1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



53 



regard to hardiness, vigor, quality, and 

 early and regular liearing. Its dissemina- 

 tors report that none of their bearing trees 

 have had off years thus tar, while if it has a 

 fault it is that of a tendency to overbear. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to ichich all a re in rited to send notes of 

 experience and observation concerning topics that re- 

 centlu have been treated on in this Journal. Many 

 such contributions monthly would be weleome. 



How TO Make Kerosene Emui.sion. I see 

 kerosene emulsion recommended frequently in 

 Popular Gardenino as an insecti- 

 cide. It is a splendid tiling when 

 properly made and apjilied, but a great 

 many horticulturists do not know 

 how to make it or to what it may be 

 applied with benefit. My way of mak- 

 ing it is as follows: Take eight pints 

 kerosene, four pints water and one 

 half pound of hard soap— whale oil 

 soap preferred— boil the soap in two 

 pints of water until it is all dissolved, 

 then take it awa.v from the Are and 

 add the remainder of the water and the 

 oil; agitatedit in such a manner that 

 it will become thoroughly emulsified 

 —I use a Nixon force pump for this 

 purpose, also in applj'ing it: pump it 

 back into the vessel from which it is 

 drawn for a few minutes until it takes 

 on the granular appearance of butter 

 about '*to come." When made this 

 wa.v you will have no trouble from 

 the oil and water separating. Dilute 

 this mixture from seven to ten times 

 before using and you will have no 

 trouble from its burning the foliage. 

 Kerosene emulsion ma5' be used with 

 good results on aU smooth bodied 

 worms, and on moths and butterflies, 

 etc., but is of little account in destroying beetles. 

 1 can especially recommend its use on Peaches, 

 Pears, Cabbage, and all kinds of berry bushes 

 when the fruit is advanced to a point where it 

 would be unsafe to use London purple or Paris 

 green. Where it is safe to use London purple I 

 consider it superior to Paris green or kerosene 

 emulsion as a cheap and reliable insecticide.— 

 J. O. Alwood, of U. S. Divrisiim of Kntomology. 



The Gandt Prize Strawberry. Concern- 

 ing the remarks in the October number regard- 

 ing the Strawberry Carmichael being six to ten 

 days later than the Gandy, I wish to say that as 

 it originated with me some five or six years ago, 

 the first plants beingsold in the spring of '87 no 

 one could have fruited it successfully except,dur- 

 ing the one season of '88 (a very dry one in Ohio). 

 The statement referred to as coming from Rock- 

 ingham Co., N. H., that the grower gathered 

 quite a lot of nice looking berries of Carmichael 

 on July 20th, indicates that marketable quantites 

 of that variety were about exhausted for the 

 season. That was far north where berries should 

 be several weeks later than in southern New 

 Jersey, where I picked fine Gaudy's Prize as late 

 as Jul,v 19th, and quarts of them on July 10th, 

 and sent them to market on July 1st. I will 

 place Gandy with any varieity grown for market, 

 Jessie and Carmichael included, side by side, 

 treated the same, and get more net cash from 

 itthanfroraanyof thencwersorts.— O. S. Oandy, 

 Cumherland Co., N. J. 



Commercial Fertilizers ob Stable Manure. 

 Uepeated trials on my soil, a stony loam, has 

 shown scarcely any noticeable effect from com- 

 mercial manures, probabl.v owing to the literal 

 use of stable manure, but on sandy loam in this 

 neighborhood good results have been obtained 

 from guano and otherfertilizers. on Onions and 

 Grapes especially.— jD. N. Long, Erie Co.^N. F. 



The National Flower. Suggestions as to 

 what shall Ix? America's national plant or flower 

 are made on all sides. California would like the 

 jolly Sun flower, and this idea is not to be sneezed 

 at. Does not this sun loving flower flourish from 

 Maine to California. Is it not both useful and 

 ornamental, a medicine and a fuelV But we 

 don't like the idea generally. Now I propose the 

 Onion, it, too, flourishes everywhere; the small 

 silver kind could make up quite prettily with 

 pink or blue ribbons for the young girls to wear, 

 and they grow in ail sizes. They have regular 

 two pounders in California; think what an ener- 

 getic symbol for a political cami)aign. A conven- 

 tion of howling delegates each with a big (.)niou 



in his buttonhole would bean exceedingly strong 

 affair; its influence would stretch far and wide. 

