i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



69 



On Raspberries: With Mr. Van Dusen the 

 Shaffer produces more than any other red. 

 . . . Report«l to have yielded 4,5(1(1 quarts 

 per acre on light sandy soil. . . . The 

 Marlboro deserves more attention : is healthy, 

 vigorous, productive, of acceptable qualit)'. 

 Hansel has not done well in Western New York. 



Grapes; For keeping, Mr. Saunders deems 

 the following points important: uniform tem- 

 perature, darkness, packing simply in baskets 

 as for marketing. Concords now as fresh as 

 when gathered. . . . Bagging before ripen- 

 ing prevents damage by rot, birds, insects, 

 fowls, and aids better perfection. . . . The 

 Worden has too delicate a skin fordistant shii>- 

 ment; early, hardy, productive. 

 Average yield per acre of Concords is from 

 three to five tons. . . Protect young 



vines for two or three winters after planting. 



Miscellaneous: Dr. Hexamer reports salt as 

 of no benefit to Asparagus. . . . Mr. Cay- 

 wood gets no Quinces without applying salt. 

 . . . Others use salt for Plums and Fears 

 with good results. . . . Apples have a 

 choice of soils. . . . Mr. Woodwai'd covers 

 joints of tile in the orchard with cement, to 

 keep roots from entering and clogging them. 

 . . . Mr. Caywood dusts slackeil lime over 

 Cherries and Plums in fruit after showers, 

 to ward off curculio and other insects. 



mould; cover the seeds slightly and stand in 

 00° of heat, and they willstai't (luickly. When 

 the plants can be handled, move sing]}' into 

 small pots, giving them soil similar to that first 



A Favorite Vegetable— The Pea. 



Among green vegetables few, if any, are 

 preferred above the Pea. To be most de- 

 licious it .should be in its half grown state, and 

 properly served ; then it affords a dish to suit 

 the most fastidious ta.ste. The Pea has this ad- 

 vantage over most other vegetables ; it can be 

 grown on land not inch enough for most kinds 

 of garden crops. 



The Pea succeeds best on light soil. To keep 

 the table well supplied, sowingsjshould be made 

 as soon as the grouud can be worked, and then 

 every fifteen or twenty days apart up to the 

 middle of June. After that it would, for some 

 time, be useless to sow, as a rule, for the Pea is 

 not much of a hot weather plant. Bj- .sowing 

 an early sort, again about the middle of Au- 

 gust a fine fall crop may often be raised. 



In the kitchen garden. Peas are usually 

 ''brushed." As this is in itself something of a 

 task, a saving may be made in furnishing brush 

 by sowing two rows of Peas to one line of brush. 

 In this case the two rows are brought within 

 eight inches of each other, with the brush be- 

 tween. Then a space of two feet is left on each 

 side of the double line for a passage-way. 

 About one quart of seed is needed for each 

 seventj'-five feet in length of single drill. 



In field culture brush is seldom used for sup- 

 port. The seed is often sown broadcast here, 

 but a better way is to mark out with a one- 

 horse plow, rows thi-ee feet apart, and sow in 

 these. Some well decayed manure or bone 

 fertilizer may be applied in the furrow at the 

 same time. One bushel and a quarter of seed 

 will go over an at're. A hundred or more 

 bushels may be coimted on as the crop per 

 acre on good soil. 



The varieties of garden Peas are numerous, 

 their names are vastly more so. A good col- 

 lection for family use might embrace the fol- 

 lowing: First of all, American Wonder, Mc- 

 Lean's Little Gem for earliest; Champion of 

 England, White and Black Marrowfat, and 

 Stratagem tor general crop. The engraving is 

 of the Stratagem, which is a fine wrinkled Pea. 



Petunias and their Culture. 



The progress alreadj' made in improving the 

 insignificant looking species of the Petunias 

 that were first brought from South America, 

 some fifty years ago, has been most remarka- 

 ble. Our seedsman all now off> r the fruits of 

 this improvement, in the shape of fine seeds, 

 that may be relied upon to produce a large 

 percentage of very fine flowers. Although 

 tender evergreens, the jjlants of which may be 

 kept up indefinitely, it is better to raise young 

 plants every year. Seed may be sown this 

 month in the window or greenhouse in pans 

 filled with sifted loam, to which has been added 

 some sand, and if it is had, one-fifth of leaf- 



Faith in the Kieffer Pear. John S. Collins, 

 of Moorcstown, N. J., claims to have this, and 

 would seem to strongly show it by his works. 

 He states that he has an orchard of 10,U()() trees 

 phmted to this variety alone. 



Given a temperature of ;W with moderate 

 moisture, and the Roxbury Russet Apple wiU 

 keep no one knows how long. 



Clover, Thf Nitshville Anwrirdn says, is " the 

 grand elixir of our agricultural life." 



Plant steep and rocky liill sides with the 

 .4pple. 



It's the early gai-dener that catches the high 

 prices. 



A feeble young tree rarely amounts to much. 



Fruit gardens are often over-crowded. 



STRATAGEM ; A WRINKLED PEA. 



used; keep close for a few days, then admit 

 more air, and plenty of light. Nip out the 

 points of the shoots as soon as they begin to 

 grow freely, giving a little shade from midday 

 sun, with air and water as required. In six 

 weeks move them into .5 or 6-inch pots, now 

 using the soil without sifting, and adding to it 

 some rotten manure ; again stop the shoots, and 

 after they have grown so as to need support 

 put small sticks to each. By this course you 

 may have plants that will bloom all summer, 

 and if assisted with manure-water once or 

 twice a week, even much longer. 



