no 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



^i^fiHT-^H-rSOCIETIES 



";;^~-,,REtNQMATTERThA-rDBStRVE* 

 TO BEVnDCLYKMOWlC 



Ben Davis, Willow Twig 

 and Jonathan arc the Ap- 

 ples recommended by the 

 Missouri Society tor that 

 State. 



Apple Scab is caused by 



a parasitic fungus which 



also attacks the leaf and is 



then called leal blight or mildew.-X. L. llateh. 



The Missouri Horticultural Society has for 



one of its objects the improvement ot the 



grounds about railway stations, and a beginnmg 



has been made at Kidder, Mo. 



Cultivating Strawberries. The best thing 

 that I have vet found for cultivating Strawber- 

 ries is a one-horse harrow. It keeps the ground 

 loose and throws nodirtontherow.-X S. Brown 

 Bagging Grapes. While I follow it success- 

 fully yet I find tlic following objections to it: It 

 retards ripening 7 to in days; the expense; the 

 resulting thin skins which render shipping ira- 

 practicable.-G. B. NoWieni at the Illinois 

 Society Meeting. 



Eemedy for Black Spot. At the Florists' Con- 

 vention Mr. B. O'Neill of Illinois stated that sul- 

 phur added to boiling soft water in which soap 

 powder has been dissolved, makes a wash which 

 has been valuable in cases of black spot and 

 mildew on Roses, and Verbena rust. 



Trees for Arbor Day Planting. I am emphat- 

 ically in favor of planting younger trees than 

 has been the former custom ot roadside planters 

 of growing them in nurseries instead of digging 

 them up in the shady woods, and ot thus creating 

 a taste for tree culture in the minds of the 

 young. -HoH. B. G. Northrop. 



For English Industries. An increased interest 

 in canned fruit is shown in England by the offer- 

 ing of prizes by the Royal Agricultural Society 

 for preserved fruits, both to fruitgrowers them- 

 selves and to manufacturers who are not grow- 

 ers, on the condition that the jeUies, jams or 

 other preserves must be made exclusively 

 ot British grown fruit. 



Spring-grown Pansies. I sow the seed about 

 the first ot March in a box, wetting the 

 the earth with warm water before sowing; 

 cover lightly with .sand, then I lay a news- 

 paper over it which I keep moist and leave 

 on until the plants appear. Transplant them as 

 soon as they can be handled; do not keep them 

 too warm and later plant them outside into rich 

 soil.— Mrs. J. B. Lathy, before the Alton 

 Southern Socitty. 



Early Beets. The middle of March the seed is 

 sown in shallow boxes of a size 18 inches wide, 

 24 inches long and 4 inches deep, getting four to 

 five hundred plants from a box. They are placed 

 in a warm house to grow rapidly until the mid- 

 dle of April, then put out into cold frames to 

 gradually harden until a light frost does not 

 hurt them. By the first week in May they can 

 be transplanted to beds previously well worked 

 and warmed. Turnips, Onions, and similar crops 

 can be treated in the same way .—Jos/ma Allyn, 

 Hid Winy, Minn., to State Horticultural Societn. 

 Easy Orchid Browing. A house in which 

 Roses and Ferns grow will answer very well for 

 Orchids; put them together in a shady corner 

 where the leaves will not burn, as these must be 

 retained for the next season. While growing all 

 Orchids need a good quantity of water, but 

 little usually while resting, when they require a 

 low temperature. By placing the Cattleyas, 

 La-lias and others of like nature in the warm end 

 and Odontoglossums and Cypripediums in the 

 tool end of a greenhouse, one can have a good 

 number of flowers simply by having a difference 

 of 10° in the temperature.— Be»i.?'rtnii)! Graij- 



Orchards and Underdraining. Underdraining 

 makes the on-liai-d grow twice as well. An 

 orchard underdraincd is always more healthy, 

 and stands the changes in the seasons better than 

 one not undeidrained. Underdraining, too, 

 helps to make the soils more porous, so the 

 water that falls on it gradually sinks in and the 

 excess is carried off by the tile though it retains 

 more water down in the soil, not on the top; 

 roots run farther tlirongh the soil and reach 

 more ot the moisture held in the porous soil 

 than they could if the soil was harder. I have a 

 drain every two rods on 2.")U acres, and the drain 



has been an advantage in both wet and dry 

 seasons.— Dr. Toicn.soirt at a- Colvmhva, 0., Horti- 

 ruliural Soriiit) Mretiiifi. 



