22 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



943. Sumac for Market. On uncultivated 

 plants the new growth only is cut, stem and 

 leaves, while green, and dried in the sun, protect- 

 ing carefully from dew and rain. When per- 

 fectly dry, run though a straw cutter and pack 

 in bales or bags ready for market. The full 

 year's growth is cut from cultivated plants 

 when in full leaf, before frost, near the 

 ground; new shoots growing for late, or next 

 year's cutting. The leaves are stripped, dried, 

 and baled for marketing. The kinds most in use 

 for tjinning and dyeing, are RJnts glabra, or 

 smooth Sumac, a spreading leafy bush, four to 

 ten feet high; or stag-horn, li. typhina, grows 

 twenty feet high; a dwarf, R. capallina, one to 

 seven feet high and others. Any large user can 

 give inforinatiou as to markets. 



941 Marechal Nlel Propagation. The simplest 

 and surest way of striking either this or any 

 other Rose from cuttings is in September, to se- 

 lect vigorous shoots which feel quite firm, cut 

 into lengths, haring four or five buds. Cut the 

 base of the shoot close to the last bud. Half fill 

 a five-inch pot with Cocoanut fibre, packing 

 quite firmly, give some drainage also. Stand the 

 cuttings on this about two inches apart, round 

 the inside of the pot, then fill up wltn fibre and 

 ram down hard. Place in a shady position for a 

 few days, then a sunny one, sprinkling the foliage 

 two or three timesa day. In November let them 

 have the shelter of a cold frame, and when the 

 cuttings are sufficiently rooted transfer them to 

 single pots.— Amateur Gardening. 



940. Trees and Shrubs for Wet Places. Alders, 

 Ash and Elm, can profitably be raised on places 

 too wet for most things to do well. 



V54. Cider Making. Select and wash sound 

 fruit. Strain the juice into clean barrels, and 

 keep filled up to the open bung hole for a few 

 days, until active fermentation ceases; then 

 *' rack off " into clean barrels, keeping in a cool 

 cellar, with the bung tightly closed. If wanted 

 fairly sweet for a long time, add a pound of 

 Mustard seed to each barrel before closing. 



fl«5. White Clematis. None of the White Cle- 

 matises, in cultivation at the present time, ai*e 

 sulficiently vigorous and hardy to be of much 

 use; they come from lanuginosa, which is a ten- 

 der kind. There has, however, been exhibited 

 in England a white .lackmanli which ought to be 

 of value. Have you tried Viticelhi rubra granrti- 

 flora? This has bright claret red Mowers, not so 

 large as Jackmani, but very numerously pro- 

 duced, and is a most effective variety.— Hemle. 



886. Celery Blight. When the bUght comes 

 on in the earlier stages of growth, the plant can 

 outgrow it, but occuring at a later stage, it some- 

 times almost completely destroys the crop. It is 

 not likely to make its appearance in a very wet 

 season, unless on springy land where the drain- 

 age Is poor. On high land it frequently appears, 

 immediately following two or three weeks of 

 drought, and in such a case the only remedy 

 is to apply water. This can best be done by 

 plowing away a furrow from each side of the 

 row, into which the water may be led, afterwards 

 plowing back again to cover the moistened earth 

 and to restore the level surface. By repeating 

 this as often as once a week the tendency to 

 blight may be overcome. Some growers believe 

 it is an insect which causes the blight, but I can- 

 not agree with that view. The insect which 

 appears on the leaves when they begin to decay, 

 is invited by the decay, but Is not the occasion 

 of it. Often when the insects have made their 

 appearance and the leaves are already yellow, a 

 sufficient application of water, either through a 

 heavy rain or by irrigation, will cause the insects 

 to disappear, the yellow leaves to drop away, 

 and finally the plants will grow healthy again, 

 with a good crop as a result. The blight is un- 

 doubtedly a disease caused by a check in growth, 

 due to the roots of the plant suffering from lack 

 of proper nutriment, and most generally occurs 

 in dry weather.— W. W. Kawson, Mass. 



