88 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



the hypothesis that it is accidental. There is sent 

 forth a certain number of long rods, when these 

 are cut back secondary rods appear, and by stop- 

 ping these we obtain a lot of soft spray. But the 

 long rods if left to themselves would throw out 

 side branches and form fruit spurs the greater 

 part of their length. The obvious lesson is that 

 long shoots admitting light and air freely, are 

 more serviceable than such as are systemati- 

 cally cut back, and forming compact trees im- 

 pervious to light and air. 



I place before the meeting a number of trees 

 that were selected for their ugliness, but which, 

 having for some years occupied a good soil in a 

 suitable situation, have acquired symmetry and 

 fruitfulness without the pruning knife; each 

 annual growth allowed to mature, and no sec- 

 ondary giowth promoted by summer pinching. 

 Nature has something to do with the produc- 

 tion of fruit and since 1876 we have entered upon 

 a new cai-eer in fruit culture,common sense guid- 

 ing the way. While we repudiate reason Nature 

 destroys our false work. 



Observation and experience have taught me 

 that summer pruning is too promotive of use- 

 less secondary growth to be advantageous; and 

 it tends also to keep the roots in action until late 

 in the year, when they ought to be at rest. The 

 effort of the tree to ripen useless wood is detri- 

 mental to its more profltable duties. Prune im- 

 mediately after the fruit is gathered, fli-st cutting 

 out all dead wood, then cutting out cross and 

 ill-placed shoots that would interfere with the 

 free play of light and air, and then stop. 



Trees of many sorts of Pears will acquire 

 beauty of contour, become regularly furnished 

 and will produce an abundance of fruit with- 

 out any pruning whatever, as I have shown by 

 trees that for fifteen years continuously were 

 never touched with the knife. The lower 

 branches of pyramid trees never bear fruit, 

 probably from proximity to the ground and its 

 exhalations, as well as from the low temperature 

 that often prevails at that level. When left to 

 form themselves or aided in quite an in- 

 finitesimal degree they remain open to Ught and 

 air, and soon become well clothed with spurs 

 that ripen perfectly and do their duty. The 

 dense, leafy pyramids are useless in proportion 

 to their leaflness, and it must be owned that 

 many of the lean trees are amongst the most 

 profitable. Long rods pay; short rods are more 

 plague than profit. 



Annual Meeting of the New Jersey 



State Horticultural Society. 



{Abstractof proceedings of the vieeting held at Tren- 

 ton, N. J., Dec. 12-13, 1888. Reported by T. Greiner.] 



As an extra good new variety of Potato 

 the Crown Jewel is mentioned. The Early 

 Cory Sweet Corn lacked sweetness and was 

 generally badly affected by the black fungus. 

 Triumph and MinnesoUi are recommended 

 for early, and Eivrcireen for late. The fol- 

 lowing vegetables are mentioned as among 

 the very best of their respective class. Rosy 

 Oem and White Strnsslmrii Radishes; Cali- 

 fornia Crmrn Lettuce; £c( ipse Beet; Ameri- 

 can Wonder and Bliss' Evcrbearinij Peas; 

 Rochester Tomato; EmeraUt Oem and Prin- 

 cess among the red-fleshed, and Improved 

 Early Hackcnsnck among the green-fleshed 

 Melons; the true white-seeded Ice Cream. 

 Watermelon. 



Beport on New Fruits. Dr. Ward of the com- 

 mittee reported QoUlen Queen Raspberry as a 

 strong grower, very prolific, of excellent flavor, 

 but its color against it for market. Suckers ex- 

 cessively. Crystal, Mr. Caywood's new Rasp- 

 berry, is four or five days earlier and handsomer 

 than the preceding, perhaps not quite so prolific; 

 bright yellow or straw color. Cnhanzie Straw- 

 berry is a complete failure. Unprolific, with fruit 

 hard and very acid. Minnewanki Blackberry 

 holds its own, and improves on acquaintance. 

 Ripens with Wilson; fruit large, very sweet; 

 plant a heavy bearer; hardy even where exposed. 

 Neither rust nor double blossoms have been 

 noticed thus far. Fruit does not turn red after 

 being picked as some varieties do. 