Apple Tree Planting in Kentucky, of an 

 orchard the greater portion should be good, 

 hardy, salable winter varieties, with not too 

 many kinds in one orchard. The distance to 

 plant is from SO to a5 feet with the trees leaning 

 about 40" to the one o'clock sun as a protection 

 to the bbdy ot the tree from the effects of the 

 sun. Young trees should be well cultivated.and 

 a most excellent tool for the purpose is a two 

 pronged steel hoe, also Ijcing careful not to plow 

 too close to the tree. Head Apple trees low, 

 this being essential both in iirotecting the body of 

 the tree, and gathering the fruit. Keep the free 

 properly shaped and pruned when young, and 

 later on it requires very little cutting. In this 

 latitude the Apple, Peach, Cherry, Plum, Pear, 

 and Grape gi-ow to a great degree of perfection. 

 —J. H. Stewart at a Kentnihij Institute. 



A List of Good Chrysanthemums is the follow- 

 ing, nearlj- all Japanese, as gi\en by Mr. Charles 

 Anderson, of Long Island, licfore the New York 

 meeting of florists, and comprises those which he 

 grows for the cut flower trade: The earliest 

 section includes, white— Precocite, Mme. Des- 

 grange, Planchenon and Timball d' Argent; yel- 

 low— Mme. Desgrange and Gloriosura; pink— 

 Foisure, Planchenon, W. F. Piercey and Mme. C. 

 Audiguer; orange red-Tokio. Intermediate 

 section: white— Elaine, Mrs. (Jeo. Bullock, 

 White Dragon, Lady St. Clair and Diana; orange 

 —Barbara, Lord Byron, Source d'Or, Mrs. Wm. 

 Barr, Julius Ciesar, and Pietro Diaz; pink— Mrs. 

 M. Morgan, Admiration, Lady Slade and Frage- 

 die; yellow— Golden Dragon, Mrs. Brett, Mrs. C. 

 Wheeler, Glow and Jardine desPlantes; amar- 

 anth—John Welsh and Mrs. Norris. Late sec- 

 tion: white-Robert Bottomley, M. F. Carey 

 and Syringa; yellow— Golden Eagle, Sadie Mar- 

 tinot and Temple of Solomon; pink— Pres. Ar- 

 thur, John M. Hughes and Mrs. F. Thompson; 

 crimson maroon— Cullingfordii. 



Water and Soil. A coarse sand may hold ffi 

 per cent, of water; a very fine sand or clay will 

 hold .50 per cent or more, while a good loam may 

 hold more than its own weight of water, and 

 peat two or three times its own weight. When 

 the upper layers of the soil dry out the water 

 moves upward to supply that lost by evapora- 

 tion and transpired by the plants. In soil com- 

 posed mainly of gravel or coarse sand, the spaces 

 between the particles are so large that water 

 passes through them too rapidly and they have 

 not the power to lift the water from below more 

 than a few inches. Green manures improve the 

 water holding capacities of such soils. With 

 clay or very fine sand the spaces between the 

 particles may be so small that the movement of 

 the water is very slow from the increased friction 

 and will not let it come up fast enough to supply 

 the loss from the surface, and to these an appli- 

 cation of lime or nitrate of soda or other saline 

 matter often improves the drainage and capil- 

 lary powers by causing the clay to shrink.— Pro/ 

 trititneij before a South CaroUna Institute. 



