1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



123 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A d^partnwnt to which all are invited to send notes of 

 experience and observation concerning topics that re- 

 centlti have been treated on in this joumaU Many 

 such eont ribut ions monthly icould be welcome. 



HuTTiNQ Instead of Lapping Glass (page 84). 

 I bviilt a greenhouse five years ago, on wliieh the 

 glass was butted, anil I found it leaked very 

 much, not because the glass was butted but 

 because it was done by cai'eless and disinter- 

 ested workmen. Last summer I unglazed the 

 whole greenhouse (that is all that the blizzard of 

 March 12 did not unglaze for me,) and laid it 

 without lapping, but did the work myself and I 

 am well pleased with the result. Moreover I did 

 not use any putty. The glass was laid down 

 on the bare wood and tacked down with little 

 squares of tin, each tin holding four corners of 

 glass (the sash bars are rabetted out only to the 

 thickness of the glass. Rabbets might be dis- 

 pensed with altogether, and the sash-bars 

 reduced to the thickness of 96-in). I then filled 

 all craeks between glass and wood with thick 

 paint, strewing dry sand on the fresh paint. The 

 result was a roof as tight as a drum. I have 

 many hot bed sash glazed in the same manner, 

 and I see no reason why I should ever use any 

 other method.— ('.ErtTdiii!;, New Haven Cn. Conn. 



The PUK.SLANE Caterpillar. You speak of 

 this as having appeared in the West. I noticed 

 several here near the close of last season for the 

 first. Whenever a plant had escaped the hoe I 

 found it stripped of leaves, and then the seeds 

 apparently failed to ripen. 



The Mikado and Champion Tomatoes. Des- 

 pite many crooked and unsalable specimens, the 

 Mikado proved the most profitable the past 

 season, increasing in popularity with my best 

 customere as its merits became known. The 

 Early Champion, quite early, also continued in 

 bearing throughout the season, and showed far 

 less cracking than the Acme or Perfection, and 

 was of good shape and fair size to the end. As a 

 rule in this vicinity. Tomatoes showed an un- 

 usual tendency to crack. 



The Emperor William Bush Bean. My 

 experience with this Bean has led me to discard 

 it, as a variety grown by me for years is similar 

 in appearance, its etiual in earliness, and superior 

 in quality when grown side by side. 



Growing Cold Frame Cabbage and LExrncE. 

 I find considerable difficulty in keeping my cold 

 frame Cabbage and Lettuce plants from hea\ing, 

 but by pressing the roots down I saved them 

 last spring, so they did finely after setting in the 

 open ground about April 1st; this fall I set them 

 as deep as the leaves would permit. The beds 

 were sandy loam with gravelly sub-soil; but, 

 only watchfulness has saved my Lettuce plants 

 so far.— ^. Jud.-'un Sill, Montour Co., Pa. 



Oiled Muslin for Hot-beds. That this 

 answers a good purpose there is no disputing, 

 but such sash are short lived, as mine which I used 

 last spring began to rust before they were out of 

 use so much that they will not be fit to use 

 again. In fact they are nearly rotten. Whether 

 the lightness in handling them, and the exemp- 

 tion from breakage will warrant us in renewing 

 the muslin every j'ear or not, it will be for those 

 who use them to learn.— Samuel Miller. 



Mulberries in Market. I saw these sold in 

 Cleveland this year for the first time; they sold 

 readily for $3.00 per bushel, and as they furnish 

 fruit for such a long season, I think every one 

 should plant at least one, whether llrtng in the 

 city or the country, as they are a beautiful fruit 

 and very ornamental tree. The American or 

 Downing are much the best varieties for fruit. 



Raspberry Planting. The advice given on 

 page 86, of planting the rows four feet apart 

 does not agree with my experience. I never 

 planted Raspberries nearer than six feet from 

 row to row, as they should be kept. Cultivate 

 up to a few days before picking, and I cannot 

 see how this can be done without injury, as when 

 the bushes are laden with fruit they will bend 

 over and come very close together, even at six 

 feet, or at least mine do, and when so close the 

 pickers cannot possibly get through without 

 knocking off considerable fruit. 



