20O 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



couditiou of the conflned air is touud preferable, 

 since in such atmosphere fruit uses little if any 

 of its moisture. 



The freezing of Apples does not occur till the 

 temperature has fallen several degrees lielow 

 the freezing point of water, nevertheless it is 

 claimed that the best results are realized in tem- 

 periitiires somewhat abo\'e that point. 



Small Scale Operations. The more limited 

 operations of farm orchardists, as well as the 

 large class of smaller commercial growers, call 

 for arrangements of less elaborate and expensive 

 character than those already descrilied. 



With the gieat majority of these the cellar is 

 the chief reliance for the storage of long-keeping 

 fruits. This, however, can only be rendered sat- 

 isfactory for the storage of winter fruits by de- 

 voting it wholly to such purpose, to the total 

 exclusion of vegetables and other articles liable 

 to infect the contined air with foreign odors; 

 and by such ventilating arrangements as shall 

 suffice for the maintenance of the needful low 

 and constant temperature. If preferred, a por- 

 tion only ot the cellar may be devoted to such 

 purpose, and partitioned off by a brick or stone 

 wall, all the better if double. It located beneath 

 rooms artificially warmed, precaution will be 

 necessary against the transmission of warmth to 

 the cellar below. 



The most convenient and effective device for 

 the amateur or family to be devoted to the tem- 

 porary storage of summer and autumn fruits, 

 for ripening, testing and occasional retarding for 

 short periods, would be a room, either within or 

 separate from the residence, constructed upon 

 the principles and, excepting the ice. with the 

 fixtures already indicated, in which fruits can 

 be placed either in packages or upon shelves, the 

 latter being preferable, when the specimens are 

 for testing, and which for that reason require 

 frequent examination. 



To those, however, who provide for a supply 

 of ice during the warm season, a simple small 

 room or cupboard built within the ice house, 

 with admission from without, through double 

 doors, will be found effective and satisfactory 

 for the holding of summer fruits, the preserva- 

 tion of specimens for fairs, and other kindred 

 purposes, as well as for the preservation of va- 

 rious domestic products. 



The Reticulated or Sponge-Bearing 

 Cucumber. 



Extract of paper by Dr. R. P. Harris, read before the 

 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society.) 



Under the name of "Luffa" or "Cucumber 

 Sponge," we now import in compressed 

 bales, from Japan and Egypt, the reticula- 

 ted skeletons of two varieties of what Ebu 

 Baitar, the Arabian botanist, twelve hund- 

 red years ago described as the "Luffa." 



From a very early period the reticulated 

 skeletons of Luffa Arabum were used by the 

 Egyptians in their bath rooms, and it is probable 

 thatthe Japanese did the same with that of the 

 L. macrocarpa. 



Sponge-bearing Cucumbers may be found in 

 hot countries, and vary in size from that of a 

 Plum to three feet in length. In some the skele- 

 ton is very thick and strong, and capable of be- 

 ing made of use in the household, but in the 

 majority the netting is thin and delicate, and 

 can only be regarded as a curiosity. 



Like ordinary Cucumbers, some are edible, and 

 are grown for the table, while others are more 

 or less medicinal, and are used as domestic reme- 

 dies. As the reticulation forms at a late period, 

 the Luffa, when of an edible sort, can readily be 

 cooked as a vegetable when young. The rank 

 odor ot the fruit would be an objection to its 

 use, although this has not availed much against 

 t he Tomato. 



