1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



21 1 



done by means of a marker similar to a 

 Corn niarter. with teeth four feet apart. 

 Some of us plant somewhat wider, but I 

 prefer this distance, in order to have the 

 whole area well occupied. Xow comes the 

 compost, or a handful of good fertilizer into 

 e.Hch cross mark, and here we make a broad, 

 tlat hill iipon which 10 or IJ seeds of the 

 White Spine variety are dropped and lightly 

 covered with fine soil. The foot is used in 

 firming the soil. 



When the plants appear, the period of 

 danger and of close watching begins, for the 

 bugs are usually there, and manage to meet 

 the young plants half way. We have made 

 repeated ;applications of slug shot with ap- 

 parently beneficial results last year, and are 

 trying the same again this season. It does 

 not seem to hurt the plants in the least, as 

 many other applications, especially plaster, 

 lime and Paris green, appear to do. Keep- 

 ing the plants covered with bone dust has 

 also seemed to be a help in keeping the bugs 

 off, and we are using it again on part of our 

 plantation. Of course good cultivation is 

 given until the vines begin to mn. When 

 they begin to bear, the pickles must be picked 

 regularly, and always clean. On this de- 

 pends themea.sure of success; for if allowed 

 to grow to very large size forming seed, or 

 worse yet, to ripen on the vines, the latter 

 will soon give out and stop bearing. The 

 pickles as demanded by our buyers should 

 be from S^.C to 6 inches long, and the nearer 

 they are to the former size, the larger will 

 be the number produced, and consequently 

 the more money the crop will bring. This 

 is probably one of the most important points 

 about this business. Pick often, and try to 

 have all pickles uniformly small. The 

 market will usually prefer them thus; more 

 can be drawn to the load, and more money 

 brought back for them. 



Our crops are usually grown on contract, 

 buyers agreeing to pay 12 cents per 100, de- 

 livered in crates at our station. The point 

 of profit is always the most interesting. 

 When the crop is well managed, and on 

 fertile soil, it makes not a bad showing in 

 this respect. Of course, we are not quite so 

 fortunate as Mr. M. Milton, of Ohio, who, 

 according to his report in some paper 

 grew 43,(X)0 pickles on one-eighth acre, 

 selling them at s^.-iU per l,(M). and securing 

 a net profit of *ti9, or at the rate of ^5.5J per 

 acre. He had the advantage not only of 

 good garden land, but also of a demand for 

 pickles from one-half to three inches in 

 length, at more than double the price that 

 we realize for our larger ones. 



We consider a yield of 100,000 pickles per 

 acre a pretty good one, although now and 

 then we have raised 150,0(Xl, and under ex- 

 ceptionally favorable conditions and high 

 manuring still more. But on the other 

 hand, we do not make much account of our 

 expenses. We have the manure — made by 

 our own stock— and the family does the 

 picking and the other work connected with 

 it. The amount of *I20 received for a one 

 acre crop, or *;3H0 for our three acres, there- 

 fore is looked upon as clear gain, and cer- 

 tainly it helps us ont quite nicely in these 

 times of low prices for all our usual pro- 

 ducts. But it means considerable work for 

 most of the family members. 



One of our neighbors is not only a pickle 

 grower himself, but a pickle buyer as well; 

 and most of the pickles hereabouts are 

 grown for him under contract.' They are 

 laid down in brine, in large vats, each ot 

 which may hold -H) or 50 barrels, and in due 

 time sold to the grocery stores in Buffalo, 

 but I do not know at what prices. Another 

 neighbor disposes of his own crop in the 

 same way, and possibly it might pay us all 

 still better to adopt the same practice. 

 Altogether, however, this pickle industry 

 gives us better returns from our land than 



growing Tomatoes for the canneries at 

 less than $8.00 per ton. 



Oranges and Crape Fruit. 



K. 1'. roWKLI,. ONEIDA CO., N. Y. 



Tlie use of Florida fruits is so largely in- 

 creased as to no longer call for special at- 

 tention, but our northern consumers do not 

 yet begin to realize how vast an amount of 

 positively inferior fruit is consumed by them 

 under the general name of Oranges. There 

 really are almost as many varieties of 

 Oranges as there are of Pears or Apples, and 

 they differ as largely in quality, but apart 

 from three or four distinctions, such as Mes- 

 sinas, Floridas, Tangerines, etc, an Orange 

 with us is an Orange and nothing more. 

 During the past year I have imported di- 

 rectly from Orlando, boxes of Oranges which 

 were indeed a revelation to me. At a cost 

 of from ^2.ry0 to ^i.W), freight included, I 

 secured fruit fit for the Gods to eat. Our 

 northern home consumers, by clubbing 

 together and procuring 'half a dozen boxes 

 at a time, can thus obtain this most whole- 

 some and noble fruit in its best state, but 

 what I intended especially to speak of, is 

 the Grape fruit. In my judgment this is the 

 healthiest fruit that grows on the face of 

 the earth. It is a Citrus, averaging two or 

 three times the size of an ordinary Orange, 

 enormously juicy and of a mild acid, the 

 flavor of which grows upon one the more 

 they eat it. It way be said to be half way 

 between a first-class Orange and a flr.st-class 

 I^emon in fiavor, with a distinct and peculiar 

 aroma of its own. Cut in two crosswise 

 through the middle, and eaten with a tea- 

 spoon when rising before breakfast, it is not 

 only delicious, but exceedingly wholesome. 

 I recommend it to all lovers of good fruit, 

 and especially to those troubled with indi- 

 gestion. 



Fungicides and Spraying Pumps. 



