132 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



.gl^T'vrSOCIETrES 



TO BirWIDElYKHOWlC 



Blackberry Browine 



My hardy varieties yielded 

 from 65 to 100 bushels per 

 acre. I do not think the 

 wild Blackberry could be 

 pruned and cultivated 

 profitably.-Jacob Faith. 

 Spring Prnning of 

 Baspberries, I have to acknowledge mj' con- 

 version to the theory of the late pruning of the 

 Raspberry. Just before the buds begin to swell 

 is the most suitable time— T. P. Longnceker. 



Use Pure Water on Plants. Dr. J. W. L. 



Thudicum, in a communication to the London 

 Society of Arts, says that impure water breeds a 

 sort of fungus at the roots, which soon 

 destroys theiu. ~Viuciiardi.'<t . 



Is there Money in Berry Growing:1 Yes ! As 

 much money can be made in small fruit culture 

 as in any other branch of horticulture or farm- 

 ing; but a beginner should begin at the bottom 

 and work into the business by degrees to make it 

 a success— B. P. Smith, Katisas. 



Black vs. White Grapes. There are too many 

 white Grapes jjlantcd. It is proper we should 

 have some, but the man who plants too many 

 here in the West will be left. You can sell a 

 hundred bushels of black or red Gi-apes to one of 

 green or white. I think those particular kinds of 

 Grapes are being pushed too much.— N. Ohmer. 



The Adornment of Roadsides. Nothing gives 

 better indications of the industry and good taste 

 of a community than neat, well kept roadsides 

 and door yards. Of later years the practice is 

 to clear the stones out of the highway instead of 

 their being brought from the field and placed 

 in the road.— .Sfocfacy Gilhert nf the Maine 

 Pfnnohtgieal Sitciety. 



Catalpa as a Timber Tree. L. C. Francis at 

 the Illinois meeting ad\'isefl every farmer to 

 have three or tour acres of f'atalpas, then the 

 problem of cheap fencing is solved. With three 

 barbed wires, a pole at the top and one or two at 

 the bottom, it will turn hogs and furnish a good 

 lasting fence. As the trees get large enough for 

 building posts its lasting quality will make 

 it valuable. 



A Snccessfnl Uan on Frnlt Growing. A big 

 pile of manure is the fruit grower's bank — To 

 raise Strawberries successfully the ground must 

 have rested the year previously as a summer 

 fallow... Currants will bear fruit for twenty- 

 five years and not lose their vigor An estab- 

 lished home market is worth five foreign ones — 

 Three or four varieties of Grapes are better than 



a larger number Grapes do not pay as well as 



Strawberries, but they pay 200 per cent better 

 than common farm crops — To succeed a man 

 must know his trade, be vigilant and honest and 

 not expect to get rich all at once.— 4 . ji tidersnn 

 ftf/orc the Wisennsin Horticvltuial Society. 



Favorable Reports on the Sand Cherry were 

 given before the Dakota Horticultural Society 

 by a number of its members. The bush resem- 

 bles the Currant, perhaps, a little more tree 

 like, and is indigenous to the Missouri river 

 district; but those of a trailing habit were to be 

 avoided. The fruit varies from oblong to Pear 

 shape and roimd, about the size of a Concord 

 Grape and varying in color from purple and 

 black to yellow, the latter being round and the 

 best in quality and ripening in July; too string- 

 ent to eat out of hand, but in cooking this 

 disappears, some thinking it equal to the Early 

 Richmond for cooking. Propagated like the 

 Cu rrant, while pits germinate readily from spring 

 planting in favorable conditions and reproduce 

 their kind with little variation. 



Willow for Tying Up Vines. Mr. G. Schoen- 

 feld: Had rather have Osier Willow than any 

 other material as it holds the vines the best. The 

 manner of tying up vines quickly learned and 

 then a pei-son can tie much faster than with 

 twine and is not liable to injure the vines by 

 chafing. Mr. Blowers: have used the willows for 

 several years; is more durable than twine and 

 cheaper. Would advise all Grapegrowers to 

 plant enough for their own use. Likes the three 

 wires to which to tie. President Keyes: Glad to 

 learn of the Willow, as twine is quite expensive. 

 Mr. Duncan: Willow is decidedly the best and 

 they grow well on dry lani.— Discussion at the 

 Chautauqua Co., (JV. 1*.) Qrapegrowers^ Meetiny. 



