208 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



How and When to Prune Raspber- 

 ries and Blackberries. 



PnininK bush-fruits, especially Raspber- 

 ries and Blackberries, is a necessity for con- 

 venience in cultivation. If left to them- 

 selves, the patch would soon be inaccessible 

 for horse and tools. In some vray the canes 

 must be dwarfed or kept In sub.iectlon. 



By permitting them to grow their full 

 length, and then cutting them back to a 

 convenient stature, remarks E. S. Goff, in 

 Garden and Forest, we should remove one- 

 half or more of the fruit buds, and thiis 

 materially reduce the crop. We must 

 prune them in such a way that while we 

 keep them down to a size that Is convenient 

 for working among them, we also preserve 

 the flower buds. To accomplish this, we 

 pinch the terminal shoot at the height of 

 two to two and one-half feet. This causes 

 the buds in the axils of the leaves to develop 

 into branches, and instead of a single cane 

 six or eight feet in length, we have a half 

 dozen branches two feet or less long. 



To the beginner It appears almost absurd 

 to pinch a Raspberry cane at the height of 

 two feet. It seems as if the cane had but 

 just commenced to grow, and to pinch it at 

 that height will prevent it growing taller. 

 But it should be remembered that there are 

 several nodes at the top of the stem that 

 have not attained their full length, and 

 which will continue to elongate for some 

 days after the tip has been removed. A 

 cane pinched at two feet will attain an ulti- 

 mate height of three feet, which is enough. 



Usually winter sets in at the north before 

 the normal growth is completed, and de- 

 stroys more or less of the immature and 

 succulent terminal parts, especially if sum- 

 mer pruning had been neglected or imper- 

 fectly done. 



It is better to remove this destroyed por- 

 tion, because if left, it continues to absorb 

 and transmit by evaporation the sap 

 brought up by the living part of the cane, 

 thus robbing in a measure the fruit and 

 foliage. This pruning would naturally be 

 done in the spring as soon as the buds be- 

 gin to swell. Earlier than this it would be 

 difficult to decide how much to remove; 

 later, the dead portion would have already 

 wrought a part of its mischief. 



Flavor In Fruits and Vegetables. 



Quality, high flavor, in fruits and veget- 

 ables is a most desirable feature. Even in 

 production for market, where color and ap- 

 pearance heretofore overshadowed all other 

 considerations, the matter of quality begins 

 to find its proper appreciation. 



We should not imagine that selection of 

 variety is the only, or even the chief circum- 

 stance influencing flavor and quality. 

 Sometimes this is less important than the 

 soil in which the tree or plant is growing, 

 or the culture which they receive. This is 

 especially true of vegetables. Radishes, 

 grown quickly in rich soil and under high 

 cultivation, are tender and enjoyable, while 

 the same variety, planted on poor soil, un- 

 suitable, and left to itself , will give us tough, 

 pithy, worthless roots. How deliciously 

 brittle and succulent is the Lettuce and 

 Celery we grow on good soil and with good 

 treatment, especially nitrate of soda, etc. I 

 Potatoes grown on sandy soil are usually 

 much mealier than those of the same variety 

 grown on clay. 



The difference in the quality of fruits, 

 owing to the same causes, is sometimes also 

 quite striking. The most highly-flavored 

 Strawberry, says a correspondent in Ameri- 

 can Agriculturist, becomes insipid when 

 starved in growth and choked with weeds. 

 Two Apple trees of the same sort and 

 equally vigorous at the start will bear fruit 

 that will scarcely be recognized, by the 

 taste, as related to each other. The one 



grows in a roomy, well-fertilized, and well- 

 cultivated garden, and the other produces 

 its fruit with sod-bound roots, in a sterile 

 soil, and closely crowded among other trees, 

 so that what sunshine reaches its branches 

 has to steal in by devious ways. 



Delicious flavor, whatever be the fruit or 

 vegetable, is promoted by the best condi- 

 tions of growth; and this means good soil, 

 well drained and fertilized; thorough culti- 

 vation; proper thinning of the fruit so that 

 what remains may receive the vigorous 

 strength of the plant, and especially a full 

 supply of sunshine and pure air. 



Fruit must have sunshine to develop fine 

 flavor, and it is folly to economize in garden 

 space by planting rows of small fruits be- 

 tween rows of Apple or Pear trees, to re- 

 main after the letter have attained large 

 growth. It is not enough that the sunshine 

 can come down upon the tops of plants or 

 bushes from above, sufficient as that may 

 seem to some; it must have access freely 

 to every part if perfect quality is desired. 

 Free space for the roots to work, and plenty 

 of fertilizing material to feed upon, will 

 assist in forming perfect fruit. "Plenty of 

 fertilizer" means just enough and no more, 

 for some plants, if fed too highly, run too 

 much to woody growth. Care should be 

 taken also to apply dressing after growth 

 ceases in the fall, or in the spring when it is 

 starting, to avoid the winter-killing of new 

 growth made late In the season. 



A serious mistake that one sees in many 

 orchards, in passing through the country, 

 is the crowded condition of the trees. 

 Crowded orchards produce fruit, as a rule, 

 that is not up to full flavor because the sun- 

 shine has not a chance to perform its full 

 mission. Where the evil exists, an axe 

 should accompany the pruning saw on its 

 rounds among the trees. In such cases the 

 space occupied by some of them is worth 

 more than the trees, and those that remain 

 will produce better fruit, and in many cases 

 as much of it as the orchard before bore. 



Hot Water as Rose Bug Remedy. 