Prof. B. F. Galloway, of the Department 

 ot Agriculture, in the .lournal of Mycology, 

 Vol. 0, No. 1, calls attention to several new 

 preventives and remedies for plant diseases. 

 and desires that they be more fully tested. 

 The first of these is a solution of copper 

 acetate or verdigris, prepared as follows: 



-Dissolve three pounds of powdered verdi- 

 gris in six to eight gallons of water, and 

 after standing for 34 hours, dilute to 22 gal- 

 lons. If desired, the amount of verdigris 

 may be increased to four pounds without 

 injury to the plants. This preparation be- 

 ing comparatively cheap and easily pre- 

 pared, it would be well to test it for downy 

 mildew and black rot of the Grape, making 

 the applications as described for Bordeaux 

 mixture and the other preparations. 



Anotherpreparation which might be tried 

 for dowTiy mildew is made as follows: 



Dissolve 5 pounds of alum in 3 or 4 gallons 

 of boiling water, and then pourthissolution 

 into a half barrel or tu I) containing sufficient 

 cold water to make 1.5 gallons. In another 

 vessel dissolve 4-2 pounds of calcium chloride 

 in 3 gallons ot cold water. Fioally, pour 

 the calcium chloride solution slowly into 

 the alum preparation, stirring constantly to 

 effect a thorough mixing. 



When the two solutions are mixed there 

 is formed aluminum chloride, potassium 

 sulphate, and calcium sulphate. It is 

 claimed that the fungicidal property lies in 

 the first, while the calcium sulphate facili- 

 tates its adhesiveness. The potassium sul- 

 phate is, as every one knows, a fertilizer, 

 and as it is washed from the leaves it en- 

 riches the soil. 



The news which Prof. Galloway tells us 

 in regard to thenew spraying pump, is most 

 gratifying. We ourselves have for a long 

 time been appealing to manufacturers for a 

 cheap, portable spraying apparatus, but in 

 vain. The drawback to the machines here- 



tofore existing, was their great cost. The 

 Section ot Mycology, as well as ourselves, 

 has felt this need of a cheap, serviceable and 

 effective apparatus for spraying Grapes and 

 all the low growing crops. France has for 

 some time been our chief reliance for these 

 machines. "The average fruit grower," 

 says Prof. (Jalloway, " cannot affort to send 

 to France tor a machine that will cost him, 

 laid down in this country, all the way from 

 *18 to *2."), nor can he pay *21 for a pump 

 made here, notwithstanding the fact that it 

 is a most excellent machine and costs almost 

 the selling price to manufacture it. In short, 

 a knapsack pump, be it ever so serviceable, 

 at ■*21 or even *18, is entirely beyond the 

 reach of the average farmer, gardener and 

 fruit grower. Consequently he has to rely 

 upon inferior machines, and as a result, his 

 treatments are frequently unsuccessful for 

 the simple reason that the remedies are not 

 properly applied. 



We have had the matter of providing a 

 cheap and serviceable knapsack pump under 

 consideration for some time, and can now 

 positively announce that the machine will 

 be on the market in a few weeks. The 

 pumps will be made in two or three styles, 

 and as there will be no patent on them, we 

 hope manufacturers throughout the country 

 will be able to offer them at about *12, thus 

 placing them within the reach of all." 



The Celery and Onion Combination. 



To occupy every available inch of space 

 with a useful crop during the entire season, 

 is a matter well worthy of every gardener's 

 earnest attention, for on this achievement 

 often hinges the question of success or fail- 

 ure. When one crop is gathered, another 

 should at once take its place. This is a 

 method, which not only makes the most of 

 the land, but also reduces to the very least 

 the dangers from insects and weeds. 



Often we can plant two crops at a time, 

 the one a quick maturing one, like Radishes, 

 early Potatoes, .String Beans, early Peas, 

 Lettuce, etc., to occupy the space which the 

 other, later, and wider planted one like 

 Celery, Cabl )age. Cucumber or Squash vines. 

 Melons, etc.,) does not yet need, and this 

 other to spread over the whole area after the 

 fir.st, or catch crop is gathered. 



A Massachusetts market gardener makes 

 a specialty of Onions and Celery in combi- 

 nation, and it is a very good one. We have 

 sometimes used a similar combination in 

 New Jersey. Where the Onion crop had 

 nearly come to maturity, early in August, 

 we pulled up every fifth row, letting the 

 bulbs dry to sell in the regular way, or use 

 at home, then spade up the ground in this 

 row a single spade's width, and set some 

 real good stocky Celery plants six inches 

 apart in these rows. As the land was well 

 matured in the spring for the Onion crop, 

 the Celery would do very well without other 

 additional fertilizer except a dressing of 

 some high-grade fertilizer, or wood ashes 

 strewn along the drill and worked into the 

 soil before setting the plants. 



Our Massachusetts friend's method slight- 

 ly varies from ours. When sowing his 

 Onion seed, he leaves every seventh row 

 blank, in which row he pricks in Celery 

 plants twelve inches apart. The Onions die 

 down from the 1st to the 10th of September, 

 which gives ample soil between the Celery 

 rows to bank it. He manures his land in 

 the fall by plowing in twenty-five cords of 

 strawy manure and plows two furrows to- 

 gether, thereby leaving his land in ridges 

 which enables the frost and weather to work 

 upon it, making the soil mellow and fine in 

 the sprmg. It also enables the water to be 

 drained off in the dead furrows. Much de- 

 pends upon the seed if a maximum crop is 

 desired. He sows in rows thirteen inches 

 ai)art at the rate of four pounds of seed per 



