86 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



giQIT'vlfrSOCIETIES 



^--^^^eincMatterTOat deserves 



TO aEWlDEWKSOWlt 



Pansies in flfty-flve dis- 

 tinct varieties were shown 

 at the Wisconsin Horticul- 

 tural Society's late meeting 

 by Wm. Toole. 



Wonder Saspberries of 

 tine quality were shown 

 the last of September at the 

 Indiana State Fair. It is an everbearing variety 

 of considerable promise. 



A Cabbage trust is reported from Ohio, the 

 membei-s of which refuse to sell any of their im- 

 mense crop for less than five cents per head. 



Early Potatoes. I grow these early by starting 

 in greenhouse or hot-bed, because I like to raise 

 Potatoes better for 40 cents per peck rather than 

 for that much a bushel.— -i. J. Ruct- 



A Dove Flower {Peristerta data) was exhibited 

 by Miss Baldwin, of Philadelphia, at the Penn- 

 sylvania Horticultural Show. It did not fail to 

 attract the attention it deserves, being one of 

 the finest f )rchids. 



Sulphate of Ammonia. It Is a powerful nitro- 

 genous manure and should be handled carefully, 

 as if put on too strong it will kill the Roses, but 

 if needed, and applied in a very dilute state, the 

 effect will be beneficial, though asarule it would 

 be better to apply ordinary liquid manure.— J.iJ. 

 Taijlor at FloriMn" Vanvention. 



Some Grapes that have proven hardy and good, 

 both in flavor and yield, at Ottawa, Canada, at an 

 elevation of 1,200 feet, out of nearly a hundred 

 varieties planted si.x years ago, was reported at 

 a meeting of the Ontario Fruit Growere' Associa- 

 tion to be: Black,— Wilder, Worden, Moore, Con- 

 cord, Barry; Red,— Delaware, Brighton, Lindley, 

 Agawam; White,— Niagara, Lady, Martha. 



Vegetables on Muck or TIpland. You cannot 

 get such quality nor the best keepei-s from a 

 miu-k bed as from upland, even though the 

 former are larger and better looking. On high 

 laud it may be more expensive, and if the best 

 conditions do not prevail, failure may ensue, 

 j'et where quality is desired these risks must be 

 taken.— Ruber! Graham to the Michigan Horticut- 

 tural Society. 



How to Get Early Strawberries. At a recent 

 Strawberry meeting it was stated that by sum- 

 mer mulching a late variety the season can be 

 prolonged a week, and the greatest earliness can 

 be attained by not mulching earl.v varieties. 

 Grown beside the early May King, heavily 

 mulched, a variety no earlier could be advertised 

 as a week earlier and inexperienced growers in- 

 duced to l>uy plants.— _L. B. Pierce. 



Large vs. Small Fruit. Peaches that averaged 

 sixty-four specimens to the bushel were worth 

 four times as much per bushel as those averaging 

 two hundred to the bushel. The cost of growing, 

 picking and marketing two hundred medium 

 sized Peaches is more than it would be to grow 

 and handle sixty-four, and when grown and sold 

 they bring only a fourth as much. It pays to 

 raise the best.— P. M. Auyur at the American 

 Ptiiiiithiuieal Meeting. 



Irrigation, or No Irrigation, Many membei-s 

 of the Slitter i/o. (Cal.) Horticultural Society, 

 after 2.5 years' trial urge the more thorough cul- 

 tivation of orchard and vineyard, as producing 

 better flavored fruit than artificial watering, 

 besides being more certain and cheaper, for the 

 fruit grower cannot depend on f>ther than aver- 

 age conditions, and it is not profitable to build 

 ext«nsi\'e irrigating works which at most are 

 but seWom really required. 



