1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



this ri'fiiird by the Ohio — wliicU is uot prov- 

 en — I tiiiil the GregK, tiiken for a series of 

 years, the most satisfactory variety I grow. 

 It will not withstand the same degree of 

 cold as the Ohio, and this must be taken in- 

 to account by the planter, and where the 

 land is low it should be discarded. But on 

 suit.ible soil and given the proper culture, it 

 is, 1 believe, the most desirable sort we have. 

 Oiu! characteristic not to be overlooked in 

 estimating its value, is its large size. The 

 pickers like it. I find they prefer to pick it 

 at 30 cents a crate rather than the Ohio at 

 35 cents, when both are at their best, and in 

 the later pickings the difference is greater. 



I find also that the Gregg is the best for 

 evaporating, in the face of the fact of the 

 popularity of the Ohio for this purpose. It 

 is less likely to get mussy, and the dried 

 berries are proportionately larger dry than 

 the other sorts, and bring more a pound. 



The Nem.\h.\. This comparatively new 

 sort is so nearly like the Gregg in its habit 

 that there is little to choose between the two 

 on that point. The fruit, however, is not so 

 large as that of the Gregg. If it is, as 

 claimed, more hardy, that is in its favor. 

 But in the three or four years I have had it 

 on trial I have seen little if any difjerence, 

 as to hardiness, between it and the Gregg. 



I omit notes on other varieties, as those 

 named are the leading sorts in cultivation 

 and represent the various habits of growth 

 of the several kinds, which was my main 

 purpose of this writing. 



Storing Apples for Winter. 



There can be no doubt, at this time, that 

 this year's Apple crop is a very short one. A 

 large share of what there is grown, also seems 

 to be utterly unfit for market — gnarled, 

 cracked, scabby, small and poor generally. 

 We will not have to store gnorJ Apples, this 

 fall, to be kept over because we do not know 

 what else to do with them. If we do store 

 any, however, we should use all the more 

 care, for apparently, "Apples will be 

 Apples," ne.xt spring. 



Some good advice about storing Apples 

 was given recently In the Farmers' Call. 

 Our friend Stahl says: First of all, gather 

 the Apples carefully. A bruise is sure to de- 

 cay, not only spoiling one Apple, but all in 

 contact. Assort the Apples carefully, select- 

 ing out, for immediate use, those bruised or 

 showing decayed spots. 



Leave in the orchard, in piles of not more 

 than ten bushels, for six weeks, unless there 

 is danger of the Apples being frozen. Protect 

 by a covering of straw by night, and shield 

 from rain by a tight roof. This roof may be 

 made by driving down forked stakes; in the 

 stakes lay poles to support boards, lapped. 



Or the Apples may be put, as gathered, on 

 the floor of a dry, airy outhouse or shed, but 

 not deeper than eighteen inches. Do not put 

 any straw or hay on the floor, or in the bins. 



At the end of six weeks, or earlier if the 

 weather threatens, remove them to the cel- 

 lar, if you have one that can be kept just 

 above the freezing point and well ventilated. 

 Put them in bins not more than eighteen 

 inches deep, but as wide and long as is con- 

 venient; the bins raised on legs or blocks 

 eighteen inches from the floor, and the sides, 

 bottom and ends made of slats two inches 

 wide and one inch apart. 



Apples may be kept in barrels, store boxes 

 or tight bins, but will not keep so well. Use 

 no straw, hay or anything in the bins, 

 boxes, or barrels. 



Assort the Apples once every month if you 

 desire to keep them as long as possible, us- 

 ing those that have begun to rot or threaten 

 to decay. 



Lacking the cellar, pit the Apples. Make 

 the pit on a high point, where the water will 

 be drained away. Excavate one foot deep 

 and three wide, and as long as is necessary, 



throwing the earth on each side, Fill in 

 w ith Apples to the surface of the ground 

 and ridge them up a-s high as you can. Cov- 

 er first with (Irii earth to the depth of six 

 inches; next six inches of straw; then earth 

 and stable manure until the covering is so 

 deep that the Apples will be safe. Put the 

 manure on the outside and as deep as the 

 last layer of earth. Putting on the last lay- 

 ers may be deferred until severe weather is 

 imminent. Always dig a shallow ditch 

 around the pit, to carry ofT surface water. 



The Possibilities and Future of Irri- 

 gation. 



While from everywhere we hear reports of 

 increasing rainfall, flooded lands, grain and 

 Potatoes rotting from excess of moisture, 

 etc., here, although right in the midst of the 

 immense water ascumulations of the "Great 

 Lakes"— the swift current of the powerful 

 Niagara close by, and the Erie Lake, with 

 its broad expanse and inexhaustible supply 

 of water many feet above, less than twenty 

 miles distant — we were parched and burned 

 up, the surface of soil opened with deep 

 cracks waiting for the long delayed 

 rain, plants drooping in despair, and all 

 foliage coated with a thick layer of dust. 

 With the vast and inexhaustible reservoirs 

 only waiting to be tapped, close by, we 

 allow our late crops to be greatly decreased 

 in yield, or almost entirely ruined, just for 

 the want of moisture— hundreds of thou- 

 sands, perhaps millions of dollars, lost in 

 crops, simply becau.se we have failed to 

 grasp our opportunities. 



