1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



20- 



l.sn. Apple Pom&ce as Manure. Old Apple 

 pomace may safely be applied to land for al- 

 most any erop in moderate quantities to be 

 plowed under, or otherwise thoroiijirlily mixed 

 with the soil. If fresh anil in an active state 

 of acid fermentation, it mi^ht be advisable to 

 compost and sweeten it with lime before it is 

 applied. We are not aware that an analysis of 

 Apple pomace has ever been made or published. 

 This is sure, however, that the original stores of 

 mineral elements of plant food contained in the 

 Apples are almost wholly left in the pomace, 

 and also part of the nitrogen, so there can be no 

 question that this material is worth something. 

 even if but little, as a fertilizer. On the other 

 hand, as usually left lying- about near cider mills. 

 etc., it is usually offensive to both si^ht and 

 smell, and a nuisance generally, and it would 

 pay to apply it to the land as suggested if for no 

 other reason than to get rid of it. Fresh Apple 

 pomace, as should yet be stated, has also a con- 

 siderable value as food for horses, cattle, hogs 

 and sheep: but if in acid fermentation, should 

 be given with caution.— G. H. 



],TW. Low Land for Celery and Onions, From 

 Prof. E. S. Goff's reply to a similar inquiry in 

 ■Western farmer, we extract the following trust- 

 worthy information : The drainage should be 

 such that the water level of the soil is not less 

 than two and a half to three feet below the sur- 

 face. Otherwise, success in growing Onions or 

 Celery will be wholly dependent upon a dry sea- 

 son. The preparation wiU consist in applying a 

 very liberal dressing of well-rotted manure, and 

 breaking up the sod as soon as the ground is suffl- 

 cientlj' dry in spring, or during the summer. 

 Onions and Celery require abundant manuring, 

 even on new land, and without this, it will bo 

 bardl}' worth while to attempt their culture. 

 Sixty two-horse loads per acre will make a good 

 beginning. Any barnyard or stable manure that 

 is well-decayed will answer. Kor the first plow- 

 ing, the furrow need be only Just deep enough 

 to invert the sod and manure, cutting wide ' 

 enough so the sod will lay flat, without the edges 

 overlapping. Shallow plowing will hasten the 

 decomposition of the sod, and If the furrows do 

 not overlap, the harrow will be less likely to tear 

 up. Harrow two or three times in the direction 

 of the plowing: then it the surface is sufficiently 

 loosened, cross-harrow the furrows until the 

 crevices are all filled, and the surface is well 

 leveled. If the sod is very tough so that the 

 plowing could not be well done, a heavy roller 

 used tjefore the harrowing will tend to prevent 

 tearing it up. The ground may now be left until 

 the succeeding spring. The warm weather of 

 the summer and autumn will cause the sod to 

 decay and the freezing of winter will disinte- 

 grate whatever clods may have escaped being 

 crumbled by the harrow. If there was any de- 

 ficiency in first manuring it may be made up 

 during the winter, and another sixty loads may- 

 be added with benefit. The fact cannot be too 

 strongly emphasized that the crops in question 

 can do their best only with the most liberal 

 manuring. There need be no fear of over- 

 fertilizing. 



1.85S Portable Sprayer. We know of no 

 perfect portable spraying apparatus put on the 

 market, except the Eureka, made by Adam 

 Weaber and Son of Vineland, which costs some- 

 thing over 830 each. To people of a little 

 mechanical skill and inclination the description 

 of a home made sprayer given by Prof. R. Thax- 



Hume Made Portable Sprayer. 



ter, in a recent Bulletin of the Connecticut Ex- 

 periment Station (New Haven), and the accom- 

 panying illustration of same reproduced from 

 same source, may be of interest and help. The 

 machine consists of an ordinary small copper 

 wash boiler. The hose of a force pump (hydro- 

 nette pattern 1 enters the water as shown, e repre- 

 senting a short collar of tin through which the 

 hose is pushed. These pumps do not throw a 

 continuous spray, and so a piece of five-eight- 

 inch heavy rubber tubing h is fastened to a Ver- 

 morel nozzle a at one end x and the regular 

 pump nozzle d at the other, by winding it tightly 

 with small copper wire. The two nozzles a and d 

 are then connected by two heavy copper wires c 

 fastened by winding once around each nozzle. 

 The following prices are quoted in the IJvilletin, 

 for articles sold in Hartford and New Haven : 

 sulphate of copper from 6J^ to 10 cents jier lb., 

 according to the amount sold ; ammonia from 

 8 to 10 cents: carbonate of copper 75 cents per 

 lb. Rubber tubing 18 cents per foot; wash 

 boilers §3.25: force pump Si.OO. 



