164 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



Of the newer Grapes probably Jewel will 

 prove so very early as to receive a place. 

 Moyer has nothing to show why it should 

 be planted. The Nectar is another black 

 Grape not as large as Concord, and like 

 Concord, not by any means ripe when it 

 first colors. It is in fact only one more late 

 black Grape of moderate quality. Of the 

 Witt Grape and the Green Mountain I have 

 much better hopes. They are probably ad- 

 ditions to our list of Grapes of sufficient 

 merit to make them permanent in vineyards. 



I do not raise a vine for sale under any 

 considerations, and make my report from 

 careful testing of sixty sorts side by side. It 

 is provoking to find inferior sorts crowded 

 on the market now that we have a list suf- 

 ficiently long of really noble sorts. I might 

 easily from my seedlings send out Grapes 

 that would get thousands of commendations, 

 but in my judgment not one of them is com- 

 paratively a gain on the best standard sorts. 

 A new Grape should have positive qualities 

 rendering it by comparison better than the 

 larger majority of good Grapes. We do not 

 need a new Delaware or a new Concord. 

 Worden came in as ten days earlier than 

 Concord, ripe and sweet as soon as colored, 

 and enormously prolific. It was assigned 

 a special place, and it has filled it well. 



It is desirable that millions of vines be 

 planted about American homes this spring, 

 as educators of popular taste, and as pro- 

 motors of health. It is better to plant vines 

 than to run up doctor's biUs. 



Manure the Corner Stone of Success. 



WM. H. TEOMANS, TOLLAND CO,, CONN. 



If there is one point that requires atten- 

 tion in the preparation of the Vegetable 

 Garden, more than any other it is its fertili- 

 zation. However important tillage may be, 

 no amount of it can compensate for a lack 

 of fertility. The desirable qualities of crisp- 

 ness, tenderness and superior size in veget^ 

 ables can be attained only by means of in- 

 ducing rapid and vigorous growth, but this 

 is not possible on a poor soil. 



Market gardeners understand this thing 

 fully and one might sooner expect to catch 

 a weasel asleep than a market gardener 

 planting vegetable seeds in a soil that is not 

 sufficiently fertilized. 



Thoroughly decomposed and composted 

 maniu-e has always been looked upon as the 

 best that could be employed and scarcely 

 any limit was fixed to the amount. We 

 have always found well composted night 

 soil and hen manure, when applied liberally, 

 are excellent fertilizers. Commercial fer- 

 tilizers applied with manure give a vigorous 

 start to vegetables. While plenty of manure 

 is desirable, it is also necessary that the 

 same should be thoroughly mixed with the 

 soil, and it is well to plow in a portion, 

 plowing quite deeply, and to spread the bal- 

 ance upon the surface to be well harrowed 

 in. The greater the degree of mixing and 

 pulverization the better the results. 



Befriend the Birds and Build Them 

 Houses. 



We are apt to magnify others' faults, and 

 think lightly of their virtues. Under this 

 only too common dispo-^ ^^"o^ 

 sition of the human ani- 

 mal, the songsters of 

 our woods and fields 

 and their reputation has 

 had to suffer quite seri-" 

 ously in recent years and^ ,jhcap Bird Home. 

 the grave charges fre- 

 quently preferred against them at our 

 horticultural meetings often make the case 

 look pretty dark for them. 



Birds do eat fruit. Why should we deny 

 it? They deserve them, too, not only for 



that feature of gay life that adds variation, 

 interest and endless attraction to our lawns 

 and orchards, not only for their sweet notes 

 that delight our ears, but also for the prac- 

 tical fact that by the destruction of insects 

 they save us more fruit than they them- 

 selves consume. 



At times, it is true, they become trouble- 

 some by excessive numbers and then fruit. 



Merry Spring Time. 

 growers may be compelled to resort to vio- 

 lence. But the poison and shot gun policy 

 should be reserved for cases of extreme 

 necessity. Under ordinary circumstances 

 the fruit grower hardly ever misses the few 

 berries they take, although it is true Cherries 

 often suffer. 



Sometimes a rough imitation of hawk, owl 

 or other bird of prey hung into the tree, a 

 little windmill with rattle or bell attach- 

 ment, some pieces of looking glass, etc., 

 fastened or swinging about here and there 

 may keep the marauders off. We also see 

 it stated that birds eat Strawberries only 

 when tormented by thirst in a hot glaring 

 sun, and that a pan of fresh water placed in 

 or near the patch and occasionally renewed, 

 will furnish the birds with what they desire 

 and save the berries. We have some faith 

 in this device from the fact that our family 

 fruit patches, when we had them near a 

 brook of fresh, sparkling mountain water, 

 were never visited to their serious injiu-y by 

 birds, although the latter abounded in 

 the vicinity. 



