H 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



October 



^GHT 't'TSOCIETIES 



OaEIWMATTERTHAT DBiERVES 

 TO atWIDEWKWOWH^ 



Eawle's Janet is the 

 Apple most larfe'cly planted 

 tor market in Southern 

 Illinois, as it leaves and 

 blossoms so late as to avoid 

 injury by late frosts. Does 

 not succeed North. Quality 

 very good.-J.M.Pearsim. 



The Florist Business. As late as 1871 a Phila- 

 deljihia firm, sent two men hero, to New Vork, 

 to scour the town for Rosebuds for an entertain- 

 ment there, and received only .TO buds. At present 

 30,aiO buds a day arc .sold here.— J. N. May. 



Lily of the Valley Arrangement. Last spring, 

 Mr. Peter Asnnis of N. J., built a clay and moss 

 pyramid six feet higrh, and planted it with Lily of 

 the Valley; when the Lilies were in bloom he 

 consigned pyramid, flowers, and all to an ice 

 house where it hibernated until it was taken to 

 Nilsson Hall for the exhibition. Around the 

 base of the pyramid were small potted bushes of 

 white Lilac in bloom. These have hibernated 

 through the summer, just as the pyramid has.— 

 FlivUt Cnmvnti^m Kote. 



Prizes for Chrysanthemums. The Pennsylva- 

 nia Horticultinal [Society iitfers the following- 

 special prizes to be competed for at the Chry- 

 santhemum Show, to be held Nov. i:ith to Kith. 

 All growers are invited: Uold Medal, Ki cut 

 blooms, 35 varieties; Silver Cup, 100 varieties, 3 of 

 a kind; Silver Cup, 24 varieties, 3 of a kind; Sil- 

 ver Cup, 4 yellow varieties; Silver Cup, 4 plants, 

 Chinese class, 4 varieties; Silver Cnji, for l> natur- 

 ally grown plants. These prizes are offered 

 through the munificence of certain patrons of 

 this flourishing society. 



Pruning Blackberries. I have always noticed 

 that small canes are usually loaded with fruit, 

 while the large ones bear but lightly, and I 

 believe that we should prune closer. I began 

 this year by cutting down the young canes to 18 

 inches, then I cut the laterals off about a foot 

 from the main stem, and if they grow again, I 

 cut them off about six inches long. By doing so, 

 I secure light, young branches on a good strong 

 stem, and am satisfied that they will produce more 

 and better berries. Besides, this will produce a 

 late fall growth, which, I think, will stand the win- 

 ter better than earlier grown wood.— IB. A. B. 



A Missouri Meeting, At the August meeting 

 of the Jasper County (Mo.) Horticultural Society, 

 the following were shown: .lennie Worthen 

 Peaches, Flemish Beauty Pears, Early Victor, 

 Moore's Early, Perkins,Concord, Niagara, Empire 

 State, Elvira, EtUi, August Giant, and Highland 

 Grapes, by A. Kibler, and specimens i if Lansing- 

 burg Apples of 1887 and 1888 growth. The Peaches 

 were large and fine, some of the Grape bunches 

 weighed more than a pound. The specimen of 

 Apples grown in 1887, and kept in a common cel- 

 lar by Mr. Wampler, was perfectly sound and of 

 fine quality, with nothing in its appearance to 

 indicate inability to keep until Christmas.— Z. T. 

 Ru^ell, Carthcmc, Mo. 



Egg Plant Culture. The main requisite for 

 growing Egg Plant successfully, is lots of heat. 

 We usually sow the seed in hot-beds about the 

 latter part of February; then we transplant in 

 hot^beds twice before planting out, which is done 

 about the time that Strawberries begin to ripen. 

 Before removing from the hot^beds, we flood 

 them with water; then cut the plants out in 

 squares with a sharp spade, and remove them 

 with earth attached to the roots, to the field, 

 where holes have been already prepared for 

 them. It has been asked as to what per cent of 

 Cauliflower plants should form good heads. I 

 find that 95 per cent, from a good strain, is about 

 what can be relied upon.— J. S. Browne, before 

 lite StnUhcrn III. Hoiticultural Society. 



White Arsenic for Insects, At the discussion 

 of the Missouri Horticultunil Society, Dr. Gos- 

 lin said that he had employed white arsenic for 

 the destruction of noxious insects, at the rate of 

 two and a half ounces to a hundred gallons of 

 water. Mr. Murray had tried it of the same 

 degree of strength, and had not found it to burn 

 the foliage. Its great cheapness gave it an ad- 

 vantage over Paris green, but the absence of the 

 distinct color of the Paris green renders it more 

 dangerous, as the latter ma.v be seen when very 

 small proportions are left on the vessels in which 

 it is used. White arsenic being of the same color 



as flour, might easily be mistaken for it; if used, 

 the utmost caution should be employed to guard 

 against the danger of poisoning, and the work 

 should never be committed to careless hands. 