 Some one suggests the Tobacco plant, as America 

 is its native coimtry. Half the population alread.^■ 

 use it, sticking out of their mouths, (a* stulling 

 their no-^es. The women could wear its rather 

 prctt.v flowers f(tr coi-sage bouquets; Ainci-icans 

 are noted fc^r their excessive use of it, in the way 

 of cigars, etc. They might offer as an excuse that 

 it wasour national emblem; perhaps so considered 

 it would cease to be a nuisance.— ^'iV-^^rr (iracinus. 



White Huckleberries. White Hucklel)er- 

 ries are without doubt what might be termed a 

 rare fruit, but not to the extent indicated in the 



* •>.t>.V* NS; i. 



PARAGON CHESTNUTS. SHOWN NATURAL SIZE. 



paragraph in the November issue from the New 

 York Sun, although the patch at East Knob, Pa. 

 is more extensive than an.v of which we have 

 any knowledge. The White Huckleberry also 

 grows to quite a little extent in the town of 

 Mansfield in this state, also in one of the towns 

 of Massachusetts the name of which has escaped 

 our memory, and we have also seen numbers of 

 them in other places but of which we made no note 

 at the time. The Huckleberry has become one 

 of the desirable small fruits, the only detraction 

 from it being the tendency to greatly discolor 

 the mouth in its being eaten, either in its raw or 

 cooked state. The white berries that we have 

 seen are of good size, possess the same rich 

 flavor that is chai'acteristie of the black fruit, 

 but are of a pearly white, being tinged upon the 

 sides exposed to the sun, with a pinkish liue. It 

 is believed that there are difficulties in the way 

 of the general i>ropagation or cultivation of the 

 Huckleberry; if this is erroneous or could be 

 removed and the white variety could be more 

 largely increased, it would be quite desirable. 

 It seems as though some attempt should be made 

 to bring the fruit into more general ctiltivation 

 if it is among the possibilities. The Huckleberr.v 

 seems to have a sort of native habitat and can- 

 not be easily disturbed.— ITm. H. Tueman, Tol- 

 land Co., Ct. 



Pruning the Grape. Notwithstanding all 

 that is said and written on the subject of prun- 

 ing the Grape, the majorit.v of experienced 

 growers think that no one particular time is any 

 better than another, and this is proven by a few 

 of the knowing ones, of whom some prune in the 

 faU, others in the winter or spring, but all with 

 tile same result. There are some who profess to 

 believe in pruning early for wood and late for 

 fruit, yet who only in part carry it out, as their 

 desire fftr fruit is so strong that they prime late 

 always; yet have plenty of wood.— J. H. Tryon. 



Fruit Pheservino w^TH Salicylk; Acid. 

 This being re(;ommended for preser\ing cider. 

 I wish to give the following on the use of salicyl- 

 ic acid for other fruits, according to experi- 

 ments by Dr. V. Von Heyden, of Dresden, who 

 advises the use of not more than two teaspo(Hi- 

 fuls (one drachm of the acid crystals) to three 

 pounds of fruit, berries so treated having kept 

 over a year, no sugar iK'ing used, the jars being 

 covered with paper saturated with a sfjiution of 

 the same; such paper may be used to wrap about 

 raw fruit, which will preserve it for some h?ngtli 

 of time. For every hundred pounds of fruit, in 

 marmalade, and (ttlier manufactured preserves, 

 two ounces are needed, in Germany and some 



other countries, its use is on the increase, but 

 in France its use has been forbidden.— Kem?c. 



