1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



159 



by plantiiiK scod ami jriuwiiii; ymiiiyr plant*, and 

 thcit' is not any liuit-sriiiwing: plant that can be 

 more readily (frown trom seed than the delicious 

 Strawberry. 



The Fruits and Flowers of Northern 

 Japan. 



[Paper read bu Pruf. Brooks before the Massaclnisetis 

 TTorticultural Society,) 



Yes.so lio.s off the coast of Silieria between 

 about 41 'j'-" and 4.5^'' north latitude. Its 

 area is about 'JT.tKXl square miles— a little 

 less than tliat of Ireland. Only about a 

 quarter part of this area is fitted for culti- 

 vation. The highest mountains attain an 

 elevation of about eight thousand feet, but 

 the great majority range from one thousand 

 to four thousand feet. The lower slopes up 

 to an elevation of from five hundred to a 

 thousand feet, are covered with a rich 

 growth of deciduous trees— Maples, Oaks, 

 Magnolias, Cercidiphyllums, Elms, Lindens, 

 Cherries, and Birches predominating. 

 Above these altitudes, Conifera?, chiefly two 

 species of Spruce, predominate. 



By tar the most abundant and important plant 

 here found is a kind of Bamboo grass (.Arundi- 

 naria), which in places forms almost impenetra- 

 ble thickness, from two to ten or more feet high. 

 The leaves are evergreen, and it constitutes a 

 most valuable and nutritious winter pasturage 

 for deer, and also for cattle and horses, which in 

 most parts of the island keep in good condition 

 on It during the winter months. Where this 

 Arundinaria grows, it crowds out all the other 

 undergrowth except trees and climbers. The 

 enormous number and variety of climbers, 

 woody and herbaceous, contribute much to the 

 appearance of tropical luxuriance and richness. 



The climate of Yesso is in many respects not 

 unlike that of New England, but it is a little 

 cooler in summer and milder in winter, and the 

 air is a little more humid, and the percentage of 

 sunshine somewhat less. The autumn frosts are 

 late in coming, seldom destroying even the most 

 tender plants before the middle of October. The 

 snowfall is large, averaging about twelve feet ; 

 it usually falls upon unfrozen ground, or at least 

 the frost is so slight that by the middle of Janu- 

 ary the ground, even in open fields, is free from it. 



Fraits. Yesso is not particularly rich in in- 

 digenous fruits ; those most extensively used are 

 a wild Strawberry, two species of Raspberries, 

 a Chestnut, a Walnut, a Grape, and the Kokuxoa- 

 Huckleberries, C'heckerberries, Cranberries, and 

 Blackberries, although found, are not abundant 

 and practically are never made use of. Two or 

 three species of Strawberries are found, but the 

 only one of any importance is Fragaria rc^ca, 

 which in some districts is so abundant that the 

 manufacture of jam from the fruit was at one 

 time an important industry. This jam was par- 

 ticularly high-flavored and delicious. This fruit 

 is in cultivation very vigorous and fairly pro- 

 ductive ; small to medium in size, whitish-red 



U "^ £ 



Modes of Drainage and V^entilation for Cellars, 



wnen ripe, and very sweet and high-flavored^ 

 with a taste altogether difterent from that of our 

 varieties. About one-third of the plants pro- 

 duced only staminate flowers and no fruit. The 

 other plants bore smaller flowers, with perfect 

 pistils and stamens. American Strawlwrries 

 flourish and increase rapidly. 



Of Raspberries, only two species need be no- 

 ticed, RuhK^ parvifoliuA is of a low, half-running 

 habit of growth; the fruit is red, but verj- loosely 

 constructed, and soft in texture. The flavor is 

 good, but the fruit cannot be hand e 1 without 

 being reduced, to mush. Rubu^ phanicolasius 

 has the Black Cap habit of growth. The canes 

 are strong and tall, not requiring artificial sup. 

 port, and the prickles are unusually soft and 

 harmless. The fruit is produced in large clus- 

 ters, is of fair size, and, being of a beautiful 

 scarlet color, presents a very attractive appear- 

 ance. It is fairly tirm, and in flavor quite differ- 

 ent trom anything we have, having less of the 



distinctive Raspberry flavor, and being slightly 

 more acid than our varieties, but less rich. The 

 griiwing fruit is entirely covered and protected 

 by the reddish pubescent calyx until just as it 

 begins to ripen. American varieties of Rasp- 

 berries and Blackberries do well. 