The Luffa is fully entitled to membership in 

 the Cucumber family, and is iu no sense a 

 Gourd, as it has sometimes been called. It is 

 monieclous, having seperate staminate and pis- 

 tillate Uowers, of which the former are much the 

 larger, «r more conspicuous; and the leaves 

 much more closely resemble in form those of 

 ourcommon Cucumber than do many in Egypt, 

 Palestine and India, upon plants producing Ihe 

 best table varieties, some of which are much 

 more like Cantaloupe-vines than Cucumbers, as 

 we know them. With me the L. maorocarpa ot 

 Japan produced fully-matured fruits in five 

 months from the day of planting. This is the 

 best sort to grow in a temperate climate, and 

 bears the most symmetrical of all the Sponge 

 Cucumbers; the fibre of the netting is coarser 



than that found in the Egyptian variety, and 

 not so well adapted for use as a scrubber in 

 bathing. L. macrocarpa bears Cucumbers from 

 thirteen to fifteen inches long, and some of them 

 are very nearly straight. The vine is a vigorous 

 grower, and, in favorable seasons bears a fair 

 crop of Cucumbers. The Cucumbers develop 

 rapidly, and, but for the slow growth of the vine 

 in the early season, would come to maturity in 

 large proportion; as it is, however, there will be 

 many fruits that will only be partly grown when 

 frost arrests their development. Much time 

 may be saved by having the plants grow a yard 

 or two in height in a green house, and then set- 

 ting them out on the tenth of June; as the plant 

 is tropical, it will stand the full heat of the sun 

 all day without drooping, and grow all the bet- 

 ter fruit. My best success came from planting 

 against a trellis on the south side of a wooden 

 building, with an all-day exposure to the sun. 



Next to the L. Macrocarpa, the Wild Cuban 

 does the best in Philadelphia, as it comes to 



LAYERING CARNATIONS —See opposite page. 



maturity early, and grows much larger than in 

 its native island. The Egyptian variety grows 

 well and sets many fruits; but these are late in 

 maturing, so that as yet I have not produced 

 any with black seeds. 



Under the name of Bonnet Gourd and the 

 Dishcloth Gourd, this and the Cuban Luffa are 

 now well known in several of the Southern 

 States, although, as I have stated, the name 

 "gourd" is a misnomer. Bonnets are sometimes 

 made from the open sponges, shaped out with 

 some woven fabric, but the entire head-covering 

 was not produced ot the net-work imtil the large 

 white Luffas of Egypt furnished the material 

 for cutting and fitting. 



Drying. When a Sponge Cucumber is dried 

 whole, the netting is easily separated; but its 

 fibre will have a brownish color and will have 

 lost much of its tensile strength. Naturally, the 

 reticulation is ot silvery whiteness, and this can 

 only be preserved by a proper method of clean- 

 ing it from rind, seeds and pulp, when the Cu- 

 cumber is matured, but still green: and the 

 whole must be done at one operation or the 

 Sponge will change its color. VThen a Luffa has 

 reached its maturity of growth it may be known 

 by its green rind lightening in color and becom- 

 ing more dry; it should then be cut off and hung 

 up in the house for a week or more until the 

 juice in a large measure dries out of the rind. 

 The Cucumber should then be pared and the cap 

 at the lower end removed, which will open the 

 seed channels, it should then be kneaded and 

 squeezed under a large pan of hot wate*- until 

 the seeds and pulp are washed out. 



When fully ripe the seeds are jet black, and 

 will number from 400 to HOC in very large fruits. 

 When the reticulated skeleton has been well 

 cleaned, hang it upon a pin-hook and string to 

 dry indoors, when it should become of silvery 

 whiteness and weigh from three-quarters of an 

 ounce to an ounce. 



By exposure to the air, even when kept in 

 darkness, the whitest Luffa Sponges gradually 

 change to a light orange-yellow. This color is 

 largely soluble in hot water with soap, and much 

 of it may be washed out, leaving the Huid of a 

 decidedly yellow tint and the sponge much 

 lighter in color. 



Sponges in frequent use become of a light 

 grayish white tint and slowly weaken in fibre 

 particularly in the outer or circular layer, which 

 is not so tough as the internal longitudinal one. 

 The sponges are quite durable when compared 



with those obtained from the sea, and are odor- 

 less when well washed; no fabric when wet has 

 as decided an effect as a rubefacient upon the 

 skin, and care must be taken that it does not 

 take too deep a hold where the surface is young 

 and tender. For delicate skins and children the 

 immature skeletons should be selected, or the 

 small ends of the matui-e ones, which is much 

 finer in fibre than the base. 



