1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



123 



crop of extremely handsome mahogany- 

 colored nuts, which alTord materials for 

 play equal to the same number of rubber 

 balls, for the beautiful clean nuts possess 

 an elasticity almost equal to that of India 

 rubber. Should those persons who possess 

 overnice notions of tree propriety, prefer to 

 be without the crop of nuts they have but 

 to plant any of the varieties besides the 

 Common, as no others seed freely if at all. 

 For our part we expect always to be so 

 young that we shall look upon the fruiting 

 season of the Horse Chestnut as 

 not the least attractive stage in 

 its annual round of development. 



As the tree increases in age 

 its dense foliage loses much of the 

 formality of outline peculiar to 

 the younger growth, and instead 

 breaks Into line masses more and 

 more beautiful, until it becomes 

 one of the grandest of trees. 



We have said this much for 

 onr old favorites in part because 

 of a disposition in some quar- 

 ters, to speak disparagingly of 

 their merits. Indeed we can do 

 the class no better turn than to 

 present the follo'n-ing ridiculous 

 words concerning the Common 

 Horse Chestnut, as showing the 

 work of some against it. The 

 extract is from the Rochester 

 Democrat and Chronicle, a source 

 from which better things should 

 be expected. 



"It is a nuisance from the time 

 the blossoms appear until the 

 boughs are bare," says our 

 Rochester contemporary. "It 

 might be valuable to reclaim 

 barren fields, because the parts 

 which it drops during the year 

 would make quite a large addi- 

 tion to the mold which renders 

 the earth of forests so rich. The 

 blossoms become a crushed mass 

 of nasttness when they fall. When 

 the nuts begin to drop, passers- 

 by need helmets to protect their 

 heads. Besides, the litter of the 

 faUen burs is very disagreeable. 

 When soaked with the rains of 

 autumn, the burs color the walks 

 and everything with which tbey 

 come in contact, and do not dis- 

 appear until thoroughly incorpor- 

 ated with the mold of the fallen 

 leaves from the same tree. The 

 leaves, with their large, spraw- 

 ling stems, cover the walks as 

 with a mat, and are even more 

 disagreeable than the litter of 

 the burs. 



•• The Horse Chestnut grows rapidly, and 

 this fact seems to be its only recommenda- 

 tion. Why should not the native Chestnut 

 of our forests be planted instead of the 

 worthless tree no w so common ? The nut of 

 the native Chestnut is an article of com- 

 merce, and if boys are to club Chestnut 

 trees let them do it to some purpose. The 

 nuts of the Horse Chestnut are worthless 

 except for medicine. A sufficient supply for 

 medicine can be obtained without cumber- 

 ing city streets with the disagreeable tree. " 



Chiswick Conference on November .5th. of 

 last year. This is a pretty and graceful 

 Japanese, with exceedingly line threadlike 

 tlorets of a soft, clear straw color. It will 

 probably prove useful for cutting purposes, 

 as light flowers like these are admirable for 

 arranging in vases. 



Western New York Fruit Growers. 



For the Rose slug a new remedy has been 



found by Mr. Howard of the Department of 



Agriculture. This is simpy a strong stream 



A New Japanese Chrysanthemum. 

 The improvement in Chrysanthemums 

 goes merrily on, which with the interest 

 taken in this flower by the best and most 

 skillful horticulturists of both America and 

 England, and perhaps by the public gener- 

 ally, is not to be wondered at. The annexed 

 illustration, reproduced from the Journal 

 of Horticulture, shows the bloom of the 

 new variety "Mrs. Carter.' Fine speci- 

 mens of this, among other novelties, were 

 exhibited by Messrs. J. Carter & Co., at the 



NEW CHRYSANTHEMUM, WITH THREAD-LIKE FLORETS 



of cold water thrown with considerable 

 force upon the infested foliage. Tobacco 

 tea and Pyrethrum were also effective, but 

 the former stains the plants; the latter is 

 too costly. The jet of cold water also killed 

 the aphis on Currants, and similar pests, 

 also drove the English sparrows away from 

 their nests and places of refuge. This 

 remedy is effective against the Roseleaf 

 hopper and those feeding on Grapes, etc. 



