234 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



Mountain, growing on our grounds and proved 

 like it in every particular. On such evidence 

 as we have there is no other conclusion open to 

 us than that the Green Mountain and the Win- 

 cheU are one and the same thing. 



Judge Miller's Fruit Notes. 



Peaches. For half a century there has 

 been improvements going on in this luscious 

 fruit, and yet perfection In some respects 

 has not been reached. One important want 

 Is an early Peach like Alexander, of real 

 good quality, that is free from rot, and a 

 free stone. Tree vigorous and productive. 



As to valuable late varieties we have 

 reached the climax I think, as both free and 

 cling of excellent quality are here that ripen 

 as late as it is possible for a Peach to acquire 

 first rate quality. When the weather 

 gets cool in the fall no Peach can arrive at 

 that excellence reached in hot weather. 



The Nix Cling will hang on the trees here 

 until frost, and I have kept them until 

 Christmas, but it is simply a Peach with 

 not much flavor. 



The Henrietta or Levy's Winter is the 

 finest and best of all that I have tested yet. 

 About ten years ago I raised a lot of trees 

 from Hale's Early, and out of one hundred 

 there were three that I deemed worthy of 

 perpetuation, and which were grown for a 

 few years; but then they took to rotting as 

 bad as the parent. Even the Hales on high 

 land here, 800 feet above the river, never 

 rotted, yet here on the rich bottom land it 

 is not worth growing. 



Close to Sedalia, Mo. , I know an orchard 

 of about three acres of this variety that did 

 nobly, and that in a thin prairie soil with a 

 hardpan underneath that would hold water 

 like a bucket. This was a mystery to me, 

 as the general impression is that the Peach 

 tree wants perfect drainage. About the 

 same time that the Hale's seedlings were 

 raised, I set out an orchard of about fifty 

 trees, ten or twelve varieties of the very 

 best, from earliest to latest. 



This was on level ground, rich, but well 

 drained. They were headed back annually, 

 pruned and kept well cultivated. From 

 this something grand was expected, but a 

 sad disappointment awaited me. The third 

 year most of the trees bore splendid fruit, 

 and they were the picture of health, but the 

 fall was warm until late, and in November 

 we got a severe cold spell. The winter fol- 

 lowing the mercury got down to 34° below 

 zero, and that was too much for them. 



We never gathered a bushel of fruit from 

 the fifty trees after, as they were so injured 

 that they barely kept alive, and two years 

 of Peach failure followiug , then another 

 severe winter finished them off. Not a tree 

 is now left. This season gives us the fullest 

 crop of Peaches I ever saw; the trees being 

 literally crowded with fruit. 



Nearly all the early ones rotted, but where 

 the fruit was well thinned out they nearly 

 escaped the rot. This is, I think a hint to 

 growers. Some man has written that when 

 a tree or vine is overloaded, it brings on 

 fruit rot in self defence. 



The years of failure in the Peach crop 

 here caused to neglect heading in my trees, 

 and now even where properly thinned out, 

 they are breaking down. Hereafter the 

 same care will be given them whether they 

 fruit or not. I believe that if we would not 

 cultivate Peach trees too late, give the tips 

 a pinching about the first of September, that 

 they would stand a harder winter than they 

 will if otherwise treated. Here we often 

 get a warm, wet spell late in the fall that 

 almost starts the sap, in which condition 

 they cannot stand the same degree of cold 

 that they might, or do where the fall is cool 

 and dry. The late varieties here promise to 

 be unusually fine unless the present drouth 

 continues, in which case they will fall short; 



so will also the winter Apples, of which 

 there is but a slim crop as a ritle. 



The raising of Peach seedlings of fair 

 quality will insure us more crops, as they 

 will stand a lower temperature. Late spring 

 frosts have not cut off our Peaches more 

 than twice in twenty-three years, it is only 

 the low temperature in the vrlnter that does 

 the damage; not only to the fruit buds but 

 also to the trees, unless quite low headed. 



I have known the mercury at zero in a 

 morning, and thirty-two hours after seen 

 grasshoppers skipping around beneath the 

 cliffs here. Worked in my shirt-sleeves 

 with comfort. 



Blackberkies. The crop of this fruit is 

 an immense one here. Prom Lucretia Dew- 

 berry (the earliest) to Winnewaski (the 

 latest), all bear a full crop. Snyder, Taylor, 

 Stone's Hardy, Freed and Triumph are all 

 doing their best. Among the large ones 

 Triumph is to my taste the best, and is 

 among the early ones, in which I erred once 

 in stating it was late. 



Erie has come to stay, so has Winnewaski. 

 Both large and productive; neither are as 

 sweet as the Triumph, but have a good fiavor. 

 Erie is said to be like the Lawton, not so 

 with me. The berry is more round, and the 

 foliage free from rust. I have neither Law- 

 ton nor Kittatinny to compare, as they were 

 cut down wih rust, but from recollection 

 don't think any of those mentioned are 

 superior to the Kittatinny, which, however, 

 was not quite hardy with me. 



This fruit is brought into the house by the 

 bushel; preserving, jelly making, canning 

 and drying are in full blast. As to varieties, 

 I think like Rlehl, of Alton, Ills., that there 

 are as good wild ones around us as we cul- 

 tivate. This can be proven not two hun- 

 dred yards from this place, by a lot of 

 seedlings that came up voluntarily, carried 

 by the birds I suppose, for there are plenty 

 of them equal to my best, in size, product- 

 iveness and quality. 



