46 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



1,453. Packing Small Fruit Plants. I learned 

 how to do it by noting: how others had done it, 

 when unpacking an order received by mail or 

 express. I was able to send plants to my friends 

 in short time. Do not think it necessary to see 

 someone else do it. Send to a nurseryman for 

 some plants and note how they are put together. 

 —L J. Farmer. 



1,459. Manures for Strawberries. Some people 

 draw coarse manure into their Strawberries in 

 the winter with good results. We have used 

 horse manure sometimes with excellent success, 

 while at other times have thought it damaged 

 the plants. It has always been a benefit when 

 put in after the ^ound is frozen, and stirred up 

 when plants begm to start next spring allowing 

 them to grow through. I would leave the ma- 

 nure on top as a mulch, if strawy and mLxed in 

 it would have a tendency to dry out the soil and 

 shorten the crop. If manure is spaded in, a 

 mulch of straw should be put on to keep soil 

 moist and the fruit clean.— I/.XFarmer. 



Wilder Early Pear. 



While we do not care to say very much 

 for or against any new fruit before we have 

 seen it growing on the trees, and otherwise 

 tested it, we have not hesitated to tell our 

 readers that we were favorably impressed 

 with the specimens of the new Pear variety 

 called Wilder Early placed on our table. We 

 are sure this fruit has good points, foremost 

 among them extreme earliness, equalling 

 the much-boomed I^awson or Comet; very 

 fair quality and absence of rot from the core, 

 in both of which points it is equally supe- 

 rior to its more beautiful contemporary 

 (Comet-Lawson). 



Our engravings of the Wilder Early will 

 show our readers what it looks lilie, both 

 inside and outside. Mr. Vaudeman, United 

 States Pomologist, speaks of this new Pear 

 in his last report, and also in very favorable 

 terms. Among the midsummer Pears, he 

 says, there is none that pleases me better 

 than this one, except that its size is rather 

 small. But like the Seckel, what it lacks in 

 size it makes up in quality, although it is 

 larger than that variety. It is a chance 

 seedling. The original tree was partially 

 grafted with scions of Buffum in 1870, when 

 it was young, and would never have borne 

 any fruit except of this old variety, had not 

 three of the natural branches been left. 

 These bear profusely, and the fruit when 

 fully colored is quite attractive. It does not 

 rot at the core. 



Size, small to medium: shape, pyriform; 

 bell-shaped, irregular, a little angular; sur- 

 face, smooth, pale-yellow ground with deep 

 shading of brownish carmine; dots very 

 numerous and small; basin, shallow, regu- 

 lar; eye, nearly closed, sepals long and re- 

 flexed; apex, rather abrupt with a slight 

 cavity; stem, short; core, closed, very small; 

 seeds, very small, narrow, pointed, dark; 

 flesh very pale, whitish-yellow, fine grained, 

 tender; flavor, sub-acid, sprightly, much like 

 Bartlett; quality, very good; season, August 

 in Western New York. 



Fertilizers for Shrubs and Flowers. 



The subject of manuring plants and trees 

 with a view to special effect is one of consid- 

 erable complication, but which is well worth 

 deep study and thought. Prof. C. S. Plumb 

 of the University of Tennesee, tells Garden 

 and Forest the results of some experiments 

 recently made by him. In floriculture, says 

 Prof. Plumb, the application of fertilizers 

 may be made with three purposes in view: (1) 

 effect on bloom ; (2) effect on foliage ; (3) 

 eft'ect on seeds, bulb or other parts for prop- 

 agation. The first and third purposes gen- 

 erally go hand in hand, and, if we secure the 

 first, as a rule, the other is attained. The 

 past winter and spring I had under test in 

 the university green-house some interesting 

 work with manure for the purpose of ascer- 

 taining, in a measure, the effect of special 

 and general manures on foliage plants and 

 on flowers. In the first place, two lots of 

 Coleus, one being red and the other green. 



received special application of mineral fer- 

 tilizers. Five hundred milligrams (about 7,7 

 grains) of each of the following fertilizers 

 were applied to a plant at intervals : (1) ni- 

 trate of soda ; (2) sulphate of Iron ; (-3) acid 

 phosphate ; (4) muriate of potash ; (.5) a 

 complete fertilizer. The last three had been 



THE WILDER EARLY PEAR. 



analized in the laboratory, and were good 

 specimens of fertilizers ; the other two were 

 standard brands. 



