POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



Judge Miller's Fruit Notes. 



The Neweu Stuawhehiiies. The great 

 numl)er that have come out within a few 

 years was enough to bewilder a novice, and 

 if you wished to get the best, there was but 

 one way, namely, to get them all; for each 

 one was claimed to be superior to all others. 

 Where is now the galaxy that loomed up? 

 Ijike the Meteor's beauty they soon van- 

 ished; yet a few remain to illuminate our 

 path. Among these I would name Uubach 

 No. ft, Belmont and Gandy. 



The first named is with me almost fault- 

 less. It might be a little better in quality, 

 but it is (juite good. Some say too soft, but 

 I can pick it one day and ship it the next, 

 reaching its destination at 4 p. M. that day, 

 and in perfect order. 



Belmont is a large, handsome, excellent 

 berry, in fact, to my taste one of the best. 

 Productive and moderately firm. 



In Gandy we have the most reliable late 

 berry yet brought out. Plant very vigor- 

 ous, productive of the largest^sized berries, 

 of a handsome orange color, and of excellent 

 quality. I could ship it a thousand miles in 

 safety. Coming as it does when the others 

 are about gone, is one of its best character- 

 istics. Without any petting or thinning of 

 the fruit we had both Bubach and Gandys, 

 twenty berries of which filled a quart box. 



Ten new varieties were sent me last spring 

 to test, and from their behavior I am satis- 

 fled that any berry brought out now must 

 be no slouch if it expects to have a run. In 

 addition to these quite a number of men 

 have written me what a wonderful new 

 Strawberry they have. 



My intention is to prepare a bed to hold 

 twelve plants of every variety I have, set 

 them out as soon as young runners are 

 strong enough; give all an even chance, and 

 if spared until fruiting next sea.son, make 

 comparisons between them. 



I will give $1,000 for a Strawberry plant 

 that is healthy and vigorous, as productive 

 as Crescent, as large as Bubach, the color of 

 Crescent (I like that), with the quality of 

 Ladies' Pine, and firmness of Capt. Jack. 



To show how vain it is to jump at conclu- 

 sions in these matters, will state that out of 

 a dozen new ones here, one of the most 

 promising ones will go under. It won't 

 stand our hot, dry Missouri weather, as the 

 plants are wilting now, while all the rest 

 keep fresh. Before a new Strawberry can 

 be fully recommended for general culture, 

 it should be tried in different soils and 

 localities, as well as considerable range of 

 latitude. At this date there is a plant sent 

 me as No. 7, with three nice berries and one 

 blossom on it. These are on a side shoot 

 like a sucker coining from the stump of a 

 tree. If this can be detached from the main 

 plant with some root, it will be set apart 

 and perhaps we may get a late strain. 



My Strawberry crop the past season was 

 most satisfactory, and lasted near two weeks 

 longer, from first to last, than ever before. 



Early Peaches. They nearly all rotted. 

 Hot, rainy weather just at the wrong time, 

 with the cureulio in advance done the bus- 

 iness. The " Turkish Army " never invaded 

 my dominions before, and I was neither 

 forewarned nor forearmed, and taken by 

 storm. Another season, if on hand yet, will 

 find me prepared for them. 



Nuts and Nut Tuees. The time is near 

 at hand when the nuts for planting should 

 be gathered. That this branch of industry 

 has not only lieen too much neglected, but 

 that many valualile Nut-bearing trees are 

 annually cut down, which should remain, 

 we all well know, and I hope this article 

 may induce many to save their trees. It 

 seems like sacrilege to cut down a good Nut- 

 bearing tree that has stood perhaps a cen- 

 tury; merely to give a little more land to 

 put in cultivated crops. 



Not more than five miles from here is a 

 grove of Pecan trees of near one hundred in 

 number, scattered over about six acres, on 

 which land the owner raises crops of grain 

 nearly equal to that on clear land, and in 

 some seasons realizes more than a hundred 

 dollars from the nuts. The expense of gath- 

 ering them is but trifling as his children 

 who are too small to do much other work 

 pick them up. Last fall I paid the o^vner 

 eight dollars for the product of a single tree; 

 the largest known in these parts. After dis- 

 tributing all over the country, with instruc- 

 tions how to treat them, the balance were 

 packed in sand in a shallow box left out on 

 the ground exposed to the elements. 



This spring they were planted in a row, 

 one inch deep and two inches apart. They 

 are now from six to ten inches in height, and 

 are a very handsome set of seedlings. Count- 

 ed them a few days ago and found that there 

 are about eight hundred. At the age of sev- 

 enty a man cannot well expect to see fruit 

 from them, but those who follow us may. 



This nut is a commercial article and is 

 eagerly sought after. Louisiana and Te.xas 

 furnishes a much larger nut than grows in 

 this latitude, as a rule, but on trial they are 

 found too tender where the mercury falls to 

 30 and 40° below zero, while those I have 

 raised are from a tree that has withstood the 

 storms and winters of a century. 



Some recommend cutting off the tap root 

 when transplanting, but this seems to me 

 wrong; mine will be planted as they are, and 

 in taking them up, great care will be taken 

 to keep the root entire. Deep rich soil is 

 where they grow best, and they vrill come 

 into bearing in eight or ten years. Walnuts 

 should be gathered in the fall, spread out 

 thinly on the ground, and slightly covered, 

 and in the spring planted about two inches 

 deep. They grow very fast, and will often 

 attain a height of three feet the first season. 



