212 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



acre, with a seed sower, after preparing the 

 land by smoothing the surface with hand 

 rakes. 



Celery plants are grown by sowing seed 

 very thickly under glass with a gentle heat 

 the first of April. As soon as the plants ap- 

 pear above ground, a frecjuent watering is 

 required to keep the sun from burning them. 

 Give them plenty of air and grow them slow 

 so that by the last week in May to the first 

 week in July, they will be of size to trans- 

 plant into blank rows among the Onions. 



The quantity of crop of Onions grown as 

 above, would be from six to seven hundred 

 bushels, and they should be stored in small 

 bulk m cellars for winter use. 



A Single-Post Grape Trellis. 



E. S. GOFF, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



Some have advocated the method of train- 

 ing the vine to a single post on account of 

 its cheapness. The plan is open to the ob- 

 jection that the canes when tied closely 

 about a single post have not sufficient room 

 in which to expose their foliage to the light, 

 and to develop their bunches. The method 

 shown in the accompanying drawing is in- 

 tended to obviate this objection at a slight 

 increase in cost. 



Strips of board three inches wide and four 

 feet long are nailed to the post in opposite 

 directions, and to stifl'en these and protect 

 the ends of the protruding arms, slender 

 vertical strips three-fourth by one inch are 

 added as shown. 



In training the vines for this trellis, a 

 single cane is grown the first season which 

 is cut back pretty low in autumn. The 

 second year two canes are trained up, each 

 of which is cut back in the fall to two buds. 

 The third year, four canes are grown, and if 

 the vine has done well these are allowed to 

 bear two bunches each. 



In the autumn of the third year these 

 canes are cut back to, not to exceed, two 

 feet in length, and serve as bed canes for the 

 next year. At the close of this season these 

 are cut back to the cane nearest the fork of 

 the trunk, which cut off at two feet long 

 serves as the bed cane for the next year. 

 The length of the bed canes is of course 

 regulated by the strength of the vine, but 

 it does not exceed two feet. The growth of 

 spurs near the forks of the trunk is en- 

 couraged to develop future bud canes. 



If the vines are planted eight feet apart 

 both ways, and the arms of the trellis ex- 



ft. 



of the vine. The method has the advantage 

 of favoring a free circulation of air through 

 the vineyard in all directions. 



Damming Ravines and Furrowing 

 Fields for Soil Saving. 



JUDGE 8. MILLER, MONTGOMERY CO., MO. 



One metereological problem puzzles me 

 more than any other, and that is why the 



Sinyle Post TrcUix in Orapery. 

 tended diagonally, as shown in the second 

 drawing, there will be a space five feet wide 

 for cultivation extending in both directions. 

 Each vine, though it has eight feet of 

 trellis of which both sides are exposed to 

 the light, occupies a space only three feet 

 square, and this area can be mostly reached 

 with the smoothing harrow, as it is only 

 obstructed by the single post and the trunk 



Single Post Orape Trellis. 

 rains that fall, and without which vegeta- 

 tion could not exist, must come down in 

 torrents, causing floods and washouts, carry- 

 ing away good soil into the streams where 

 lost, instead of falling gently so as to all go 

 into the ground and then come out in 

 springs? But so it is, and in the eyes of the 

 great Creator seems good. That the lands 

 denuded of the primeval forests, and in cul- 

 tivation are more subject to this, we all 

 know; but even the forests, where hilly, are 

 by no means exempt from it. 



Here in this hilly country, where nearly 

 all the forests yet remain, there are gullies 

 washed out, and the leaves, logs and small 

 branches of trees that fall to the ground, 

 come tearing down the ravines at a fearful 

 rate. On the 12th of May we had a terrible 

 hail storm and a rain that flooded every- 

 thing. A new Strawberry patch planted 

 a few weeks before had gutters washed 

 out that a man could lie down in and be 

 almost hidden. My garden, which is 

 nearly level, was like a lake, and all the 

 work and planting must be done over. 



My intention was to make a ditch across 

 the upper part of the garden, and also 

 on the upper side of the new Strawberry 

 patch. The latter was attended to by a 

 drain from each end with a pond dug in 

 the middle. It was not done two days too 

 soon, as another rain came down as if the 

 flood gates of Heaven were opened, and 

 but for my drain and pond all the work 

 of filling up the gutters would have 

 again been undone. 