Some Points Abont Asparagns. About 400 

 acres of Asparagus arc required to supply 

 Boston. One grower had the same bed forty-five 

 years. Sandy soil, with plenty of manure 

 annually, is preferred, and the distance to plant 

 is four feet by two, from root to root. Sprouts 

 will become crooked from bruises or wounds. 

 Salt is not essential, but is useful to kill weeds; 

 Captain Moore, the prizetaker, uses none. Mr. 

 Tapley raises Asparagiis where the tides run 

 over the beds at times, so salt does not harm it. 

 Mr. Wyman said that as between ground trenched 

 three feet deep and land merely plowed, the 

 latter was the best through twenty yeare. Setting 

 six to eight inches is best as the stools gradually 

 rise in the soil, and cultivation easier, the 

 sprouts are less numerous and therefore larger; 

 the covering should be sandy.— BostOJi 

 Gardeners' Club Discussions. 



The New Grapes Beviewed. George W. Camp- 

 bell stated before the recent meeting of the Ohio 

 State Horticultural Society that the Jewel is 

 hard.v, healthy, of good size, early, and fine 

 quality, ripening about the middle of August, 

 nearly equal to the Deleware. Nectar is black, 

 handsome, with regular and large clusters. 

 Eaton later than Concord and more acid. Wood- 

 ruff is valuable, Pocklington hardy, but late in 

 ripening. The Witt is a good new variety and 

 worthy of cultivation, as is also the Colerain. 

 Mary's Favorite, a seedling from the Deleware, 

 is of excellent quality. Of new varieties he said 

 he had rejected hundreds, many being valuable 

 in some respects, but not up to his standard. He 

 had one new variety that he hoped would prove 

 worthy of cultivation. What he wanted was a 

 variety of good quality, hardy, vigorous and 

 productive. Mildew and Grape rot can be effect- 

 ually thwarted by the use of sulphate of copper. 

 Eau Celeste having also proven effectual in num- 

 erous experiments, is reliable and inoffen.sive. 



Fruits that Succeed in Dakota, The Horti- 

 cultural Societj' names the following sorts 

 which have been successfully grown in the Ter- 

 ritory up to this time: Apples— Wealthy, 

 Duchess, Whitney, Hibernal, Switzer, Zolotereff, 

 Anis, Antonovka, Ai-abka, Prolific Sweeting and 

 Kremen. Crabs.— Richland, Winter Sweet, 

 Early Strawberry, Hyslop, Virginia, Martha and 

 Briar Sweet. Pears— Bessemianka and Limber- 

 twig. Pi.uMS— Forest Gai'den, De Soto, Rolling- 

 stone, Miner and native Plums. Cherries- 

 Sand Cherry (native) and Ostheim. Grapes— 

 Moore's Early, Janesville, Worden, Delaware 

 and Concord. Currants- Red and White 

 Dutch, Long Bunch Holland,Tay, Prince Albert 

 Black Naples and White Grape. Gooseberries 

 —Houghton, Downing and native varieties. 

 Raspberries— Bed, Philadelphia, Turner, Cuth- 

 bert, Shaffer, Black, Souhegan, Gregg, Ohio 

 (late), and native varieties. Blackberries— 

 Windom, Snyder and Lucretia Dewberry. 

 Strawberries— Crescent, Wilson, Cbas. Down- 

 ing, Mt. Vernon, Glendale, Downer's Prolific, 

 Jessie, Bubach and Gandy. 



How and What to :Plant for Ornament. But 

 few people have a correct knowledge of how to 

 plant trees in a lawn in accordance with the im- 

 proved landscape gardening. By all means if 

 the grounds are not very limited, consult a prac- 

 tical landscape gardener, that he may sketch off 

 and direct the planting, if you expect a beautiful 

 lawn and surroundings. If, however, you take 

 upon yourself the task of the ornamental 

 arrangement of the homestead, permit me to 

 caution against the too common error of for- 

 mality in the arrangement of trees, shrubs and 

 flowers, in straight rows. The latest authoi-s 

 substitute curved lines, walks and drives, and 

 planting trees and shrubs in clumps and fringes, 

 and massing the flowers and foliage plants in 

 given places so as to preserve unbroken a large 

 portion of the lawn to a smooth surface of blue- 

 grass. The jilanting of trees presupposes a cor- 

 rect knowledge of the growth and nature, per- 

 taining to habits whether spiral, conic, upright 

 or spreading, and size of mature trees, to avoid 

 crowding beyond what is desirable.— J. S. Ragan 

 before the Mfesouri Meeting. 