Orchids for easy Culture. Ben.1amiD Grey, of 

 Mass., at the Florists Convention in August, said; 

 The best varieties of Orchids for professional 

 growers are also the best for the non-professional. 

 Of easy culture are the following: Lielia altum- 

 nalisand albida, Cattleya triana",C!ulogyne Chris- 

 tata, Calanthe Veitchii, vestita rubro and luteo, 

 Dendrobiums nobile and Wardianum. I would 

 add Cypripedium insigne, Harrisanum villosum, 

 and Spiceianum, Cattleya Bowriugiana, Odon- 

 toglossum Alexandra'. With these we will have 

 a succession of bloom fi-om November to 

 March, that can be grown in one house, except- 

 ing the Calanthes and Dendrobiums which re- 

 quire a higher temperature, with plenty of 

 wat«r when growing, but kept cool before 

 growth commences. 



A Mission Garden Show, In connection with 

 a Lond(m Mission district, there is a Cheerful 

 Home and Window Gardening Society, and this 

 society promotes a flower show among the resi- 

 dents in the more crowded parts of this populous 

 borough. The schedule of |)rizes, (very unprc- 

 tentious,)includes prizes for Kuch6ias,Geraniums, 

 climbing and miscellaneous plants, window 

 bo.ves and vegetables. The last class was a sur- 

 prise, for no one scarcely would dream that vege- 

 tables could lie grown in the heart of Chelsea; 

 but an examination of the first prize basket 

 showed that it contained Strawberries, Pcii-s, 

 Ithubarb, Itadishes, Carrots, Onions, Lettuce, 

 Mustard, Cress, and Mint; and then the outside of 

 the basket had been utilized, for it was covered 

 with flannel, and when moistened. Cress seed was 

 spread over it, which, clinging to the damp flan- 

 nel, speedily germinated, and gave a crop of 

 edible salad. It is surprising what is grown in the 

 wa.v of vegetables in some of the back gardens. 



At the fifteenth annual meeting of the Cen- 

 tral Illinois Horticultural Society, at Champaign, 

 Prof. Forbes exhibited a specimen of a new 

 Plum borer that works from the crotc^hes down 

 towards the ground, and of which the eggs are 

 laid on the outside bark, hence alkaline or other 

 washes will possibly prove effective, applied on 

 the eggs and young larva? before they enter the 

 bark. He also showed a number of specimens 

 of the new cut worm that made its appearance 

 simultaneously all o\er the State this season in 

 immense numbers, doing considerable damage 

 to gardens and Corn. In gardens, bunches of poi- 

 soned Clover leaves placed where they will crawl 

 under and eat them, is an excellent way to destroy 

 the worm. Pi'of Forbes also described the new 

 Grass root web worm that has done so much 

 damage to lawns and meadows the present season. 

 It is the larvir of a little white moth, of which 

 three broods are raised in a year. It can be de- 

 stroyed by Paris green or arsenical poisoning or 

 by using a kerosene emulsion. 



Vineyard Plowing, Mr. Ely thought that with 

 plowing away from the vine, his Grapes were 

 the best. Do the work early in spring, but keep 

 the surface level during the summer. Mr. Huff: 

 Moisture could better be retained by turning a 

 furrow from the vines In the fall, returning it 

 in the spring. Mr. McKeel believed in planting 

 deep, then plowing, first towards the Yiae, after- 

 wards, back again. Mr. Corwin— by turning the 

 ground toward the vine in the spring many 

 weeds are killed. Prest. Butler: Plowing from 

 the vines and leveUng with the cultivator were 

 most admirable; where dirt was hilled along 

 under the ^ine there was more danger from rot. 

 Stir the soil often in dry weather, clay soil requir- 

 ing more cultivation. Mr. Corwin did not think 

 that old %-ineyards should be manured close to 

 the vines as the feeding roots were about in the 

 center of the rows, while the contrary was true 

 of young \-ines. Mr. Lamereaux, said that where 

 cultivation had been neglected, the soil became 

 dry, and lost its substance.— ^( a meetUig of the 

 Seneca Lake Grape Growers Association. 



Nursery Agent Keform. The tree trade of the 

 country is in the hands of the tree agent, and 

 through him largely imder the control of your 

 association. Perhaps the worst evils of the sys- 

 tem are: the sale of varieties untested, or un- 

 suited to the particular locality; the employment 

 of unprincipled characters as agents; a nursery- 

 man often allows frauds to be practiced on his 

 agent's billing-out ground; large quantities of 

 stock to go out under false names; this would 

 not be done in shipping to another nureeryman. 