This pond above my new Strawberry bed 

 will furnish water to use on the plants if it 

 gets dry. Hut there is a bigger job on hand. 

 It is the draining of the ravines in the hills, 

 and digging wells so as to hold back the 

 suriilus of water. Two years ago my sous 

 undertook to make a dam a few hundred 

 yards above my house where the ravine is, 

 about 50 feet wide and si.\ feet high. They 

 thought they understood what they were 

 about, and would not take advise, but the 

 first heavy rain showed them their error. 



There is only one way to stay these floods, 

 and that is to make the dam strong enough. 

 Where the timber is plenty like here, it is 

 a simple matter. The first thing is to get 

 down to a solid clay in the bottom of the 

 ravine; then dig a sloping cut on each side 

 of the bank at an angle of about 7(1°, dig it 

 mto the bank two feet. Now cut timbers; 

 they should be 8 to 13 inches in diameter; 

 let them fit from bank to bank and lay as 

 close as the straight run of the timber will 

 permit. The cuts in the bank must lean 

 down stream so as to give the fall of the 

 waters, which should be some feet from the 

 base, or it will wash out the bottom. 



When the proper height has been attained, 

 pack the clay tight around the ends of the 

 timbers, and set a triangle of heavy timbers 

 to support the middle. Next split timber 

 about the size of those used for cross pieces 

 into quarters, and put one in the angles of 

 the logs; nail or spike fast. After this is done 

 let all the good soil be thrown up to the 

 height of the breast, and use it on some 

 other place; it will pay. Dig into the clay 

 bank and transfer some to stamp in the 

 cracks between the logs. The thickness of 

 breast of the dam .should be at least as much 

 in feet as the dam is high, and should be at 

 the upper side at an angle of about 30°. 

 This should be trodden down with horses 

 passing back and forward, so as to pack 

 tight. If the latter part of the banking is 

 made by the clay out of a well dug in the 

 middle it will be all the better, as the well 

 will hold a quantity if made six feet in 

 diameter and eight or ten feet deep, which 

 can be thrown out by hand and shovel, and 

 not need a windlass. 



I have seen water in such a well, and the 

 ground at the base of the dam, and every- 

 thing growing where all else around was 

 parched to death. How much of this I will 

 get done this season is hard to tell, but at 

 least some. One operation has already been 

 done that saves us an acre of our best land 

 from overflow, costing about five dollars. 



How many of our readers will try this 

 and give us their experiences? Where a 

 ravine is fifty feet across at the highest 

 part, and the timbers close by, it can be 

 dammed for ten or fifteen dollars. In the 

 fields which are subject to washing, a fur- 

 row or furrows leading into ponds easily 

 dug, will save much good soil, from being 

 lost forever. 



When the ponds get full of soil, the water 

 can be drawn off, and the good soil hauled 

 out on .some poor place. Here it has just 

 come to this: that something of the kind 

 must be done, or we must abandon growing 

 anything but grass on our hills. These 

 ponds, dams and wells will furnish moisture 

 in the air and considerably aid the life of 

 plants during some of the protracted 

 droughts so common in some parts of the 

 west. On the breast of these dams Willow 

 trees can be planted, which will in a few 

 years make them proof against leakage. 



Western New/ York Fruit Growers. 



ilieport 11/ meeting of the Western New York Hurttcul 

 tural Sueiety, eontlnued from page 143.) 



The Newer Strawberries. The horti- 

 culturist of the New York Experiment 

 Station, in relating last season's experience 

 with 80 varieties on the station grounds, 

 mentions that the matted rows have given 

 not only a larger yield but also larger berries 

 than rows kept on the stool plan. 



Among the various varieties the following 

 are favorably mentioned : Bubach, vigor- 

 ous and productive ; Crawford, the very 

 latest, of flrst-class quality, and an acquisi- 

 tion; Daisy may take the place of Crescent 

 in many sections ; Hoffman, a good shipper 

 and keeper ; Ivanhoe, promising ; Lida, 

 stocky .and an enormous oearer; Middlerteld 

 one of the good new ones. For market 