The illustrations of a cemetery for Janu- 

 ary were good. We have one in our neighbor- 

 hood just about like it; some grave stones are in 

 the proper i)lace, some fully a foot out of the 

 way, and some more; but one neighborhood has 

 been aroused, and they are fixing it up by sub- 

 scriptions, and I hope your suggestions may set 

 a great many more at it. Although it will do no 



good to the dead, it certainly is more of a credit 

 to the living.- J»/. T. Thompson, Cuyahoya Co., O. 



Valuable EvEiKiHEENS. Nordmann's Silver 

 Fir is certainly (jiie (it our best. Two specimens 

 in a front yard on our main street, about 2.5 feet 

 high, are just about perfection in all essential 

 points, and are more universally admired than 

 any other Evergrcns in the place. Dwarf 

 Mugho Pine is equally fine in its way, but com- 

 paratively few apprrtiate it, and it is not so well 

 suited to all circumstances, though I have one 

 in mind which has been planted nearly 20 years, 

 and is now about four feet in height and still 

 more in breadth. This stands on a large lawn 

 which is considerably elevated above and slopes 

 toward the street, and it just suits this situation. 

 La wson's Cypress is another very beautiful Ever- 

 green of a different character, being of a light, 

 gracotul, feathery habit. This is not always 

 quite hardy \\ hen young, but after being well 

 established does well with us. All three grow 

 finely in our lightest New Jersey soils. 



Ornamental Beets. I planted all the varie- 

 ties of Chilian and Bi-azilian Beets last summer, 

 and do not think favorably of them. A few 

 specimens were extremely rich in coloring, but 

 these were exceptions, and they did not 

 develop their character till half grown; a border 

 which I planted around a bed of Cannas was not 

 more effective than ordinary Beets would have 

 been. Both stems and leaves are very brittle, 

 and easily defaced by insects, by high winds or 

 wet weather, and I'll not try them again, unless 

 they can be bred uij so as to come true to name. 



A Portable Propagating (^ase. This would 

 be valuable not only for starting cuttings, but 

 also for seeds which require a high temperature 

 like Peppers and Egg plants, but I see no ar- 

 rangement for replenishing the water. If nearly 

 air tight it would propably evaporate very little, 

 but it would be easy to have a small tube pass 

 through the upper tray so that with a funnel it 

 could readily be filled when necessary, and the 

 tube stopped with a cork. 



Flowers Opening in Water. It might 

 naturally be inferred that if branches of Cherry 

 placed in water in winter flower freely, other 

 shrubs, equally early flowering could be forced 

 readil}' in the same manner, but experiments do 

 not show it to be so in all cases. Branches of 

 Peach and double flowering Crab Apple treated 

 in this way last winter bloomed finely, but 

 Chinese Wistaria and Lilacs, although the buds 

 swelled and for a time gave promise of success, 

 all shriveled and dropped without opening, and 

 the only way to ascertain which can be forced is 

 by actual trial. 



Southern Chrysanthemu s. Mr. Green's 

 Chrysanthemum was undoubtedly Tubiflorum, 

 not Tuberittorum. He should try Lilian B. Bird. 

 This is by far the best Chrysanthemum with 

 tubular florets, and excelled by few of any class. 



Natural Pruning. The remarks of Mr. 

 Hibbard upon this subject agree with my obser- 

 vations in the main, especially with regard to 

 trees symmetrically headed back to pyramid 

 form, but pruning in spring or before growth 



Hot-bed FYame Put together Like a Wa^o7i Box. 



commences, by lessening the number of leaf 

 buds, throws the whole vital force of the tree 

 into the remaining buds, and often causes a 

 much more vigorous growth in these, although 

 the absolute amovmt of new wood on the whole 

 tree may be increased by the pruning, and some- 

 times a tree which would otherwise give a feeble 

 growth may, by rather severe pruning, be made 

 to throw out a few vigorous shoots, and if fol- 

 lowed up by the proper treatment may be per- 

 manently increased in vigor. Again I have seen 

 trees which were unfruitful, induced to form 

 fruit buds freely by a liberal pruning in summer, 

 but this should be done only a short time before 

 growth ceases in midsummer, and perhaps it 

 might not be so successful in England as in South- 

 ern New Jersey, because when we get a late 

 growth it rarely fails to ripen. 



The Japan Quince. This fruit has no great 

 value for cooking, but may be used to advantage 



with sweet Api>les or anywhere that fruit acid is 

 required. They cook readily, but although they 

 have a strong Quince smell, they have very little 

 of the (Quince Ua\or. They can be kept nearly 

 all winter, and if placed in a drawer with cloth- 

 ing give the whole an agreeable perfume. Per- 

 haps they might be hybridized with the common 

 Quince or with the parent and produce some- 

 thing valuable. 



