BLACKBERRIES. 



57 



BLINDS. 



Blackberries. 



A new candidate for a prominent place 

 in the fruit garden has lately been intro- 

 duced in the blackberry, of which the 

 following are the best cultivated varieties : 



1. Snyder. 



2. Parsley Leaved. 



3. Stone's Hardy. 



4. Wachussett's 



Thornless. 



5. Brunton's Early. 



6. Mammoth. 



7. Early Harvest. 



8. Taylor's Prolific. 



9. "Wilson's Early. 

 10. Wilson Junior. 



This last is the best 

 of all the cultivated 

 kinds. 



There is no difficulty in the culture of 

 the blackberry that requires special mention 

 here, but it may be as well to remind the 

 reader that in attempting to grow any of 

 the cultivated sons disappointment, through 

 failure of the plant to take kindly to its new 

 quarters, will often occur. The best course 

 to pursue, when ordering any from the 

 grower, is to make him acquainted with 

 the nature and character of the soil in 

 which they are to be placed, and to leave 

 the selection to him. 



Blanching. 



Several vegetables in very general use 

 require blanching celery, seakale, endives, 

 lettuces, &c. The first of these is blanched 

 by earthing-up, full instructions for which 

 will be given under the culture of the 

 vegetable. Seakale i? blanched under pots 

 prepared for this purpose, and covered over 

 with litter, sand, ashes, or leaves. 



With regard to endive, the best plan is 

 to place over each plant, when full grown, 

 a large tile or slate, which will effectually 

 exclude all light, and blanch the endive 

 in a few days. Some gardeners tie the 

 plants up with bass or twine ; but the plan 

 is objectionable, as^in wet weather the rain 

 will run down the endive-leaves and rot 

 the hearts of the plants. Endive is best 

 blanched, perhaps, by putting a flower-pot 

 turned upside down over the centre of the 

 plant. With lettuces there is no better 

 plan than tying. 



Blinds for Walls. 



Blinds or screens of canvas, netting, or 

 tiffany, form excellent temporary protection 

 for trees, and the following is a description 

 of the method by which they may be pre- 

 pared and attached to the walls for use : 

 About I inch below the coping a splint of 

 wood, 2 \ inches wide and i\ inch thick, is 

 firmly secured to the wall. This splint is 

 furnished with hooks about i inch long, 

 and i foot apart. Pairs of pulleys, i inch 

 in diameter and a J inch deep, attached to 

 iron plates, are fixed on this splint, at inter- 

 vals of 8 feet apart, all along the wall. 

 They are let into the splint at a bevel, by 

 cutting off part of the top and front sur- 

 face ; and each is firmly kept in its place 

 by four screws as in Fig. i. Small eyes are 

 also placed below every other pair of pul- 

 leys, thereon, at distances of 16 feet apart. 



FIG. I. PULLEYS IN SPLINT. 



Pairs of posts, 4 inches square, are firmly 

 inserted in the ground, about 4 feet 6 inches 

 from the wall, and 16 feet apart, leaving 

 about 3 inches above the surface. These 

 posts are 2 feet 6 inches apart, and con- 

 nected together with a strcng piece of 

 wood, i inch wide and 3 deep, nailed on 

 the inner or wall side of the posts. An- 

 other single post is placed in the centre of 

 the space between the pairs, leaving a clear 

 space of 8 feet between. The tops of the 

 posts are cut out in the middle, as shown 

 in Fig. 2, and the single one is furnished 

 with a double hook, to which to attach a 

 cord. Splints of wood, inch square and 

 10 feet 6 inches long, are then attached to 

 the hooks already referred to, by an iron 

 eye attached to the upper end, the bottom 