896. Profits in Market Gardening. It is not 

 possible to give any close estimate of the cap- 

 ital per acre required to market garden, there 

 being so many ways of working. As a rough 

 estimate for the cost of growing common garden 

 crops, I would say $75 to $13.5 per acre might be 

 reckoned on. Manure is a very heavy item, as 

 from forty to fifty tons are generally applied 

 every year, some being made on the farm, but 

 the greater portion has to be purchased. It 

 would be better to pay a higher rent close to a 

 large town for a small space of ground, than to 

 take a large piece at lower rate, a number of 

 miles away from market. Kidney and Lima 

 Beans, Asparagus, early Rhubarb, green Peas, 

 Tomatoes and such crops sell well, but all these 

 need to go in fresh, and carting detracts consi- 

 derably from their value. Then again the man 

 whose produce is ready before his competitors 

 even by only a day or two, can obtain twice or 

 three times as much as is possible when the 

 market is in full swing. Another consideration 

 in favor of being near to a town is the supply of 

 labor readily obtained, for unless there are ample 

 means of securing the crops at the proper time 

 much loss might ensue.- Remle. 



885. Potato Tops as Manure. Much of the 

 exhaustion of soil by the Potato crop is due to 

 its top, which is rich in potash, and as it readily 

 rots it leaves jwhatever manurial value it pos- 

 sesses on the soil were it lay.' Some work the tops 

 into the manure pile. Most of the substance of 

 the tops, if left in the field, will be washed into the 

 soil before spring, and what remains will soon 

 disappear when plowed under. 



911. Plantain and Weeds on Lawn.— I have 

 effectually cured a lawn of coarse weeds. Dande- 

 lions, and Docks. Get a little sulphuric acid, 

 and, with a sharp pointed stick a drop put in the 

 centre of each plant, will kUl it. Afterwards 

 dress the lawn with bone dust or guano. D.McL. 



912 Single Dahlias. Deal with these as with 

 the double kinds. Lift them when frosted, cut 

 off the stalks about four inches above the tubers, 

 turning them upside down, so as to allow any 

 moisture to run out. Clean the tubers and dry, 

 storeing in a place free from heat, damp, and 

 frost.— Remle, Newport Co., R. I. 



858. Weeds. Nothing. The only thing that 

 will in any degree abate this pest, is very 

 thoroughly destroying all that appear on the 

 surface by cutting and burning. With this 

 treatment it may at length disappear.— Remle. 



907. Thrips on Dahlias This pest has been 

 very troublesome on the Dahlias, and the only 

 way to keep them oft is to syringe the plants 

 daily during hot weather. The insects will not 

 do much barm if this is continued. 



905. Pruning Clematis. It is quite right to 

 cut back Clematises of the Jackmani and Viti- 

 cella sections every year, as they then break 

 stronger, and consequently flower finer and more 

 continuously than they do if the shoots are left 

 entire. There is also this advantage of pruning 

 back hard, the lower portion of a trellis or wall 

 can be better furnished by means of the laterals 

 which spring from the main shoots. 



904. Tan Mulching for Strawberries. Seeing 

 it recommended as preventing slugs from get- 

 ting to the fruit, I obtained a quantity and placed 

 it about six inches in width from the roots of 

 the plants and also between them, but when the 

 fruit began to ripen I found that it had been 

 eaten; and at last found the slugs crawling over 

 the tan with seeming ease. My experience was 

 certainly unfavorable to the tan, as it also became 

 the propagating bed of a number of minute 

 maggots, not at all pleasant to associate with the 

 Strawberry.— F. 



Concerning Steam Heating for 

 Greenhouses. 



In some of the most extensive greenhouse 

 establishments in the country, among others 

 that of Mr. Peter Henderson, in Jersey City, 

 New Jersey, heating by steam has been 

 thoroughly tested for a number of years. 

 Mr. Henderson, in summing up his ex- 

 perience with steam, as compared with hot 

 water heating, does so in these words: " My 

 experience in the use of steam over hot 

 water for greenhouse heating, on repeated 

 trials made on two similar houses, each 30 

 X.S50 feet, equally exposed, one heated 

 entirely by steam and the other heated en- 

 tirely by hot water, it was found that 3.5 per 

 cent, was saved in fuel in the house heated 

 by steam over the hot water house." 



As presenting the general advantages of 

 steam heating, the follo%ving extract from a 

 recent essay on the subject, will prove of 

 interest to those having greenhouses. 



In warming greenhou.ses with steam, when 

 the sun shines strong and the temperature 

 rises, simply closing the valve, instantly 

 stops the heat from the steam pipes, and, in 

 the best and most modern of self regulating 

 steam generators, likewise checks the pro- 

 duction of steam and consumption of coal. 

