22 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



The Growth of Raspberries. 



WM. H. YEOMANS, COLUMBIA CO., CONN. 



The past season has been one of an unusual 

 degree of moisture in most parts of New 

 England, and while it has its discouraging 

 effects, it has at the same time possessed 

 some compensating influences. For the 

 production of cultivated crops the amount 

 of moisture has been detrimental, while for 

 the growth of plants for the production of 

 small fruits its influence is believed to be 

 favorable. With a season of great lack of 

 moisture — a season of drought— there Is 

 usually a scanty and imperfect growth of 

 plants, say of the Strawberry and the Rasp- 

 berry, which cannot result otherwise than 

 unfavorable for fruit production; that was 

 an eftect in some sections of a drought last 

 season; but now the case is very ditferent. 

 Seldom have we ever seen a more vigorous 

 growth of Raspberry bushes than has been 

 made through the past season. 



We set new plants in the spring, and with 

 the existing abundance of moisture in the 

 soil immediate growth was commenced and 

 continued with no interruption; the growth 

 of canes was immense. We cut them back 

 heavily, but still they continued to grow, 

 and it the fruiting another season is pro- 

 portional to the development of canes the 

 yield will be almost unlimited. We shall 

 await with some interest the result, and if 

 it accords with our expectations it will be 

 an index as to the course to pursue in dry 

 seasons, becaiise although some labor is in- 

 volved it would be best to use means for 

 irrigation. Does not this fact of vigorous 

 growth with a surplus of moisture indicate 

 that a fairly moist soil would be appropriate 

 for the cultivation of small fruits. 



Winter Storage of Vegetable and 

 Apples in Pits. 



CARL HOLTMAN, ERIE CO., N. Y. 



Dead-set against tilling the cellar under 

 the dwelling with vegetables and fruits, 

 that's what I am. And it were much better 

 for the health and comfort of the family in 

 many other cases, I know of, if pater 

 fuiniUaswere as shy of the practice as I am. 

 The conditions of the average cellar are far 

 from favorable to the best keeping of these 

 perishable things, and how often have I 

 seen people carry out bushels of half-decay- 

 ed Apples, shrivelled Beets and Carrots, 

 and rotten Onions and Potatoes, Imt not 

 until after the odors had tainted butter and 

 milk, and otherwise annoyed the people for 

 weeks or months. 



Why should we thus keep in the house a 

 larger quantity of these things than re- 

 quired for immediate use, when the old- 

 fashioned pit-storage is so ett'ective and sa- 

 tisfactory? Tender and juicy are the Apples, 

 and plump and fresh the Potatoes and roots 

 dug out from the ''holes" during winter, 

 and in early spring, and altogether ditferent 

 from the wilted stuff usually coming from 

 the house cellar. 



" Pitting is a perfectly safe and easy thing 

 if we make proper provision for ventilation 

 and sufficient protection against freezing, 

 although Apples and roots will usually 

 come out all right even after being touched 

 by frost, provided they are allowed to thaw 

 gradually before taken out. I have fre- 

 quently used the old-fashioned way with 

 very good success. An excavation is dug 

 in a well drained piece of ground eight 

 to twelve inches deep, four feet wide and as 

 long as required. The vegetables or Apples 

 are put in, and formed in a conical heap, 

 then covered with nearly a foot of straw, 

 laid smoothly up and down, and with a 

 foot or so of soil upon this. A whisp of 

 straw should reach from the heap clear 

 though the soil covering on top for ventila- 

 tion. At the approach of cold weather the 

 heap is thickly covered with a layer of straw. 



The following is an improvement on this 

 plan, and I like it still better. Instead of 

 putting the soil directly upon the straw 

 covering, I make shutters, as shown in Fig. 

 1, made by nailing any sort of boards to 

 cross pieces or cleats four to six inches wide, 

 and standing at right angle against the 

 boards. The latter should be about six feet 

 long, the width of shutter aboutfour feet. 



The vegetables are heaped up in a long 

 pile wide at the bottom and coming to a 

 point at the top, as may be seen in Fig. 2. 

 When covered with straw a foot deep, the 

 shutters are placed against it in the manner 

 shown, cleats down. The straw should pro- 

 ject over the top edges of the shutters. Here 

 we have a dead air space of several inches 

 between the straw and the shutters. A layer 

 of earth, thick enough to prevent all danger 

 from freezing, is finally shoveled upon the 

 boards, only the top between the shutters 

 where the straw appears above the edges, 

 being left uncovered for ventilation until the 

 approach of very severe weather. Then the 

 most of this should be covered also. Rain 

 and snow water must be kept out by a piece 

 of board laid lengthwise over the top. 



When "out west" I have had excellent 

 success with a root cellar similar to the one 

 illustrated in Fig. 3. An excavation was 

 dug out seven or eight feet deep, about as 

 wide and twenty feet long, the top covered 

 with stout poles or logs, and these with 

 coarse prairie hay. Corn stalks or any avail- 

 able litter. This was sodded over with long 

 strips of tough sod, and soil enough shoveled 

 upon it to make the whole covering two 

 feet thick. Of course an opening was pro- 

 vided for, either in the center or in a corner, 

 and the entrance efl'ected by means of a lad- 

 der. A root cellar of the size named holds 

 about 4.50 bushels of roots. 



THE COMPLETE GARDEN.* 



XVIX. 