KTM. Tomato Forcing Honae. The three 

 requisites of a good Tomato house are, 1, the 

 maximum amount of light ; 2, an abundance of 

 heat; 3, a large volume of air. In other words, 

 in forcing Tomatoes a large house is superior to a 

 smaller one Twenty feet is a good width, and 

 the length may be BO or 70. A hip-span roof is 

 I best— the long slope facing the south. Use large 

 glass: 12x11) being good size; though some pre- 

 fer 14x24. For cheap and satisfactory walls, set 

 posts six feet apart; line, inside and 

 out, with tari-ed paper, and then ceil 

 with the best flooring. (For various 

 styles of greenhouse walls see Bulletin 

 No. 7,Minnesota Experiment Station.) 

 Kor tables, make the necessary sup- 

 ports of 2x4 stuff, and then use three- 

 inch strips. This allows the escape 

 of heat into the room and at the same 

 time gives more bottom heat than if 

 wide boards were used. The idea in 

 having the tables of this style, is to *^ 

 grow the plants in 18-inch boxes, four 

 plants in a box. I prefer this method 

 to any other yet tried. Bottom heat 

 is not essential, but desirable. Within 

 reasonable limits, increased earllness 

 of crop is a very important item in 

 growing Tomatoes for profit. The 

 accompanying diagram representing a cross-sec- 

 tion of a house twenty feet wide, shows the ar- 

 rangement of tables and piping. The tables are all 

 heated by return pipes. The steam enters the 

 room ats, and runs to the full length of the build- 

 ing, in one large pipe. It is then distributed as 

 desired. Each pipe, or at most each two pipes, 

 should be controlled by valves so that as many 

 or as few as desired may be used. I prefer 

 ventilators springing at the ridge as shown in 

 diagram.— W. Munson, Cornell University. 



1,851. Kainit for Trees and Potatoes. This 



I material can bo applied for the crops named 

 directly to the soil, without mi.\ing with any 

 other substance. For tree and bush fruits it can 

 hardly be used too liberally. Apply in fall or 

 early -winter if possible, but do not hesitate to 



■ put it on for the crops named at any other time 

 of the year, it not done before For Potatoes 

 we would always apply it in the fall or early 

 winter previous to planting, using it at the rate 

 of 300 to 800 pounds per acre, perhaps even more. 

 1,848. Cabbage Worm. In buhach we have a 

 never-failing remedy for this pest. For econo- 

 my's sake, the pure powder may be mixed with 

 three or four times its bulk of flour, bone meal, 

 or other dusty substance, and blown or sifted on 

 the infested plants, or it may be applied In spray 

 form, diluted with water. It is sure death to all 

 the worms it touches. 



1,791. Crops in Shade. Some of the bush fruits. 

 Blackberries and Raspberries, Currants, Goose- 

 berries and Strawberries also might be grown in 

 a half-shady situation, as for instance in a young 

 orchard. Further south we would prefer the 

 north side of a building or wall for Currants, 

 Gooseberries and RaspbeiTies to a more open 

 location. Some tree fruits might also flourish on 

 the north or west side of buildings, walls, fences, 

 or a piece of woods. The vegetable garden 

 should be exposed fully to the 

 sun, although some crops— Cab- 

 bages, Beans, Potatoes, Peas, 

 Beets, and many others may be 

 grown quite readily in the shade 

 of a young orchard. Success 

 here hinges chieflyon the supply 

 of plant food in the soU. Double 

 cropping also requires double 

 manuring. None of our common 

 vegetable crops, however, will 

 thrive in absolute shade. There 

 are a great many flowers and 

 shrubs which succeed admirably 

 in shady places, among them all those whose 

 home is in the wild woods, many of the bulbs. 

 Snowdrops, Lily of the Valley, etc. The Pansy 

 is one of our chief flowers for slightly shaded 

 situations, and there is also a proper place 

 for the Wall Flower. The Aquilegia cana- 

 densis (our native Columbine) also does well in 

 such places, and so will the little evergreen plant 

 popularly known as Wintergreen or Teaberry 

 iGaultheria procu»ibcJi.i). In fact we might name 

 a large number more of our native plants, which 

 are inhabitants of cool, damp woods of the north, 

 and well suited to be grown in shade and moist- 

 ure.- W. 



