I89I. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



163 



2,347. Onion for Bets. Yellow Dutch is the 

 variety mostly grown for yellow sets, and we 

 know of none that is better for the purpose, or 

 would yield more. Silverskin should be (rrown 

 for white sets, and Early Round for red.— W R. 



3,375. Eieffer Pears ft'om Cattinps. It can not 

 profitably be grown in this way at the north, and 

 we have our doubts whether it would pay to 

 grow it from cuttings at the south, although it 

 might be made to grow. The Kieffer is not 

 blight-proof b.v any means.— 0. R. 



2,318. Hellebore for Spraying FrnitB Treei. 

 Thus far only a single experiment has come to 

 our notice. Mr. Woolverton, editor of the Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist says he sprayed some Plum 

 and Cherry trees last season with Hellebore and 

 water, usmg about one ounce to three gallons. 

 The results were highly satisfactory. Undoubt- 

 edly the remedy deserves more extended trial, 

 even it it is not likely to be as cheap as Paris 

 green —G. R. 



2,306. Barnyard Manure for The Lawn. On 

 rich, deep soil you can get and maintain a good 

 lawn even without much fertilizer. When the 

 land is thin, and especially when it consists 

 largely of the subsoil brought up in grading, 

 etc., it is more difficult to keep the lawn in fine 

 appearance during the warm season. Good 

 compost will be a great help in such case, and 

 there is no danger of putting on too much of it. 

 If the application is made during fall or winter, 

 spread the manure on evenly, and in spring rake 

 off all the coarser parts. For a lawn once in 

 good condition, and on fairly good soil, especial- 

 ly of a sandy nature, we would prefer concen- 

 trated fertilizer, tor the reason that they are 

 clean, while rather fresh yard manure, with 

 which we so often see the lawns around private 

 and public buildings covered in early spring, 

 sometimes becomes very offensive to eye and 

 nose. Any high-grade ^•egetable or Potato ma- 

 nure, or the brands offered as "special lawn fer- 

 tilizers," or a mixture of bone dust and ashes, 

 may be used for this purpose with good effect. 



2,3(J0. Orowing Beans for Market. The United 

 States imported last year about one million 

 dollars' worth of Beans. Their culture offers no 

 great difficulties, and is usually much more 

 profitable than Wheat or Corn growing. It seems 

 that this country with its vast territory and 

 varied climate might produce Beans enough for 

 home consumption, and some to spare. Like 

 other branches of agriculture, it has to be learned 

 and properly managed. Use well drained, and 

 preferably sandy or gravelly loam of medium 

 fertility, and mineral fertilizers, if any. Wood 

 ashes usually give good results, especially if 

 supplemented with a little bone dust or super- 

 phosphate. A good Potato or vegetable manure 

 can also be depended upon as a fertilizer for Beans. 

 Prepare the ground by plowing and thorough 

 harrowing and rolling. Plant seed with a drill, 

 or by hand. In the latter case furrows must be 

 marked out, say three feet apart, and an inch or 

 two deep. After planting, seed may be covered, 

 and the soil firmed, by means of the feet. Leave 

 plants si.\- to eight inches apart, and cultivate 

 freely. Do not hill, .'imall Beans will require 

 about half a bushel of seed to the acre; medium 

 three pecks, and the large sorts one bushel. 

 The early varieties may be planted up to July; 

 the later ones in forepart of June. When ripe, 

 pull by hand (or by machine if you have one), 

 cure, and thresh with flail or by the tread of 

 horses. As to vai-ieties, use the one which your 

 market usually calls for.— G. R. 



2,2<jg. Layerinc; Grapes and Boses. Spring is 

 the proper time for this operation. 



2,3.54. Field-Measurini? by Wheel. Where 

 much measuring or estimating has to be done, 

 the plan followed by a Dakota man, as described 

 in Country Gentlemen, may be adopted. This 

 correspondent writes: I have a large scrap 

 memorandum book which I always take with 

 me when starting out to measure. My buggy 

 wheel measures exactly ISJ^ feet in circumfer- 

 ence. I tie a white rag on the outer end of a 

 spoke, so I can readily count the wheel's revolu- 

 tions, driving slowly where the ground is rough 

 and on a trot where the ground is smooth. 

 When another party is interested in mj' measur- 

 ing, I take him in and let him do the counting 

 oi(( Inud while I drive as straiuht as possible. I 

 usually go through the middle of a piece of 

 ground each way. If the land has irregular 

 sides, I make it, or measure it in two or more 

 parcels. After getting the number of wheel 

 revolutions, I note them down, as I finish each 

 distance, imitudiotely on a rough sketch of a 

 diagram, put right on a leaf in the scrap book 

 witn date. Then come home and make the cal- 

 culations by reducing the 12^4 feet to rods, 

 which is nuickly and correctly done by multi- 

 plying the whole number of wheel revolutions 

 in each distance by 2.5, then dividing by 33. Hav- 

 ing the rods, then multiply lengths by breadths, 

 and I have the square rods which, divided by 180, 

 gives the acres. 