Hickory nuts can be treated in the same 

 manner, but it is not as essential, as they 

 will grow after being dry for two years. 

 Three little Hales' Paper-shell Hickory nut 

 trees six inches big now, is the result of put- 

 ting three nuts in the ground last fall, which 

 were sent me by friend A. S. Fuller, three 

 years ago, and had laid in my seed drawer 

 all that time. 



Acorns and Chestnuts need a little differ- 

 ent treatment. Those who are observant, 

 must have seen Acorns in a wet fall send out 

 a sprout near a finger's length, and push it 

 into the soil. Supposing that Chestnuts 

 would do the same, a few years ago, I got a 

 few quarts from the East with instructions 

 to not let them get dry. As soon as they ar- 

 rived they were set in a drill two inches 

 apart each way, covering about an inch and 

 a half deep. The following spring, ere veg- 

 etation had started, I found on examination 

 that they had made some root in the fall. 

 They nearly all grew and made fine trees, 

 and although of a large and excellent vari- 

 ety, I have commenced grafting them with 

 the Paragon. This is perhaps the most valu- 

 able Chestnut in America, and Henry M. 

 Engle deserves the thanks of his countrymen 

 for bringing it out. The beauty of it is its 

 excellent quality along with the large size 

 of the nut, and the number of nuts in one 

 burr which runs from three to five as far as 

 I have seen it. 



This latter is easily grafted with fair suc- 

 cess, while the Hickory and Walnut are 

 more difficult. After trying for three years 

 to grow the Pecan on Hickory, of which 

 more than one hundred were set, have now 

 just three more grafts growing. Two of 

 these are a Hybrid between Shellbark Hick- 

 ory and Pecan, and a very valuable one. 

 Last spring I tried a different plan and suc- 

 ceeded in growing one. This will be tried 

 next spring if I am spared so long, and the 

 result, as well as the mode, given to the 



readers. It will be time enough for those 

 who start seedlings. All my attempts of 

 budding have failed, although the bark sys- 

 tem, or half girdle, was practised. The very 

 dry weather may have been to blame for this 

 failure. 



That the difficulty will be overcome I am 

 satisfied. On my new plan the branch is 

 not cut off until the graft is sure of growing, 

 thus saving the tree in full form in case the 

 graft fails. As an experiment I budded some 

 Chestnut on Chestnut trees, also on Oak, 

 but Ihe latter failed. 



Black Raspberries and Their Habits 

 of Growth. 



B. HATHAWAY, CASS CO., MICH. 



In estimating the relative value of the dif- 

 ferent varieties of this fruit, few people take 

 into account the difference in the habit of 

 growth of the canes. 



After many years of experience in the 

 field-culture of Raspberries I am led to be- 

 lieve that very much more attention should 

 be given to this subject than is usually ac- 

 corded to it. 



The Ideal Stand, ok Hill. This should 

 contain a sufficient number of canes, and 

 there will not likely be too many. In fact, 

 as a rule, the more the better— the more 

 canes the more fruit. They should stand up 

 well without being too stiff. The fewer the 

 canes the larger and the stiffer they are, and 

 more likely to be broken by the wind, or in 

 the necessary handling during cultivation. 

 The smaller the canes the more elastic they 

 are, and therefore less likely to be broken. 

 That system of planting and culture which 

 will encourage the growth of a large num- 

 ber of canes is the best. Eight to ten canes 

 in a hill are none too many, and much to be 

 preferred to four or five, the usual number. 



The Souhegan. I mention this as a type 

 of the most objectionable habit of plant of 

 any I know. It makes few canes, and those 

 are stiff, thorny, and liable to get broken. 

 To add to the trouble, its later growth is 

 weak and trailing, making it particularly 

 objectionable. It cannot be recommended 

 for field culture, nor for any culture except 

 when earliness is of paramount importance. 



The Hilbohn. This has a better habit, a 

 larger berry, and it ripens early and all at 

 once, making it more desirable than the fore- 

 going, though its weak canes, as compared 

 to the larger growing sorts, do not recom- 

 mend it for field culture. 



The Ohio. While this variety is largely 

 planted for field culture, especially for the 

 purpose of evaporating, it is very far from 

 giving satisfaction in the growth of its canes. 

 Until the third year it will persist in trail- 

 ing on the ground, and it never gets above 

 showing a disposition to require some sort 

 of trellis or support. It is hardy, a good 

 bearer, the fruit is large, though not the 

 largest, im<\ it will probably continue to be 

 planted in locations where the more desira- 

 ble kinds have proved tender, or until 

 equally good kinds, or better, have been 

 originated, with a more desirable habit of 

 growth. The Ohio has miule canes for me 

 that measured eighteen feet, which is at 

 least twice too much. It has been claimetl 

 for it that it required less fruit to make a 

 given number of pounds of the dry product, 

 in evaporating. This is not confirmed by 

 my experience, but quite otherwise. It is 

 more juicy than some others, notably Gregg. 



The Guegg. This comes nearest having 

 the ideal cane of any I have tried. Like the 

 rest, it does not stand up the first year, but 

 it soon gets up and then it needs no trellis. 

 It makes abundance of canes, where well 

 established, and they are elastic, so they sel- 

 dom get broken, and for size of fruit it is 

 superior to any other, while for productive- 

 ness it is very satisfactory. If surpassed in 



