THE GENESEE FARMER. 



315 



HOW TO KEEP A GARDEN CLEAN. 



Tns Country Gentleman has an excellent article 

 m this subject. Though rather late for this season, 

 ve copy it entire. It deserves the attention of 

 ivery gardener : 



Farmers who raise kitchen vegetables, and who 

 lo not keep a regular gardener, are apt to neglect 

 heir grounds toward the end of summer and early 

 n autumn, and allow weeds to ripen their seeds. 

 Nothing reduces the current expenses of the family, 

 or the outlay, more than a good kitchen garden, 

 >ut the complaint with many is the labor of keep- 

 ng it clean — the constant fight with weeds, weeds, 

 some have adopted the opinion that a quarter-acre 

 ;arden will grow more weeds than ten acres of 

 arm land, and there is ground for the belief, as 

 ome are managed. A few weeds, allowed to per- 

 ect seeds, will produce an abundant crop next 

 r ear ; and thus, year after year, the earth becomes 

 illed with them, till the soil of a garden consists of 

 hree main ingredients, namely, a soil, naturally ; 

 i large amount of manure, artificially ; and a 

 mmense supply of foul seeds, spontaneously. 



Is it not practicable to clear out entirely and 

 otally, the last of the three? Are weeds a neces- 

 ity ? If a garden contains a hundred thousand of 

 hem, and ninety-nine thousand are killed by the 

 loe, why not the remaining thousand? If nine 

 mndred and ninety of this thousand, why not the 

 emaining ten? The soil of a garden may oe com- 

 pletely purified of weeds and their seeds, greatly 

 ■educing the labor of keeping it in order, and largely 

 iontributing to a fine growth of the crops. It is 

 >asier to keep a garden perfectly clean, than to be 

 jngaged in a constant warfare with the weeds, 

 rhe labor is far less. The reason that it is not 

 lone, is the want of care and attention. Nearly 

 ill farmers are satisfied if a garden is neakly clean, 

 rhi* is the origin of all the trouble — namely, 

 eaving a few weeds to seed the whole ground. The 

 •emedy is, begin now — eradicate everything — and 

 ;hen, in three days go over again, and eradicate 

 inything that may have shown its head, and so 

 ;ontinue the examination every week, weeds or no 

 iveeds. One morning every week should be set 

 ipart for this special purpose. Unless something 

 Dt* this kind is adopted, the thing will certainly be 

 leglected. And after they are out, continue the 

 process to keep them out. It is easier to spend a 

 iialf hour in a morning once a week in this way, 

 »nd have good crops, than to spend three days in 

 jach week fighting the intruders, and as a conse- 

 quence getting bad crops. 



A muskrat made a hole in a dam embankment, 

 Mid the water was washing it larger. The owner 

 applied to one skilled in such things, to] close the 

 iangerous orifice. He would charge a dollar, 

 which was more than the owner would give. The 

 next day it had increased, and then the offer was 

 accepted. But the price had increased to two 

 dollars, and was again declined. From this time 

 the breach increased enormously, and the next day 

 the owner had to give the fifty dollars required, or 

 lose his whole dam. It is so in destroying weeds. 

 A little labor at the start would save an immense 

 increase. "When a building is in flames, it will not 

 do to suppress merely nine-tenths of the flames, but 



the last spark must be extinguished. Let every 

 owner of a garden be sure that the last weed is 

 killed, if there is such a one, as often as once a 

 week. 



Potato Tops, &c. — Everything in the shape of 

 rubbish, such as early potato tops, cucumber vines, 

 refuse radishes, spring mulching, &c, should be 

 buried on the spot, leaving a clean and neat surface. 

 When an assistant digs a mess of potatoes, cause 

 him to bury the tops at the time. They will decay 

 and enrich the land. 



; HORTICULTURAL ITEMS FROM FOREIGN 

 JOURNALS. 



Lilitum auratum is a Japanese lily which is exci- 

 ting a good deal of admiration in horticultural 

 circles in England. 



A correspondent of the London Florist recom- 

 mends an early stock for Isabella Gray and Cloth 

 of Gold roses. He says that they are early bloom- 

 ers and require an enrly stock. Working them on 

 a stock of this character, he regards as the remedy 

 for the difficulty experienced by many persons in 

 blooming them. 



The Gardener's Chronicle says the present seems- 

 to be a groat year for parasitic Fungi. Pear trees 

 and apple trees are suffering to a great extent from 

 a minute brown mould. We have never seen it so 

 abundant, and unfortunately we know of no rem- 

 edy. In some cases the young shoots are dwarfed 

 by this parasite and appear unlikely to form healthy 

 fruit buds for next year. 



Onions, also, are attacked by a minute mould 

 which utterly defies the cultivator. 



At the Royal Horticultural National Rose Show 

 the rose which attracted the most attention, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Beaton, of the Cottage Gardener, 

 was a Suffolk seedling called " John Hopper." He- 

 adds that it is a most splendid rose, with a strong,, 

 free habit, and a most profuse habit of blooming. 

 The color is a rich crimson on the face of the- 

 petal, and a violet tinge at the back. It is a cross- 

 between Madame Vidot and Jules Margottin. 



According to Galignani, the French Society of 

 Acclimatation has received intimation from Mr. G. 

 Timon, now in China, of a new kind of silk-worm, 

 which the people call Tien-tye, or Children of 

 Heaven, as they suddenly appear in myriads upon 

 the mulberry trees about two months after the 

 ordinary silk-worm has performed its evolutions-. 

 They live about three weeks, and at the end of that 

 time they congregate under the leaves and spin 

 their cocoons, an operation which takes them three- 

 days. These worms require scarcely any «are — 

 oaly protection from the birds. 



