1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



103 



were uimsally lar^e and so superior were 

 those shipped to Lucerne Co., Pa., on fail- 

 ing there, that no one would believe them 

 to be that Apple. The art of representing 

 fruit and flowers on paper has advanced like 

 everything else. I can now buy colored 

 plates of fruit at ten cents a copy that cost 

 me *3 to have painted forty years ago, and 

 the cheap work of to-day is quite as well 

 done. So much for lithographing. I>et the 

 young men of to-day take hold of the fruit 

 business and keep the ball rolling. Even 

 if there is not dollars and cents in it from 

 markets, at least have enough good fruit 

 tor yourself and family. 



A few days ago we put into the cellar 

 about eighty bushels of select winter Apples 

 besides selling forty bushels, I have enough 

 left to boil for Apple-butter besides putting 

 away cider to do us the whole winter. All 

 these tree.s I raised from their infancy and 

 it is a comforttokuow that they are reward- 

 ing me for the labor spent on thera. 



New Jerseyans on the Peach 

 Yellows. 



T. OREINER, MONMOUTH CO., N. J. 



Those members of the New Jersey Horti- 

 cultural Society, who had been in hopes 

 that Prof. E. F. Smith, the specialist of the 

 Department of Agriculture, who has been 

 giving his best efforts to the investigation 

 of the yellows during the past eighteen 

 months, would bring out some new infor- 

 mation about the true natiu'e of the disease, 

 or suggest some line of successful treat- 

 ment, were destined to be sorely disap- 

 pointed. The results of his labors, thus far, 

 seem to be mostly of a negative character; 

 and we fear that all of his conclusions are 

 not altogether correct. 



The arguments and data making out the 

 bulk of his recent address before our State 

 Society, and purporting to establish the tact 

 that the disease is not the result of soil 

 exhaustion, were hardly needed, since this 

 fact has long since been accepted by the 

 observant general grower; and the deduc- 

 tion, that special foods, such as potash in 

 one form or another, nitrates, and other sub- 

 stances applied to the soil are very unlikely 

 to have any curative or preventive effect, 

 must necessarily tend to discourage the 

 Peach grower and prevent him fi-oni mak- 

 ing further experiments with just such sub- 

 stances as kainit and muriate of potash, 

 which in many cases under our own per- 

 sonal observation have effectually cured 

 what every grower of experience pronounced 

 the genuine yellows. 



Prof. Smith suggests that there may be a 

 true disease, for which a remedy has not 

 been found as yet, and a similar one caused 

 by starvation which is curable. The disease 

 is now less prevalent in districts where the 

 law compelling growers to tear out every 

 diseased Peach tree is strictly enforced, 

 [very naturally, Ed.] The query, whether 

 the yellows is a fungus disease or not, cannot 

 be answered by Prof. Smith, as he has not 

 been able to find the incipient disease with 

 the microscope. Tlie investigation is not 

 completed, and the matter as unsettled as 

 ever. Neither could we take much comfort 

 from Prof. Smith's assurance that the 

 Department will be able, after .some years, 

 to give more definite information. 



A member of the Society states that he 

 has cured apparently diseased trees by the 

 free use of salt, and also of muriate of potash 

 (TOO to soo lbs. per acre), and that vigorous 

 accidental pruning (in consequence of the 

 breaking down of the greater part of the 

 branches when overloaded with fruit), has 

 given good results in improving the health 

 of Peach trees. Another member, however, 

 protested very vigorously against the prac- 

 tice of pruning, especially that of the roots, 

 and the cutting away of the tap root in 



transplanting. It is safer to grow trees 

 from seed and leave them standing where 

 they came up. 



How I Crew a Crop of Cauliflowers. 



E. H. CDSHMAN, CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO. 



The growing of this vegetable the past 

 season has been an experiment with me, 

 previously I knew very little of its culture. 

 The public as they passed by have shown 

 their interest, for the reason that early 

 Cauliflower growing is not common in our 

 community. 



The first move made was to learn what the 

 product usually sold for; inquiry in Cleve- 

 land revealed that SI. 3.5 to S2..50 per dozen 

 were near the outside figures. These prices 

 looked pretty fair when inOO dozen plants 

 could be grown on an acre. To learn how 

 to grow it, an old English gardener was 

 consulted, and as usual, good seed, thrifty 

 young plants set out early in rich, moist, 

 well prepared soil, and well cultivated were 

 the directions. It looked easy, especially in 

 the winter time when there was no other 

 work to hinder. 



Here let me say is a mistake that many 

 make when plans are maturing for the next 

 season's work. They lay out more than it is 

 possible for them to do well when the time 

 comes. The seed I purchased consisted of 

 one ounce of Early Erfurt, one ounce of Le 

 Normande, two papers of Early Snowball, 

 costing .?2..50 together. An eighth ounce of 

 Snowball at .50 cents would have been 

 cheaper than two papers at a5 cents each. 



A troublesome point was the proper time 

 to sow the seed. Done too soon the plants 

 would get too large, and sown too late valu- 

 able time would be lost in promoting their 

 early maturity. I sowed March fith on pre- 

 pared soil, consisting of garden loam, leaf 

 mould, and lake sand, placed in shallow 

 boxes, in rows an inch apart. The boxes 

 were placed in a warm room and kept 

 watered; seed nicely up in a week. 