State Horticultural Meetings. The annual 

 meeting of the New York State (formerly West- 

 ern New \''ork) Horticultural Society will be 

 held in Rochester commencing on Wednesday, 

 Jan. 23rd, 1889. Full particulars may be had by 

 addressing Secretary P. C. Reynolds, Rochester, 



N. Y The next meeting of the State 



Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania will 

 he held at Lewiston, Pa., January 10 and 17. Cir- 

 culars with programmes and full particulars will 

 be issued shortly. Meanwhile further informa- 

 tion and orders lt>r excursion tickets may be had 

 by application to the Secretary, E. B. Bugle, 



Waynesboro, Pa The Mississippi State 



Horticultural Society will hold its next annual 

 meeting beginning with .January Itith, at Crystal 

 Springs, Miss. Abo'it 1.50 members are expected 

 to be present. 



At the Ohio Horticultural Society meeting it 



was suggested by Entomologist Alwood, that 

 fruit suffered less this sea.son from insect depre- 

 dations because the year before there was a 

 scarcity of fruit and vegetables, and that there- 

 fore the coming year will be greatly exposed to 

 the ravages of insects, because everything that 

 insect life needed for their development and 

 hibernation was abundant. The canker worm, 

 coddling moth and fall web worm, and all other 

 insects which pass the winter in cocoons may be 

 largely destroyed during the winter by careful 

 search. It is well also to scrub the trunk and 

 branches of trees with an alkaloid solution. 



Six Eoses for Canada. At the Picton meeting 

 of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association, Mr. 

 F. Mitchell, a successful Rose grower, gave the 

 following as his choice: Gen. Washington, Victor 

 Verdier, La France, Madame Gabriel Luizet, 

 Coquette des Alps, and Prince Camllle de Rohan. 

 In treating them he ad^^sed showering with 

 Tobacco water, for thrips, aphides and other 

 pests. Pruning after the first blooming will 

 cause the shoots to send up fresh shoots with 

 later bloom. During the winter the bushes 

 should be covered with Cedar boughs, rather 

 than straw, sus the latter favors mildew, and some- 

 times kills the bushes; all kinds of Roses are the 

 better for a covering; a little digging on one 

 side will render them easily bent over. 



How Farmers Can Grow Raspberries. Phila- 

 delphia, Turner and Cuthbert are the best for our 

 climate, and will grow on any good Potato 

 ground. Plant four feet each way, and cover 

 the ground so deep with straw or other mulch 

 that no grass or weeds can grow, and there will 

 be no trouble with suckers. Late in November 

 with a load of straw drive astride the row, bend- 

 ing the canes all one way with the wagon axle, 

 throw over them enough straw to hold them 

 down and cover them. This gives protection 

 from freezing and thawingand exhausting winds 

 and leaves the vitality in the canes where it is 

 needed to produce a good crop of fruit. The 

 Turner will not kiU down if left uncovered, but 

 the cane becomes so exhausted that it will not 

 produce much fruit. The increased yield, when 

 protected, will pay the expense ten times over. 

 Uncover early in the spring, stamp the straw 

 well in around the roots, cut out the old dead 

 canes, shorten the new ones t<i about three feet 

 and tie to stakes or wires.— C. L,. Smith, at a 

 Minne,^fta Farmers' Institute. 



Does Girdling Eifect Grape Vines'! It has been 

 thought that where the renewal system was 

 practiced, the bearing cane (the growth of the 

 last year), which would in any case be cut away 

 at the autumn pruning, might be girdled with- 

 out injury, and this has been tried to a consider- 

 able extent by some of the Concord growers, in- 

 cluding Mr. Wright, whose place was the one 

 visited. After a careful examination the com- 

 mittee were of the opinion that the vines had 

 become lessened in vigor by the girdling 

 practiced, and that this effect was espec- 

 ially to be seen in the shoots of this year, 

 which will form the bearing canes for 

 next year. Mr. Wright's \-iews were quite 

 decided in regard to the deterioration in 

 the quaUty of the fruit. But its effect in 

 increasing the size of the fruit and hast- 

 ening its maturity was plainly seen. On 

 part of the vineyard Concords were only 

 beginning to color, and apparently would 

 not be fit for market before frost, while 

 where the vines had been girdled they 

 were about ready to cut.— Beport of the 

 Garden Committee of the MamachtisetU 

 Hort ieultural Society. 