For Grape diseases Dr. Lintner recom- 

 mends force pump and Bordeaux mixture, 

 prepared after the following formula : six 

 pounds of copper sulphate dissolved in four 

 gallons of hot water, four pounds of lime 

 slacked in four gallons of cold water; mix 

 and dilute to 33 gallons. This will be found 

 effective against most fungi. For use on 

 Potatoes this Bordeaux mixture may be 

 combined with London purple, and thus be 

 made effective both for Potato rot and Col- 

 orado Potato bug. 



Many insects are effectively fought with 

 carbolated plaster, made by stirring a pint 

 of crude carbolic acid into .50 lbs. of plaster. 



A new Pear pest belonging to the group 

 of case bearers has been discovered. It 

 burrows into the young fruit and spoils it. 

 May prove to be wide spread. What the 

 species is not yet determined. Spraying soon 

 after the fruit sets will probably prove to be 

 the remedy. 



Another newly found insect is a snapping 

 beetle which attacks Quince blossoms. The 

 only way to treat it thus far discovered is 

 knocking it off into a pan with water and 

 kerosene. 



The Peach bark borer is a 

 small beetle which attacks trees 

 affected by yellows. 



A new Rose pest has also been 

 observedj thus far, however, only 

 in the larvie state. It Is a borer 

 attacking the tips. A lady re- 

 ports that 20 years ago the same 

 insect had given her trouble ; she 

 fought it with knife and fire for 

 tour or five years, and got rid of 

 it until its re-appearance now. 



Arsenical Poisons. Mr. S. D. 

 Willard tells that Prof. Cook's 

 remarks, made in this hall a 

 year ago, had induced him to 

 spray a small orchard with Lon- 

 don purple, using four ounces to 

 .50 gallons of water. I badly in- 

 jured Pears,and especially Plums. 

 The latter are very sensitive. All 

 the foliage dropped, reducing 

 what he expected to be a yield 

 of 3,500 baskets to 1,000 baskets. 

 London purple is not of uniform 

 strength. It dissolves in water 

 and should be used with great 

 caution. If possible handle the 

 nozzle yourself. Thinks that two 

 ounces dissolved in a 100 gallons 

 would be affective. 



The' testimony of different mem- 

 bers is very conflicting, and seems 

 to show that there must be a 

 great variation in the strength 

 of Paris green. Dr. Lintner thinks 

 the codlin would "laugh and grow 

 fat'" on London purple after Mr. 

 Willard's prepared formula. 



Jlr. Chapin states he has ap- 

 plied Paris green, two ounces in 

 a barrel of water, for many years 

 on his 130 acre orchard of Bald- 

 wins with unvarying good re- 

 sults, also to Pear trees. He buys 

 a genuine article from Xew York, 

 in 100 pound kegs; has little 

 confidence in the one pound 

 packages on sale in country stores. 

 The discussions also brought to 

 light that Plum trees often drop 

 their foliage from other causes 

 besides spraying with London purple, and 

 that we may often blame London purple, 

 when fungi are the real cause of the trouble. 

 Election of Officers. This had the 

 following result: President, Patrick Barry, 

 Rochester. Vice Presidents; S. D. Willard, 

 Geneva, W. C. Barry, Rochester; W. C. 

 Smith, Syracuse ; J. S. Woodward, Lock- 

 port ; Secretary, John Hall, Rochester; Exe- 

 cutive Committee: C. M. Hooker, Lewis 

 Chase, B. W. Clark, C. W. Stuart, N. 

 Bogue, Batavia. 



Ontario Fruit Growers in Council. 



{Continued from page. 95.) 

 Peaches for Profit. Mr. James F. 

 Taylor of Michigan says there are many 

 small sections.not only in Ontario,but in the 

 United States as well, which are well suited 

 for Peach culture. This is especially true 

 of land that has ridges and hills, and vales, 

 and consequently protected situations. 

 Severe frosts in spring are usually more 

 fatal to the Peach crop than are cold day s 

 in winter. A frosty^situation is to be avoid 