Erie Blackberry. My experience does not 

 differ much from Mr. Black's; it is no earlier than 

 Lawton, and does not differ materially either in 

 plant or fruit from it, but perhaps it does not 

 require to be so thoroughly ripened before it is 

 sweet enough to be palatable, and it may be 

 hardier, but of that we cannot decide. Both are 

 among our best varieties for home use if allowed 

 to remain on the bushes until fully ripe and soft. 

 Now that Erie is offered at moderate rates, it 

 may take the place of Lawton, which is becoming 

 scarce and difficult to obtain.— irm. F. Bassctt, 

 Atlantic Co., N.J. 



The English not Slow. You attribute slow- 

 ness to the gardeners of England on page CO. The 

 fact is, the practice of propagating Carnations. 

 Pinks and Picotees by cuttings, has been general 

 in England, Ireland and (last but not least) Scot- 

 land to my own knowledge, for the last thirty 

 yeai'sat least, and as I have only come within the 

 past year from the Old Country, I cannot quite 

 tolerate the stigma of slowness as applied to Brit- 

 ishers. In fact since my ani val here, I have not 

 found the Americans so remarkably smart as 

 they would lead one to believe -Quite the re- 

 verse, I have found that in many things they are 

 far behind Old Country people.— G. D. C, Elli«, 

 Kentucky. 



The Japan Quince South. In Southern Ala- 

 bama the trees bear at an early age, and usu- 

 ally a heavy crop of very large fruit. It is valued 

 highly for culinary purposes, as it makes a 

 most beautiful and palatable preserve or jelly. 

 I never heard of their being raised for market, 

 as I suppose there is no demand for them.— 

 Frank Warren, Mobile Co., Alabama. 



Grubs and Strawberries. One reply to No. 

 980, page 92, appears to be somewhat mixed. 

 The more we know of an insect, the better 

 able are we to contend with it. When we find 

 the mischief maker at the roots of the Straw- 

 berry we know him, but when we meet him in 

 some other place do we know him from others? 

 The advice to kill all the horn bugs we can is 

 well put. A closer observation may convince the 

 above writer that the beetle produced from the 

 white grub which attacks the Strawberry has its 

 horns well drawn in, and that it does not deposit 

 its eggs at the roots of the grass to be gathered 

 with the hay, but in the ground in both grass 

 and cultivated land. In this section we have 

 several white grubs so near alike that they are 

 often mistaken one for the other; the one that 

 usually eats the Strawberry is the larva of the 

 May beetle or dor-bug, probably so called from 

 the humming noise of its flight. It is of a brown 

 chestnut color, about nine-tenths of an inch in 

 length, with two or more elevated lines length- 

 ways on the wing cases and is nocturnal, feeding 

 on the leaves of trees, especially on the Cherry; 

 it can be easily taken by placing large tubs of 

 water near to trees with a light in the center, on 

 the surface of the water; it flies from the middle 

 of May till near the end of ,Iune, according to 

 the season, then the males die and the females go 

 into the ground to lay their eggs. The shortness 

 ot this period calls for active work to reduce this 

 numerous and destructive tribe. The larva 

 state, which extends over three or more sum- 

 mers, give a longer time for their destruction, 

 provided we can flnd them. Another white grub 

 closely resembling the foregoing, found in 

 manure heaps and cattle draftings, and with 

 them carried to cultivated fields, is the larva of 

 the dung beetle, and much less destructive. It 

 is commonly called muck worm, and a close ex- 

 amination will show it to be quite a different 

 insect in all its stages. The hornet or stag 

 beetle, which I suppose our friend has reference 

 to in his article, ha.s a formidable appearance, 

 but it is harmless, and not being numerous, its 

 injury must be small. The larva feeds on the 

 roots of decayed trees, and is often found in 

 chip dirt, and its sire wUl readily distinguish it 

 from the others. It pays the gardener to know 

 his friends and foes in the insect line as well as 

 in the vegetable. If it is important t<i know 

 what plant each distinctive seed will produce, it 

 is equally so to know what insect each distinc- 

 tive grub will produce.— P.P., n'orcester Co.,Maji«. 