Six plants were selected for each manure 

 as nearly alike as possible, excepting that 

 three were red and three green. The plants 

 were small, not having more than two nodes 

 each ; they had been cut back twice, and 

 were m three-inch pots. They occupied a 

 bench on the south side of the green-house, 

 and had good sun exposure. Water from 

 the same source was used in watering each 

 set of plants. The soil the plants were grown 

 in was as even in character as I could secure. 

 The most striking effect from the fertilizers 

 was seen in the application of soda. The 

 plants treated with this became either very 

 dark red or green in color and assumed a 

 robust growth of unmistakable character. 

 The complete fertilizer had an effect almost 

 as marked, and produced deep color and 

 strong growth. To my surprise the sulphate 

 of iron did not give the depth of color that 

 other experiments would seem to have war- 

 ranted us to expect in this case. The plants 

 appeared strong and healthy, but there was 

 nothing unusual in their color. I think that 

 the muriate of potash ranked third in effect- 

 iveness. The acid phosphate was not effect- 

 ive. The color of the foliage remained light, 



and the plants did not make a growth equal 

 to those treated with the soda, potash and 

 complete fertilizer. The iron and phosphoric 

 acid had much the same effect. 



These fertilizers made themselves felt for 

 a few weeks, when their influence appeared 

 to wear off, and all the plants began to once 

 more take on a similar foliaceous coloring. 

 Again the applications were made, and once 

 more the same effect of the different plant- 

 foods was made manifest. Future experi- 

 ments were repetitions of the first two; 

 whenever these fertilizers were applied the 

 same results followed. 



To me, the most pertinent application of 

 what I saw in this, was the benefit to be de- 

 rived from the use of sodium nitrate in bring- 

 ing out strong foliaceous coloring, and es- 

 pecially in plants with bright-colored leaves. 

 If the beauty of a t'oleus bed lies in its color 

 of leaf, its effectiveness, in my opinion, may 

 be materially heightened by the use of 

 proper fertilizers. 



In another direction I experimented with 

 manures on Roses. I procured sixteen two- 

 year-old La France Roses of as nearly the 

 same size as possible. These were separated 

 into four lots of four plants each. Before 

 planting, the soil was carefully washed from 

 the roots of each plant. Lot one was plants 

 ed in pure, washed river-sand, and fertilized 

 once a week with liquid cow manure. Lot 

 two was planted in sand like one, and treat- 

 ed once a week with liquid horse manure. 

 Lot three was planted like lots one and two, 

 and fed Floralis (a preparation procured 

 from J. M. Thorburn & Co.) once a week. 

 Lot four was planted in our regular Rose- 

 potting soil, and fertilized weekly with 

 liquid cow manure, such as was used with 

 lot one. All of these plants were placed In 

 eight^inch pots. 



First and most important, the plants 

 grown in ordinary soil thrived best and pro- 

 duced the greatest number of buds. At this 

 writing they will average larger to a notice- 

 able degree than will the others. The effect 

 of the Floralis was injurious at first, but be- 

 cause too strong in application, though di- 

 rections were followed ; as a result one plant 

 was killed, and the foliage removed from 

 all. However, with reduced application, 

 three renewed their growth and, before the 

 season was over, yielded a fair showing of 

 buds. In both lots where cow manure was 

 used, more Roses were secured than from 

 the others. The flowers were extra fine in 

 all cases, but I have not at my disposal the 

 number of blooms produced by each lot. 



The reason why sand was used in three 

 lots was to see if the effect of manure could 

 be better shown, where the soil was compar- 

 atively clear of fertilizing matter at the 

 start. In each case, the amount of liquid 

 manure applied was as nearly of the same 

 quantity and quality as I could make it. 

 The manure used was comparatively free 

 from straw. This work is still in progress, 

 and will be further reported on, so as to.be 

 accessible to those interested. 



I cannot close without referring to another 

 fertilizer test, on a more practical basis. If 

 you please. A portion of one of our green- 

 house benches is planted with Roses. The 

 soil consists of turfy loam well mixed with 

 solid cow manure. Late last winter our 

 gardener, a rather intelligent negro, in- 

 formed me that he had heard that sheep 

 manure would make the plants show their 

 color, and begged me to secure him some. 

 In a short time a quantity was obtained and 

 made into a liquid and applied twice a week 

 to the Roses by Andy. Certain it is, our 

 Roses did unusually well last spring. I 

 shake my head in a questioning way as to 

 the responsibility of the sheep manure for 

 this, but Andy only laughs, and says : 

 " Sho', P'lessor ! Didn't I tell you that 

 sheep manure 'ud do it?" 



