1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



209 



niiiy Ik; expected to give very satisfactory re- 

 turns. The effect on Lettuce, Ciibliage, and 

 Caulittowers is noticeable also, but very much 

 lcss9trikinK. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



Adepurlmtnt to wliichalliln' inritetl lo semi nnle.i 

 of t-j*;(cn't'/u-i- and observation cotivt-niinfi topies that 

 renntlu liave licen treated on l?i this Journal. Hany 

 sueh eontrilnttions monthly are weleome. 



Pi'ss IN thkSthawberkv VATt'H. I am Very 

 much afraid the plan to use Kiinialkin as a 

 protector of the Strawberry patcli would be 11 

 failure. 1 iu\ er, as far as my observation goes, 

 saw a pus.sy jro so gaily (or the birtls as yours is 

 depietod to do. I ats, as a rule, crouch low down, 

 and try to hide themselves as much as possible, 

 and again cats are sleepy on a warm 

 day.andextremely miserable when the 

 weather is damp or cold. Their nature 

 also leads them to do their preying in 

 the early morning and at evening 

 time, and to chant their Psalms at 

 midnight. Starvation would not com- 

 (lel your cat to bestir herself in your 

 intcivst. Instead of a cat I would 

 recomnu-nd the employment of a small 

 terrier dog. These dogs have a strong 

 inclination to kill small birds, and if 

 they receive a little encouragement 

 will chase the birds all day for the 

 fun of the thing, and make any 

 amount of noise into the bargain, and 

 would require no tubs to take their 

 forty winks in for the good of their 

 digestion.— H. W. Smith. 



M.\KiNG THE Desert Bloom. From 

 your article we inter that you 

 are not in favor of Congress making 

 any appropriations for irrigation pur- 

 poses. We out in this "neck of the 

 "Arid Desert'" look at some things a 

 little different. Kansas is given up to 

 be one of the best states in the union, 

 especially the eastern part of the state. 

 Yet there was a time when a man was 

 considere<l foolhardy who would under- 

 take to make a home west of the Mis- 

 souri river. Since it was first demon- 

 strated that such a thing was possible, 

 the cry has been " westward," and 

 westward they have pushed until here 

 we are right in the heart of the Great 

 American Desert. The government 

 sent agents out here to exact S1.25 per 

 acre for every acre of this land— good 

 and bad, and this amounts to only a 

 little over three quarters of a million 

 dollars for this (Finney) county. Now 

 we find we must have water from 

 some source to make a success. At 

 first we thought that rainfall would 

 follow cultivation, but while there 

 seems to be a slight increase,there is de- 

 cidedly not enough to make it safe to 

 depend on. Why don't we go south ? First the 

 climate does not suit us; second, we paid the 

 government for our land, and got a title to the 

 same; third, since paying for our land we have 

 never had enough money to get ourselves and 

 families south: and fourth, we do not want to 

 leave our homes. We like our homes, our cUmate. 

 our families. Our doctor's bills are light, even 

 if our grocery bills are heavy. We like our 

 broad fertile fields, and feel satisfied that the 

 government will sooner or later take some of the 

 money heretofore spent on the levies m the 

 south, and come a little farther up near the head 

 waters and build reservoirs to catch and hold 

 the surplus water so we can have it to use. — A. 

 S. Parson, Finney County, Kan. 



A L.^VRGE BcBACH Stkawbebrt. Tout ar- 

 ticle in the June number might lead growei-s 

 who are as yet not acquainted with that variety, 

 to think that it does not often attain such a size. 

 Yet such is the case, at least with us. The 

 writer this season has picked dozens of just such 

 berries, some of them even larger, and all of 

 immense size, and these taken from the end of a 

 row left where we dug plants just to see what the 

 Bubach would do if not given the best treat- 

 ment. It is a No. 1 berry for all purposes, and 

 for market there seems as yet to be nothing to 

 compete with it. It is a most vigorous grower, 

 never rusts or blights, always a good bearer of 

 berries and seems to succeed everywhere. 

 Another berry I am pleased with is the " Viola." 

 Berries on plants set this spring were as large as 

 Bubach, and more regular in shape. " Michel's 

 Early" and "Gipsy" come up fully to the 



descriptions we have seen of them. They will 

 certainly come to the front where early berries 

 are wanted. Both are extra early, prodiu'tive, 

 of good size, firm and good shippers, and that is 

 what the Delaware gvowers wants. The crop 

 here this season has sold well owing to the short 

 supply, there not having l>een over one fourth of 

 a crop marketed.— t'/ia.s. Wriahl, Sussex Co., Del. 

 (iKAPES Under (!lass. The fruiting of eight 

 feet of cane during the third season would result, 

 I expect, in very seriously impairing the cane 

 during that sea.son (not the fifth as 1 was made to 

 say in May numlier), and the fruiting of the cane 

 I he entire length of the rafter the fourth sesuson,! 

 would expect to result in ruining the cane during 

 the same (fourth, not sixth! season. I also think 

 that the (irapes during those seasons (third and 



The Virginian Coii'siip. See "Notes from Pop. Gardenit>g Grounds." 



fourth) would be of an inferior quality should 

 the grower be (ortunute enough to bring them 

 to an eatable condition. This to correct possible 

 misapprehension of former article.- JJ. 3i. Dun- 

 ning, Cayuga Co., iV. T. 



Varieties Running Oct. I believe Mr. Hen- 

 derson was right that varieties do not run out. 

