POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE BATH DONE HEB PART: DO THOU BUT THJiVt,'." -Mjlton. 



Vol. V. 



OVT-A-IRCII, 1890. 



No. 6. 



March. 

 Though winter waits reluctant 



To yield the rule to March. 

 The sun with step exultant 

 Walks high through heaven's arch, 

 Till day and night 

 Bring new delight. 

 By equal hours In March. 

 At rest in Winter's rigor 



The life-tide wends Its way. 

 Ascending with new vigor. 

 Up through the branches gray. 

 From roots below 

 'Neath melting snow. 

 Predicting leaves of May. 



—Clara Hapgood Nash. 



Hardy Shrubs. A collection of 50 choice 

 bloomers does not cost much; it is capable of 

 yielding endless pleasure. 



Florid lANS Excited. Phosphate beds of almost 

 unlimited extent, and the materia] of superior 

 quality— this is the (tratifying news from Marion, 

 Polk and Hermando Counties, Fla. 



A Tuup Trke on a farm near Aurora, Cayuga 

 Co„N, T,a few years ago was cut down, and 

 sawed into 15,000 feet of boards, which furnished 

 the entire outside covering of a large barn. 



Safe Storage for Southern FRtrrrs A por- 

 tion of the wharf of the Florida Fruit Exchange 

 in Boston has been enclosed, and provided with a 

 heater, so that the temperature can always be 

 Itept above W degrees. Cars and teams can be 

 loaded and unloaded in this safe and roomy en- 

 closure, and the fruit can be left here without 

 danger of freezing. This is an important im- 

 provement. 



How TO CONTROI. THE COMMISSION MERCHANT. 



This has been a much-discussed question at the 

 meetings and in the papers this winter, and it 

 seems that some action should be taken for the 

 protection of fruit shipped against dishonest 

 dealers. By co-operation of the shippers in each 

 township much might !« done. Let them appoint 

 a meeting and elect officers. The secretary, or 

 executive committee, should receive the reports 

 of every member concerning the ways of each 

 dealer to whom he has shipped produce and thus 

 gather some pretty reliable information about 

 the true standing of the men they trust with 

 consignments This, of course, is merely a sug- 

 gestion, and the details of the plan have to be 

 worked out by the parties interested. 



Early RtjBY Tomato. Messrs. Henderson & 

 Co. write us that the Early Ruby is an altogether 

 different sort than we had ou our grounds last 

 season, and which we supposed to be the same as 

 now sent out by them as Earl.v Ruby. Our varie- 

 ty is very similar to Matchless, of the same bushy 

 growth, while Early Ruby of Henderson's has 

 thin and open foliage, exposing the clusters well 

 to the influence of light and sun, thus making 

 the fruit extremely early. It is recommended as 

 just the variety U> suit the wants of the grower 

 for early market. We have need of a variety of 

 this type that will give us real good fruit. All 

 extra early sorts, Atlantic Prize, Early Advance, 

 etc, are yet deficient in this respect. We shall 

 be pleased to see this want filled by the Early 

 Ruby of Henderson's. 



Responsibility OF Plant Sellers. The ques- 

 tion, how far should nurserymen, florists and 

 seedsmen be held responsible for the quality and 

 genuineness of the goods they sell, is a very im- 

 portant one. An English jury has just rendered 

 a verdict which to us seems to be also in accord 

 with public sentiments on this side the Atlantic. 

 A London nurseryman bought .500 plants of what 

 his seed merchant alleged were Spircea palmata, 

 the bloom of which is of a deep peeony red. 

 When the plants bloomed they proved to be Spi- 

 rcea elegam, which, being of a dirty white, were 

 practically valueless as a commercial article. 



The buyer therefore sued the seller for Is. 3d. for 

 each of the 500 plants, which he would have ob- 

 tained for them had they been what they were 

 sold for. The jury found for the plaintiff for the 

 full amount claimed. 



A Cheap Portable Sprayer Needed. Spray- 

 ing as a remedy for injurious insects and fungus 

 diseases undoubtedly has come to stay. The 

 progressive grower finds that this item in the 

 management of orchards, vineyards, gardens and 

 Potato fields is one which he cannot permit him- 

 self to ignore. No spray— no crop; this alterna- 

 tive we see looming up before us. The large 

 orchard ist and the large Potato grower are now 

 provided with serviceable spraying pumps Their 

 large 'operations require sprayers of large 

 capacity, and the growers can alford to invest in 

 the higher priced implements. The amateur, or 

 even the average vineyardist or Potato grower, 

 however, needs a tool that can be operated by 

 band while being carried on the back. Such 

 portable sprayers have often been described and 

 pictured in the department bulletins and in hort- 

 cultural papers, yet the only tool of this kind 

 (the Eurekal which has been patented in this 

 country, to our knowledge, is not found on the 

 market. The French " Vermorel " pump is also 

 an excellent tool of this kind, and not patented. 

 Why will not some enterprising party manufac- 

 ture or import it, and give us a chance to make 

 use of such portable sprayer at moderate cost? 



