1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



135 



tensive irrisation in this countiy is carried on in 

 California and Colorado. 



Western Uethods. I visited a portion of Cali- 

 fornia this summer, and saw one irrigating 

 plant where there was (KX) miles of canal 20 feet 

 wide and 10 feet deep that extended 40 miles 

 from the head and the^water flowed at the rate of 

 two miles per hour. This canal had various 

 branches running from it and was capable of 

 irrigating liOO.OOO acres. The land was mostly 

 covered with vineyards and fruit trees. The 

 enormous outlay for constructing this 

 plant was paid for by an assessment 

 upon the land at so much per acre. 



Then I a'so rtsited the market gar- 

 dens which are irrigated principally 

 from rivers or driven wells by means 

 of a windmill or steam pump. The.v 

 pump the water up to an elevation and 

 run it down from the elevated tank on 

 to the land in a broad trough about 10 

 inches square. The land cultivated for 

 vegetables is arranged for irrigation 

 previous to being planted and then irri- 

 gate from about the fii-st of June. Some 

 had from four to six windmills upon 

 their grounds, and others two or three 

 windmills and a steam pump. The wind 

 in that section of California always 

 blows at the rate of 20 miles an hour, 

 at least eight houre in the day, so that 

 a limited quantity of water can very 

 easily be supplied by means of pumjis 

 and a windmill, but where a large 

 amount is required a steam pump would 

 be necessary. 



In the New England States there are 

 four seasons, so that it is quite difficult 

 for us to tell just when irrigation will 

 be needed. It may be in the early summer or in 

 the early fall, so we should be prepared for it at 

 all times. To irrigate in this section the water is 

 supplied from rivers, ponds, brooks, or driven 

 wells. Where it can be taken from an elevated 

 pond or stream, no steam pump or windmill is 

 necessary, but where it cannot a steam pump or 

 windmill must be supplied. I prefer a driven 

 well myself, with both steam pump and windmill. 



Cost per Acre, The expense of arranging 

 for irrigating a farm of 10 or 1.5 acres would be 

 about Sl.OOO; but I consider it only as an invest- 

 ment, because if the farm was to be sold, with 

 that plant upon it, it would sell for as much 

 more as the cost of the plant. The windmill 

 furnishes the cheapest power for pumping 

 water, but a sufficient quantity cannot always be 

 obtained in that way. I prefer driven wells as a 

 source of supply because in the summer the 

 temperature of the water from the well will be 

 lower than that from rivers or ponds, and it is of 

 some benefit to have the water a little cooler; 

 while in the winter season if we should need it 

 for greenhouses, water taken from the pond 

 would be very cold and would have to be heated. 

 The expense of irrigation by steam pump, after 

 pump, boiler and pipe are furnished, is the ex- 

 pense of fuel and labor. A steam pump which 

 will pump 100 gallons of water per minute will 

 irrigate four acres per day of 

 twenty-four houi-s, putting 

 34,000 gallons upon each acre, 

 which is about one inch of 

 water upon a level. The ex- 

 pense of that would be: Coal, 

 $3; for labor, §7; incidentals, 

 $1 , or S2.75 per acre. 



Eastern Methods. There 

 are three methods of irrigat- 

 ing: first, by applying the 

 water to the surface of the 

 ground; second, by applying 

 it Ut the foliage, and third, 

 by sending it through tiles. 

 On low or heavy lands I 

 should recommend irrigating 

 by the way of tiles. Close 

 the tiles at the lower end and 

 fill with water from the high- 

 est pt>int. On sandy or loose 

 ground I should irrigate on 

 the surface, because less 

 water is required than by 

 irrigating through the tiles 

 and the soil would allow 

 the water to work 

 rather than compelling it to rise to the surface 

 In irrigating under glass I would water the 

 foliage, putting it on in fair weather inside, 

 while in the field it may be applied with better 

 advantage on a cloudy or stormy day. 