There are hundreds and thousands of 

 localities where similar opportunities exist, 

 and are neglected as they are here. Ad- 

 vanced agriculture will not tolerate such 

 neglect much longer. What a garden 

 spot, hundreds of square miles in extent, 

 would be the result if a line of pipe, branch- 

 ing in every direction, were laid from Lake 

 Erie through this fine farming section. 

 Independent of the water supply of the 

 clouds, we Wfluld double our fruit, grain 

 and vegetable crops. 



That this will come after awhile we have 

 no doubt. In the meantime, however, it 

 will do no harm to hurry up this desirable 

 achievement by agitation. 



.As stated in a previous article, we believe 

 in SOU soaking, not in surface sprinkling, 

 since* we have learned by experience and 

 experiment, that the quantity of water 

 required for successful irrigation is far be- 

 yond our "carrying" or "carting" power. 

 Lilting water into tanks or reservoirs by 

 means of windmills, etc., may do well 

 enough for small garden spots ; but little 

 reliance could be placed on such devices for 

 the irrigation of whole farms. We are not 

 as sanguine as Mr. Henry Stuart, when he 

 says, in N. Y. Times, that one inch of water 

 constantly running may save fifty acres of 

 grain if available at a critical period when 

 the grain is forming or filling ; and to raise 

 this water might not cost one-tenth part of 

 the value gained. Otherwise the advan- 

 tages of irrigation are plainly set forth by 

 this distingulshe€l author. 



Up to a certain limit, says Mr. Stuart, 

 the most profitable growth of all useful 

 plants depends essentially upon a maximum 

 quantity of water. And as a rule, except 

 under a system of irrigation, a sufficient 

 quantity of water for a maximum yield is 

 rarely, it ever, supplied by the rainfall. 

 Moreover, when the quantity of rain is sup- 

 plied within the year, it frequently falls 

 when it is not required in such abundance, 

 and very often falls disastrously and when 

 it is positively injurious. 



Every farmer will admit that, could he 

 control the rainfall, he could grow better 

 crops than by dependence upon the irregu- 

 lar natural supply. The greatest anxiety 



which falls upon the mind of the farmer is 

 due to the variableness of the weather. 

 Those farmers who depend wholly upon 

 irrigation for their crops enjoy advantages 

 over others which not only free them from 

 these tormenting anxieties, but which make 

 their labors much more profitable. They 

 sow their seed without waiting days and 

 weeks for rain to soften the land so that it 

 can be plowed, and they are not forced to 

 lose valuable time and risk ruinous damage 

 when excessive rain falls unsea.sonable. 

 Where the water can be turned on to the 

 land just when it is wanted, and may be 

 withheld when it is not wanted, the farmer 

 may be considered the happiest of mortals, 

 for his seed time is certain and his harvest 

 is sure, and destructive insect pests, even, 

 can be controlled. Indeed the avantages of 

 irrigation are such, and the scope for its use 

 is so broad and vast, that it would seem to 

 be within the range of possibility that profits 

 able agriculture will, in course of time (not 

 far distant either) be possible only where 

 farmers can control the supply of water. 



But for the present it is matter for consid- 

 eration if farmers, even in localities where 

 the rainfall is ample in the aggregate, 

 although irregularly spread through the 

 season, might not make such a use of the 

 excess that is wasted as to supply the needs 

 of their crops when rain is withheld, and 

 the parched soil cannot feed the crops. 

 There can be no doubt of such a possibility. 

 It has been proved in practice for centuries 

 back in the case of the water meadows of 

 Europe and England, which have been pro- 

 ducing the largest yield of grass by means 

 of irrigation, and so far as the growth of 

 grass is concerned it is beyond question that 

 millions of acres on the borders of the in- 

 numerable streams, large and small, which 

 now flow uselessly, could be so fitted as to 

 produce four or five tons of hay to the acre 

 annually, year after year, for one knows not 

 how long a period. 



At times, when these streams are swollen, 

 they are carrying to the ocean uncountable 

 tons of the richest fertilizing matter of 

 which they have denuded the land, and a 

 great part of this might be arrested by turn- 

 ing the water over the meadows, prepared 

 to receive it in such quantity as to supply 

 the soil with .sufficient moisture to produce 

 a full crop in spite of succeeding drought. 



This is one of the possibilities of irrigation 

 that presents itself to every farmer who has 

 land suitable for it. It may be called 

 natural irrigation, because nothing more is 

 needed than to reach out the hand and 

 gather In the vast wealth that nature is 

 pouring with lavish waste past every farmer 

 so situated. 



What to Do With Coal Ashes. 



A. P. REED. CUMBERLAND UOUNIT, ME. 



Coal ashes, I think, are commonly re- 

 garded as comparatively, if not utterly, 

 worthless. Indeed, I think they are, so far 

 as their fertilizing quality is concerned. I 

 have a pile of coal ashes in my yard which 

 has been there over a year, and around 

 which the grass does not grow one whit 

 better than by the roadside. Grass is as re- 

 sponsive as anything and should show the 

 effects of coal ashes here if there is any 

 effect to show. 



But I have some uses for coal ashes that 

 seem pratical, and may help some to dispose 

 of surplus accumulations. In the first place 

 they serve well to make a hard walk, or 

 avenue, in any case where good gravel Is not 

 attainable. They may seem too light and 

 fluffy at first, but you will find that rain and 

 sunshine and travel soon get them down to 

 a tolerably hard surface, and where they 

 are placed the grass will stop growing. 

 They also are exceedingly serviceable 

 material for filling moist.places in avenues. 