Varieties. My twenty varieties of the Cucum- 

 Is reticulatus belong to Japan, Moluccas, China, 

 India, Africa, Spain, Cuba, Brazil and Mexico. 

 But very few of the varieties will perfect fruit 

 in this latitude. The Macrocarpa stands at the 

 head of the list; the Acutangiila, as a curiosity, 

 grows equally well; tha Cuban comes to perfec- 

 tion, and by starting under glass, the Egyptian 

 may likewise; the Petola and Mexicana are yet 

 to be tested in a favorable season. Some others 

 have grown well, but the character of the Cu- 

 cumbers makes their propagation undesirable. 



The plants are quite ornamental and interest 

 ing, with their beautiful leaves, large staminate 

 fiowers and hanging fruits, borne sometimes 

 as high as a second story veranda. The Egyptian 

 tiower is about four inches in diameter, and 

 others are nearly as large. The staminate-buds 

 grow in bunches and bloom singly, so that the 

 vines are constantly in Uower; all the blossoms 

 are a bright yellow. The pistil of the productive 

 flower develope into the point of the Cucumber, 

 and the long ovary into the fruit, the sepals of 

 the blossom long remaining attached. 



Clover for Green Manure. 



{Extract of paper read by Prof. O. C. Catdicetl, of Cor- 

 nell University, before the W. N. Y. Hort. Society.) 



Green manuring is practiced in order to 

 add something to the soil. The ashes, the 

 mineral elements of the plants, are derived 

 entirely from the soil, so that when we plow 

 under a green crop the land will be no richer 

 in potash or phosphoric acid than before, 

 but these elements can be in a condition 

 more available for plant food. 



Some plants have a better digestion than others, 

 while deep-rooted plants can get some food hy 

 reclaiming the fertility which has been washed 

 into the sub-soil, out of the reach of ordinary 

 plants. Again organic matter is added to the 

 soil when the crop is plowed under, quite a little 

 of which has been derived from the atmosphere. 



Another benefit is that the humus vegetable 

 matter, which gives to the soil its dark color, 

 makes clay soil more crumbly and gives sandy 

 soil more body, besides making the soil warmer 

 and lighter and admitting the air. It is also a 

 source of carbonic acid gas, which acts to make 

 available the plant food already in the soil. So 

 important is this carbonic acid gas that by its 

 presence we judge of the productive power ot 

 the land. 



But the most important effect of turning under 

 a green crop is the addition of nitrogen, a very 

 precious plant food. It is used in larger quanti- 

 ties by plants than any other element, and is the 

 only constituent liable to be lost by leaching or 

 by escaping into the air, making it more costly. 



It has been shown lately that certain plants 

 have the power of using the free nitrogen of the 

 air and converting it into vegetable substance, 

 and so affording available plant food for the 

 other plants. 



It is then evident that the best plant for green 

 manuring is one that has long roots to pump up 

 the lowest fertility from the subsoil and has a 

 bulky root, and which will add a large quantity 

 of humus to the soil. A]so one that gathers 

 nitrogen from the air. Clover answers these re- 

 quirements perfectly, as does the Pea, except 

 that it has short roots. 



Buckwheat and Rye, so universally used for 

 green manuring, do uot have the power of using 

 the free nitrogen of the air, nor do they have 

 long roots, and are therefore not desirable. 



It has also been discovered that the more 

 numerous are the swelling-like nodules on the 

 roots of Peas and Clover, the greater the activity 

 of the plant in taking free nitrogen from the 

 air. Further, it is known that the nodules are 

 caused by bacteria, which are found in every 

 arable soil. These basteria also aid the plant by 

 assisting in the decomposing of vegetable matter 

 In the soil and the transforming of nitrogen 

 into nitrates, which is the best form of nitrogen 

 for plant food. 



It is important then that we encourage the 

 multiplication of these bacteria by supplying 

 favoi'able conditions, which are first, free access 