Certain growers claim that their sole 

 reliance is In poisonous sprays and that we 

 can dispense with the services of birds as 

 insect eaters. What of that! We do not 

 want the earth and what would our orchards 

 fields, woods and lawns be worth vrithout 

 bird life? A live quail in the fields is worth 

 more to the farmer than a dozen dead in the 

 huntsman's pouch. A live robin on the 

 lawn pulling up the earth worms and 

 hunting for grubs and cutworms is worth 

 more than all the stuffed birds on the bon- 

 nets of beautiful womankind. A hoggish 

 disposition only can begrudge a few berries 

 in compensation for all the good services 

 that the birds render us. 



Let us build them houses and invite them 

 to make their homes in otu- orchards and 

 around our buildings where they will enlist 

 our children's interest and solicit their 

 watchful care. 



Mrs. Reynolds, one of our subscribers, 

 sends us the following description of a 

 cheap bird house: ' Get a cigar box about 

 four inches high. On the top of front side 

 cut a hole about two inches in diameter. 

 Tack a small piece of tin under this open- 

 ing and bend it out for a step. Nail a piece 

 of thin board on the back of the box, al- 

 lowing it to project about two Inches above 

 its top, then nail on the cover and paint 

 like the cornice of your house and fasten 

 by the projecting end of board." 



Notes from the Popular Gardening 



Grounds at La Salle-on-the- 



Niagara. 



For the benefit of many new subscribers we 

 will here repeat some information pertaining to 

 the Popular GARDENrNO experiment or test 

 grounds, known as " Woodbanks," and located at 

 La Salle-on-the-Niagara. 



These grounds are situated in the heart of the 

 fruit region of Niagara County, N. T., 17 miles 

 from Buffalo and si.x miles from Niagara Falls, 

 Thirteen acres of land are comprised in the place. 

 It is the design that every rod of the area shall 

 be managed solely in the interests of the readers 

 of Popular Gardenlno and Fruit Growing. 

 The home of the editor is on the grounds, as also 

 is the editorial office of the journal. Whatever, 

 therefore, may be said in Just reproach of those 

 rural journals which are edited and managed in 

 cities by "sidewalls farmers," will not apply to 

 the present Journal, in the midst of a famous fruit 

 and marketing region tor not only is it edited on 

 a rural home, but every member of its staff is a 

 practical horticulturist, who divides his time be- 

 tween the field and the editorial oflice. 



The Nature of the Work. The nature 

 of the work to be carried out here is in 

 the direction largely of testing all new fruits, 

 vegetables and ornamental growths as they ap- 

 pear, with a view to comparing them with the 

 older standard sorts, and to give in the columns 

 of this Journal reliable unbiased reports on the 

 same. Much attention will also be bestowed on 

 trying and reporting on new implements, ap- 

 pliances and methods of horticulture, and of fer- 

 tilizers, remedies for plant diseases, insects, etc. 

 Stress is laid on the fact that all operations will 

 be conducted on the plane of ordinary horticul- 

 tural practice, employing the means usually at 

 the command of cultivators, but striving for 

 profitable improved practices. Those who visit 

 the grounds, therefore, with the idea of meeting 

 an extreme system of culture impracticable to the 

 average grower, may expect certainly to he 

 disappointed. 



We desire to state explicitly that the grounds, 

 aside from affording material for this journal, 

 are always open to the public on week days, and 

 our readers especially are invited to come and 

 see and study as they iiave opportunity. A con- 

 sideration in deciding on the present location 

 was its superior accessibility to the travelling 

 pubUc. Here we are almost midway between 

 Buffalo, one of the great railroad centers of 

 America (more than 32 railroad lines center at 

 Buffalo), and of Niagara Falls, the mecca of 

 travelers from the world over, with twenty 

 trains stopping daily at La SaUe-on-tbe-Niagara 

 from both points. As our work progresses there- 

 fore we hope to have the pleasure of greeting 

 multitudes of our friends directly on the grounds. 

 But (or all readers we expect to conduct a 

 monthly chat about our work in these columns 

 which shall as far as possible keep them informed 

 of what is actually occurring on the grounds. 



Present State of Work. What could \'isitors 

 hope to see on the Popular G ardening grounds 

 in this year of 188(1? Not much of finished work 

 perhaps, but a most earnest and promising be- 

 ginning that cannot fail to prove interesting to 

 all horticulturists. It must be borne in mind 

 that it is less than one year since this farm was 

 purchased by the present owner. To give an 

 idea of the stock that is being planted the present 

 season will perhaps best convey information of 

 the work now in hand. 



In the fruit department the following stock is 

 at this writing mostly on band from nurseries 

 widely apart and the planting well under way: 



Strawberries, 107 varieties, 8 plants each. 



Raspberries, 44 varieties, 5 plants each. 



Blackberries, 23 varieties, 5 plants each. 



Currants, 10 varieties, 5 plants each. 



Gooseberries, 24 varieties, 5 plants each. 



Grapes, 103 varieties, from 1 to 5 plants each. 



