I89I. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



193 



stautly reminded by little notes here and 

 there, that growers are still looking for 

 " something to take the place of the Wilson 

 and Crescent." I am more familiar with 

 the newer varieties than with the Wilson; 

 yet I woxild not hesitate to say, on general 

 principals, that a large part of the supposed 

 advantages which newer varieties claim 

 over the Wilson, come from the superior 

 cultivation given to the newer sorts, espec- 

 ially upon the first trial. I believe that the 

 general grower gives better cultivation than 

 was common in the early days of the Wilson, 

 and we all know the petting which a new 

 sort is likely to get, except in fair trial beds. 



I seldom see a word of commendation for 

 Parry of late; yet the first year I raised it, it 

 was pronounced by ourselves and our neigh- 

 bors the best berry on the place, ranking 

 over Jewell, .Jersey Queen, Kentucky, Man- 

 chester, Sharpless and many other varieties; 

 yet the next year, when through stress of 

 other work it was neglected, it fell far into 

 the rear. Still, a strong argument for the 

 new berries is the fact that the report of the 

 Western New York Horticultural Society 

 recommended for market Hoffman, Haver- 

 land, Daisy, Bubach and Crawford, all of 

 which are still so new that they can scarcely 

 be called well tested, with the exception, 

 perhaps, of Bubach. 



The illustsation of the big Bubach in the 

 last June number is quite as good an argu- 

 ment for some of the older berries as for 

 Bubach itself. I begin to believe that even 

 the famous Monmouth county can scarcely 

 compete with some parts of Western New 

 York in the raising of large "small " fruits. 

 Some new berries exhibited at the Nursery- 

 men's convention in New York last year, 

 called forth enthusiastic expressions of de- 

 light from the members, but although they 

 were fine, they did not strike me as being at 

 all remarkable. 



When in Western New York we often 

 had .Sharpless berries that measured t)^4 and 

 T inches in circumference, and basket after 

 basket of our favorite Cumberlands would 

 average 4}.^ to 5 inches, when raised on heavy 

 loam, and this with what would hardly be 

 called by good growers, the best cultivation. 

 I believe if I were going to raise berries on 

 heavy loam for a near-by choice market to- 

 day, I would choose Cumberland for my 

 early variety, and I say this knowing that 

 most growers will regard it as rank heresy, 

 and though I think very well indeed of both 

 Warfleld and Haverland, they would have 

 to be tried more than one season on equal 

 terms with Cumberland before I am ready 

 to admit that they should displace it. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to which all are invited to send notes, 

 of experience and observation concerning tojjics that 

 recently have been treated on in this Journal. Many 

 such contributions are welcome monthly. 



Setting Strawberry Plants. I object to 

 .T. R. Peck's method of growing Strawberries. 

 He says he sets plants six inches apart in two 

 foot rows. This requires 4.3,580 plants to set an 

 acre. The Bubach is quoted at present by nur- 

 serymen at $4 per thousand. The plants there- 

 fore would cost $174.24— add to this $1 per 1,000 

 for setting the plants, and you have an expense 

 of tiV, 80 ti) start with. This kind of Straw- 

 berry growing will do on paper, but not for field 

 culture.— Theodore Wi(^on, Inii. 



Destroying Wasps (page 170). It is true that 

 wasps are sometimes terribly troublesome and 

 annoying; yet they are not an unmixed ev\\; 

 for they often pay well for their keep — even if 

 they puncture a few Grapes now and then— by 

 the destruction of green fly and other trouble- 

 some insects. I find it recorded that some years 

 ago rewards were otTered in Kent. England, for 

 the destruction of wasps' nests, and in conse- 

 quence, more than the usual number were 

 sought for and destroyed. That year the Hops 

 were almost a total failure. The aphides, which 

 the wasps had previously kept in check, in- 

 creased to such an extent that the Hop-vines 

 could make no headway against them. Birds 



often help themselves to ('herries and berries; 

 and while many of our neighbors are very ready 

 with gun, powder, and shot, to kill every bird 

 that alights in their fruit trees, without asking 

 whether they come after fruit, or fruit destroy- 

 ing insects, we en.ioy their presence, their sweet 

 times, their help in many ways, and do not be- 

 grudge them the fruit we think they more 

 than earn. In short we think it is cheaper to 

 feed the birds than to fight them; and it may be 

 somewhat similar with the wasps.— Hai Hartman, 

 Page To.. Va. 