Fruit Culture in Manitoba. An official report 

 of the Manitoba Department of Agriculture, 

 states that, generally speaking, for that region, 

 ordinary fruits are abundant in their season. 

 Among the fruits cultivated, the principal are 

 currants, gooseberries, strawberries, apples, 

 plums, raspberries and crab apples. Of these, 

 currants, gooseberries and strawberi'ies are the 

 most generally grown and with the most suc- 

 cess. Apples have not been wholly satisfactory 

 thus far, lint experiments are being carried out 

 with kinds from northern latitudes, the results 

 of which will be watched with interest. 



When a gardener for any reason gets so en- 

 thusiastic over the use of artificial fertilizers, 

 that he thinks they can as well as not wholly 

 take the place of stable manure, he is, as a 

 tiller of the soil, on the road to ruin. Turn 

 right about face! Stable manure is the stuff. 



Culture for Pears. Mr. Patrick Barj-y tells 

 us that in his wide experience, he has found 

 that Pears yield the largest crops and the finest 

 quality, if the soil is kept cleanly tilled, but not 

 so deep as to disturb the roots. Mr. Barry 

 knows about these things. 



The new Canadian ( ii-ape, Jessica, is said to 

 have given great satisfaction in Canada la-st 

 year. Such having lieen the case thus far 

 north, and in a season not at all favorable to 

 the Grape, indicates well enough for the sort. 



The Readers, the Paper and the 

 Editors. 



( tur Popular Gardening Family, with having ]-e- 

 ceived last month a new accession of menil)ers from 

 the Floral Worlds is now not only an extensive one, 

 but it is growing more rapidly than ever. There are 

 members in every State in tlie Union, in Canada and 

 other foreign lands. But however near or far 

 apart we its members may be. all must be possessed 

 of the one desire to find increased pleasure and 

 profit in gardening. 



Now the sum of knowledge concerning gardening 

 matters, possessed by the members of our family, is 

 in the aggregate ver^ great. Could this be properly 

 set forth so as to be available to all members, its in- 

 fluence for improved gardening would be vast. If 

 kept hid, its power for good will mostly be lost. 



But PopcLAR Garde.nixg designs that the light of 

 our experience and knowledge shall not be covered 

 a.s with a bushel. Tlie paper is here as a means of 

 family intercourse. It is the mouthpiece of everj- 

 member to speak to all other members. The de- 

 partments are all open to their letters. 



So we want every one of you to be sociable, speak 

 out and get acquainted. Tell us how you manage 

 your flowers, fruits, etc. Sister A., of Elaine, 

 Sister B., of JIaryland, Brother t'., of iVlinnesota, 

 and so on all througli the family. There will be 

 nearly 3t),(KX) others who wfll be glad to read what 

 you have to say. Tell us what you know, and what 

 you don"t know but would like to. Occupy every 

 department of our paper, and please oljserve that 

 we want to bear of the useful little things as well as 

 the great things of popular gardening. ^Vhatever 

 you meet when at yom' work that will be of real 

 worth to the family to know, out with it. 



The editors of Popular Gardening, however, must 

 lay down one or two restrictions in the interests of 

 the common family good, as regards correspon- 

 dence. First, we desire above all, to print facts: our 

 columns are too much crowded io admit of long- 

 spun theories, fancies or rambling talk. So we say 

 give facts, and " be brief, evennore be brief." 



Let each one who writes, bear in mind the rule 

 which has made this paper so successful: " ir/i< re 

 ten linen will answer any end, tn-enti/ vini'f he 

 used; if ten words trill do, tlien ten lines are not 

 adm itted." Whatever is printed must be worthy of 

 our near 3(l,(X)0 readers (that is a large number). Pos- 

 tal cards, let us say, are a great convenience for 

 family intercourse, for here we don't stand so much 

 on the form of things. -\s for poetry, little can be 

 admitted; it must be of a high order. Sketches of 

 appliances and methods are always acceptable, in 

 many cases they will be engraved for our pages. 



With these various remarks let no member of the 

 family be frightened with doubts as to their ability 

 to write well enough for this paper. Our editors are 

 of the " family," and whenever necessary, they will 

 most gladly see to it that your ideas are set forth 

 clearly and with credit to yourself. It is due to them 

 to say that they are practical gardeners, who ai'e as 

 apt with potting stick, pruning knife and plow. a.s 

 with the pen. They can follow and shape up a line 

 of ideas in unskillful composition concerning gar- 

 dening matters, as easily as to clean up a row of 

 young Pansies or Peas in the midst of early weeds. 

 They can also prune down "over grown " articles 

 to the good of the s;iine, as readily as to overhaul 

 a greenhouse full tif rampant growths, or dress up 

 an orchard. 



< >f couree these remarks do not apply to all om- 

 correspondents. i)ut they are made to encourage 

 every member to send in something. As for the 

 drawings alluded to. send such along, however crude 

 they may be, our artists can catch the idea, and 

 bring them out in good shape. 



Members of the Pt)Pul^R (Jardening fauuly. let 

 us hear from each one of you through the jiages of 

 this, oiu' medium! Everybody send stimething. 



