86 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



FRoH 



TRE 



SOCIETIES 



lElWMATrERTIlAT DHSWtVE* 

 TO BEVnOBXYKMOWlC 



Crandall Currant. I am 



'not satisfied with it as a 



dessert fruit —Gm.W. Trnw- 



hriiliic. 



Easpberry for Jelly. There 

 is no better for jam or jelly 

 than the Schaffer.— iV. Ohm- 

 er, Ohio. 



Lucretia Dewberry, its habit of growth 

 makes it ot little value.— P. J. Berkmans Pres. 

 Am. Pdiiu Suriety. 



Trinmpli Oooseberry. It is a great improve- 

 ment over any other variety that will grow in 

 our climate.— E Williams, N. J. 



Flowing tinder Oreen Uannre. I put under 

 an immense crop of Black Peas withoutdiffleulty 

 by running a Disk harrow o\ er the vines.— T. O. 

 Ahcrnathy, Giles Co. Farmer's Association. 



Planting Trees. In planting an orchard it is 

 a good plan to set the tree leaning considerably 

 to the southwest, it will be straight by the time 

 it is of sufficient age to bear.— £>i'. Bohinsoti. 



Copperas for Grape Rot. Somebody claims to 

 have been very successful keeping out rot by 

 spreading common copperas under the vines, 

 and his testimony has been quite satisfactory.— 

 G. IT. Campbell, Ohio. 



Pennsylvania State Horticultural Society 

 The annual meeting will be held in Mifflingtoivn, 

 Pennsylvania, January 15 and IB, 1890. This is in 

 the middle of the great Pennsylvania Peach belt. 

 It is expected that the usual reduced fare will be 

 granted by the railroad companies. For further 

 particulars, program, etc , address the secretary. 

 E. B. Engel, Marietta, Pa. 



Apple Ladder. A light and useful Apple 

 ladder, cjuickly made, and easily handled by men 

 of light stature, is made of two spruce poles 

 two inches in diameter and fourteen feet long. 

 They are slightly spotted or cut on one side. The 

 rounds are nailed with two clinch nails at each 

 place and the ladder is made. The poles being 

 round are strong.— J. W. Tree. 



drapes in Iowa. Eveiywhere in Towa the 

 leading varieties of the Labrusca type are profit- 

 ably and satisfactorily grown. Each year 

 emphasizes the necessity of thorough winter 

 protection for all varieties, no mattcrhow hai'dy. 

 by laying down and covering with soil before 

 severe freezing in autumn. Concord is every- 

 where grown more than any other, ripening 

 perfectly in all parts of the state.— Jm. Pom. Soc. 



The Eelsey Plum. At the recent meeting of 

 the California State Horticultural Society it was 

 stated that Kelsey .lapan had sold most profit- 

 ably at the East, as it comes after Eastern Plums 

 are out of the way, and that its future seems as 

 well assured as can be. Mr. Williamson said he 

 had had excellent results by top-grafting the 

 Kelsey into the branches of old Apricot trees 

 thus securing large trees, while the Kelsey 

 worked on the Pe.ich in the nursery makes a 

 small tree. 



Flowers for the Inexperienced. The following 

 varieties I would rei-commend as best adapted for 

 people of little or no experience : Phlox Drum- 

 mondi, Chinese Pinks. Sweet Peas, Pansics, 

 Sweet Alyssura, Verbenas, .\sters. Nasturtium, 

 Candytuft, Petunias, Balsams, Larkspur, Ten- 

 week Stock, Mignonette, and Portulaca. Some 

 of these. Phlox, Petunia, Portulaca, and Lark- 

 spur are self-seeding, and labor can be saved by 

 using the same bed, transplanting occasionally 

 in the spnag.— Minnesota State Hort. Society. 



Planting Strawberries. Land which has been 

 in cultivation! a year or two is best. Plow this 

 early in spring as deep as possible ; then harrow 

 it over and over until a perfect seed-bed is form- 

 ed. Very thorough preparation of this kind will 

 show itself in ease of cultivation lat^r in the 

 season. I tell my men to harrow it over and 

 over, until they think they have done it 

 thoroughly, and then harrow just as much more. 

 I never had it o\'erdone. I ne\'er knew a farm 

 crop to be ruined b.v over-preparation.— X H. U. 



Brightening Home. The most humble 

 home may be brightencfl and its coarse surround- 

 ings made attracti\'e by flowers. A neatly kept 

 border, or a bed gay with blossoms of even the 

 commonest varieties are certainly more pleasant 

 and restful to the tired wife and mother than an 

 untidy grassless yard, with fences down and pigs. 



calves, and geese roaming at will, as seen so 

 often in the counlry. Half the time taken to 

 keep them out wonld be amply sufficient to cul- 

 tivate a few Hower^.— Minnesota State Bort. Soc. 



