194 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



Ijer and building paper, enclosing an air 

 space. This is rendered necessary by the 

 presence in it of the heating apparatus. 

 There is an inlet for cold air formed by an 8 

 inch tile pipe extending under the founda- 

 tions of the building and opening outside. 

 There is also an outlet for warm air made 

 by leaving an opening into two of the spaces 

 between the studding of the outside wall, 

 these spaces being furnished with another 

 opening through the side of the building 

 just beneath the eaves. The outlet beneath 

 the eaves of this flue is furnished with a 

 hinged door opened or shut by means of a 

 cord; the size of the inlet for cold air in the 

 floor of the cold room can also be varied. 

 In these ways it is hoped that the tempera^ 

 ture of the room can be kept under control. 

 The room on the ground floor immediately 

 above the cold room is the laboratory, and 

 near the experimenter's table there is an 

 opening covered by a pane of glass into the 

 outlet-flue of the cold room; in this flue, 

 opposite this pane of glass, there hangs a 

 thermometer, by means of which the tem- 

 perature of the air that is escaping from the 

 cold room can be easily ascertained. 



How the Fruit from Forty Acres 

 Was Disposed of. 



J. N. STEARNS, KAI.AMAZOO CO., MICH. 



The time has come when it is easier to 

 raise a large crop of fruit, than to dispose of 

 it, with profit to the grower. At least we 

 may so infer from the frequent discussions 

 of Horticultural societies, about work of 

 disposing of their fruit, and from the organi- 

 zation of Fruit Exchanges. 



A review of last years production and 

 sales gives approximately the following list: 

 1000 bushels Pears, .50 bushels Cherries, .5000 

 peck baskets Peaches, 500 baskets Plums, 

 200 cases Blackberries, 100 cases Strawber- 

 ries, 100 cases Gooseberries. Pears brought 

 from 11.50 to $3.75 per bushel. Peaches from 

 $1.25 to $.3.00, Cherries from $3..50 to *.3..50. 

 Plums from $2.50 to $4.00 per bushel. Black- 

 berries $1.50 to $3.00 per case of 10 quarts. 

 Strawberries and Gooseberries the same. 



All these fruits with the exception of a 

 portion of the Pears and Gooseberries, were 

 sold on orders on which I myself, not the 

 purchaser made the price. 



Out of the .5000 baskets of Peaches, not a 

 bushel of first class fruits was shipped to the 

 near and large market, Chicago, since we 

 were unable to fill many orders. From 

 many years experience in the business I 

 believe that all fruit growers, who deserve 

 the name "fruit growers," can do likewise, 

 but to people without the proper knowledge 

 of how to handle, sort and pack their fruit, 

 so as to give satisfaction to the customers, 

 this is the one important point in creating a 

 large order trade. It includes close atten- 

 tion so that no packer puts into the particu- 

 lar grade he is packing, a single inferior 

 specimen. A few culls will spoil the ap- 

 pearance of a bushel of fine fruit. Always 

 keep strictly to the grade. 



We have orders from Maine to Minnesota, 

 and many times it requires close study to 

 determine what grade of fruit will please 

 the customer. We can usually tell from 

 the tone of the letter, whether the order 

 should be filled with Peaches worth $1.50 

 $3.00 or $3.00 per bushel. Some of our cus- 

 tumers want a fancy article, regardless of 

 price. After turning a quantity of Peaches 

 on the sorting table the first selection is 

 made for this class of customers; the next 

 for the customer who wants a good straight 

 Peach to can for the family's use; the next 

 grade for the retail groeeryman, who is e.x- 

 pected to sell as cheap as his competitor in 

 trade. What is left now, we call culls, and 

 the best of these are shipped to the Chicago 

 market, for what they will bring. 



I might have some scruples to send only 

 the culls to the commission man, but past 

 experience has taught me they will not 

 discriminate between first-class fruit and 

 culls so far as their returns to the 

 shipper are concerned. 



Chicago is one of the best markets for a 

 fine article of fruit in limited supply. I re- 

 ceived $3 a keg for my Pears the past 

 season, a keg holding a trifle over one 

 bushel. For the past two or three years. 



Long Oreen Cucumber. 

 however, this market has been so flooded 

 with almost worthless fruit that growers 

 are beginning to be discouraged and so we 

 have the query: "What shall we do 

 with our fnilt?" 



As one of the means of securing this trade 

 I sent small consignments of fruit to relia- 

 ble dealers in small towns with my card 

 guaranteeing the fruit select, placed in each 

 package. I find plenty of consumers who 

 prefer to purcha.se of the producer at an 

 advanced price, expecting of course to get 

 what they pay for. It should be remem- 

 bered that fair treatment will hold a cvis- 

 tomer. 



I have been engaged in fruit growing as a 

 business for many years and never with 

 more satisfaction to myself than at the 

 present time. I find the demand fully keeps 

 pace with the increased production. 



