232 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August," j 



some data on the subject of the injury to 

 small fruits by birds. I doubt, however, 

 whether such investigations will change 

 my present opinion as to the usefulness of a 

 single species of birds. 



Vegetables Almost Unknown in 

 American Home Gardens. 



There are a number of vegetables very 

 popular in Europe, and there found In 

 almost every garden, yet of which the 

 average American home-gardener knows 

 nothing, perhaps not even the name. Among 

 them we have the Globe Artichoke, C'ar- 

 doon, Fetticus, Celeriac, Chicoi-y, Sea Kale, 

 Endive, not to .speak of the many aromatic 

 herbs, like Borage, Coriander, Anise, Dill, 

 and many others. Globe Artichokes are 

 started from seed in early spring and 

 thinned sufficiently to allow room for full 

 development. The spring following the 

 plants are set in the permanent bed, three 

 feet apart each way. They will yield but 

 little the first season. The plantation with 

 proper treatment lasts a number of years, 

 although it would be better to renew it fre- 

 quently. A covering of coarse litter should 

 be given for the winter, as the plants are 

 not entirely hardy. The flower heads are 

 the edible part. They begin to be produced 

 in June, and should be gathered before 

 they open. 



Cardoon is easily grown from seed. Sow 

 thinly in rows three feet apart, and thin to 

 18 inches apart between the plants. With 

 ordinary cultivation, writes a Jerseyman to 

 Garden and Forest, the leaves can be tied 

 up by the latter part of August, to promote 

 a perpendicular growth, and then they 

 should be earthed like Celery. The plants 

 can be preserved for winter by trenching as 

 for Celery, and they make fine flavoring for 

 soups and salads. 



Endive is extensively grown by German 

 cultivators, but is rarely seen in the garden 

 of amateurs. The seeds may be sown any 

 time before July l.'Jth, and the plants should 

 be transplanted into beds about one foot 

 apart each way. The simplest way of bleach- 

 ing them is to set boards along the rows 

 when they are about half grown. The curled 

 varieties make ornamental garnishing for 

 various dishes, and the broad-leaved variety 

 is highly esteemed as a salad. 



Celeriac is started from seed, and as soon 

 as of sufficient size, the plants should be set 

 in rows eighteen inches apart, with six 

 inches between the plants. They require 

 slight earthing up, and by November will 

 have formed bulbs like a small Turnip, 

 which is the edible part of the plant. About 

 this time they should be dug up, and placed 

 entire in shallow trenches, with but a small 

 portion of the top appearing above the sur- 

 face, and over this straw may be laid as cold 

 weather sets in. The sliced roots make an 

 admirable salad, and when grated dry, are 

 useful for flavoring the finest soups. 



Plants of Terragon should be secured and 

 set in a .sheltered situation. The young 

 leaves are not only useful for flavoring in 

 cooking, but when placed in vinegar they 

 make a palatable and appetizing condiment. 



The blue flowers of Borage are not only 

 ornamental, but they are much sought by 

 bees ifor the abundant nectar they yield, 

 while the aromatic leaves are particularly 

 valuable as flavoring for salads, cooling 

 drinks and light wines. The seeds may be 

 sown in spring, and transplanted into rows 

 eighteen inches apart and twelve inches 

 apart in the row. 



Field Notes of a Horticulturist. 



L. B, riERCK, SUMMIT CO., O. 



The fruit grower, like the farmer, is 

 largely indebted to the season for his suc- 

 cess or failure. I am forcibly reminded of 

 this by the ease with which I have been en- 



abled to get a perfect stand of Strawberries 

 on a block just planted. 



The ground was plowed when it crumbled 

 nicely and in the only interval in this very 

 wet spring when it could have been done. 

 It was borrowed very fine, and then planed 

 down with a home-made contrivance that 

 answers admirably. 



This consists of three logs six inches in 

 diameter and seven feet in length, strung 

 upon two % iron rods 41 inches long and 

 held apart by wooden dowels. The rods 

 are one foot from either end, and having 

 hooks in the front end are connected with a 

 log chain and the double tree is hitched to 

 this so the machine drags at an angle of 

 about 30 or 40 degrees. Nuts at the back 

 end of the rods make all snug. 



The ground being Corn stubble, had many 

 places held up loose by the Corn roots, and 

 going over it with this simple contrivance 

 not only levels the surface, put compacts 

 the soil and makes it of uniform solidity. 



We planted with a line containing 13 tags 

 to the rod and with a brick-mason's trowel. 

 The young man assisting would take a bas- 

 ket of plants, drop the length of the line 

 and plant back until he met me when we 

 would shift the line and commenced anew. 

 We averaged a row of 2(X) plants in 10 min- 

 utes and including little hindrances could 

 easily put in over .500 per hour. 



I read frequently about planting with a 

 spade, but never took kindly to it as the 

 most important part of the work that of 



Pierce's Clod Ciiisher and Plainer. 



properly placing the plants, falls to the lot 

 of a small boy who oftener than otherwise 

 gets it either too deep or too shallow. 