Black Knot. Black Knot on the Plum may be 

 destroyed with a mixture of linseed oil, turpen- 

 tine and kerosene The kerosene must be used 

 with care, for if allowed to spread over the 

 branch it will destroy it Linseed oil alone, if 

 applied two or three times, answers the same 

 purpose, but the turpentine and kerosene make 

 it prompt and efficient. The time is when the 

 knot begins to make its appearance early in 

 summer and afterwards.— Pro/. Maynard befwe 

 the Maine State Pomoloyical Society. 



Hedges for Windbreaks. I never had any 

 patience with the fellows who delight in telling 

 me that my*'hed;jes occupy too much room." 

 When I commenced improving this farm it was 

 all room — not a tree or a shrub upon a thousand 

 acres ; and to-day with twenty acres in orchards, 

 with seven miles of hedges, with a few acres in 

 groves of forest-trees, I have not a single twig 

 too much— not half enough— to meet what is an 

 equitable requirement that I should contribute 

 my share toward the amelioration of the climate 

 in winter, for the favoring of rainfall in summer, 

 and for the reasonable forethought and provi- 

 sion for those who are to come after me. — L.B.W. 



Lutle Orape. J. Van Lindley, N. 0.: My dozen 

 vines ha\e now fruited two years, and I never 

 saw finer vines or fruit. They have no mildew 

 or rot. At our fair at Kaleigh the past season, 

 they were the equal of any kind on exhibition. 

 They are foxy when first colored, but very fine 

 in flavor when fully ripe. I consider it one of 

 the most valuable Gfrapes we have; it ripens 

 with the Delaware. H. E. Van Deman, D. C: I 

 received samples at two different times from 

 Nashville, and they were the worst-flavored and 

 smelling grapes I ever tasted.— Chas Parry, N. J.: 

 I am fruiting the Lutie, and find it no more foxy 

 or offensive than Berkett,s Amber, and that is a 

 very profitable Grape.— ^m. Pomological Society. 



Dwarf Juneberry, The fruit is borne in 

 clusters like the Currant, and ripens in June. 

 Its size equals the wild Gooseberry; shape, round; 

 color, reddish purple at first, becomes a bluish 

 black when fully ripened. Its flavor approaches 

 the Huckleberry, a mild, very rich sub-acid. 

 Most people like its quality, and pronounce it 

 delicious. I had two or three bushes that fruited 

 several years in succession. In spring they are 

 a sheet of white, and ^ ery ornamental. The 

 fruit, which is borne in great abundance, is, to 

 my taste, better than Huckleberries. This species 

 varies widely in its wild state. I have found it 

 (the tall kind ) in fruit in Maine, but one of these 

 little bushes will bear as much as half a dozen of 

 the big ones.— Dr Geo. Thurljer,Ain. Pom,Society. 



Planting Shrubbery. The first great advan- 

 tage of gardening with hardy flowers is that 

 every dollar spent is a permanent investment, 

 that yields increasing returns every year; so 

 that it only a small part of the money annually 

 spent in tender plants should be invested in 

 hardy shrubs, bulbs and roots ourgardens would 

 in few years be fairly o\'erflowing with beauty. 

 The second advantage is even greater. When 

 a carpet bed has been seen half a dozen times 

 that is all there is to it— it is the same old story. 

 But how different it is with a good selection ot 

 hardy plants; there will be hardly a day from 

 the last snow in March to the first blLszard in 

 December when we can not find something new 

 in our garden.— ('/ta«. Little before the W. N. Y. 

 Horticultural Society. 



Peach Borer. Mr J. H. Hale stated before the 

 Maine State Pomological Society, that the grub 

 can be destroyed with caustic potash made into 

 a strong lye with the addition of lime and car- 

 bolic acid, to which a little arsenic is added, and 

 sometimes a little clay to make it adhere to the 

 tree. The earth is drawn awa.y from the foot of 

 the tree, and the mixture is applied with a swab. 

 Of a hundred thus treated not one was ever 

 attacked by the borer. Of the untreated trees, 

 not one in a hundred escaped. This remedy 

 costs much less labor than the old efficient one of 

 digging out with the point of a knife. The work 

 is done early in May, and the mixture should be 

 nearly as thick as paste Mr. Dunbar also stated 

 that he had tried this remedy with success, not 

 one tree in twenty-five being attacked where the 

 wash was applied. 