The Y'esso Chestnut, very abundant in many 

 sections and much used by the aborigines of the 

 island us well as by the Japanese, lis in ;size and 

 qvuility almost identical with the American, and 

 altogether difl'erent from the large Chestnut of 

 Japan, but Uke that produces 

 fruit very young. The Yesso 

 Walnut closely resembles the 

 English Walnut, but is inferior 

 both in size and quality. 



The native Grajte is VUis La- 

 brusca. The fruit is of inferior 

 quality, but the vine is remark- 

 ably rank and vigorous in habit. 

 A specimen with a stem four- 

 teen inches in diameter was 

 found near Sapporo, and leaves 

 nearly two feet across are often 

 seen. The cultivated Grape of 

 old Japan is VitU vinifera, but 

 the summer at Yesso does not -< 

 aftord sufficient heat to ripen it. -- 

 The Delaware is the only one -; 

 of our American varieties which 

 has succeeded. 



(To he continued.) 



flg. .'), is to be preferred. A small pipe tile is 

 much better than a very large one. The angular 

 bottom is best of all, to confining the water to an 

 acting channel. Pure air may be partly had 

 through windows hung on hinges, to be opened 

 or partly closed, as required. A small stove in a 

 room above may also be employed for effecting 

 constant ventilation tor the arrangement repre- 

 sented in flg. t>. The pipe immediately connected 

 with the stove becomes filled with heated air, 

 which rises in it and causes an upward current 



GLEAN- 



CONDENSED 



iNGs. »a" 't; 



A Handy Forcing Honse. The * ■ 



annexed illustration, reduced 

 from Home and Farm, repre- 

 sents a fire hotbed or forcing bouse, described as 

 follows : The sashes are 3x8 feet, the beds built 

 with IH inch Oak, three feet deep on the higher 

 side and .30 inches deep on the lower side, giving 

 a six-inch slope to the south. Oak posts were 

 used every eight feet. Then a scantUng was 

 nailed eighteen inches from the top on each side 

 to hold up the floor. The flue for conveying the 

 heat is Ijelow this floor. Two scantlings run the 

 entire length of the bed with props under them 

 to hold them up on each side of the flue. The 

 floor must always be built strong, or it will break 

 down. It holds ten inches of earth and here the 

 seeds are planted. Wood is used for fuel, and 

 but little fire is needed. Build the furnace on a 

 level with the ground or a little lower, excavat- 

 ing a place five feet deep in which to stand and 

 fix the fire. The flue has a rise of eighteen in- 

 ches in the first twenty feet; after this fifteen to 

 eighteen inches to the end of the bed is sufficient. 

 Two boards seven inches wide, and two nine in- 

 ches wide, all twelve feet long will answer tor 

 the chimney. To make the furnace, use three 

 grate bars, each 5x40 inches, and raise them 

 ten inches from the ground on bricks. These 

 are inclosed with firebrick, fire-clay tiles cover 

 the top and fire-clay should be used for mortar. 

 The flue for the first ten feet must be made of 

 fire brick. Common brick will answer the 

 balance of the way. A board roof should be 

 placed over the furnace excavation, and sheet 

 iron should be nailed above the furnace door to 

 keep it from taking fire. Four air holes on a 

 side allow the air from the space beneath the 

 floor to rise under the glass. If it should get too 

 warm, board could be laid over the apertures. 

 Do not burn coal. The soot wUl choke the flue 

 and coal gas is sometimes generated, which is 

 fatal to the plants. A vessel made of galvanized 

 iron and placed on the furnace generates moist- 

 ure, and makes it more desirable for plant 

 growing. 



