252 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



Rubrorum, splendid deep scarlet, the petals ar- 

 ranged somewhat loosely, one foot biith; La 

 landeur, fine white : Murillo. white shaded with 

 rose, magnificent large flowers .Count Leicester, 

 orange and yellow, feathered. 



A Mistake. The drought reveals a mistake 

 made in laying out one feature of our grounds. 

 Along next to a heavy fringe of young second 

 growth Oak. Chestnut, Maple and other trees and 

 shrubs that skirts one side of the grounds next to 

 the creek, the broad shrub borders were ar- 

 ranged to extend back U> the fringe mentioned. 

 It is now very plain that with having kept the 

 soil of the shrub bed worked and somewhat 

 manured, it has tempted the roots of the tree, 

 over to suck up the food and moisture with 

 jrreat apparent satisfaction to themselves, but 

 detrimentally to the shrubs. The remedy is 

 plain : namely to take up the back part of the 

 border, devoting it to grass, or else have the 

 space occupied with the ranker growing shrubs, 

 letting them flght for their rights as they can. 

 But it is evident that the choicer shrubs and 

 plants must be moved further away from the 

 near-by older occupants. Oearly it is not fair 

 treatment for any choice plants to have the roots 

 of rank-growing trees or other shrubs reach in 

 and rob them of sustenance. In such case with 

 the surface of the bed kept tilled the intruding 

 roots come quite near the surface. 



The ctrBRA>TS. Our plant*, now the second 

 year from setting, bore quite a respectable crop. 

 We must consider this one of the most easily 

 grown, most reliable, and perhaps most remu- 

 nerative of ordinary fruit crops. We also think 

 highly of it as material for canning, and especi- 

 ally for the table during winter when a little 

 sharp fruit acid comes so acceptable and grati- 

 fying. As to varieties, it will take an expert, and 

 one with more than average powers of observa- 

 tion, to easily distinguish between many of those 

 of the same color. Red Champion. Prince Albert, 

 Versailles, Red Dutch, etc.. are so near alike in 

 their leading characteristics, that we are not at 

 all sure of our infallibility when attempting to 

 tell the variety name of any one plant without 

 seeing the label. The same is true also of the 

 Cherry and of Fay's Currants, and of the White 

 Champion, White Dutch and White Grape. The 

 following, however, is an abstract of notes made 

 during visits to the patch. 



Of red sorts, Red Defiance bore plenty or fruit; 

 of good size in bunch and berry. 



Prince Albert had but little fruit. Versailles 

 bore well. Red Dutch gave large long clusters, 

 but only few in number. Fay excels in size of 

 clusters and berry, is reasonably prolific and 

 somewhat acid. Cherry seems a trifle smaller in 

 both bunch and berry, and less prolific than 

 Fay. The chief difference between the two- 

 however, is in the length of the stems of fruit 

 clusters. They are remarkably long in the Fay. 

 Among the white varieties we have the White 

 Champion, well loaded with fruit. White Dutch 

 bore much less fruit. The old White Grape, 

 however, appeared to outyield all by far, as the 

 bushes were completely covered with fruit. Sun 

 scald affected all varieties about equally. 



Red-Flowered Dogwood This hardy shrub 

 of recent introduction appears to be one of the 

 most promising subjects of the large collection 

 recently planted on o*ir grounds. Indeed to the 

 extent we can judge now near the end of the 

 second season from planting, it is destined to 

 take front rank among all shrubs suitable for 

 lawn or cemetery adornment. On our bush 

 flowers appeared in profusion during the past 

 spring, one season after setting out. The com- 

 mon white type, Cormis Florida, planted at same 

 time under similar conditions showed no bloom. 