1,825. Annuals for Shady Position. Mr. Joseph 

 Harris in American Garden recommends the tall- 

 growing Nasturtium if it is only the soil that is 

 shaded; the plants will do well if they can run up 

 till they reach the sunshine, at any time before 

 noon. The Nasturtium thrives well in partial 

 shade. Do not be sparing of seed, but thin out 

 the plants before they begin to crowd, leaving 

 them ultimatelyabout six inches apart in the row. 



1,73«. Marianna Plum from Cuttings. How 

 to grow the above was told by me in Popui^r 

 Gardening some time since. On setting out my 

 cuttings of this variety I found no difference in 

 those set in the fall upright, or with the 

 tops down, except that those inverted had 

 grown too much, and the buds that were started 

 had a little sand in them, which is objectionable. 

 Hereafter they will be tied in bundles of fifty or 

 one hundred, set upright, and the tops about two 



Tomato Forcing Hmtse. 



inches under ground when leveled off. And if I 

 have the time to get the ground in order and set 

 them, they will be put in where they are to 

 grow in the fall. The cuttings need not be more 

 than five inches long, cut off sloping above the 

 bud, set in the ground upright, and press the 

 earth firmly around them. Then before the 

 ground commences to freeze cover over with 

 some litter to prevent their being heaved out. 

 Wood the size of a Rye straw put in in this way 

 will soon make splendid stocks for budding. 

 1 have touched upon this subject more particu- 

 larly because I am satisfied it is thecoming foun- 

 dation tor our Plums, Apricots and likely for 

 Peach, as it is a very strong grower. I have trees 

 of various Plums worked on it, and at the same 

 time same varieties on Peach stocks, and the ad- 

 vantage is greatly in favor of the Marianna. In 

 my orchard are several varieties that I bought as 

 root grafts, that were grown two years in the 

 nui-sery and then set out in the orchard. They 

 have now been four years there, and the suckers 

 are coming up all around them for ten feet from 

 the base of the trees. One tree of Golden Beauty 

 took root from the graft, and it also is sending 

 up suckers around the tree. This suckering may 

 be well enough in old times with a good variety 

 and on its own basis. But now, when grafting 

 and budding are understood by so many fruit 

 growers, the suckering becomes a nuisance. 1 

 nave Wild Goose trees that were budded on Peach 

 by myself, that have started on their own hook 

 and are sending out suckers all around. This 

 will answer a question for a subscriber who asks 

 how these young trees coming up under his Wild 

 Goose Plum trees when he knew that the original 

 stock was Peach, and the}' are not seedlings either 

 he says. I doubt whether we have a native stock 

 here that will not sucker, particularly if the 

 roots are wounded in the least, either by the 

 plow or hand implements. And now I am coming 

 to the main point. On my grounds are Marianna 

 trees, six and eight years old, and work done in 



ground that would induce them to sucker if they 

 ad a tendency to do so, but there is not a sight 

 of a sucker under any of them.— Samuel Miller, 

 Montgomery Co., Mo. 



1,865. Bemedy for Plant Lice. Prof. Jno. B. 

 Smith before the New Jersey State Horticultural 

 Society at last meeting, gave the following re- 

 cipe: "Hirsch's crystal potash lye, one pound 

 fish oil, three pints; soft water, three gallons. 

 Dissolve the lye in the water, and when brought 

 to a boil add the oU. It should boil about two 

 hours, and, when done, be filled up to make good 

 the loss by evaporation. When cold, it can be 

 cut into cakes. It is said to be effective at the 

 rate of one pound of the soap to eight gallons of 

 water and spreads well over the plants. I should 

 strongly recommend a trial of this mixture, 

 which has the endorsement of Mr. Atwood, the 

 Vice-Director of the Virginia Station. It has 

 been tested very extensively by him and found 

 very satisfactory. It is cheap— the suds costing 

 about twelve cents per one hundred gallons. 



1,867. Cleaning Waste Pipes. The cause of 

 the trouble usually is the grease contained In the 

 slops and dishwater. This being liquid while the 

 water is hot, solidifies on coming in contact with 

 the colder surroundings, and soon entirely clogs 

 up the drain. The proper remedy is application 

 of strong lye, which unites with the grease form- 

 ing soft soap, and this carries it away in the next 

 rush of liquid. The Sanitary Era gi\-es these 

 directions: Just before retiring at night pour 

 into the clogged pipe enough liquid soda lye to 

 fill the " trap " or bent part of the pipe. Be sure 

 that no water runs in it until the next morning. 

 During the night the lye will convert all the 

 offal into soft soap, and the first current of water 

 in the morning will wash it away and clear the 

 pipe clean as new. 