Cellar Drainage. A stranger passing into the 

 apartments of the cellar should be unable to 

 perceive anything but perfect purity in the air. 

 To secure this desirable result, perfect drainage, 

 usually by artificial drains, is required. One 

 point which should be well understood, is, to 

 give the bottom of the drain a form which will 

 aid the free flow of any water which might 

 otherwise accumulate. A broad, flat bottom, as 

 shown in fig. 1 of the accompanying cross-sec- 

 tions would cause the water to spread thinly 

 over it and not run off; but a sharply narrow 

 channel, bringing all the water together, as 

 shown in fig. ;i, would produce a current which 

 more freely carries off all sediment. In flg. 3 

 the old mode of using flat sole for horse-shoe tile 

 is obviously defective. It would be better to in- 

 vert this kind of tile, as represented in fig. 4, 

 where the water is more nearly confined in nar- 

 row 'imits. For this reason, tubular or pipe tile, 



A HANDY FORCING HOUSE. 



in all the pipe above, drawing the air upward in 

 the pipe from the cellar.— Country Gentleman. 



Kepacklnp California Fruits. The California 

 Prune was first introduced by reliable packers 

 on the Pacific slope in boxes weighing 25 pounds 

 net. Following the foreign custom of grading, 

 they were carefully sorted and packed according 

 to size and the boxes plainly branded, 50-60, BO-70, 

 70-80, etc., meaning that the fruit, as packed in 

 that particular box, run from 60 to 60 Prunes to 

 each pound. In addition to this, they have re- 

 cently been shipping the product in sacks, less 

 expensive than Ijoxing, saving about one-half 

 cent per pound to the retailer and consumer. 

 Now comes the fraud. For several years past, 

 men made a business of repacking and reproces- 

 sing old fruit, mixing with new. Old Currants 

 have been steamed, syruped, mi.xed, repacked 

 and sold as new. Currants have been doctored 

 up and repacked, and in some instances a reput- 

 able importer's shipping mark has been skillfully 

 imitated and) stencilled on the box to give color 

 to the fraud. Old Prunes have been steamed, 

 doped and sold for new. It is time to call a halt. 

 The California Prune has made such a splendid 

 reputation that we cannot afford to flitter it 

 away. The retailer who buys California Prunes 

 should weigh the goods and see that he gets what 

 he pays for. Look out for boxes topped off with 

 70 to 80 fruit, while 90 to 100 are fllled.in below. 

 Better still, buy the California sacked Prune 

 and you will be sure to get the weight you 

 pay for.— Interstate Grocer. 



Gardeners' .Friends and Enemies. In every 

 rural commune in France, boards are put up 

 bearing the following instructions: " This board 

 is placed under the protection of the common 

 sense and honesty of the public. Hedgehog. Lives 

 upon mice, snails and wire worms — animals in- 

 jurious to agriculture. Don't kill a hedgehog. 

 Toad. Helps agriculture; destroys twenty to 

 thirty insects hourly. Don't kill toads. Mole. 

 Destroys wire- worms, larvse and insects injurious 

 to the farmer. No trace of vegetables is ever 

 found in bis stomach; does more good than harm. 

 Don't kill moles. Cock-chafer and its larvae. 

 Deadly enemy to farmei-s; lays 70 to 100 eggs. 

 Kill the cock-chafer. Birds. Each department 

 of France loses yearly many millions of francs 

 by the injury done by insects —Am. Agricult'ist. 



Trees on Waste Places. Nearly every farm 

 has one or more acres not worth cultivating or 

 fencing, which might easily be turned to forest 

 growth. It is especially desirable to clothe the 

 high hilltops with trees, not only as protection 

 against winds, but for the effect it would have 

 in preventing the hillsides becoming parched by 

 drouth. Trees on the top of a hill serve to hold 

 the moisture in the ground, and keep the whole 

 hill more moist. The more generally the hilltops 

 are covered with forest, the less bleak will be the 

 country; and less violent the winds sweeping 



