1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



29 



tlie branch can now be severed from the par- 

 ent plant by a smooth cut immediately be- 

 low the funnel. This latter is now carefully 

 opened and removed, and the young plant, 

 with ball of soil adhereing, potted off in a 

 reasonably large pot, and in good rich pot- 

 ting soil. It is then treated in some way as 

 other plants of its kind, and in spring fol- 

 lowing will be large enough for sale. The 



PROCOPP'S GIANT PEPPER. 



funnels are usually made from 4 to 7 inches 

 long, and 2 to 4 inches across the top. 



The described mode is much employed by 

 Italian growers in the propagation of Cam- 

 ellias, Rhododendrons, Boxwoods, Olea fra- 

 grans, Magnolia fusca. Ericas, and many 

 other shrubs, also of very choice Roses. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to tchick all are invited to send notes of 

 experienee and observation concerning topics that re- 

 centlu have been treated on in this journal. Many 

 such contributions monthly are welcome, 



Bleachisg Evaporated Fruits. Why I 

 consider bleaching injurious Because it is a 

 fact, true even in face of the difflcult.v or im- 

 possibility of detecting in such fruit by chemical 

 analysis any positively poisonous substance. 

 Bleaching is done by the burning of sulphur or 

 roll brimstone, while the fruit is fresh in the 

 evaporator. The burning of sulphur produces 

 sulphurous acid. This in the presence of water 

 and air (as in an evaporator) is oxidized or 

 changed to sulphuric acid. Every solution of 

 this acid—" oil of vitrei "—acts readily upon zinc, 

 and since the zinc-coated or " galvanized iron " 

 trays are in general use, we have here the explan- 

 ation of the complaints of foreigner about our 

 poisonous evaporated Apples. The detection of 

 zinc in them by German chemists has led the 

 German government to decree the destruction of 

 all such Apples on hand, and to forbid any fur- 

 ther importation of them unless accompanied by 

 a chemist's certificate of analysis that they were 

 free from injurious substances. The presence of 

 zinc has also lieen attributed to the action of the 

 acid in sour Apples upon the zinc of the fruit 

 trays. Fruit bleaching just now is a fashionable 

 craze in the United .States. The practical exclu- 

 sion of American fruit from foreign markets 

 will cause the subject to be investigated. Bleach- 

 ing destroys the fruit flavor and makes all look 

 alike, so that good and poor fruit can no longer 

 be distinguished. And as the practice is some 

 trouble and expense, does not add to but detracts 

 from the food value of any and all fruit, it is 

 better to retrace the wrong step, to avoid even 

 the appearance of evil by at once returning to 

 the use of honest, healthful, unbleached fruit.— 

 J. W. Smith, Floyd C'ri., Iowa. 



The Tuijp Tree. Yes it is a noble tree, our 

 Liriodendron f«(ipf/ero, and should be more gen- 

 erally and especially more extensively planted. 

 What a fine and valuable thing a solid forest of 

 these would be! Mr. C. L. Allen in one of the En- 

 glish papers, remarks that there are two distinct 

 varieties of it, which are more marked than with 

 any other species of other genera. One kind has 

 soft, yellow, fine-grained wood, tit tor almost 

 any work, and is much used tor piano legs, par- 

 ticularly car\-ed ones, as no other wood takes a 

 stain so well, no matter what wood is to be imi- 

 tated. It is quite amusing to hear dealers cal . 



whitc-w(Kid jjiano legs "solid ntsewood," which 

 they do almost invariably. The wood is also used 

 for nearly all ijurpo.ses, except for shingles, and 

 is more \'aluable than any of our soft woods. 

 Not long since a tree was cut in the Maumee 

 Valley which made a stick (iO feet long. 54 Inches 

 by 4« inches square, and entirely free from knots. 