Worthy Fruits Not Much Disseminated. Many 

 older varieties, .says Mr. W. R. Ward, ai-e new to 

 some people, and often prove as good as the 

 newer ones, and could be grown with as much 

 profits. The Kieffer Pear, for instance, is one of 

 these older soits that are not yet fully dissemi- 

 nated. Growei-s now concede it to be a good cook- 



ing Pear and a valuable and profltable market 

 fruit, His Kieffer crop this year brought him 

 $1.10 per bushel in the Newark market; and 

 whUe his Anjous sold for $1.&5 per bushel, it 

 should be considered that the Kieffer in the 

 average produces double. The loss in ripening 

 and from insects is very slight. It is popular in 

 New Jersey and profltable. Dana's Eovey is one 

 of the oldest of our Pears, yet very little grown. 

 Its high flavor and other good qualities make it 

 worthy of wider dissemination. The Quinn Pear 

 is one of the very best late Pears, and a good 

 keeper. The Lawsoii tree is a good grower, but 

 has not been fruited enough to give us an esti- 

 mate of the value of its fruit. 



Many Strawberries ha\e been introduced, but 

 few are receiving field culture. The Jf.ssiV, es- 

 pecially on heavy soil, is doing well and gi-owing 

 in popularity. Sltaffer's Colossal Raspberry is 

 objected to on account of its dull, unattractive 

 color, and its place is satisfactorily filled by the 

 Marlboro and the later Ciithbert. Marmoro is 

 gaining in popularity. Fay's Currant is sustain- 

 ing its reputation, and justifies the claims made 

 for it. Some of his three year old bushes bore as 

 much as twelve quarts each, which brought ten 

 cents per quart in the Newark market. Of 

 Cherries the Montmorency and English Morello 

 are named as valuable older sorts that are but 

 little grown. Mooix's Early is one of the very 

 best early black Grapes. In Newark this season 

 it sold for eight cents a pound. The later Con- 

 cord in its height, dropped to four cents. Moore's 

 Early finds hardly any competition in market, 

 except poor Ives and Champions and Concords 

 from States further south. 



Mr. Beebe speaks highly of Ch-imes' Golden and 

 Wagner Apples. These are hardly much dissem- 

 inated and deserve better. The new Russian 

 sorts find little favor with him. CanfieU is a 

 tough sweet Apple, perhaps good for cooking 

 and for cider. Mr. J. T. Lovett thinks highly of 

 the Yellow Transparent Apple. The Delaware 

 Winter, he is quite certain, is the same as Lawver. 

 Grime>i' GoMen is a fine handsome Apple and 

 worthy of being grown more largely. Mr. Wil- 

 cox pronounces the Lawver a good keeping 

 Apple, but of poor quality, never fit to eat. 



Concerning Certain Other Fruits. What is the 

 difference, if any, between the Erie and the 

 Lawton Blackberries? Mr. Black states that he 

 has been unable to discover a difference in vine, 

 flavor, shape or any other way. The Erie has 

 the same tendency to turn red after being picked, 

 and if not the same as the old Lawton, may be a 

 seedling of it. Mr. E. Williams, also, cannot 

 recall any difference. Triumph Gooseberry is 

 highly praised by Secretary Williams, who con- 

 siders it the best sort now in cultivation. Has as 

 yet seen no mildew on it. Mr. Wilcox states that 

 if confined to one variety of Strawberries he 

 would grow Pearl, which is a seedling of Cres- 

 cent. As to the best varieties of Grapes for 

 general culture, named the following: For 

 hlacii, Worden, Concord, Moore's Early; for red, 

 Brighton; for white, Niagara, Empire State. 



Bemedy for Bark Lice. In reply to the ques- 

 tion found in question bo.Y of the secretary, how 

 to destroy bark Uce on trees, Mr. Nicholson rec- 

 ommends a solution of salsoda in one gallon of 

 water, applied to the affected parts of the tree 

 by means of a brush. The solution wUl go 

 through the scale and kill the pest. This remedy 

 is also good for the woolly aphis. 



Market Value of LeConte Pear. Mr. w. c. 

 Idell says it is very popular with the Italians. 

 Large shipments are received from the South, 

 but there seems to be no difficulty in disposing 

 of the fruit. It is a much abused Pear, but is 

 really the only one reliable for cooking. 



Are Quinces Profitable? Mr. Idell complains 

 of the great abundance of poor Quinces last fall. 

 They could be bought by the truck load at $1.00 

 a barrel. There were generally a few good ones 

 on top, and the rest were culls. Many did not 

 bring over 50 cents a barrel. 



Fungus Destroyers of Insects. Mr. Nicholson 

 speaks in favor of introduciug among injurious 

 insects such fungus diseases to which they are 

 subject elsewhere. The Cabbage worm, for in- 

 stance, is not very troublesome in Europe be- 

 cause its excessive increase is checked by fatal 

 diseases. This is also the case with many other 

 insects, and these fungus diseases would un- 

 doubtedly prove quite effective weapons in our 

 hands against such insects, if wo were to intro- 

 duce diseased specimens and set them at liberty 

 here, thus spreading the disease among them. 

 il'o he Continued.) 