Hagoinq Grapes (page 184). I do not think 

 that the practice of bagging will ever be en- 

 tirely abandoned. Outside of the feature of 

 giving comparative immunity from the attacks 

 of f ungiius diseases, birds, etc., there are other 



Simple Marker far Small Beds. 

 advantages connected with the practice which 

 will lead many people, especially home growers 

 of fastidious tastes, and commercial \ineyardists 

 who cater to people of such tastes, to stick to 

 the practice of bagging. The luscious, clean 

 clusters and large berries grown in bags are 

 worth all the trouble and expense of bagging. 

 The"(irape protectors" sent out by an Ohio 

 firm are simple two-pound grocery bags, with a 

 piece of thin wire, about seven inches long, 

 fastened across the upper end, by means of a 

 strip of paper pasted over it. The bags are of 

 the square-bottom pattern, and evidently in- 

 tended for fastening around the stems of the 

 clusters. We always cut off the corners of all 

 bags we use; those at the bottom in order to 

 give a way of escape for water that might get 

 inside; and those at the top in order to be en- 

 abled to bring the flaps together above the cane, 

 and fastening there by simply pinning them 

 together.— ^niafeur Vinuardist. 



The Kerosene Emulsion. This is certainly 

 a good thing, and makes quick and effective 

 work with many insects that are slow to succumb 

 to our puisonous applications. It is a sovereign 

 remedy for green louse, wherever that may ap- 

 pear, and, if properly made, it is entirely harm- 

 less to the most delicate plant. Prof. A. J. Cook's 

 formula is as follows: Dissolve in two quarts of 

 water one quart of soft soap or one-fourth 

 pound of hard soap, by heating to the boiling- 

 point, then add one pint of kerosene oil. and stir 

 violently for from three to five minutes. This is 

 l)est done by pumping the liquid into itself 

 through a small nozzle, so that it shall be 

 thoroughly agitated. The agitation should be 

 violent, luit need not be long. We have formed 

 a perfect emulsion in one minute, even with cold 

 water. This mixes the oil peimanently so that 

 it will never separate, and can be diluted easily, 

 at pleasure, by simply shaking or slightly stir- 

 ring after adding the water to dilute. It is not 

 necessary to use so much soft soap, but it is 

 better a.s it insures a perfect emulsion even upon 

 dilution, and the soap itself is insecticide, and 

 valuable, aside from its emulsifying power. I 

 prefer two (luarts of water to one quart of soft 

 soap as the emulsion is more sure than when 

 only one quart of water is used and the thinner 

 material jjermits more ready and more speedy 

 dilution, especially in cold weather.— G. R. 



The Knapsack Sprayer. I have had a Eu- 

 reka Sprayer in use all last year, and am using 

 it now, and can say that no complaint can be 

 made regarding that machine. Possibly the ma- 

 chines that have been put on the market the 

 last year, being made cheaper, are made lighter 

 or of lighter material. I used my sprayer on a 

 vineyard of BOO vines and besides sprayed for 

 neighbors several acres of Potatoes with Bor- 

 deaux mi-xture, and the machine is as good to- 

 day as when I received it.—E. H. Wynkrop, N.Y. 



Amaryllis Treatment. E. O. O. recom- 

 mends potting singly for the leason that they 

 do better than where several are grown to- 

 gether. Our experience does not fully agree 

 with that idea. We prefer the larger pot with 



several bulbs; of course, we would not cluster 

 them. In a box about ten inches s<iuare and about 

 eight inches deep, we placed four bulbs and each 

 bulb sent up two flower stalks, which with one 

 exception had four flowers upon the stalk. Now 

 according to our idea of beauty, it consisted in 

 having from twelve to fourteen of these grand 

 flowers of the Amaryllis .lohnsonii for nearly a 

 month, in one group, rather than in four differ- 

 ent small pots, which certainly would take up 

 fully as much or more room. We imagine their 

 doing well depends upon care, etc., fully as 

 much as upon the pots they are grown in. 