BY A WELL-KNOWN HORTICULTURIST. 



(Continued from page 293 VoC. IV.) 



CLASSIFIED LIST OF HARDY FLOWERS, 



CONTINUED. 



1!lass a. Usually from one to three feet in height. 

 For Key to Seh'Ctitni sec September J^»e. 

 Name. Color. Season. 



B Achillea (Milfoil) yellow July, Sept. 



D Agrost«mma corona- 



ria crimson June 



e Anemone Pennsyl- 



vanica white June 



g Aira (Hair (rrass) 



Citrulea yellow July, Sept. 



Allium rose Sept. Oct. 



D eernum rose 



P stellatum rosy purple. 



B Anthericum liliastrum 



(S(. Brunos Lily).. white June, July 



/ Artemesia trigida 



(Southcrnieood) yellow yrven Summer 



i Arisivma triphyllum 



(Jack-in-the-PulpiDpurple May, June 



D Aster ptarmicoides. ..i/'/)i(c Aug. Sept. 



n sericeus purple Aug. Sept. 



D Betomca(Befo»]y) offi- 

 cinalis purple . ..June Aug. 



Campanula in variety blue, white, June 



D Clematis integritolia.. blue July, Aug. 



(7 tubulosa fine blue July, Aug. 



C Conoolinium (Mist 



flower) coelestinum. blue Sept. 



h Corydalis lutes (Fum- 

 itory) yeUow May, Sept. 



D Delphinium azureum 



(Lark.tpur) tAuc, wh itc . June 



D Daphne cneorum 



(Garland flower) rosy lilac ..May, Sept. 



B Diantbus barbatus 



(Sweet William)-. vari<ms lune, July 



D Dicentra e.ximea . rose June, July 



e Dodecatheon media 



(Am. Cowslip) red May, Juno 



e Erigeron Philadelphi- 



cum ro8|/p«rplc.June, Aug, 



c BellidifoliumlBobin 



Plantain) rotry purple.May, June 



U Festuca glauca (Fes- 

 cue Orafts) grey 



•Copyright, 1887, Popular Oardenlng Publishing Co. 



D Fritillaria Meleagris 

 (t3uiiuM-Hen Flow- 

 er) purple April,June 



.4 .i Funkia subcordata 



(Plaintain Lily)... ti'hitc July, Aug. 



D coerulea blue July, Aug. 



Other varieties... various 



/ Fortunei raaculata.itJac July, Aug. 



D e Gentian alba (White 



Ocntian white Sept Nov. 



E e Andrewsii (Closed 



Gentian blue Sept. Nov. 



e Gillenia trifoliata 



(Bowman's Root). .white July. 



Gypsophila acuti- 



folia white... . July, Sept. 



/ Geum triflorum 



(Ai/ache Plume). . .red 



Hesperis Matronalis fl pi, 



(Double Rocket) white May, July 



t Helonias bullata 



(Spiked Helonias) . .redduli .... May 



A Hyacinthus (Hya- 

 cinth) 



Orientali8( Common 



Garden) various A prjl 



D Inula glaudulosa — yellnw June, July 



A g Iris (Flower-de-Lnce) 

 Germanica (Ger- 

 man Iris) vai-iuxis ... May, June 



D g Leucojum sestivum 

 (Summer Snow- 

 flake) grecn,white. June 



C Liatris (Blazing Star) 



spicata purple .. ..July, Aug. 



Linium perenne 



(Perennial Flax)... blue July 



i Lobelia syphilitica . . . dark blue . . . July, Aug. 



D Lychnis flos cuculi fl 



pi (Ranged Robin). .rose May, June 



D Flos Jovis (Flower 



of Jove) majenta June, July 



4 Viscaria fl pi majenta May, June 



lulgens scarlet May, June 



Lysimachia (Looset 

 Strife) 



e ciliata yellow June, July 



D e clethroides white June, Sept. 



Melissa (Bnlra) M'/ittc, eto... June, Aug. 



D i Mertensia Virginica 



(Lungwort ) flne blue . . May, June 



A Narcissus (Daffodils) 



Many flne kinds.. .i/ciloi(i,whife, 



etc April, May 



C CEnothera (Evening 

 Pi imrosc) several 



kinds j/6UOTt',u'?i itc. June, Sept 



Orobua vernus (Bitter- 

 vetch dark purple May, June 



Phlox Carolina pink purple May, June 



divaricata (Spread- 

 ing Phlor) ..lavender . . .May, June 



pileus(Hair!/ P/Woj-lrosc red .. May, June 



6 Podophyllum pelta- 

 tum (May Apple- 



Matulrake) white .- May 



Polemonium (.Greek 



Valerian) blue May 



Turhiii II, ininii , I- icnni'iniiilii r,n i.iiliicaturbinata.) 

 e i Pi-unclla (Self Heal). inirplc, while Juuc, July 

 Ranunculus irroic- 



foot) aconititolius.u'httc May. June 



C acrisflpl (Double>yeUow May, June 



i Sarracenia iPitcher 



plant) purpurea., yellow Summer 



h Scduin iStone Crop) 



spectabile (Shouy 



Sedum) 7'(wi/ j««rj)i<;.Sept. Oct. 



Telephium hybrid- 



um dark rose.. .July, Sept. 



Sidalacea Malvseflora 



( Indian Mellow)... purple July 



Stokesia cyanea blue A ug. Oct, 