Growing Ferns for Market. 



fC. D. Ball, before the Florists' Conee7ition, New York.] 



Ferns are increased by spores or seed, and 

 by division. Davallijis, and some other var- 

 ieties, produce creeping rhizomes or runners, 

 which, when pegged down and allowed to 

 root, can easily be separated from their 

 parent. Aspleniums form small bulblets 

 along and at the ends of the fronds, which 

 can be rooted. Those varieties that produce 

 spores freely are by far the most valuable 

 to the grower; and nearly all the Adian turns 

 and other Ferns most useful for florists' 

 work are propagated in this way. 



The collection of spores at the proper time is 

 the first and all-important matter; close exam- 

 ination, and the dark color of the son, and the 

 bursting of the cases containing the spores, will 

 indicate when they are fit to remove. The 

 fronds should then be cut and carefully folded 

 in smooth wrapping paper, placing the packages 

 in some warm and perfectly dry place. After 

 a week or so the spores will have been shed, 

 then clean them and either sow or store them 

 away in tightly corked vials until ready to use, 

 but many varieties soon loose their vitality. 



Those sown in the fall will make plants for 

 spring and summer sales, while the spring sow- 

 ing will make stock for fall and winter. Some 

 rapidly growing kinds, such as Pteris tremula, 

 argyrea, etc., may be allowed several months 

 less time, or they will become too large. The 

 soil used for sowing in should be about three 

 parts peat or leaf mould, two parts loam, and 

 one of sand; sifted fine and baked, to destroy 

 all of the life that otherwise is sure to be in it, 

 and which if allowed to grow would soon crowd 

 out the minute Fern plants. 



Use shallow pans, six inches square and two 

 inches deep, which should be prepared by plac- 

 ing a thin layer of broken pots or charcoal in the 

 bottom for drainage, then filled with prepared 

 soil, with the surface pressed firm and even. 

 After thoroughly saturating the soil with water 

 the spores must be lightly dusted over the sur- 

 face. This one watering wiU generally be suffi- 

 cient until the green scum denoting the flrststage 

 of growth appears, if the pans are placed an inch 

 or so apart in the rows, for watering between. 



Watering overhead is to be avoided while in the 

 earlier stage of growth. The pans are arranged 

 in a well-shaded frame, that is kept close until 

 the pan is covered with the mossy-looking 

 growth, only raising the sash a little every day 

 to ;permit a change of air; of course judgment 

 must be used ; if the weather be wet and hot more 

 air should be admitted. Fungus and damp are 

 to be prevented if possible. 



As growth advances more air should be ad- 

 mitted until such a time when it will be necessary 

 to only partly close the sash during the sunny 

 dry part of the day. Do not allow to get dry, but 

 do not keep too wet. When large enough trans- 

 plant put small clumps into other pans, as a pre- 

 caution against damp and fungus, for when 

 crowded together they damp off very easily, be- 

 sides many will be crowded out, and when less 

 crowded they make much better headway. 



The next stage is to separate and transplant 

 individual plants again into pans, leaving them 

 there until well enough rooted for thumb-pots. 

 The young plants should be kept close for a 

 week or so after being potted, using seed bed 

 soil and never be allowed to get the least dry. 

 After this the potting soil is made of light fibrous 

 loam and sand, notsifted, but mixed and chopped 

 sufficiently fine for use, when growing them for 

 fronds, as they will be harder and keep better 

 after being cut. When once established in thumb- 

 pots they are comparatively safe, as it is merely 

 a matter of repotting as larger plants are re- 

 quired; want of a larger pot will seldom kill 

 them, as they can be kept a long time if necessary 

 in this condition, and then, if shifted, will start 

 ahead immediately. Established plants should 

 be allowed plenty of fresh air and water when 

 weather will permit, keeping the houses well 

 shaded during the warm months of the yeai-. In 

 winter, less water and no shifting is required. 

 My remarks apply only to those easily culti- 

 vated varieties of Ferns that are grown in larger 

 quantities to supply the store trade. Some 

 choicer kinds require far more careful handling. 

 The best varieties of Ferns to grow for a gen- 

 eral retail business, can be answered by giving a 

 Ust which Mr. Craig, of Philadelphia, has pre- 

 pared, being only those that can be grown in 

 quantity at moderate cost: Adiantums Anei tense. 



