1 886, 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



125 



kinds of fruit, and from green to ripe, sound to 

 unsound, on shelves in the house, giving the 



Fifj. 2.— -Secfiun vf tht' same shotring heatiny 

 apparatus a}i(l the ventilators open. 



hungry bees every opportunity to attaclc the 

 fruit. His report as to results is as follows: 



"They took advantage of every opening at 

 the stem or crack in the epidermis or puncture 

 made by insects whicli dej)Osittlieireggs in the 

 skin of grapes. They regarded the skin of 

 other fruits as subjects for incpiiry and inves- 

 tigation, and not objects for attack. If broken 

 or removed they will, in case of need, lap and 

 svick the juices exposed. The same was also 

 true of grapes that had bursted on account of 

 over-ripene,ss ; the bees lajiped the juices from 

 the exposed parts and stored it in the cells. 

 They made no attempt to grasp the cuticle of 

 sound grajjes. I removed the outer skin from 

 many, taking care not to rupture the Him sur- 

 rounding the puli^. AVhen these were exposed 

 to the bees, the}' continued to lap and suck the 

 juices from the outer tilm until it was as diy and 

 smooth as was the fihn between broken and un- 

 bi'oken segments. They showed no disposition 

 to use theii' jaws or claws, and the outer film, 

 as well as that between broken parts remained 

 whole until the pulp decayed and dried up." 



Lawns Running to Ruin. 



Many persons ilo not seem to know that to 

 allow a well established lawn to be neglected 

 in the matter of proper mowing is a ruinous 

 practice. Not only is theappeai'ance spoiled by 

 allowing the grass for once or oftener to grow 

 large, but vital injury is inflicted to the very 

 foundation of a good lawn. 



Let us look at this matter closely. A piece 

 of sward, to answer the best purposes of a 

 smooth velvety grass plat, should be made up 

 of many grass plants crowded closely together. 

 In this respect a lawn is very mui'h like a 

 closely planted hedge of woody growth. Stand- 

 ing closely, the plants in either case, must be 

 managed on the principle of being kept to a 

 minature size in all respects to match, a thing 

 I)erfectly done, in the case of a lawn by frequent 

 mowing, of a hedge by systematic clipping. 



Now to allow the crowd of plants to depart 

 from the reduced scale, by growing michecked 

 as test they can, the growth of the individual 

 plants will i)roceed somewhat on the principle 

 of the survival — not of the fittest plants 

 always — but rather of the strongest. The effect 

 of this will Ije the enfeebling or crowding out 

 of existence of some of the finer grasses, while 

 coarseness will characterize such as get a start 

 of their neighbors. 



In the future such a lawn, if brought down 

 to the close-mowing plan again, can never be had 

 to look as well as it did before allowed to go on 

 a rampage. It will be coarser and lack that 

 fineness of textural appearance which is the 



greatest charm of any grass plat. The weeds, 

 too, would gain by the sea.son of freedom. 



We woulil not wonder either if in some such 

 cases the owneis might latei' turn upon their 

 seedsman with the charge of selling only coarse 

 grasses in their " fine mixtures," and with some 

 show of wistlom, too, as they would point to 

 the lawn befoi'e them as proof. 



Too Many Varieties. The cipcrienced urclmid- 

 ist seldom urdtM-s iiKti-c than two or Ihrei* sorts The 

 novice I'cels as tliouyli lu- iiiiisl plant almost eveiy- 

 thing be ever heanl of. This course Is disastr4ms to 

 the best Hnancial results. Take, for instance, a list 

 of twenty or thirty Ideal's and you will tinil few i>f 

 them tlesirable for market. Many at-e loo small. 

 thong:h of fine ciuality. < tthers are large and 

 desirable for family but not for market. (_)thers are 

 feeble growers, requiring the highest cultivation 

 and soil pecidiarly adapted to them. It is usually 

 the same with apples, grapes and other fruits. My 

 advice is for the uninformed not to plant until he 

 can find some person in whom he has contidence 

 and who can advise wisely. Experiment al orchards 

 and vineyards are often condiicted at considerable 

 expense instead of profit, and yet the novice would 

 make his commercial orchard an experimental or- 

 chard, embracing many varieties that tin- experi- 

 enced woidd not think of planting — C'ltarles A. 