I would as soon think of being without a wind- 

 mill or a steam pump upon my market gaitlen 

 at the present time as the farmer who cuts hay 

 would be without a mowing machine. I would 

 rather have a farm of ten acres well irrigated 

 than one of fifteen acres without irrigation. 



CONDENSED GLEANINGS. 



Chrysanthemnm Protection, Where desirable 

 to keep these out of doors until the bloom is 



«». 1. 



Fia. 2. 



Iviiilemt-ntsfor Prun- 

 down ing. 



Protecting Chrysanthcmumn for Bkiom in the Open Air 



past, our illustration, from Mr. Jno. N. Gerard's 

 garden, shows a simple way of managing. 

 The plants at the side of house are grown in 

 that situation and when frosty weather comes, 

 they are protected by cold frame sashes resting 

 on a temporary frame work, and, if the weather 

 is very severe a canvas curtain is dropped 

 down in front, and in this instance the window 

 of a warm cellar can be opened at the back 

 of the plants. Some 250 plants or more were 

 thoroughly pretected from frost or winds by the 

 tent, shown on the right of the picture, which 

 has a ground area of 20x30 feet, and is made of 

 sailduck and strongly roped. The walls are 

 cleaned up in pleasant weather, the plants hav- 

 ing as cool treatment as is sate. Heat is supplied 

 by a base burner boiler, set in the cellar, from 

 which runs a two-inch wrought-iron flow and 

 return ]>ipe around inside the lower base of the 

 walls, and the plants have stood luiiujured with 

 an outside temperature of 20° Fahi., and doubt- 

 less would stand a much lower one. The colors 

 are not affected, and air enough comes in with- 

 out an.v special ari-angement being made for it. 

 —Garden and Forest. 



A New Hook Pruner. I use a hook pruner 

 like Figure 1. The handle is two feet long, and 

 a strong leather guard securely fastened on, 

 after the manner of a sword. With a buckskin 

 gauntlet on my left hand, and this hook in my 

 right, I can thin out a Rose or any other sort of 

 bush expeditiously and neatly, even where 

 almost any other tool would be useless. For 

 trimming out my Raspberrj' and Blackberry 

 patches I use an invention (Figure 2) that for 

 this purpose is without an equal. Instead of 

 pulling the carver against your face and break- 

 ing off half of those you wish to leave on, you 

 can chip them off as slick as a whistle, leaving 

 them stationary or pushing them awa.v at the 

 same time. The blade of one is one and one-half 

 inches wide, and of another one inch wide, which 

 I use among Currants and Ciooseberries, the for- 

 mer among Raspberries and Blackberries, and the 

 handles are five feet long. In using, the person 

 stands up to his work, and he can chisel out canes 

 and suckers more than twice as fast as with any 

 other tool I know of, and no backache, no 

 scratehed hands or face, no cutting off or break- 

 ing out the wrong canes.— Philadelphia Press. 



A Fine Native Azalea. One of the showiest of 

 native shrubs in cultivation is undoubtedly the 

 flame-colored Azalea (Azalea valeiKhdacea). Al- 

 though found wild on the mountain ranges of 

 Pennsj'lvania and stiuthward, it will succeed ad- 

 mirably in almost any position, though total 

 shade is an injury, while a partial covering from 

 the sun's rays is welcome. Fibrous loam is what 

 the entire family delight in; a portion of leaf- 

 mould incorporated with old, partiaU,v decayed 

 sods meeting all the requirements of the Azaleas. 



While they love moisture, a surfeit about the 

 roots will soon cause death. This i)articular 

 species forms a beautiful large bush, eight or 

 ten feet high, and during May is literally covered 

 with its brilliant orange *)r flame-colored flowers. 

 It is somewhat difficult to remove successfully 

 from the woods, but, b.v pruning the top se^'crely 

 and never allowing the roots t<t dry, a fair suc- 

 cess may be had, provided the plant is set in a 

 shady location and faithfully watered for the 

 first year or two.— New York Tribune. 