Propaoating Currants. H. A. Cornell says 

 he has been setting some that were cut in Oc- 

 tober, etc. We should call that very late for 

 taking cuttings. The Currant is quite easy to 

 propagate with favorable conditions, such as a 

 reasonably moist soil, that is kept stirred by cul- 

 tivation, and if the cuttings are taken off in the 

 spring and placed in such a soil— a loamy soil— 

 they will take root and grow, and the next 

 spring be set and the extent of their roots will 

 be surprising. As a rule, we prefer setting in 

 the spring, although perhaps it may safely be 

 done in the fall. 



Crescent Strawberry. We do not agree with 

 Mr. Smith resrarding discouraging the growth of 

 the Crescent Strawberry. So far as the Crescent 

 is concerned, as well as any other fruit, the de- 

 mand of the public will quite likely regulate its 

 growth, and when consumers will choose the 

 descent as we have known them to do in prefer- 

 ence to other berries, its growth will be contin- 

 ued. If no money has been made out of the 

 Crescents by growers of the west, why have 

 they not quietly abandoned their growth, and 

 grown something that there was money in? 

 There is no law compelling them to grow the 

 Crescent, nor is there any good reason why they 

 should ask that their growth by others be dis- 

 couraged. But we have no fears for the Cres- 

 cent berry. Up to the time of the introduction 

 of this berry, there was nothing that possessed 

 such an iron-clad nature as the Crescent plant, 

 and general Strawberry cultivation was not in- 

 dulged in, but with this, the cultivation has 

 become much more general; every family, near- 

 ly, in the country, grows its own fruit and a 

 little surplus, and the massing of these little 

 surplusses in the smaller towns and villages has 

 cut off the demand from the great fruit centers, 

 and because it is a hardy prolific berry has arisen 

 the cry annihilate it. The berry originated in 

 our State and it will not down because of the 

 little tirade of complaint against it. It came up 

 for the public good, and will continue to serve 

 the public so long as they recognize and appre- 

 ciate its combined qualities as they do at 

 present.— ITm. H. Yeumatu, Columbia, Conn. 



Bird Dogs and Gophers (page 151) The 

 suggestion that bird dogs are the best for exter- 

 minating gophers strikes a doggy man like me, 

 as most amusing. Few dogs have as little taste 

 for vermin hunting as setters and pointers. The 

 vermin dog par excellence, is the terrier and the 

 particular breed is not specially important, the 

 .Scotch or Irish and black-and-tan averaging 

 rather the best as continual and determined 

 hunters, the constant hunting being rather more 

 important than the actual catching, as vermin 

 cannot abide continual disturbance, and will 

 emigrate to quieter neighborhoods. 



Calystegia a Real Pest. Calystegia of any 

 variety has always struck me as the greatest of 

 pests to a garden. I have known it to shoot 

 under a brick .walk eight feet wide; the most 

 effectual riddance for it I have found, is con- 

 stant pulling up; two seasons of faithful work 

 will so discourage it that it gives up the flght. 



Seed and Plant Dealers Mistakes. Doubt- 

 less seedmen often make most vexatious mis- 

 takes, but I make a great deal of allowance for 

 them. My friend, a well-known seedsman, (who, 

 like the lamented Peter Henderson, made real 

 friends of those who dealt with him) once sent 

 me seed of Datura Wrightii, which on attaining 

 full growth and coming into bloom, proved to 

 be very fine specimens of the common James- 

 town weed, and seed from another leading seeds- 

 man turned out exactly the same way; both 

 seedsmen imported their seed from a well-known 

 grower in Germany (the Editor can and will cer- 

 tify to the high personal integrity and reputa- 

 tion of both importer and exporter of the seed.) 

 We should remember the thousand ways in 

 which a seedsman may become the victim of 

 mistake, or of fraud on the part of someone else 

 when considering the provoking mistakes we 

 will occasionally meet with.— ir. 



