

 Strawberry in all respects may be found. 



WHITE BATAVIAN. 



large bottomless flower-pot over each plant. 



The sort most commonly grown in this 

 country is the Dwarf Green Curled, shown 

 in left figure of illustration. The single- 

 leaf also belongs to that variety. The 

 figure at the right represents the broad- 

 leaved White Batavian. 



Of course this vegetable can he and is 

 grown as a second crop, after Peas, 

 Radishes, Early Cabbage, Early Beets, 

 Beans, etc. 



Endive as Salad Material. 



We can not easily have too much of really 

 good salad material. While we might ex- 

 tend the season of cooling Lettuce very con- 

 siderably by successive planting, and per- 

 haps by shading during the summer heat, 

 or by the selection of semi-shady locations, 

 yet it is true that the hot season is not 

 favorable to the production of Lettuce, and 

 in most cases it will be simpler and safer to 

 rely on plauts for salad material that are 

 well suited to the atmospheric conditions 

 as found in midsummer and autumn. 



Sometimes we wonder why Endive, which 

 stands foremost among these our autumn 

 salad plants, is not more appreciated by the 

 average home gardener. It really makes a 

 fine and wholesome salad, and when well- 

 blanched, it has a mild nutty fiavor that is 

 exceedingly gratifying to our taste 



Seed may be sown in June or July, and 

 transplanted into rich, well prepared soil. 



Setting Out Cabbage Plants. 



We can not always have our own choice 

 of the weather when planting out Cabbage 

 and other plants in open ground. Some- 

 times soil and season is cjuitedry, at a time 

 when the work should be done, and we 

 j would dislike to postpone it for an uncertain 

 length of time, waiting for rain. 



To be on the safe side, in such emergency, 

 we want, first, plants with a well developed 

 and uninjured root system. If growing in 

 light friable soil, they can be taken up with 

 all the larger roots intact, while plants 

 taken up from hard lumpy soil, no matter 

 how carefully (not to speak of the usual 

 method of pulling up such 

 plants), will have some of their 

 larger roots broken. 



But even in light soil, and 

 with the best of care, it is im 

 possible to get half of the line 

 roots intact. Some time, per 

 haps a week, will elapse before 

 the roots can recover and send 

 forth any sap to the top. If 

 the tops are all left on, and 

 weather should be hot and dry, 

 the plants will be in a highly 

 distressed condition, such as 

 represented in fig. 1 of the ac- 

 compaying illustration; and 

 what is still worse, these leaves 

 are drawing every drop of moisture and life 

 out of the stem, and reduce them more to a 

 dried stick than what should be a soft- 

 growing, sappy stock. 



A material improvement on the method 

 of setting plauts untrimmed, is the way 

 shown in fig 2. Part of the tops are simply 

 twisted, or perhaps chopped off, and the 

 plants, when thus set out, will push new 

 growth from the heart at once, never wilt, 

 and recover from the ettects of transplanting 

 much sooner than the plants at fig 1. 

 Plant with a spade, setting the roots to 



Hardening Off. 



This is a term well understood by gard- 

 ners, but whether it is properly carried out 

 in practice is another consideration; I have 

 seen so many plants injured or irretrievably 

 lost by hastily pitching them out of the 

 houses and exposing them at once to the 

 burning sun, that it appears only right to 

 convey a few words of caution to those who 

 adopt this method. 



It does not pay anyone to get his plants 

 burnt up or injured, as the appearance of 

 his flowers, beds, or even pot plants thus 

 treated would be very unsatisfactory for a 

 long time afterwards. When the plants 

 are removed from the greenhouse, they re- 

 quire to be gradually exposed to the full 

 influence of the sun; of course, where there 

 are plenty of cold frames this can easily be 

 done, but such is uot often the case. Then 

 a warm sheltered position should be chosen, 

 under a wall or fence of some kind, and if 

 a covering of tifl'any or other light material 

 can be placed over them so much the better, 

 so as to admit plenty of air and to screen 

 them from the sun. This can be removed 

 after a few days, if possible choosing dull 

 wheather to do so. If tiffany is not procur- 

 able, a few branches of evergreens placed 

 over them will answer the same purpose, or 

 many of the-hardier kinds of plants can be 

 placed under shelter of trees or shrubs until 

 wanted to plant out. 



The same remarks, in the matter of harden- 

 ing off, to such things as Deutzia, Lilacs, 

 Ghent Azaleas, &c., which, after having 

 done their portion of the decorative work, 

 must not be hastily pushed away in corners 

 or out-of-the-way places to be burnt by the 

 sun or parched for the want of water. They 

 will in the near future amply repay us by 

 giving forth their rich stores of color, if 

 properly treated and cared tor.—Onrdrninij 

 Worhl. 



Peas in the Garden. 



Few crops can be grown so easily and 

 cheaply, and at the same time give us so 

 much real good as Peas. We have grown 

 the flner garden sorts of best quality and in 

 great abundance on rather poor soil, en- 

 riched simply by liberal dressings of ordi- 

 nary concentrated manures, applied in and 

 along the drills. 



Good Peas, such as Little Gem, American 



CABBAGE PLANTS, 1 UNTRIMMED AND 2 TRIMMED. 



Wonder, Bliss' Everbearing, Stratagem.etc, 

 come always acceptable for the table, and 

 almost all kinds rarely go begging for a 

 market. If the latter is not over-abundantly 

 supplied, the returns to the grower are 

 usually quite remunerative; it the supply is 

 large the profits may not be so very large, 

 yet the product will always find a taker at 

 some price. 



In growing for market, of course we 

 must aim to get the crop as early as pos- 

 sible. For this purpose the ground selected 

 should be warm, well drained, and if pos- 