The Vegetables Wanted in Market. 

 Most of the Peas in our market are Mar- 

 rowfats, very prolific butgi-eatly infer- 

 ior in quality. A few small lots of 

 American Wimder and Champion of 

 England were found, but these, though 

 of the best quality, cannot be grown 

 with profit. McLean's Advancer and 

 Stratagem, enormous beard's needing 

 no bushing,and largely grown at Arling- 

 ton for the Boston market, are recom- 

 mended. The chief Sweet Com in the 

 Buffalo market is the Evergreen, a 

 large late sort, there seeming to be no 

 early sort grown though Crosby's Early 

 and Marblehead are excellent, as is also 

 Potter's Excelsior for medium and late. 

 Buyei-s should insist upon having these 

 superior kinds and growers wimld soon 

 find them far more profitable than the 

 inferior varieties. Do not pack green 

 Corn in close barrels as the sweetness 

 is spoiled by heating. - Buffalo Courier. 

 As the English See TTs. We have now 

 before us the report of the fourth an- 

 nual convention of Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists, held at New Tork in Au- 

 gust last. The gathering was evidently 

 a successful one, and the record is both amusing 

 and instructive. To our taste there is too much 

 " voicing " in the report, and many things that 

 doubtless were appropriate and effective at the 

 time seem to us not worth reproducing in type. 

 But tastes differ, and while the Americans are 

 mostly good speakers, we " er— er— er " so much, 

 as to have provoked the just sarcasm, that we of 

 all people best illustrate the truth of the state- 

 ment that to err is human!— Gardener's Chronicle. 



Is Salicylic Acid Injurious. To test the matter 

 Kolbe took fifteen grains dally in his drink for 

 nine months without suffering an.v inconve- 

 nience. Dr. Lehman gave to two laborers in Mu- 

 nich during three months about this daily dose, 

 without inducing any apparent derangement of 

 the system. It seems probable from these expe- 

 riments that the prejudices against salicylic acid 

 as a preservative agent in articles of food and 

 drink is not well founded. We have in benzoic 

 acid an agent equally efficient, against which no 

 such prejudices exists.— Pharmaceutical Era. 



Progress in French Gardening. The usual 

 formal arrangement of plants in the Paris flower 

 beds was not observed last year. Instead the 

 beds were surrounded with a formal row of 

 plants of one variety; the remainder, except 

 when the bed was divided by lines of color, being 

 filled with various combinations of flowering or 

 foliage plants, grouped naturally, and some of 

 the combinations made bj' the Parisian garden- 

 ers are far more attractive than the ribbon- 

 border arrangement followed in the United 

 States and England. Re\-ue Horticole. 



Appaarance, Not Qnality, Sells Fruit. Can 

 fruit growers be censured for supplying that 

 which buyers most delight in— showy specimens'i" 

 Sweet Strawberries are apt to be sh.y bearers and 

 small, while the sour or insipid variety is likely 

 to be large and productive. Our cultivated var- 

 ieties are picked as soon as colored (and many 

 kinds color long before ripe), and often before 

 coloring, in order to reach distant markets. Pick 

 the wild Strawberry in that fashion and its repu- 

 tation for quality will go.— Green's Fruit Grower. 



About California Baisins. In 1.S73 6,000 boxes 

 were made. B.v IKso the production had reached 

 75,000 boxes. It steadily increased to 170,0(X1 in 

 1884, and the following year jumped to half a 

 million. The increase has been maintained and 

 bids fair to continue as 700,000 boxes were turned 

 out in 188r., 800,000 in 1887, while it is estimated 

 that the output for 1888 will exceed a million of 

 boxes. In a few years we will be able to supply 

 the whole of the United States.— San Francisco 

 Journal (if Commerce. 



The Nigella in the Oarden. " Love in a Mist," 

 or "Lady in Green," or Nigella is one of the 

 lovliest annuals with which I am acquainted, and 