Wood Lilies. Noting the favor with which 

 .vou regard hardy native iierennial plants, I wish 

 to call attention to the White Wcjod Lily,(7'n7/iiim 

 {fraiuUllin'um , which is one of the most singular 

 and Ixautiful of all hardy plants. It grows from 

 six inches to one foot higii, an*l, when in good 

 health, each stem bears a lovel.v wliite, three- 

 petaled flower, fairei* than the White Lily, and 

 almost as large when the plant is strong. It 

 thrives under almost any kind of treatment, and 

 becomes a free-growing herb of goodly sizx; 

 in a shady, peaty border in the open air. If 

 placed in a sunny, exposed position, 

 the large, soft green leaves are not 

 sufficiently developed, and conse- 

 quently the plant fails to become 

 strong. Deprest-ed shady nooks in the 

 rock garden or hardy fernery will 

 suit it admirably. It is now sold 

 cheaply. There are several other spe- 

 cies in cultivation— T. atropurpur- 

 eum, erythrocarpiim, sessile, and 

 Pendulum, none of them equal to T. 

 grandiflorum, but some are pretty, 

 and all are interesting.— C. Gram/cr. 

 Fall Plowino to Kill Cut 

 Worms. That is good advice N.Y. L. 

 gives in the October issue, on getting 

 rid of garden pests by fall working 

 the soil, and especially in the way of 

 destroying the cut worms, for hard 

 frost is one of the sure remedies, but 

 even then to be effective the worm 

 must be turned up to the surface so 

 the frost can get a fair chance; if this 

 is done but few will escape, and cer- 

 ^"* tainly not if the land, early as possi- 



ble in the spring, is cross-plowed, giv- 

 ing the frost a second chance. No fear 

 need then be felt about putting in 

 any kind of crops.— K. E. S. 

 On THE Sale of Pears, I find on looking over 

 the condensed statement of the sale of Pears last 

 year, given on page 24", that in a few instances the 

 printer has reversed my meaning, and possibly it 

 may be well briefly to correct the errors:- 1 am 

 made to say that Flemish Beauty and Vergileau 

 were so excellent in quality that they were re- 

 served for home use. It so happened that they 

 were not up to the average, although good. It 

 was the Bosc that was so excellent that it was 

 not put on the market. In another place I am 

 made to say that the Seckel sold well for "its sur- 

 passing beauty of appearance," which remark 

 will hardly apply to so unattractive a Pear as the 

 Seckel. These errors are hardly worth correcting, 

 yet might possibly lead some person into mistake. 

 —J. J. Tliomas, Cayuga Co., iV. I". 



Fruit Sorting. Apropos of the recent illus- 

 tration of a canvas bott<jmed fruit sorter, an 

 orchardist of a quarter of a century's experience, 

 Mr. Seth Fenner, of Erie Co., N. Y. uses one 

 quite similar, having the sides converging some- 

 what more, down to a canvas bottom, and not 

 having the attachment for running into the bar- 

 rel. On the subject of packing Apples, Mr. Fen- 

 ner expresses the opinion that filling the middle 

 of the barrel with low grade fruit is the "mean- 

 est business in the world."— E. E. S. 



Pruning Raspberries. I lost fifty bushels of 

 Kaspberries this season by trimming off the ends 

 of the laterals when they were about 1.5 inches 

 long the season before, thinking thereby to 

 thicken up the bushes and get more lierries, but 

 it checked the growth so that nearl.\- half of the 

 canes died by spring. Hows adjoining that were 

 not so trimmed bore a full croi). Moral— "Let 

 well enough alone." — A, W. y. 



House Plants and Consumption. I have 

 latelj' read in the paper, of a physician's i-ecom- 

 mending the cultivation of house plants to those 

 of his consumptive patients who lacked strength 

 or means for travel. He did this believing that 

 the e.vhalation from growing plants so purifies 

 and oxygenizes the air as to arrest the tendency 

 to lung iliseases, if taken in time. I do not know 

 how true this i.s, but it coincides .so entirely with 

 my own theory that the presence of jilant life in 

 a house promotes the health of the occupants, 

 that 1 am quite ready to bi'lieve it. .An instance, 

 when a florist's wife regained health by leaving 

 the kitchen to hired help and spending her time 

 in the greenhouse, hius come uncler my own ob- 

 ser\ation. It is now generallj- adniitt^>d by all 

 intelUgent observei-s, that an atmosphere where 

 plants cannot flourish contains some elements 

 for human life.— J. R. Gardiner, Lake Co., O. 