 This does not apply to all nurserymen, nor to all 



agents, but enough so as to be a stigma upon this 

 mode of doing business, and if a remedy is not 

 found soon, the result will be a marked decrease 

 in sales. I believe it to be a matter of dollars 

 and cents with the trade, as well as a question of 

 moral responsibility. Your association can effect 

 a reform; a few men cannot. Raise the standard 

 of the agents, in justice to the good men now in 

 the business. You cannot reform a radically 

 bad man, but you can drive him out of the bus- 

 iness. — Li. a. Bryant. Princeton. III., before the 

 American Nnrserymens^ Association. 



Chief Use of Fertilizers. Prof. Atwater before 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society says : 

 The indirect action of fertilizers in improving 

 the mechanical condition of the soil, and render- 

 ing itsstores of plant food available, is often very 

 important. Hence cheap materials, like bone 

 and plaster, are frequently more profitable than 

 manure or artificial fertilizers. The only ingre- 

 dients of plant food which we need to consider 

 in commercial fertilizers, are potash, lime, mag- 

 nesia, phosphoric acid, sulphuiic acid, and nitro- 

 gen. Of this list, magnesia is generally abun- 

 dant even in "worn-out" soils. Sulphuric acid 

 and lime are oftener deficient, and hence one 

 reason of the good effect so often observed from 

 the application of lime and plaster. The I'emain- 

 ing substances, the phosphoric acid, nitrogen and 

 pt)tash, are the most importiint ingredients of 

 our commercial fertilizers, because of both their 

 scarcity in the soil, and their high cost. These 

 materials are expensive, but the right ones in the 

 right places are nevertheless very profitable. 

 Farmers cannot afford to use commercial fertili- 

 zers at random. No more can they afford to have 

 their crop.< fail when a small outlay for the proper 

 fertilizer would bring a bountiful harvest. 

 It is time that they understood these facts, the 

 reasons, and how to make use of them. The only 

 way to discover what our soils want, is to study 

 them by careful observation and experiments. 

 Success in farming, as in other business, requires 

 the use of brains. 



A Successful Gardener on the use 

 of Fertilizers. 



IHon.J. H. Gregory, at a meetina of the Massactiu- 

 aetts Farjners' Club.'] 



Crops can be raised with one ton of phos- 

 phate alone to the acre. But not if the land 

 lacks potash. Yoti can test soil for potash 

 with Beans, or Peas, which will not thrive 

 without. 



Use of Fertilizers. The great advantage of 

 fertilizers in comparison with manure, is that 

 you can adapt them to the needs of the plants. 

 Barn manure must be plowed in at the begining, 

 but fertilizers can be applied at any time. Last 

 year I had an acre and a half of Onions that 

 looked starved, I had an application of fertilizers 

 made, and got a good crop. I could not have 

 done that with manure. Barn manure contains 

 ammonia in a partially unavailable form, so you 

 cannot depend upon the full amount of it. But 

 in using fertilizers about the whole is available 

 the first year, while in barn manure fi'om one- 

 half to two-thirds of the manurial elements are 

 carried over to the second year, though it is not 

 lost, being still in the soil. 



Plant Instinct. How is it possible for the 

 plant to find the little bit of dust that is put in 

 the ground, as is a fact. You can apply 500 

 pounds of fertilizer to a piece of land with cer- 

 tain results; apply 700 pounds to another piece 

 and you will see a difference in the growth of 

 the crop, because the plants find that additional 

 U'OO ijounds. This shows how little we realize the 

 infinite feeding power of plants, the fine sub- 

 divisions of the roots which will even penetrate 

 hard lumps, and get their nutriment from them. 

 But in groimd full of lumps the plants cannot 

 develop as they otherwise would. Fine the soil 

 and fine it stiU again. Men who have plowed 

 their ground twice will never plow less than 

 twice, if they have time. It is well to harrow 

 two or three times. In this way you can make 

 good seed beds. You are more likely to get 

 great crops in this way than by simply trusting 

 to the fertilizer, as it gives the plants extra fa- 

 cilities for obtaining plant food. It is the Jethro 

 Trull idea. It will help the land almost as much 

 as by putting on manure. 



Stimulating the Crops. Some people don't 

 believe in putting artificial concentrated stimu- 

 lant to their crops, thinking it necessary to have 

 manure to get a good crop. But this is not so. I 

 have raised four crops in succession with differ- 

 ent fertilizers, and had success each time, for 