 The flowers, or rather petal-like involucres.which 

 surround the flowers are in this variety as large 

 as in the common one and of a deep rosy red 

 hue, and possess a degree of attractiveness that 

 is wholly witljput equal among hardy shrubs of 

 the season. The Red-flowering bush is of free 

 growth, in this respect excelling the common 

 species on our own grounds, for we note that 

 while the former shows scores of this year's 

 shoots from 12 to 15 inches long, those on trees of 

 the latter do not average one half this size. The 

 form of growth is decidedly shrubby, our plaat 

 being now three feet high and the same measure 

 across and dense' throughout. Altogether we 

 must look upon this shrub as well worthy of 

 trial by readers who are desirous of increasing 

 their collections of the choicer new shrubs. It 

 may be ordered at the leading nurseries, going 

 by the name Red-flowering Dogwood {Cornui< 

 Florida ftore ruirro). 



Seasonable Notes on Small Fruits. 



E. P. POWELL. ONEroA CO., X. T. 



The Strawberry Season. Berry culture 

 has come to such proportions that no other 

 f niit industry is of more importance . I have 

 made the following notes during ISHO: The 

 season on Strawberries has been strictly 

 abnormal. No one could possibly judge of a 

 variety by its behavior this year. Therefore 

 specific reports must not count for much. 

 Haverland and Cumberland, both of which 

 I know to be of the very finest, have not 

 done verj- well. One or two other sorts have 

 surpassed the best standard varieties, but 

 are not for all that to be reckoned reliable 

 and foremost. On the whole, so far as a 

 comparison of the past three years goes.I 

 still hold to Sharpless and Cumberland, and 

 Bubach and Haverland as extra fine and 

 most reliable. I should like to see a race of 

 berries raised from Summit. This is a very 

 curious berry, as slow to ripen as a Peach. 

 It is solid, heavy, large, handsome, excel- 

 lent. It is very late, and very slow to ripen 

 after beginning to color. It is truly unique. 

 How it will be for market I cannot judge. 

 But it is a new style of berry. 



Bush Hoxetsuckle Hedge. I wish to 

 commend the planting of Bush or Tartarian 

 Honeysuckles around berry lots. The robins 

 take the berries in preference to Raspber- 

 ries, and so greatly relieve the burden of 

 their pickings. It makes a robust hedge, 

 profuse in flower and in fruit. It propagates 

 with great ease, and grows into full size in 

 two or three years. It forms a hedge that 

 no one can easily make hideous, as they can 

 Thorns and Evergreens. You can raise from 

 seed if you prefer. 



Raspberry Growing. This has been a 

 capital year for Raspberries where they have 

 been grown rightly: but in other cases the 

 crop is a failure. I insist that the bushes 

 should be grown taller than usual. Mine 

 are clipped off at six feet, and the canes are 

 tied to a wire stapled to posts in the row 

 twenty feet apart. Tie three or four canes 

 together with " hop twine " to the wire. In 

 this way the tall cane.s stand well up, and 

 the branches shade the soil. In case of 

 drought the sun does not easily afl'ect such 

 plants. Besides this I have the ground 

 heavily mulched with coarse stable manure 

 —straw and sawdust bedding included— 

 after the old canes are cut out and the new 

 ones tied up. My crop has been somewhat 

 injured, but I have picked nearly one hun- 

 dred bushels of fine berries. 



Raspberry Varieties. The Shaffer's 

 Colossal resists drought admirably, and if 

 trained sideways to wires is a wonder for 

 cropping. The Marlboro is only a medium 

 fine berry— early, and holds on well. I have 

 a strain of seedlings from Cuthbert and 

 Philadelphia that tm-n out wonderfully, and 

 I hope to be able to send out the best early 

 varieties to be had. They will be tested one 

 more year at home. Our variety was not 

 only the earliest but the latest in ray fields. 

 Turner is the only red that I have which 

 with my methed of growing runs out in a 

 few years. My Cuthberts are as fine as ever 

 in a garden planted some years ago. The 

 canes of this year's growth are very strong 

 and clean. Golden Queen is not a good 

 shipper, but takes well in a near market. 