 Green, in New York Tribune. 



An Eye to Weeds Yet. Where the weeds have 

 been closely kept down throughout the season imtil 

 now, little trouble will come from them after this. 

 But a few weeds no doubt were missed, and these, 

 receiving the fjenefit of clean cldtnre, arc soon of 

 large size and ready to perfect a vast (piaritity of 

 plump seeds. Just to prevent this we must not give 

 np the battle yet, for a few such plants would make 

 endless work next year, while now it is a small task 

 to level them. 



Shading Melons. There may be something in 

 the stfttemeiU that in some parts of Asia where 

 this fruit is mucli grown, they 1 esort to ripening it 

 in the dark, by drawing soil over the melons as they 

 approach maturity. It is well known that some 

 fruits grown in hot-houses are much improved in 

 quality hy shading the glass during ripening. The 

 idea from Asia is so easily tried that we should not 

 remain long in the dark conceriung it. 



Clear Up as You Go. Whenever any garden crop 

 is past use for the kitchen it should be cleared from 

 the ground. Such a course will keep the garden 

 looking well and prevent the needless going to seed 

 of plants It shoidd be rememljered that the seed- 

 ing of vegetables exhausts the soil more than two 

 crops taken off in a succulent condition. 



That Strawberry Bed, talked about so nuich 

 before now, did you get it planted last spring? If 

 not, just hold up talking of it for the future, and 

 during this nu)nth (with pot-layered plants) or next 

 get around the plants aud set out over a 



good-sized [tatcli. This talking about a T 



thing and not doing tlie thing is delusive. ) 



Peach Trees between Apple. It is a 

 good economical rvile to plant the former 

 between those of the latter in the orchard 

 or garden. The Peach grows and bears 

 quickly, and will yield largely before the 

 apple trees need the space. 



A reliable writer speaks of an Apple 

 tree he met with having 200 varieties 

 grafted on it, foiu'-fifths of which were 

 in fruit. 



The refuse vegetables of the garden 

 are not tit to save another years' seed 

 from ; save from the very best or from 

 none. 



Life is too short for us to depend wholly 

 on our own experiments, therefore we 

 umst learn of and act upon those of others. 



Before condemning new varieties, re- 

 member that faihu-c in one place is not 

 a sign uf failure everywhere. 



The more trees to the acre the more fruit some 

 would say. It's a mistake; nncrowiied trees are 

 much moie pr<Kluctive than crowded ones. 



A foot-deep mulch of wheat straw is recom- 

 mended by A. M. Purdy, in his Reeurder, for Black- 

 berries. 



Cover the young Cauliflower heads with tissue 

 paper to keep off the worms, the rain and t he sun. 



We would like to see ten times more frint con- 

 smned generally than now is done. 



Keep the poor crops oiU of the market. Grow 

 none. 



Unthrifty plants suffer first from insects. 



CONDENSED GLEANINGS. 



Ctoosehkrhiks Witikm't Mtlokw. — Robert 

 Hunter, of Mahoning County, <)., says the 

 t'ttttntry d'enHetnini, has succeedc<l in growing 

 excellent crops of the English varieties. He 

 ]ilants (jn a clayey, cool soil, and keeps them 

 o|HUi in the center by pruning. In the spring 

 he disltuds the branches somewhat, to kecjj the 

 growth from becoming too dense. He midches 

 heavily in .sumiuer. The varieties lu" has 

 fouinl most successful are AVbifesmith, Red 

 Warrington, Karly Sulphur and Iron-monger. 