Girdling Trees for Fruitfulness. At a recent 

 meeting of the Summit Co., 0., Horticultural 

 Society, there was much discussion of this sub- 

 ject aiid with no great difference ot opinion as to 

 the utility of this treatment of otherwise un- 

 fruitful trees, or to induce earlier bearing. The 

 Secretary mentioned the case of a Pear tree 

 which had never borne fruit, but was brought 

 into bearing by having most of the bark acci- 

 dentally torn off from the lower branches late 

 in the spring; each limb so injured was loaded 

 with fruit the following season and the tree has 

 been productive ever since. Several similar 

 instances were cited, all of which seemed to 

 result in no harm to the subjects so treated. A 

 tree that ccmtinued to bear for nearly forty years 

 after the bark was peeled off, was spoken of by 

 Dr. Fenn, and an Illinois Apple-grower was said 

 to plant his trees only half the permanent dis- 

 tance apart then bring a portion into early 

 bearing by girdling; when the permanent trees 

 need the "space the girdled trees are then re- 

 moved. Matthew Crawford thought that any 

 branch might be caused to fruit by removing a 

 narrow ring of bark frf)m it late in the spring 

 when it may be peeled easily; by tying a wire 

 very tightly around the limb in the spring and 

 leaving it on two or three months; by running a 

 knife or saw around the limli cutting through to 

 the wood and by bending the limb by hanging a 

 weight on the end. The crude sap passes up 

 through the sap wood but in descending it 

 pas.ses between the bark and the wood, and if 



hindered in any way, it must remain above, and 

 cause a development of the fruit buds, but that 

 while we may use any of these means for a pur- 

 pose, it is well to remember, however, that a 

 wound to any part of the tree is a blow to its 

 vitality and will shorten its life. 



Apple Culture Cost and Value of an 

 Orchard Figured up. 



[Jacob Faith before the 3\st Annual meeting of the 

 Missouri Horticultural Society, at Nevada.^ 



There is no farm crop, which on the aver- 

 age will produce half as much income per 

 acre as a good Apple orchard. But as it 

 takes five to eight years to come into bear- 

 ing, some people hesitate to plant, regarding 

 the time and expense in a great measure lost. 



Fifty Apple trees is about the number on an 

 acre, but as small trees should stand thicker to 

 protect each other from the wind, therefore 

 |)lant double that number. 



100 trees costing $800 



Planting one acre 2 00 



Protection from rabbits and borers 50 



Culture of trees 3 00 



Rent of !4 acre (M planted to other crops) 50 



Total first year »13 00 



2d year, interest at 10 per cent 1 30 



Rent 50 



Pruning ^ 



('ulture 2 00 



Washing for rabbits, etc 50 



Total Sn 80 



:)d year, interest 1 75 



Rent 50 



Pruning , 50 



Culture -^ 2 00 



Washing 50 



Total $23 05 



4th year, interest 2 31 



Rent 50 



Priming 50 



Culture 2 00 



Washing 5o 



Total 828 86 



.5th year, interest 2 88 



Rent !4 acre ■ ™ 



Pruning 50 



Culture 2 00 



Washing ^ 



Total P5 U 



Credit, the .5th year, 1 pk. per tree, 25 bu. 

 at 20 cts. per bushel 



5 00 



Leaves balance 30 44 



6th year, interest "^ "1 



Pruning '^ 



Clover seed, sowing and plowing 8 00 



Rent, the 1 acre • 2 00 



Total S*:^95 



Credit to i4 bu. per tree, 50 bu _iO^OO 



Balance P3 95 



7th year, interest 3 40 



Pruning ^ 



Total 93"! 85 



Credit 1 bu. and 1 pk, 125 bu 25 00 



Wind fallen Apples and Clover 10 W 



Balance $ 2 85 



8th year, 3 bu. per tree, 300 bu 60 00 



Pasture 1 ^ 



Total' STO OO 



Deduct balance 2 85 



Washing and pruning _L^ 



Leaves credit for orchard $ 66 15 



9th year, 500 bushels 100 00 



Pasture over pays washing and pruning. . 1 00 



Leaves a total of $176 15 



10th year 700 bushels 1*0 ™ 



Total. $316 15 



The tenth year one half of the trees should be 

 cut out, the wood paying tor that work and the 

 Clover turned under, when the seed ripens 

 enough to seed the ground again, for which 



Deduct labor * 2 00 



Washing and pruning 1 00 



Total 3 00 



Leaves balance $313 15 



At this rate one acre of Apple orchard would 

 bring $31:i.l5over the expense the first ten years. 

 These figures both in yield and price have been 