 The other variety is commonly called White 

 Poplar; the wood is soft, tough and stringy, ex- 

 ceedingly liable to warp or twist, and is onlj- 

 used in the most common cabinet work. The 

 variation in the species is said to be brought 

 about by the soil, which, if dry, gravelly and 

 elevated, produces the white wood, while it rich, 

 deep and rather moist, the yellow timber. Our 

 observation does not confirm this opinion, hav- 

 ing seen the two varieties growing within a few 

 feet of each other under the same conditions in 

 all respects. As a roadside tree either variety is 

 desirable; the foliage is pleasing in summer and 

 exceedingly rich in autumn, while in color it is 

 next to our Maples. The Southern Lumberman 

 tells of a tree near Bethlehem, in Montgomery 

 County, Tennessee, which is six feetand one inch 

 in diameter, five feet from the ground, and ap- 

 parently of the same size up to the first limb, 

 which is 75 feet from the ground. This tree is 

 probably sound, and estimated to contain more 

 than 15,000 feet of lumber.— G. E., City. 



SpRATuiG With London Purple. Mr. E. P. 

 Cummlngs complains that he has been greatly 

 injured by the use of London purple. The fault 

 has not been with the poison, as the strength he 

 mentions would not injure Apples in the least, 

 and we do not think it would hurt even the most 

 tender Plums. If he will write to us we think 

 we might convince him where the fault lies. 

 London Purple has been tried now by so many 

 people for this purpose, and we have quantities 

 of testimonials from growers who have had good 

 results from its use even when applied stronger 

 than mentioned by complainant. Sometimes 

 people who have only a few trees, dose them with 

 material enough for a large orchard. This we 

 have known to result injuriously, but the fault 

 was certainly with the user. The proportions 

 which we recommend as hartng given the best 

 results, are one pound of London purple to 300 

 gallons of water for the Apple tree, and 250 gal- 

 lons for the Plum, and this if put on in spray 

 form and in quantity suflBcient for effective 

 work, is a perfectly safe application. Let us call 

 your attention to following statement made by 

 Prof. J. A. Lmtner: " The best insecticide for use 

 against fruit insects is undoubtedly Paris green 

 or London purple. Of these two I do not hesitate 

 to recommend London purple in preference. It 

 is quite as effective, is less liable to burn the 

 foliage, there is less danger from accidental 

 poisoning from it, it is less expensive, and is 

 held more easilj" in mixture with water." Or 

 to that of Prof. G. S. Goff: " It is probable that 

 London purple will supercede Paris green as an 

 insecticide when its advantages become generally 

 understood." Let us further say that a series of 

 experiments in spraying Plum and Cherry tree 

 have been made at the Ohio Experiment Station 

 this season, and the station entomologist thought 

 himself justified by the results to publish the 

 following as final conclusions: " This series of 

 experiments carried on through two seasons 

 upon two varieties of Cherry trees and four 

 varieties of Plum trees, during which a grand 

 total of 65,500 Cherries have been individually 

 examined, seems to me to confirm the provision- 

 al conclusions announced one year ago, which 

 may now be put in the following form: (1) That 

 about three-fourths of the Cherries liable to in- 

 jury by the Plum CurcuUo can be saved ;by two 

 or three appUcations of London purple in a water 

 spray in the proportion of one ounce to ten gal- 

 lons of water. (3) That a sufficiently large pro- 

 portion of the Plum crop can be saved by the 

 same treatment to linsure a good yield when a 

 fair amount of the fruit is set. (3) That if an in- 

 terval of a month or more occurs between the 

 last application and the ripening of the fruit, 

 no danger to health need be apprehended from 

 its use. (4) That spraying with the arsenites is 

 cheaper and more practical than any other 

 method of preventing injuries of this insect. — 

 Hemingway's London Purple Co., New York. 



Early Tomatoes for Profit. Of late there 

 has been little said in your columns regarding 

 growing early Tomatoes for market. I hope 

 some of those well-posted in their early culture 

 will give us their views and experience, before 

 the season comes around again for sowing seed. 

 I take the ground that early Tomatoes stand next 

 to Strawljerries in point of profit. After people 



have been kept on berries for several months 

 they crave something for a change, and the To- 

 mato seems to meet the demand. We see hun- 

 dreds of bushels coming north and filling our 

 markets long before the home-grown are ripe, 

 and selling at big prices. How can we get our 

 early Tomatoes ripe in quantities a week or ten 

 days earlier, and catch some of the# big prices? 

 On our market this season southern Tomatoes 

 brought 84.00 per bushel wholesale, when we 

 were having only a few ripe ones. As to varie- 

 ties, they equal the Strawberry in number, but 

 the earliest are more or less rough and inferior. 