In the present case the warm open winter 

 had produced a considerable growth of 

 tufts of grass, and many magnificent Docks, 

 and where the sods or Docks came in the 

 way we dug them out, and replaced with 

 clean soil. This took a little lime but pre- 

 vious experience had learned me that it 

 paid in the after-hoeing. We were particu- 

 lar to set the line exact and plant close to it 

 so that we can run a little one horse harrow 

 close to the plants and kill all the newly 

 sprouted weed except a line three or four 

 inches wide. 



Just as we got the ground in shape it 

 commenced to rain and rained every night 

 and occasionally in the day time. This 

 would have made a serious state of affairs 

 had the land been clay, but being a rich 

 sandy loam in fine condition, it was not 

 sticky and permitted planting vei-y soon 

 after a shower. 



We watched the weather closely and when 

 a shower was apparent we fell to and dug 

 a lot of plants, shook them out and put un- 

 der shelter to be trimmed when it rained. 



Several mornings I got up at daylight 

 and dug several hundred plants before 

 breakfast, throwing them into piles* of 100 

 each to be afterwards gathered up and car- 

 ried to the green house, where we trimmed 

 them in a pleasant atmosphere, and out of 

 the cold raw wind or frosty air. The result 

 of our rainy day planting is: that of many 



thousand scarcely one wilted, and all are 

 growing as if they have never been moved. 



Now these notes are to impress upon be- 

 ginners three things in Strawberry culture, 

 1.— the importance of fitting the ground 

 early and thoroughly y 2.— the value of a 

 complete stand of plants with no vacancies; 

 and above all, 3.— the proper trimming of 

 a plant for setting. Conversing with a friend 

 recently he remarked, " I don't spend much 

 time pulling off runners or dead leaves. I 

 just plant them out just as they are dug." 

 How many can you plant in an hour where 

 you to take them from a basket into which 

 they were thrown, I asked? " Oh! about 7.5 

 or 80 I guess," he replied. Exactly! and I 

 can plant 300 in an hour without help, and 

 the difference is that I have the plant prop- 

 erly trimmed. Some leaves curl down- 

 wards and some are dead; these I remove 

 so that I get by a glance a clean view of the 

 plant, and know just how deep to set it. 

 The dead runners does not interfere with 

 planting but it is strong and rots slowly, 

 and the chances are that if left on you will 

 catch hold of it in weeding or hoeing and 

 pull out the plant after it is nicely started 

 thus putting it back or killing it outright. 

 As the plants are trimmed I keep them in 

 my left hand until I get a fist full when 

 they are carefully placed in the end of a 

 basket or box, lying close together as snug 

 and handy as a box of tooth-picks. 



This season I got on to a new tool for dig- 

 ging Strawberry plants. I had a specimen 

 bed planted in April 1S89 with a view to 

 keeping in hills, the plants being set one 

 foot by two. Toward the close of August it 

 became apparent that my other plantations 

 would not furnish enough plants for this 

 spring, so it was allowed to run. This 

 spring it was a puzzle how to dig out a foot 

 wide of plants between each two rows with- 

 out trampling the others and seriously in- 

 juring their roots. I had a Potato hook 

 with four tines % of an inch wide and % 

 of an inch apart and I tried this and I shall 

 never use any thing else. Instead of stand- 

 ing on the plants as is necessary with a fork, 

 I can walk on the dug ground, dig up a 

 cluster of plants and draw them too me to 

 be shaken out with scarcely any injury to 

 the remaining plants or to the ones that 

 were removed. 



What to Do Witli the English 

 Sparrow. 



The English sparrow has very few friends 

 among fruit growers and farmers, especially 

 near large cities, where he finds congenial 

 shelter and multiplies very rapidly. We 

 are aware of all the objections that can be 

 urged against him as a city guest, the be- 

 fouling of buildings, the disagreeable noise, 

 the destruction'to fruit and garden crops, 

 etc.; still in our rural home, where we re- 

 ceive thealmostdaily visits of flocks of these 

 birds, and where we know them to have 

 permanent breeding and feeding grounds, 

 we can notice but little actual damage done 

 by them. At times, in periods of a week or 

 two, both in summer and winter, they help 

 them.selves to some of the feed thrown out 

 to poultry, or hop around in the back yard 

 after crumbs of bread, etc. At other times 

 they seem to find all they want elsewhere. 

 They ilo not seem to come after their Wheat 

 ration when May beetles and seventeen-year 

 locusts abound. They are quite fond of 

 these insects. On the whole, we are also in- 

 clined to think that the sparrow has to serve 

 as scape-goat for many sins committed by 

 other birds. 



However this may be, popular sentiment 

 is decidedly against the English sparrow. 

 Seven states have enacted laws for its sup- 

 pression. Four of the^e states simply except 

 it from the protection aftorded other birds. 

 New York makes it a misdemeanor to bar- 



