1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



231 



fuls of Pine tar into the kerosene until part ot it 

 dissolved. Little pieces of old woolen rag carpet 

 were dipped into the kerosene and laid on the 

 ground among the plants, but not to touch them. 

 The balance of the tar that did not dissolve I put 

 in little bits on small flat stones placing them at 

 the corners and middle of the patch. This drove 

 and kept the beetles away. When the plants 

 need boeing pick up the rags, and put them into 

 a fresh mi.vture of tar and kerosene, then weed 

 and hoe the patch clean and place the rags back 

 again. Three applications this last seasos proved 

 sufficient.— 3ii.<.<i M. McLean, Pa. 



Le Co.nte Pear Again. It is for this region 

 that I advise planters to avoid it. Six years ago 

 I set eleven trees (budded on French Pear stock) 

 and purchased at §10 (lO the dozen. At flrst they 

 grew beautifully and strong so that I had already 

 counted on the nice Pears that would be gathered 

 from them. I also set grafts of them on Garber 

 and Bartlett trees so as to get fruit soon. The 

 grafts bore fruit, but with the most skillful 

 management I could not get them to be good. 

 They would soften at the core while hard and 

 immature outside. Then blight set in, and one 

 graft after another withered, and had to be cut 

 off. I also blame it for causing a blighted limb 

 on my pet Garber tree, the only instance of the 

 kind on this variety. Of the eleven trees 

 grafted afterwards with Idaho, four have gone 

 down, and some of the others are going. The 

 knife is used as fast as blight makes its appear- 

 ance, and it is possible that thej' will all go. 

 This is doubly discouraging, as the trees as well 

 as the grafts that were valuable at the time set, 

 are all as good as lost. It was well that I grafted 

 Idaho on other trees which are now fresh and 

 sound so that we may soon see the fruit. I dare 

 not even set buds or grafts from these LeConte 

 trees as there may be blood poisoning in them. 

 While the trunk and limbs of the LeConte got 

 black and dying, the Idaho grafts on top kept 

 fresh and green until the sap was dried out of 

 the tree. The claim that when grown on their 

 own roots they wiil not blight, will not do, for a 

 friend of mind planted a lot of such from head- 



JESSIE. 



quarters, that have blighted the worst kind. 

 Out of about twenty, I don't think one remains 

 now. I was in hopes that it would be a good 

 stock to work other varieties on, and suggested 

 to some men in the .south to grow it extensively 

 from cuttings as they can do it down there, but 

 now I would not recommend it even for that 

 purpose. Here I have failed to grow it from 

 cuttings although I tried it repeatedly. Even in 

 the south it may be planted too extensively for 

 shipping north, as I have from a commission 

 house in St. Louis a report that they get soft 

 inside at times before ripe, and are then worth- 

 less. What the nurserymen will do with the 

 thousands of LeConte Pear trees on hand, is 

 none of my business, but I would not take them 

 to plant if offered to me free. The time may 

 not be far when some men will thank me for 

 this timely caution. If the tree did not blight, it 

 would be worth growing for its beauty, even if it 

 did not bear fruit at all. The Garber Pear is an 

 established affair, and is in my opinion among 

 the most valuable for general purposes. The 

 Idaho, I think, is the coming Pear, if it succeeds 

 in a wide range. It is of large size, tieautiful in 

 appearance while the quality is of the highest 

 order. Scarcely any core orseeds.— ^. JiiUer. 



Birds Injuring Grapes, 



Birds sometimes injure Grapes quite 

 seriously. There can be no (ioitbt about it; 

 and in their defense we have always claimed 

 that they are entitled to a great deal of in- 

 dulgence on account of the good they do in 

 destroying noxious insects. Bnt the ques- 

 tion is by no means settled in how far the 

 various species of birds are responsible for 

 damage done to Grapes. 



Prof. Lantz of the Kansas Experiment 

 Station has recently made efforts to get at 

 the truth of this matter. Having always 

 been a most ardent advocate of bird protec- 

 tion, he says, "I have been especially anxious 

 to discover whether this injury to the Grapes 



LOWER. 



can be traced to any particular species o 

 birds, or whether many species puncttire 

 them. I have sought this information from 

 many Grape growers, but the testimony re- 

 ceived has been of such a contradictory 

 character, mingled with so much of conjec- 

 ture by the observers, that it has been en- 

 tirely insutficient to establish the guilt of a 

 single species of birds. When I have asked 

 whether the persons actually saw a bird 

 puncture the Grapes, they have usually ad- 

 mitted that the blame was attached to the 

 species because it was seen in the vineyard, 

 but that they themselves did not see the 

 damage inflicted. 



" Some are positive that the oriole does the 

 mischief: others think that it is the English 

 sparrow: and thtis through the list of our 

 most common birds; while not a few insist 

 that the injury is due to the stinging of bees 

 and wasps, and not to the birds at all. These 

 last would not be very trustworthy observers 

 to establish the identity of the real marauder. 



"There can be no possible question but that 

 the injury is done by birds. It may be done 

 by many, a few, or even by a single kind of 

 birds. If but one or two species are re- 

 sponsible for the damage, it would be of ad- 

 vantage to know it; especially if, as some 

 suspect, the English sparrow is the principal 

 thief. There is some color to the claim that 

 this species is mainly responsible for the 

 damage, from the fact that the injurj' is 

 greatest near oiu- cities and villages. My 

 own observations seem to show that the 

 injtiry is mostly done very early in the morn- 

 ing. The birds puncture the Grapes to 

 obtain the cool juices lying under the skin, 

 and they are excellent judges of the flavor 

 of the different varieties and of the ripeness 

 of any kind. It is my purpose to gather 



MONMOUTH. 