On the ground selected eight large two 

 horse loads of fresh horse manure were 

 drawn in the spring. These piles were 

 turned over several times, and later were 

 spread over the ground and ploughed in. A 

 hot bed of four sash was also made, and was 

 ready on the lith of April for the plants. 

 Previously the plants had grown a little 

 spindling and had damped off. The plants 

 grew in the hot bed until the llth of May. 

 Hot weather prevented planting out earlier 

 and many plants rotted off in the hot bed, 

 so that my 3000 plants had been reduced to 

 1500; many of these died and about half of 

 the ground planted was not fit for their 

 growth. They received three hoeings and 

 twice as many cultivatings. 



The first cutting for market was made on 

 June 28th, but might have been done at 

 least 10 days earlier. The cuttings for mar- 

 ket lasted until Aug. 33nd, when 35 heads 

 were cut. On July 17th, T3 heads were sold 

 for .*8.10; on July 3<ith, 96 heads were sold for 

 *fi.OO, these were the largest cuttings made 

 at any one time. The total number of heads 

 sold were .5.54, bringing S51.05. 



We can very fairly judge the expense of 

 the main operations as follows: 

 10 loads of manure, hauling, turning, 



and spreading 183. .50 



S^eetl ...'. 2.f,0 



Transplanting to hot bed 3.00 



Ploughing anil transplanting to the 



field • • ■ • 4 ,jo 



Three hoeing.s ;^ qq 



Six cultivatings ;^ 00 



Tying up heads ] .50 



Preparing 554 heads for market 5. .54 



Total 511H.04 



Balance in favor of the crop 5.01 



These figures do not take into account the 

 marketing, as they were sold with berries. 



Five dollars is not a large sum, but there 

 are some circumstances which will change 

 the view a little. Only half of the ground 

 produced the crop sold, the other half was 

 too wet; that would reduce some of the 

 expenses about as follows : 



Manure $11.25 



Seed and work 7.25 



18. .50 

 To this add the .<15.01 and you have the 

 respectable sum of «23..5i, now the area of 

 crop producing ground was one-seventh of 

 an acre, if we multiply .«33.51 by seven we 

 have the profit of *1()3.5T per acre. 



Some things learned are that one ounce 

 of seed will produce about 2.500 plants; that 

 Early Erfurt did the best; that Le Normande 

 is not a variety for early or late planting; 

 that the best way would be to sow the seed, 

 in the hot-bed about the first of April; that 

 the plants must be kept growing without a 

 check if possible; that to have fine white 

 heads the leaves must be tied together as 

 soon as the little heads begin to show; that 

 green rye straw about eighteen inches long 

 is an excellent material for tieing; and 

 lastly, that it is not best to base your opera- 

 tions on the expectation of 1000 dozen to the 

 acre, at -?1..50 per dozen. It is better to wait 

 and take what you can get. 



Fruits for Cold Climates. 



Mr. T. H. Hoskins, of Vermont, says in 

 Garden and Forest that as a rule a fruit-tree 

 should be a variety that ^vill endure all 

 weathers in the place where it is planted. 

 It must be hardy enough to stand the test 

 winter; otherwise, just when the owner is 

 looking for a first full crop, he may find only 

 a dead tree. 



Experience has proven that the fruit-trees 

 of western Europe and their seedlings will 

 not, as a rule, endure the winter climate of 

 similar latitudes on the American Continent. 

 All of Europe north of Rome is north of 

 Boston. Boston is nearly the extreme north 

 limit of the Peach, Plum, Quince, and 

 Apricot; and of the Apples and Pears of 

 north-western Europe very few can be 

 planted with profit more than 100 miles north 

 of Boston. Seedlings from these do not, as 

 a rule, show more resistance to cold than 

 their parents. So seldom do they, that those 

 of us who have had most experience, at once 

 suspect that such a seedling is an accidental 

 cross with a hardier variety, like those of 

 Rtissia and Siberia. 



The Russian tree-fruits are undoubtedly 

 of hybrid origin. Those of Poland and the 

 Baltic Provinces are much mixed and 

 crossed with west European species. But, 

 working eastward in the empire, less and 

 less of this blood is found; and in the valley 

 of the Volga and the Steppe region the in- 

 fluence of north Asia stock preponderates. 

 It is from these trees that we get our most 

 perfect "iron-clads" of all the tree-fruits. 



Our north-eastern states and provinces 

 require hardiness against cold alone; but in 

 the Prairie States this is not enough. In- 

 tense summer heat and drought, and the 

 fatal sap-blight, must also be encountered 

 there; and trees for that region must thus 

 be triply clad. The fruits of the Russian 

 and Asiatic steppes furnish the best material 

 to meet these contingencies. 



As New England lies mostly on the lati- 

 tudes of sotithern Europe, so Canada lies 

 mostly on the latitudes of Russia and 

 Siberia. Not only climate, but the length 

 of seasons and of days, .-■■hould Ije considered 

 in estimating the value of fruit-trees. The 

 winter Apples of Russia are many, but 

 south of 45° they are only early winter or 

 fall sorts. This lessens their value for our 

 Northern States; but as they can be grown 

 among our tender long-keepers, there is a 

 fair probability that iron-clad crosses can 