 A few years ago we failed to get good Spitzen- 

 berg Apples, and people said it were useless to tryi 

 and so they cut down their trees and planted no 

 more. It was so with the Virgalieu or White 

 Doyenne Pear. But I kept on planting and now 

 the Spitzenberg is all right again, if you will give 

 it what it needs, high culture and protection 

 against insects. It is simply a high-blooded fruit 

 and subject to atmospheric, soil, and other influ- 

 ences. The White Doyenne is also in good con- 

 dition and so noble a Pear that those may be 

 congratulated who did not lose faith in it. All 

 our finer fruits go through periods that are un- 

 favorable to their development in perfection. 

 Yes, Mr. Henderson is right, " there is no such 

 thing as permanent degeneration in the veget- 

 able kingdom," provided regenerative conditions 

 can be afforded in time.— B. P. P. 



Pear Blight. Twenty-five years ago I had two 

 Pear orchards, and accidently discovered that I 

 could almost wholly prevent blight by growing 

 the trees slowly, keeping them well mulched and 



: having the limbs branch out low. In other 



\ words, I must secure slow growth, tough wood, 

 and by mulch avoid sharp changes of atmosphere 



' from speedily and greatly affecting the circula- 

 tion of sap. Heading low shades the ground 



i and aids in equalizing temperature. Conditions 



afforded and you can have blight at any time ; 

 conditions prevented and blight germs can get 

 no chance to develop. The secret is to secure 

 good well-ripened wood; to cut out and keep 

 out feeble useless shoots ; to always have the 

 trees nuilched and not to over-stimulate growth. 

 I grow in sod and have my trees forked about. 

 Still S(»me kuids likeSeckcl, require more manu- 

 ring or feeding than other sorts. It may also be 

 addetl that all Pears, or nearly all, are in better 

 condition when grown quite open to the sun ; 

 and it the soil be not well-drained it would l>e as 

 well to cut the trees down as wait for the blight 

 to destroy them.— E. P. P. 



OtiTFiT FOR Peddling Plants. In your re- 

 marks in last issue accompanying the illustra- 

 tion of ray acquaintance's device, for carry- 

 ing pot plants on the wagon, you have 

 omitted some points, and a further de- 

 scription of the method employed 

 may yet be of value to many readers 

 at this time; for taking the country 

 through, millions of greenhouse plants 

 are sold from wagons, either by the 

 producer or at second hand. The 

 general practice is to pack the pots 

 closely in oyster cases or similar boxes, 

 stuffing in sphagnum or wads of paper 

 around the pots to keep them in place. 

 This does well enough until two or 

 three plants are taken out, and then 

 the pots begin to jostle and tip over, 

 so it is necessary to repack after every 

 sale, which consumes a large amount 

 of time. The rack in question for 

 carrying plants does away with boxes 

 and the litter and annoyance of pack- 

 ing. The slats bolted on the irons are 

 placed far enough apart so that when 

 the sides are hollowed out in places, a 

 H<jwer pot will set down in the spaces, 

 the distance apart being graduated by 

 the size of the plants it is desired to 

 carry, some being fitted for 5-inch and 

 some for smaller pots. A pair of slats 

 are also bolted to the lower extension 

 on either side, which ride between the 

 box and wheels. The iron supports 

 are bolted to the slats so they just rest 

 on the box, the forward one being 

 wired to the lazy-back of the seat. 

 The slats project somewhat in the rear 

 giving additional room. In addition 

 to this rack a tray three feet long 

 twenty inches wide and four inches 

 deep is made with a bottom of similar 

 slats, and this turned bottom up, is 

 made to rest on the seat and dash board 

 beside the driver. In this way the 

 whole bed of the wagon is at liberty to 

 use for carrying flats of Cabbages and 

 Tomatoes, dormant Grape roots or 

 shrubbery, bulbs, fancy Potatoes or 

 anything else. This man carries 

 Fuchsias wrapped in paper and lying on 

 the side in boxes. Carried thus they do not whip 

 in the wind or injure from exposure, and a single 

 sample plant is all that is necessary to expose at 

 a time.— 1>. B. Pierce, Summit Co., O. 



Newtown Pippin Apple. I have the same 

 high opinion of this Apple that is held by Judge 

 Miller, and am tempted to call it, with Mr. H, 

 Hendricks, the "King of all Apples." Its only 

 faults are that it is a slow grower at first, and 

 that it does not bear when very young. . Mr. 

 Hendricks tells of orchards along the Hudson, 

 where it never fails to produce splendid biennial 

 crops. They receive no special culture and stand 

 in sod, but have borne the crop regularly for 

 nearly 20 years, and they net the owner a much 

 larger sum per tree than any other variety he 

 has. Where ordinary kinds bring one dollar per 

 barrel, as now, he gets three dollars for his New- 

 towns ; and this has been his average price for 

 years. His orchard is on an eastern clay slope 

 near the river. Others like it can be named. 

 Were I to plant an orchard, he says, the Newtown 

 would have a large place in it, and not merely as 

 a matter of sentiment either, but as a financial 

 investment. Some time sine*, passing the store 

 of an Italian fruit vendor, I saw, among a large 

 collection of other Apples, a barrel of the largest 

 and finest Newtowns I ever beheld. I cautiously 

 asked the price, expecting it would be three or 

 four dollars. " gl.bO," was the answer, while 

 handsome "Kings" and other Apples standing 

 near were three and four dollars. Of course I had 

 the Newtowns sent to my house very promptly. 

 It was evident that neither the seller nor the 

 grower knew what the Apple was.— PotH^hfceepsi'e. 