Hiding Blackcaps from Birds. When 

 a person has only a small fruit garden the 

 best place for black Raspberries is to have 

 a few plants under the Grape row. They 

 will not interfere seriously with the Grape 

 vines, but the fruit will escape the eyes of 

 the birds. These are tricks of the trade 

 that must not be despised. The black Rasp- 

 berry suffers more from bird depredation 

 than any other fruit. 



A Good Gooseberry. The Gooseberry, 

 so popular in England, begins to be in much 



greater demand here. Industry fails with 

 me. and is the only .sort that does so entirely. 

 But I have a berry that I have sent samples 

 of to Popular G.\rdening and to other 

 authorities, and I have very great hopes that 

 it will be just the thing. It is early, scarlet 

 red, deepening afterward to purple. It bears 

 heavily on very large bushes. It is a true 

 cross of the English and native Gooseber- 

 ries. The history of this berry is cvirious — 

 like that of many other good fruits. I found 

 it in a field adjacent to a forest, and quite 

 far from any habitation. It was probably 

 bird-sown. I have grown it six or seven 

 years, and am satisfied now that it is worth 

 sending out. I do not think it will bear as 

 heavily by count as Houghton and Ameri- 

 can; but by weight it wiU. 



Birds and Berries. Whether we shall 

 encourage the birds or not to visit our berry 

 yards may seem a problem. But I have 

 quite settled it in favor of the birds. We 

 cannot live by berries alone any more than 

 by bread alone. We need mind food and 

 we need encourgement. Bird music is 

 worth all we pay for it, and a hundred fold 

 more. I say to robins, catbirds, and aU 

 native sparrows, to grosbeaks, indigo 

 birds and the goody gold finches, come on! 

 help yourselves! I have not less than half 

 a dozen pairs of catbirds nested about my 

 house each year, and, oh! how they sing. 

 They almost articulate. One of them has 

 learned all I whistle to him, and whistles it 

 back to me. Most people never hear a cat- 

 bird sing. It never will sing until it has a 

 true home, when it feels at home. But apart 

 from music, my native birds are so abund- 

 ant that they drive off and keep off English 

 sparrows and blackbirds, besides eating a 

 vast number of worms and larva?. I had 

 some worms on my Currant bushes owing 

 to the carelessness of the person who had 

 charge of the hellebore. Baskets after pick- 

 ing were placed in the cellar over night. I 

 was surprised to find no worms the next 

 morning. This puzzled me. and I imagined 

 they had crawled off. But one day I found 

 a toad sitting on the edge of a basket of 

 Currants catching the worms and devouring 

 them. I have made a pet of him. He 

 enjops being talked to and having his head 

 rubbed. Tommy is a fine fellow. We 

 must learn who are our friends. 



Evergreens for Hedge Purposes. 



The choice of Evergreens should always 

 be made with an eye to the particular object 

 in view. If for protection alone, as for in- 

 stance on the outside of buildings or or- 

 chards, says Josiah Hoopes in the Tribime, 

 a dense, strong-grower should be selected. 

 Norway Spruce, aU things considered, fills 

 every requirement, and needs little training. 

 Scotch and Austrian Pines have been rec- 

 ommended, but, owing to the disastrous 

 fungal disease peculiar to the genus, these 

 soon prove useless, the lower branches be- 

 coming defoliated. White Pines form an 

 excellent screen, especially if pruned when 

 young. 



American Arbor-vitae, although not grow- 

 ing so large as the foregoing, will make a 

 heavy, sightly and effective hedge, if set 

 close together. They increase rapidly in 

 height, but slowly in bulk near the ground; 

 no mistake will be made in using them in 

 almost any situation not too wet. 



For an ornamental hedge proper, that is. 

 one to be annually trimmed and kept in 

 perfect condition. Hemlock Spruce is per- 

 haps most attractive, but Norway Spruce 

 will bear neglect better, is hardier in the 

 hedge, is adapted to a greater diversity of 

 soils and exposures, and, If skillfully 

 trimmed, presents an exceedingly beautiful, 

 although formal, appearance. 



Siberian Arbor-Vita- (a mere form of our 

 native species, with an improper name) 