Fr.AT Stones as a Mulch.— I fiiul them 

 sui»rior to any other nuilching for newly 

 planted trees and shridis. Three years' use of 

 them has proved to me their superiority. I 

 use .small pieces for small frees, larger ones for 

 larger trees. I do not put tliem so close to- 

 getTier as to excluile air. Stones also steady 

 the young tree while forming new roots,— 

 ('(tnttiUiln ll(trtie}iHnrist. 



Raspberry Canes.— After the fniit these 

 canes are of no furthi^r use, and in due time 

 will die. Cultivators differ as to the time for 

 removing these old canes. Some I'ut them 

 away as soon as the fruit is off, while others 

 leave them until late in the fall, thinking 

 that the old canes may contribute something 

 to the growth of the new ones that are to Ijear 

 fruit next year. The best cultivators cut away 

 the canes soon after fruiting, as they are out 

 of the way, an<l do not interfere with the new 

 canes. — Anierienn Ai/rienffttriKf. 



About PLANTiNti Strawberries.- We do 

 not advise anyone tosetstrawlierries — ordered 

 from a distance, before August; nor toset large 

 plantations, at the North, in the sunnner or 

 fall — but at the South we advise setting in the 

 fall. For setting a small family bed in August 

 or Septendier it is well to shade plants with 

 pieces of paper or large green leaves for three 

 or four days after setting. Again we say don't 

 be fooled into buying " potted ])laiits" from a 

 distance at any price ; the cxprcssage will cost 

 you more than the berries will come to next 

 year at I.'") or 20 cents per quart — Frn it Reearder. 



Clubfoot and Cabbage Flies. So far as 

 I can determine clubfoot is the result of a de- 

 fective growth in the seed-beil. I )n the thir- 

 teen kinds of cabbage aud cauliflower on trial 

 this j'ear I have not found a single clubfoot ; 

 this is quite unusual, but the weattier has been 

 unusually favorable. It may appeal' in the 

 late kinds, the seeds of which are yet to be 

 planted in open ground. Some years I plant 

 in drills and some in beds; this year in (trills. 

 The cabbage fly can be kept oft' by working, 

 hoeing, weeding, watering dusting — anything 

 that will disturb the flies and keep them in mo- 

 tion. I have a notion they could be driven from 

 the bed by walking through it in the same direc- 

 tion many times. — Xen- York Trifnine. 



PKoTEt'TK.iN Against the Borer. The 

 borer is fatal to all Peach trees not fully pro- 

 tected against its ravages. This can be suc- 

 cessfully done by the application of the follow- 



VVALt. or HOUSE. 



15 



J 



Fiij. 3.- 



-Ground Pl( Hi of the $150 GrvcnhtmHv, shovn on 

 opposite page; Scale, '1-Ui inch to/tutt. 



ing wash: 4 gallons u-liitewash. L' quarts <-lay, 

 2 quarts fi-esb <*(»\v dtopiuu^s, 1 quart Ivc that 

 l>ears an egg. Mix tlu'se iniiiXMiicnts to a iirojier 

 (.'onsistency with wat^:*!'. Remove the ground 

 from the top of the rot>ti>! dose to the tree, and 

 apply the wash to the exposed roots and U) tlie 

 whole trunk of the tree, ineluding the hollow 

 between the lowest liranehes. I'over the roots 

 again with earth. The wash ran lieaj)j>lied very 

 expeditiously by means of a eoru broitui. The 

 wash should be ai)plied tvviee every season, 

 namely, about the end of I^Iay and the end of 

 August. I have found tliis an infallible protec- 

 tion against the Iwrer. For a|)ple trees one 

 applieation <)f the wash every season is suffi- 

 cient. — From < '/tfis. Sfit'ftrrrs rssdi/ itrfore 

 Petuisi/lntiiio Stutc flnrfi<-ii!tiirtif Sficicfif. 