Hot water as a remedy for insect pests, so 

 much abused in recent years, is coming to 

 honor again. At one time— and it is not long 

 ago— this remedy was quite generally 

 recommended tor the Cabbage worm. For 

 some years we succeeded in keeping the 

 Cabbages in our home garden free from 

 worms by simply applying, occasionally, a 

 dash of hot soap suds, or clear water, to the 

 ceater of the plants. 



The remedy, however, soon came into dis- 

 repute, and succumbed to to the ridicule of 

 writers, simply because its injudicious use 

 is apt to injure the plants. While we had 

 no cause of complaint, in this respect, in 

 our own practice, we discarded this simple 

 remedy, less in order to follow the fashion, 

 than to adopt another remedy, simpler, 

 more convenient and effective, namely 

 bubach, applied either in dust or spray form. 



Hot water now proves asure remedy — the 

 only one thus far found— for the Rose 

 Chafer. This insect has heretofore defled 

 all efforts to get clear of it, and seems to 

 fatten on the strongest poisons. 



The Rural New Yorker has found that 

 this dreadful foe is very sensitive to heat. 

 Exposure to only 123 degrees Fahrenheit 

 kills it almost instantly. Consequently all 

 that isneeded to clear the infested plants of 

 the insect, is to spray them thoroughly with 

 water hot enough to reach the bugs, at a 

 temperature of at least 123 degrees Fahr., 

 but not hot enough to injure even the most 

 delicate foliage. The margin here is quite 

 large, and the remedy can easily be made 

 effective and safe, which was not so easily 

 done in case of the Cabbage worm, which 

 can stand a considerably higher tempera- 

 ture than the Rose Chafer. 



Do You Grow the Finer Aqulleglas? 



MRS. G. M, WOODRUFF, WESTCHESTER CO., N. Y. 



The better forms of Aquilegias, such as 

 chrysantha, ccerulea and glandulosa and 

 the seedlings of these I class among my 

 most attractive hardy plants of the gar- 

 den. Besides being so perfectly suited to 

 border culture, I flnd they do exceedingly 

 well in pots, thus adapting them for win- 

 dow or veranda culture. Not the least ad- 

 vantage is that they can be easily raised 

 from seed. 



Let me mention my method of raising the 

 plants. I sow the seed in the end of July 

 or early in August, in low boxes of sandy 

 soil, which latter are kept in a frame cover- 

 ed with whitewashed glass. As soon as the 

 plants are large enough to handle they are 

 pricked out into other pans so as to have 

 room to grow which they will do until late 

 autumn. 



Towards winter and even during the win- 

 ter the soil should be rather dry, for al- 

 though Aquilegias like plenty of root mois- 

 ture, when they are making active growth, 

 the roots will perish during the winter if 

 the soil about them is at all wet. Early 

 spring is quite soon enough to think of 

 moving them again, which should be done 

 into a well-prepared spot in the garden, un- 

 less they are to be grown in pots. In any 

 case the soil should be moderately rich and 

 deep, and the surface level, for if the 

 weather is dry they will stand plenty of 

 water both while they are growing and 

 while they are in flower. 



With me the varieties of ccerulea will 

 flower for three or four years, but they do 

 not do so in all soils, more frequently dying 

 away after they have flowered twice; there- 

 fore, it is necessary to raise a stock of young 

 plants, if not every year, once in two years. 



Those plants required to flower in pots 

 should be taken up and placed in 6-inch 

 pots at the end of October, and the plants 

 kept in a cold pit all the winter. In this 

 structure they will come into flower in 

 May, and will make striking objects for 

 any position where decorative plants are re- 

 quired. As soon as they go out of flower 

 the stems may be cut down and the plants 

 turned out again into the bed whence they 

 were taken. 



2.397. Cultnie of Hydrangea Otaksa. There 

 is nothing difflcult in the culture of this plant. 

 Any ordinary garden soil with a free admixture 

 of sand would be found to suit it well. The 

 plant being a native of Japan would not be 

 hardy in Canada and should during the winter 

 be put in a frost-proof cellar.— H. W. Smith. 



2.398. What Ails My Bhabarbl The plants 

 are most likely very old and are growing in too 

 poor a soil and which in the winter retains the 

 moisture. Try a dr.ver situation and liberal 

 supplies of manures.— H. W. Smith. 



2,400. NarciBSUS Blighting in Bnd. The tem- 

 perature in which the plants were forced was 

 too high, and moisture was also too abundant. 

 Next season do not allow the temperature to ex- 

 ceed 55° during the day nor 45° at night, and 

 don't apply water in large quantities— H. W. S 



2,414. Liquid Manure lor BOBM. Four pounds^ 

 of guano may be dissolved in 40 gallons of water.' 

 This liquid manure should be applied to the 

 plants when the ground is moist. Should the 

 soil be at all dry, a good watering with clear 

 water should be first given, and then the liquid 

 manure be appUed, by this method no injury is 

 done the tender roots, and the manure is 

 brought within reach of the feeders. It can 

 be applied once or twice a week according 

 to the growth of the plants.- H. W. Smith. 



2,388. Pomegranate not Blooming. The 

 pruning probably has been too severe. I advise 

 that you leave it alone tor a season or two. The 

 flowers of the Pomegranate arc borne on the 

 ends of slender twigs, and it these are removed 

 and the plant much cut, growth will be pro- 

 duced at the expense of the flowers. Encourage 

 the production of twig growth which the plant 

 will produce naturally if left pretty much to 

 itself, and you will be rewarded with Mowers 

 and perhaps fruit.- H. W. Smith. 