On Lawn Making. A gross error is very pre- 

 valent in towns and cities; as when building is 

 being done, gravel, brickbats and other debris 



are allowed to accumulate, and when improve- 

 ments are finished this rubbish is spread over the 

 lot and covered with a thin coat of light black 

 soil, and is considered good enough for grass and 

 flowers. 'Tis true, seeds will germinate in it, 

 and grass and flower-plants grow well on it for a 

 time, but when the strong ra.vs of the summer's 

 sun are concentrated on it for weeks in succes- 

 sion it will rapidly dry out and plants on it, bum 

 up, because they have no depth of root, or store 

 ot nourishment. All such material should be 

 collected together and carried away and replaced 

 with a good clay or loamy soil, to a depth of at 

 least two feet. A soil thus formed, when levelled, 

 graded and made fine and even on top, is well 

 adapted to support plants; it will permit their 

 roots to penetrate it deeply, and to spread in it 

 laterly; will absorb and retain moisture, with the 

 plant food it holds in solution, and can be re- 

 plenished anaually by top dressing: and when so 

 treated will retain its fertility and give good 

 results for years in succession. On such a soil 

 a beautiful lawn is easily formed by seeding 

 or sodding The latter is the speediest way, but 

 it has no other advantage, and is much more 

 costly. Seeding with bluegrass seed in March or 

 April soon makes a beatiful lawn, and b.v the 

 first of July, if sown thickly, the surface will be 

 covered with a nice green sward.— £)r. D. Mc- 

 Carthy before Montgomery Cimnty Hori. Society. 



Pickings from the Columbus (Ohio) 

 Horticultural Society Meetings. 



In a review of the season the fact was 

 brought out that weeds for some reason 

 have not given as much trouble this year as 

 usual. Either the seeds producecl the year 

 before had less vitality, or the conditions for 

 growth were in some way less favorable. 



Much Bloom, Little Fruit. Another remark- 

 able feature of the season was the unusual a- 

 mount of bloom produced in Central Ohio by 

 plants of nearly every description, wild and cul- 

 tivated, annual and perennial, herbaceous, shrub- 

 by and tree-like. This unusual prolificacy in 

 blooming for two years in succession is probably 

 due to favorable conditions of fall growth, mild 

 winters, and a sufficient amount and equal dis- 

 tribution of rainfall during the spring months. 

 Whatever the causes, the promise seen in the a- 

 bundance of bloom was not verified in the har- 

 vest. This was particularly observable in the 

 case of the Apple and the Grape. 



Most Profitable Apple. The requisities of a 

 good market Apple are as follows: 1. Fine ap- 

 pearance and, at least, fairly good quality. 3. 

 Productiveness; a profitable market Apple should 

 be an annual bearer. Some varieties bear only 

 once in two or three years. Five years ago an 

 Apple-grower near Columbus sold $25 worth of 

 Apples from a single tree of Belleflower. The 

 tree has not produced $5 worth during the five 

 years since. 3. Good shipping qualities. In many 

 parts of Ohio the Ben Davis and Rome Beauty 

 come the nearest to answering all of the above 

 requisites. In other parts of the state the North- 

 ern Si)y and Baldwin give the best cash results. 



The Ideal Strawberry. The essentials of an 

 ideal Strawberry may be grouped under the fol- 

 lowing heads : 1. A large amount of each, and the 

 proper proportion of sugar and acid, i. e.. rich- 

 ness. 3. .\ good flavor. 3. Flesh melting, but firm^ 

 without core or hollow. 4. Seeds small in size 

 and few in number. 5 Regular shape ; a conicaj 

 form is perhaps the best. ti. Moderate and nearly 

 uniform size. 7. Clear, pure color, no matter 

 what the shade. 8. The caly.x should part readily 

 from the fruit. 9. The plants should be hardy 

 of vigorous growth, able to resist rust, insect in- 

 jury or other forms of disease. 10. A tendency to 

 produce a moderate number of healthy runners. 



New Insect Enemies. During the past sum- 

 mer two comparatively new and destructive 

 insects have been leported by members of the 

 Columbus Agricultural Society. One works upon 

 Rhubarb or Pieplant and the other infests the 

 root of the Strawberry. The former is a beetle 

 of the curculio type, and does its injury by punc- 

 turing the stem, where it deposits its eggs. These 

 hatch and the larvic or grubs bore or tunnel the 

 stalks. When abundant the plants are seriously 

 injured. The life history of this insect is not 

 fully known, and no remedies of a practical 

 nature have been suggested. 



The other insect, a species of aphis, is called 

 the Strawberry root louse, and is doing serious 

 injury to the Sti-awberry plantations in Central 

 Ohio. It is a small, greenLsh louse that gathers 