While gathering Eries a few days ago 

 thought, would take some for show to the 

 house, when a son of mine came to me with 

 a handful of wild ones, and asked if I could 

 beat that? They were as large as the Eries, 

 and decidedly better in quality. There is 

 nothing like looking around oneself and see 

 what nature is doing for us. Not a week 

 ago I came across a Raspberry on the edge 

 of the creek land, whose young canes I 

 staked out over the land (as they hung out 

 over the water) to propagate. The fruit as 

 large as my largest, and excellent in quality. 



A Great Fruit Farm and Garden. 



Hundreds of Acres in Peaches, 



Thirty-five in Celery, Etc. 



The traveler behind the window of a D. 

 L. & W. car passing near Mount Morris, 

 N. Y., will be attracted by a large field of 

 black muck land, extending from the foot 

 of the hill to the railroad embankment, and 

 containing twenty or more acres. There is 

 also a large field of Celery, and one of Cab- 

 bage and Cauliflower on the other side of 

 the road bed. 



This tract of low land is a part of the .1. F. 

 White orchard farm of 800 acres. Orchards 

 and dwellings, with all necessary buildings, 

 greenhouses, evaporating and canning es- 

 tablishments are on the hill above. A large 

 part of the farm is planted to Peaches, but 

 there are also 40 acres or more in Plums, a 

 number in Apricots and Cherries, 40 or .50 

 in Grapes, and a large tract will be set out 

 next spring to Bartlett Pears. Celery is 

 grown to the extent of .3.5 acres. A similar 

 area is devoted to Tomatoes, 10 acres to 

 Cantaloupes, tour acres to Hubbard Squash, 

 CO acres to Beans, several acres to Onions, 

 and various other things. 



We have travelled over the D. L. & W. 



route between here and New York quite 

 frequently, and when this happened to be 

 in the daytime, we have never failed to 

 watch the Mount Morris Celery fields with 

 great interest. The soil appeared so rich 

 and fine, and the plants so exceedingly 

 thrifty, while the cross ditches with their 

 fiood gates lent to the whole so many addi- 

 tional charms in our sight, that we had long 

 since decided to stop off for investigation at 

 the first opportune moment. So when the 

 owner invited us to come and see his Peach 

 orchards, now bearing about 50,000 bushels 

 of fruit, we were promptly on the spot. 



Wholesale Celery Culture. The tract 

 in Celery is a rich muck bed of great depth 

 (probably not less than twenty feet), and 

 slightly sloping from the foot of the hiU to 

 the railroad. In spots the soil contains a 

 good percentage of sand, and the surface 

 layer bears evidence of heavy dressings with 

 barnyard manure. Several teams were busy 

 drawing a new supply of stable manure to 

 be composted in long heaps by the roadside 

 for next season's use. A finer tract of land 

 for the purposes to which it is here em- 

 ployed, cannot well be found. Mr. White 

 has not been slow to see its natural advan- 

 tages, and to utUize them to about the full- 

 est extent. 



The Irrigating Plant. It is but a little 

 mountain stream rushing down the hill on 

 one side of the winding road to the beautiful 

 orchard home above, but it is sufficient to 

 supply all the moisture that the '.20 acre 

 Celery field may need in addition to the- 

 water given from the clouds; so that injury 

 to the crop from even a prolonged drouth is 

 not to be feared. 



It is but a little mountain stream; but it 

 is the thing above all others, even above the 

 beautiful, rich, deep, porous soil, and the 

 liberal use of manures, that makes the crop 

 an unfailing success, and enables Mr. White 

 to produce Celery of such size and perfec- 

 tion, that the Kalamazoo product cannot 

 compete with it in the market on even terms. 

 There are hundreds of opportunities in this 

 and other states, where little streams, and 

 ponds, and canals, etc., might be utilized 

 for irrigating purposes in the same or a sim- 

 ilar simple way, and with as telling effect 

 as is done on Mr. White's farm, but usually 

 the owners fail to see and profit by their 

 natural advantages. 



The arrangement here is very simple. A 

 ditch is dug along the foot of the hill on 

 about a dead level the entire length of the 

 Held. By turning the current of the little 

 stream into it, this ditch can be filled to 

 overfiowing. Smaller side ditches are dug 

 at regular intervals of 10 or 15 rods across 

 the field to the lower end, and here connect 

 with another ditch along the railroad em- 

 bankment, which carries off the surplus 

 water. These side ditches are provided with 

 three or four flood gates each. 



.Just as soon as the soil gives the least in- 

 dication of dryness, the main ditch is 

 allowed to fill to overflowing, by the simple 

 opening of a flood-gate at the side of the 

 brook above. The next move then is to open 

 the flood gates which empty this water into 

 the cross ditches filling them to the next 

 flood gate below that is kept closed, until 

 the water rises clear to the surface of the 

 soil. Mr. White tells us that it takes only 

 24 hours for the water in the ditches to soak 

 all through the soil and moisten the whole 

 extent of the area Ijetween each two ditches, 

 in fact, make the land so wet that it would 

 not be safe to drive a horse through. 



Now the Hood gate is opened, and the 

 water allowed to fill the next section of 

 ditch, the flood gate below remaining closed. 

 When this section has received its proper 

 allowance of water, the next section below is 

 treated in the same manner. That under 

 such circumstances the growth of the Celery 