The Value of Organization. Mont- 

 gomery i\>unty, (O.) was the mnner of 

 the first prize offered at the Ohio Centen- 

 nial Exposition for the best county dis- 

 play of horticultural products. This re- 

 sult shows plainly what may be accom- 

 plished by organization and co-operation. The 

 County Centennial Commissioners organized 

 working forces and held meetings in every town- 

 ship. About one thousand dollars of public 

 funds were used (though other countries used 

 from two to eight times this amount) for pre- 

 miums to the various townships as a special in- 

 centive, thus centralizing all the resources of the 

 county upon the Columbus exhibit. In the 

 arrangement of the display nothing but plain 

 tables and plates were used, no extraneous de- 

 uces being employed to attract attention, but 

 the intrinsic merit of the exhibit was relied upon 

 for favor, also conforming themselves strictly to 

 the rules, showing but one plate for each variety. 



not seeking advantage from largeness of display 

 by duplicating. A scale of points as deWsed by 

 the authorities was used by the judges in the 

 difficult matter of making the awards. Three 

 different judges made three separate examina- 

 tions, each working independently, and strange 

 to say the successful county did not receive a 

 single mark on the first examination, while on 

 the other two it was far ahead, and it is a just 

 pride which any county might feel at standing 

 at the head of such an exhibition of the best 

 efforts of the State in so fruitful a season. 



Improving Country Cemeteries. 



lAbstraet of Paper by A. H. Sargent, "Glendale," 

 Akron, Ohio, before the Association of American 

 Cemetery Superintendents.] 



Many plans have been adopted in estab- 

 lishing "grave yards." Some have been 

 opened in connection with our churches and 

 at various "four corners" in the country. 

 Others have been opened (not maintained) 

 by township and other public authorities, 

 and very many as private famUy burial 

 places, but afterwards became common 

 property. About all are in a most luxuriant 

 state of neglect. It seems as though they 

 were set aside merely for the purpose of 

 furnishing a place in which the people could 

 bury their dead with as little expense as 

 possible, and for the erection of a slab with 

 inscription, etc. 



The church yard is perhaps not quite as bad as 

 the family burying ground, for it is oftener used, 

 and consequently oftener mowed, so that it pre- 

 sents a little more tidy appearance; but the con- 

 gregation, who will worship in a church in whose 

 back yai-d the graves of their brethren and sisters 

 in the church are neglected, as nine tenths of 

 them are, I have little confidence in. " By their 

 works, ye shall know them." 



The rtllage or township cemetery is more 

 modern, and can at least be cared for, provided 

 the trustees have any taste for the care and em- 

 bellishment of them, and are not afraid of losing 

 their office by making the requisite levy upon 

 the citizens for their proper maintenance. I 

 have just noticed that in the county where I 

 live, six out of IS townships have made a levy 

 of from Ave hundredths to two tenths of a mill 

 for graveyard purposes, certainly not an ex- 

 travagant outlay of money. 



Cause of Neglect. The principal cause of 

 neglect in these graveyards is the want of ade- 

 ciuate pro\isiou for their proper care. No pro- 

 vision has been made for the sale of lots, from 

 which a maintenance fund could be established, 

 and neglect naturally follows. I would abandon 

 the private burying ground, and only maintain 

 the churchyard and the village or township cem. 



The Cemetery as It Should Be. 



etery, and remodel the form of management. I 

 would charge per lot, or grave, enough to cover 

 the permanent care of each lot sold, and then 

 let an investment be made in such a manner as 

 would insure proper care for all time. 



Nearly every State has a provision for the 

 establishment of cemetery corporations, com- 

 posed of lot owners, who have entire control. 

 There is no sense in having a village or township 

 cemetery paid for from the public funds and 

 controlled by the votes of a majority. Let those 

 most interested run and control it, and then have 

 a permanent fund for its permanent care. The 

 argument wiU be the cost. Well, my dear friend, 

 a good horse or buggy costs, and do you not ex- 

 pect to see your kin decently buried, as you have 

 tried to have them live, at least respectably ? 