2,360. Meeker Harrow, This can be obtained 

 from Peter Henderson & Co., of New York City, 

 J. J. H. Gregory, of Marblebead, Mass., and per- 

 haps other seedsmen. 



2 383. Propagating the Persimmon. Mr. H. 

 E. Van Deman, chief of the Division of Pomol- 

 ogy, U. S. Department of Agriculture, has 

 recented stated that the variation of seed- 

 lings is so great that the only sure way of repro- 

 ducing a variety Is by budding or gi-afting. At 

 present the best known method is to work upon 

 one or two-year-old seedlings, either in nursery 

 rows or where the seeds have been planted in 

 the orchard. They should be cut some two or 

 more inches below the surface of the ground, or 

 Just above where the roots begin to swell, and a 

 scion inserted not less than five or six inches 

 long and having a terminal bud if possible. The 

 tongue graft is the best for small stocks. No 

 wax is needed for this underground grafting, 

 but some bandage should be used to hold the 

 parts firmly in place. Cotton strips dipped in 

 hot grafting wax and then dried are very good. 

 A ball of wet clay may be pressed about the 

 wound and the earth packed near to the top of 

 the scion to stop evaporation. A very import- 

 ant point, and one that must not be overlooked, 

 is that the scions should be cut early, before anj' 

 signs of starting, and put in some cool, damp 

 place until after the stocks have begun to grow. 

 In the sawdust of an ice-house is a safe place, or 

 buried in the earth where the sun will not warm 

 it early; otherwise they are apt to start too early. 



2,384. Anthracnose of Qrapes. This attacks 

 the leaves, growing shoots, and young berries. 

 The leaves, when first attacked, show minute 

 blackish-brown spots, which are surrounded 

 with a slightly raised, darker colored margin. 

 Ultimately the centres of the spots turn gray, 

 and not infrequently the diseased parts crack 

 across or separate from the surrounding healthy 

 portions, leaving the leaf full of small, ragged 

 holes. On the shoots, the disease mani fests itself 

 in much the same way as it does on the leaves. 

 As it progresses, the spots usually become 

 darker at their centre, and often run together, 

 forming more or less elongated diseased areas 

 which gradually eat their wa.v into the wood 

 The scars made in this way may often be seen on 

 the ripened wood, and it is now known that the 

 mycelium or body of the fungus passes the 

 winter in the tissues surrounding these places. 

 When appearing on the berries, the disease is 

 sometimes called "bird's-eye rot." It shows as a 

 blackish or brown ci)*cular spot surrounded by a 

 narrow, somewhat darker rim. As the spots in- 

 crease in size the color undergoes various 

 changes. In some cases the outside rim remains 

 dark brown, while inside of this is a wider zone 

 of a beautiful vermillion color surrounding a 

 grayish centre. Frequently the spots, when less 

 than one-eighth of an inch in diameter, assume 

 a grayish-white color, which they retain 

 throughout the rest of their growth. When the 

 berries are small the disease often manifests 

 itself in another way. The fruit turns brown, 

 shrivels up, and, at the same time, little pinkish 

 pustules appear on the surface. The Grape may 

 also develop unequally, the affected side being- 

 flattened. This form of rot is not characterized 

 by a softening of the tissues, as is the case with 

 others we have mentioned. The tissues slowly 

 collapse, but at the same time become hard and 

 wrinkled. This disease rarely occurs alone. As 

 a rule it is found associated with black-rot or 

 mildew, and when this is the case no additional 

 treatment can, in the present condition of our 

 knowledge, be recommended. For anthracnose 

 alone, the only remedy that has given any bene- 

 ficial results is the Bordeaux mixture, applied in 

 same way as it is for black rot. Any of the 

 treatments now recommended for black rot will 

 also cheek the downy mildew and anthracnose, 

 if the latter is not unusually severe. All this is 

 given on the authority of Prof. P. T. Galloway. 



2,359. Harrow for Oarden. Market gardeners 

 generally use the ordinary smoothing harrow 

 for fining their lands. These garden soils, of 

 course, are usually in first-class mechanical con- 

 dition, and any implement would answer for 

 pulverizing the soil. To finish off a piece of 

 land, however, no harrow is equal to the Meeker. 

 This leaves the surface as smooth as if it were 

 raked by hand. 



2,.3U9. Cannas as Annuals. Cannas are readily 

 grown from seed, and so long as no specii-l color 

 is desired in quantity, it seems hardly worth 

 while to bother with wintering old roots. Seeds 

 of Crozy's Cannas, says a recent writer to be 

 had of the seedsmen, will produce many of the 

 named kinds exactly and give a good range of 

 colors. The seeds should be lightly filed through 

 the hard outer coating, which should be softened 

 by soaking in tepid water for twenty-four 

 hours, after which they may be sown in moist 

 soil, and kept in brisk heat until germination, 

 which soon takes place. 1 have had good success 

 by sowing seed in a pot which was placed inside 

 a larger one, this being plugged to retain moist- 

 ure, and the space between pots being filled with 

 sand, and all covered with a glass and placed on 

 the pipes. After germination the plants should 

 be potted into good soil, well supplied with 

 moisture (after the roots commence to run, of 

 course), and they soon make great headway. 