Give us Fractional Currency. 



The ten million people who live in large 

 cities, most Congress members among them, 

 have no need of buying through the mails. 

 They can go to a store near by and procure 

 any article they may desire. But the fifty 

 odd millions of our population living In the 

 country and country towns are differently 

 situated. Where are they going to get 

 many of the conveniences and necessities 

 of rural life— such as books, papers, seeds, 

 plants, roots, flowers, Insecticides, horticul- 

 tural implemeuts, and a host of other things, 

 not on sale In their Immediate neighborhood 

 — if not by purchase from a distance? 



These fifty-odd million people must make 

 remittances by mall, and it Is not always 

 convenient to do this by postal note or 

 money orders: hence the fifty-odd million 

 of people thus situated should be supplied 

 with a money suited to their needs. Postage 

 stamps were never designed for currency, 

 and with their small size and sticky backs, 

 and not being legal tender, are in no way 

 suited for that purpose. Yet for want of 

 something better millions of dollars worth 

 of stamps are thus in circulation — a dread 

 to the sender and a poor apology for legal 

 tender money In the hands of seedsmen, 

 nurserymen and other shippers of small 

 merchandise, as well as of publLshers. 



This urgent need can be supplied by the 

 re-Issue of a few million dollars in fractional 

 currency. 



Here are simple facts that admit no con- 

 tradiction They were recognised by the 

 recent lively agitation In the agricultural 

 papers, by the unanimity with which this 

 re-issue of fractional currency was demand- 

 ed, and by the law authorizing It which was 

 introduced in last Congress, but, we believe, 

 was buried In one of committee rooms 

 because our law makers were occupied too 

 much with " high politics ' to give the in- 

 terests of rural people a hearing. 



The law should be speedily resurrected in 

 the present Congress. The agricultural 



press must speak out. Let us strike while 

 the iron Is hot. Our demands are modest, 

 perhaps only too much so,and Congress can 

 not Ignore them if we press the matter. 



We do not ask for subsidies, nor for 

 pensions, nor for the construction of expen- 

 sive buildings, etc., at public expense. We 

 have absolutely no designs on the U. S. 

 Treasury and its surplus. We do not ask 

 to have it squandered in otir interest nor in 

 anybody else's. Perhaps we might find 

 more attentive listeners if we did. 



Let the agricultural press make another 

 united effort for fractional currency, per- 

 haps for lower postage rates on fourth-class 

 mall matter, and better railway facilities 

 generally. It's little enough we ask; but let 

 us cry out. Congress, if wise, will hear and 

 heed our cry. 



Climatic Modification of Plants. 



PaOF. J. L. BUBD, AGEICrXTTRAl. COLLEGE, lOWA. 



I notice in the December number this 

 suggestive paragraph: "Lack of pollen, 

 which so very often results in partial or 

 entire barreness of many fruit and nut trees, 

 does not seem to be a fault with the Russian 

 fruits. Abundance of pollen and plenty of 

 fruit in consequence,is the rule with them." 



This Is true of the Duchess Apple, the 

 Gakovsky Pear, the Orloff Cherry, the Early 

 Red Plum, and Indeed all the orchard fruits 

 of interior Russia In Europe and Central 

 Asia. But Russia covers, It is said, about 

 one-seventh of the earth's surface of dry 

 land, hence all the characteristics of the 

 fruits named are varied in the different 

 provinces of the great empire. 



-\ brief enumeration of some of the climatic 

 modifications of the varieties of the orchard 

 fmlts of the dry Interior of east Europe and 

 central Asia may have some interest. 



The Friit Buds axd Blossoms. The 

 fruit buds are peculiarly loaded and pro- 

 tected with starch in the cell structure to an 

 unusual extent. Hence I have never known 

 the fruit buds of the -Apple, Pear, Cherry, 

 or Plum from this region Injured by our 

 test winters. 



As stated the anthers of the large and 

 strong stamens are always loaded with per- 

 fect pollen, and in addition every part of the 

 flower is stronger, thicker and better able 

 to endure without Inquiry the frosts and 

 weather changes of the blossoming period- 

 If the trees blossom they rarely faU to per- 

 fect their fruit. 



It Is well-known that the blossoms of the 

 Duchess Apple will endure frosts that will 

 blast those of our common varieties, but not 

 as well known that all varieties from the 

 home of the Duchess are equally hardy in 

 fruit bud and blossom. -\s an instance, in 

 the spring of 1888 we had severe frosts when 

 the Cherry was in blossom with the result 

 that we had a total failure in the whole 

 state of the varieties of the old list: yet such 

 Russian varieties as Orloff, Large Long 

 Late, Shadow Amarelle, and Spate Amarelle 

 were loaded with fruit even on low ground. 



The Fkuit. The fruit of the Apple, Pear, 

 Cherry and Plum from this region is equally 

 characteristic. In nearly all cases It has a 

 clear, wax-like expression, and a tendency 

 to pubescence and bloom. ^Tiile the skin 

 seems tender, it is able to withstand the 