 Steam pipes are invariably the same degree 

 of warmth no matter how remote from the 

 boiler. Hot water pipes, on the contrary, 

 are liable, if carelessly set, to become much 

 hotter nearer the boiler, and rapidly grow 

 colder the more distant they are, so that all 

 parts of the greenhouse are not given an 

 equal temperature. 



As to care in running, boilers are now 

 constructed with a magazine feeder, so that 

 no attention is required from evening until 

 morning, automatic dampers and drafts 

 perfectly regulating the steam and fire. In 

 piping houses for steam, the overhead sys- 

 tem is generally, used, as it gives a more 



naturalradiation downward upon the plants, 

 prevents the cold air next the glass falling 

 upon the plants, melts the snow sooner^ 

 thus allowing more sun heat, and the pipes 

 are more easily put up. In propagating 

 houses of course all the heat is put under 

 the benches. 



The number of lineal feet of different 

 sized pipes sufficient to make ten square 

 feet of radiation are as follows: 1-inch pipe 

 28 lineal feet, IJ^-inch pipe ai lineal feet, 

 l>i-inch pipe 20 lineal feet, 3-inch pipe 16 

 lineal feet, 3K-inchpipe 13 lineal feet, 3-inch 

 pipe 11 lineal feet. 



Careful and repeated tests, by well known 

 florists and steam engineers, in different 

 parts of the country, have established the 

 following proportions, for amount of radia- 

 ting surface as compared with glass surface. 

 For Canada, Northern New York, New 

 Hampshire, Vermont and Maine, use ten 

 square feet of radiating pipe surface for 

 thirty-flve to forty square feet of glass. For 

 the Middle States and balance of New 

 England use ten square feet of radiating 

 pipe surface for forty to fifty feet of glass. 

 For latitude of Philadelphia use ten square 

 feet of radiating pipe surface tor fifty to sixty 

 feet of glass. For Baltimore, Washington 

 and the South use ten square feet of radia- 

 ting pipe surface for 60 to 80 feet of glass. 

 This will be found to give a temperature in 

 the coldest winter weather of fifty degrees. 

 A higher temperature can be secured by the 

 addition of sufficient radiating surface. 



As illustrating the above points, the 

 writer saw, at the establishment of Mr. 

 James Morgan, Cayuga Co. , N.Y., two steam 

 boilers in use, the pipes arranged by the over- 

 head system, which were said to be very 

 satisfactory, much more so than the pre- 

 vious use of hot water; a dwelling house 

 was also heated with the same fuel. 



THE COMPLETE GARDEN.* 



XX. 



BT A WELX-KNOWN HORTICULTURIST. 



Continued from page 278, Vol. III. 

 EDIBLE NUTS. 



A complete garden should contain some, 

 if not all the ntit^bearing trees hardy to its 

 locality. The trees are mostly ornamental 

 and require but little attention; still they 

 will repay a fertile soil and cultivation. 



Almonds. Near relations of, and in many 

 ways resembling the Peach. These choice 

 nuts, if we except the soft-shell sort, will 

 thrive wherever the Peach does and with 

 the same treatment. They are usually, for 

 the North, budded on Plum stock. The 

 soft-shell is only adapted to the Southern 

 States, except it be trained against walls in 

 warm situations. For general culture, the 

 best varieties are the Common Sweet, Long, 

 Hard Shell, and Bitter Almonds. 



Clicstnuts. The universally liked Com- 

 mon Sweet Chestnut will succeed in most 

 parts of our country if given a light, sandy 

 soil. The Dwarf or Chinquapin Chestnut 

 is useful in small gardens, growing from six 

 to ten feet high. The Spanish Chestnut is 

 much larger than the Common, but some- 

 what more delicate; it succeeds, however, as 

 far north as New York State. 



Fillicrtii. These are improved varieties of 

 the European Hazel-nut, being three or 

 four times the size of our native Hazel. 

 Some of the English varieties are quite sat- 

 isfactory in our gardens. After planting 

 allow no suckers to grow, and keep to a low 

 bush-like form, somewhat like Gooseberries 

 cutting back the young wood about one 

 half each spring. The best kinds are Cos- 

 ford, Coburg, Dwarf Prolific, Red Skinned, 

 and the White. 



Walnut. The Black Walnut {Juglans ni- 

 gra) and the Butternut, (J. Cincra) succeed 

 •Copyright, 1887, Popular Gardening PubUshlng Co. 