 By sowing early, stocky plants two feet high 

 may be had in late May. 



2.371. Bemedy for Cabbage Worm. We prefer 

 "Bubach" insect powder, applied either in 

 powder intimately mixed with six or eight times 

 its bulk of flour (for the sake of economy) or in 

 spray form. The hottest part of the day should 

 be selected for making the application. It is 

 cheap and effective. Among other reliable 

 remedies we have coal tar water, kerosene emul- 

 sion, kerosene, extract of pyrethrum, strong 

 Tobacco tea applied in spray form, perhaps 

 strong solutions of Kainit, and others. 



2,368. Paris Green or London Purple. We pre- 

 fer Paris Green, because its strength is usually 

 more uniform than that of London purple, 

 which seems to vary quite considerably in com- 

 position. In all cases we would recommend to 

 use the Bordeaux mixture in combination with 

 it, the latter as a preventive of fungous 

 diseases, and also to make the application of the 

 arsenite entirely safe, even in over doses. See 

 also the articles on spraying mixtures, etc., else- 

 where in this issue. 



2,36.5. Grafting Prnit Trees. The usual rule 

 given is to graft while trees and cions are yet 

 dormant, and it is a good one. Still it is perfectly 

 safe to graft even when the buds have swelled 

 quite considerably, if only these points are at- 

 tended to, namely, that graft and stock are in 

 the same condition of activit,v, especially that 

 the cion is not further advanced than the stock, 

 and that the part operated on is well protected 

 against drying, cracking of the bark, etc., by 

 coating with grafting wa.x and bandages. Stone 

 fruits should usually be grafted earlier in the 

 season than Apples and Pears, although we have 

 had flrst-rate success with grafting even when 

 the buds were almost ready to burst. The fol- 

 lowing recipe, viz; Resin, four parts by weight: 

 beeswa.x, two parts: tallow, one part, is pro- 

 nounced by Prof. L. H. Bailey, in his new work, 

 "The Nursery Book," just published by the 

 Rural Publishing Co., New York Citj', as one of 

 the best, especially for applying by hand. 

 Another is: Resin, six pounds; beeswax, two 

 pounds; linseed oil, one pint. For use in warm 

 weather the following is good: Resin, four 

 pounds; beeswa.x, one pound; and from half to 

 a pint of raw linseed oil, free from cottonseed 

 oil. Melt all together, gradually, and turn into 

 water and pull.— G. R. 



3,363. Transplanting Evergreens. The best 

 time for the work, undoubtedly, is early spring, 

 although it can be done successfully much later 

 than would be safe to attempt with other trees. 

 The chief point about it is to protect the roots 

 carefully from drying. When they have once 

 become dry, the tree is pretty much past hope 

 of recovery, and no amount of "soaking" will 

 do them much good.— G. R. 



2,.'i63. Work on Bndding and Grafting, Prof. 



Bailey's "The Nursery Book" has .lust come to 

 hand, and from a preliminary examination we 

 should say it will fill the bill. It contains over 

 three hundred pages, is well illustrated, and 

 gives all the information you can ask for cover- 

 ing the sub.1ect. PuWished by the Rural Pub- 

 lishing Co., New York City. 



2,361. Mammoth White Dewberry. We have 



never grown this, but on general principles do 

 not put much hope in any albino, such as a 

 White Blackberry, or a White Black-cap Rasp- 

 berry, or a White Blueberry, etc. Usually these 

 sports are not of much practical account, and 

 most alwa.vs show a lack of vigor and vitality 

 besides.— G. R. 



2,360. Hotbed Heated by Pipes, We will try 

 to give some plans of beds now in active opera- 

 tion, before another hot-bed season approaches. 

 In the meantime, we would gladly hear from 

 any of our readers who have worked such 

 structures. 



2,350. Fuchsias Ailing. We should expect 

 that the difficulty of which you speak had its 

 origin in an uncongenial condition of growth. 

 Perhaps the soil is soggy or sour as the result of 

 poor pot drainage. Such a state of things would 

 be likely to cause leaf curl and leaf dropping. 

 We have seen similar results follow in the case 

 oE plants that have been submitted to the fumes 

 of gas from coal. You should study into these 

 or other causes that are unfavorable to the 

 plants and correct them. Remember that 

 Fuchsias, of all plants, delight in thorough 

 drainage at the same time that they are supplied 

 with an abundance of fertility and of moisture 

 at the roots. 



2.372. Everereens for Windbreak and Christ- 

 mas Trees, Our first choice of evergreens for 

 windbreak continues to be the Norway Spruce. 

 Small sized plants are very cheap. The tree is 

 suited to nearly all soils over nearly the entire 

 range of country; is perfectly hardy, of rapid 

 growth and forms a handsome tree. For Christ- 

 mas trees the Norway Spruce among quick 

 growing trees could hardly be excelled. Still 

 the Balsam Fir might be considered rather hand- 

 somer while young, that is when four feet or 

 less in height. After that it is inclined to lose its 

 beauty. It is hardy and of rapid growth when 

 young, and can be procured at the evergreen 

 nurseries for a low price. 