The Question of Sub-Irrigation. On this sub- 

 ject Mr. Samuel Reynolds spoke as follows at the 

 Kansas State Society meeting: " Water under 

 the ground is incomparably more available for 

 plant growth and fruit production than water 

 on the surface. In New York and other Eastern 

 States, what is known as the New Agriculture 

 is nothing more nor less than sub-irrigation 

 artificially produced. The roots, by capillary 

 attraction, will soon become saturated and the 

 plant food in this manner directly supplied. 



The advocates of this system claim that crops 

 can be doubled and even quadrupled by this 

 process without any possibUity of failure, but it 

 is hardly possible that its use can become gen- 

 eral there because of the great expense attend- 

 ing it. Here, however, where the water under- 

 lies our valley at a depth of only a few feet, 

 nature has done the work for you on a magnifi- 

 cent scale, and much better than it could be done 

 by artificial means. All you have to do is to go 

 and possess the land and you will find your 

 bread and butter, fruits and vegetables, and all 

 horticultural and agricultural productions suit- 

 able to the latitude in the soil awaiting 

 your pleasure." 



How to Prune Hybrid Perpetual Boses. Prun- 

 ing should be done the second or third week in 

 March though I have known the first week in 

 April to be early enough. First take out all the 

 small or sickly looking shoots, then prune the 

 remainder from six to eighteen inches according 

 to their growth. Many shoots show black 

 blotehes or rings on the last year's growth and in 

 such oases the shoots should be cut away below 

 such spots, even if you have to prune down to 

 the plant itself. As a general rule moderate 

 growing sorts should be pruned to about six 

 inches, and strong growing ones from twelve to 

 eighteen inches. The whole pith of the subject 

 of pruning and aftergrowth depends on the 

 careful observance of the habits of each indi- 

 vidual plant, also the object in view; some pre- 

 fer to have their plants dwarf and bushy, and to 

 do this they must be kept well pruned in; but 

 such as have small gardens should not prune too 

 closely, rather aiming to make fine, tall bushes, 

 as gardens are generally so surrounded by trees, 

 fences, etc., that it is only when the bushes get to 

 a considerable height that they can obtain the 

 light and air, which no plant requires more 

 than the Rose. — John Henderson. 



The Business of Market Gardening 

 Discussed by Gardeners. 



{^Abstract of Paper by Mr. J. Wellington before the 

 Boston Market Gardeners' Association and a Dis- 

 cussion.^ 



Millions were never made by market gar- 

 dening, but a good living may be. Rather 

 pay $1,000 per acre for first class land than 

 to have the ordinary run of farms at one 

 quarter of that price. Nearness to market 

 and location on a good road of course being 

 points to be considered in buying or 

 renting a farm. 



If the market gardener can have both light and 

 hea^-y soil, the former for early crops and hot- 

 beds, the latter for late crops. Onions and Celery, 

 he is lucky . He should raise a variety in order to 

 have something to sell during the entire year, 

 although, if one has land suitable for raising 

 superior products and can make a specialty of 

 them, he can secure an advanced price after his 

 reputation has once been established. At least a 

 portion of the hired help should live on the place 

 as it is easier to get a good man with a family, 

 than a single man who is more Uable to leave at 

 the first opening that suits him better. The best 

 days for hotbeds and greenhouses about Bos- 

 ton, have gone by. 



One great advantage is that our goods are 

 usuaUy sold for cash \vith few losses from poor 

 bills. As for selling through commission men, 

 when supplies are scarce it is pleasant, but in 

 case ;ot an over-supply the commission mer- 

 chants are more read.v to slaughter prices in 

 order to get it out of the way. 



In all cases a man should love his business and 

 have for its a devotion that will make it arduous 

 labors seem light, and he must needs have much 

 perseverance to overcome the disappointments to 

 be met, energy to drive his business and not 

 be driven by it. 



President Rawson remarked that gardening is 

 a hard life, if you choose to make it so, but there 

 is no need of it; it all depends upon the love of 

 the business. The past year had not been very 

 encouraging, but we must have the bitter with 

 the sweet. We need to keep pace with the 

 times, and when the the margin is small, increase 

 our business so as to have enough to live on and 

 something more. He was well pleased with the 

 outlook. Within the past 25 years he had done 

 everything on the farm from the bottom round 

 to the top, and now it takes his entire time to 

 superintend his operations. It takes a large 

 business in merchantile lines to make much 

 money; it is so with market gardening. Th 