 The man that will produce a new Tomato as 

 early as the Imi>roved Alpha or Atlantic, and as 

 smooth and large as Acme or Perfection, will do 

 more towards the advancement of horticulture 

 than the man that produces a new Strawberry 

 that surpasses those now upon the market. It is 

 true we can take a few plants of the smooth var- 

 ieties and by extra care and trouble get them 

 very early, but to have the plants so as to sell 

 them by the acre, and have them as early, is 

 another thing. One writer in your columns says 

 he gained three weeks in one seasen (?) by saving 

 the first ripe for seed. I have done that on the 

 same Tomato for six years, but I have not gained 

 18 weeks nor 18 days, even in that time, but it 

 may help some. The Dwarf Champion comes as 

 near the ideal Tomato as any; but it ripens its 

 crop too slow for early market, at least with me. 

 We can do some to advance them by early sow- 

 ing, repeated transplanting, and placing them in 

 the open ground direct from the pot or can, so 

 as not to check their growth; but we want an 

 earUer, larger, smooth Tomato. Who will pro- 

 duce ity Can it be done? There are many new 

 varieties praised by the originators sky-high, but 

 it is ad\nsable to go slow on them. I tried some 

 this season to see for myself, and one especially 

 proved the poorest thing of a Tomato I ever 

 grew.— ^. yr. A'., Ohio. 



Henderson's Bush Lima Bean. In October 

 notes from the Popular Gardening Grounds 

 you speak of Bush Lima Bean, but not much in 

 its praise. Now here in Arizona we consider it 

 the best novelty ever introduced, and that for 

 the following reasons: 1. It has the identical 

 flavor of the true Lima Pole Bean, and is much 

 easer grown, being in bush form. 2. With us it 

 is more productive than any other member of 

 the Bean family, be it Pole or Bush. 3. Not- 

 withstanding your doubts on the subject, it is 

 hardier than any other Bean. I planted it early 

 in the season, when the average temperature of 

 the soil was not above .55°, and it germinated well; 

 at the same time Valentine and Golden Wax 

 came up very irregularly, and Lima Pole Beans 

 rotted in the ground. 4. The Bush Lima bore 

 as early as any of my bush Beans, and is bearing 

 and blossoming yet. 5. All other varieties of 

 Beans here were badly affected by rust (Golden 

 Wax only produced one picking when plants 

 died). Bush Lima showed no sign of it. 6. 

 Although I am not sure of it, still from the looks 

 of the plants now, I believe the Bush Lima wUl 

 stand a slight frost. Altogether, the Bush Lima 

 is the Bean for Arizona. I should also like to say 

 something about an article in your journal 

 headed " Possibilities and Future of Irrigation." 

 The author of it says that a water supply from 

 windmill power mignt do for small gardens, but 

 that Mr. H. Stuart was too sanguine in believing 

 that larger areas could be irrigated in that man- 

 ner. Now, as there are 6,273,i>40 square inches in 

 an acre of land, and as one inch of water, flowing 

 four miles per hour, will equal 6 ,082,.500 inches 

 in 24 hours, it is thoroughly practicable to flood 

 one acre of land with on inch of water in 24 hours, 

 provided the land is not a mere sand heap and 

 has been properly prepared for irrigation . At 

 that rate a windmill would only provide water 

 once per week for seven weeks, but where the 

 water is only to be used at critical periods, suffic- 

 ient might be stored beforehand to water even 

 a large area of grain. But there are certain ad- 

 vantages which windmills have over streams for 

 irrigation. I have a farm here of 160 acres, all 

 of which is irrigated by a canal five miles long, 

 bringing an abundance of water from the Gila 

 river. But every irrigation brings with the water 

 also an abiuidance of weed seeds, so that I have 

 been compelled to erect a windmUl for my mar- 

 ket gardens (four acres), as the labor to keep the 

 weeds down would be ruinous in watering with 

 river water; indeed, heretofore it has been hardly 

 possible for an active man to keep down the 

 weeds on H acre of close crops; and that too with 

 the help of the best wheel hoes.— Benry Rupky, 

 Graham Co., A. T. 