Double Flowers From Seed. 



FROM DR. NOBBE'S REPORT TO THE GERMAN E.XPERIMENT 

 STATION. 



Seeds of herbaceous plants improved by 

 cultivation show a tendency to produce 

 double flowers. To ascertain the relation 

 between the nature and condition of the 

 seed, and of the flowers which result from 

 their development, twelve distinct varie- 

 ties of the common Stock which complete 

 its development in the course of one season, 

 were selected from the establishment of M. 

 E. Benary, of Erfurt. One hundred .seeds of 

 each as nearly alike as possible, were placed 

 in Dr. Nobbe's germinating apparatus, and 

 submitted to a continuous uniform temper- 

 ature of 68' Fahr. After four days some of 

 the seedlings (which must have germinated 

 at once) were removed from the apparatus, 

 and placed in the open ground. The other 

 seedlings, which came up after four days 

 and between four and nine days after the 

 commencement of the experiment, were 

 thrown away, so that the seedlings reserved 

 consisted of two classes — one in which the 

 germination had been accomplished within 

 tour days, and the other those in which 

 germination was not appreciably com- 

 menced till after the ninth day. 



The seedlings were eventually transferred 

 to large pots, and placed side by side, half 

 of the pot being occupied by those of slow 



growth, the second half by the quickly 

 developed seedlings. Moreover, some of the 

 two sets of seedlings were placed in large, 

 others in small pots; some in sterile sandy 

 soil, care being always taken to make the 

 experiments rigidly comparable. In all 

 nearly 600 seedlings were thus under obser- 

 vation. In each case the time of the first 

 appearance of the fiower bud was duly noted 

 and the period when the first flower opened. 

 In some cases a difl'erence of five or six days 

 was noticed between the seedlings of the 

 two categories. The vigor of the plant was 

 uniformly superior in those cases where 

 the germination had been rapid. 



But the most remarkable results are those 

 relating to the production of double flowers. 

 In all the varieties the proportion of double 

 flowers was greater in the case of those that 

 germinated quickly than in the case of the 

 laggards. Ten plants of one variety with 

 violet-brown flowers grown rapidly produced 

 all double flowers, while eight plants of the 

 same variety which had germinated slowly 

 produced all single flowers. Of 100 plants 

 belonging to nine different varieties the 

 proportion of double flowers, according to 

 the period of germination, was as follows: 

 Doubles. Singles. 

 After rapid germination.. . . 83.56 17.44 



After slow germination 27.03 73.97 



The tendencies must exist in the seeds 

 themselves, for the two categories of seed- 

 lings were exposed to identically the same 

 conditions. Moreover, although those seed- 

 lings which were grown in sterile sand were 

 much less vigorous than those grown in 

 good soil, they, nevertheless, showed corre- 

 sponding inequality as regards their flowers. 



Hybridization shows that the seeds con- 

 tain in themselves, unaffected by other con- 

 ditions, the essence of what will be mani- 

 fested in the plant later on. There is in 

 each variety a special tendency to produce 

 double or single flowers as the case may be. 

 Some, no matter how treated, never yield 

 any but single flowers, while others pro- 

 duce almost exclusively, double flowers. 



Notes on Sowing and Transplanting. 



L. B. PIERCE, SUMMIT CO., O. 



For starting plants use large sized flats 

 or boxes measuring 4 feet long by 14 inches 

 wide outside measure, the ends being %th 

 stuff, and the sides ?^th, and 3 inches wide; 

 the bottoms are of a single board 3^ inch 

 thick with several small holes bored for 

 drainage. They are made of Chestnut lum- 

 ber sawed to order from logs of my own 

 furnishing. One of my houses is 9 feet in- 

 side and the others 10 feet. In the narrow 

 house, 3 boxes are set side by side, and in 

 wider ones they are placed end to the alley, 

 in either case leaving a walk 3 foot wide. 



The boxes are placed empty in the plant 

 house and filled with dirt from boxes more 

 convenient for a single person to handle. 

 After the plants are transplanted, these 

 flats are stored bottom side up and kept 

 another season. They have been in use 

 seven years and seem good for half a dozen 

 more. Their large size and unadaptability 

 for other uses insures my keeping them, 

 and I am thus sure each spring of having 

 something to use that fits the house. The 

 plants are transplanted into smaller flats 

 holding from 130 to 1.50 plants each. These 

 suit grocerymen better, as one person can 

 handle them, and they do not expose too 

 many plants to the wear and tear of keep- 

 ing in view, which comes from wind, dust, 

 dogs, and neglect. 



In sowing seeds I fill the flats about two- 

 thirds full of suitable soil and level it. Lit- 

 tle dents or drills are now made two inches 

 apart and one-fourth of an inch deep, by 

 pressing the sharp edge of a board into the 

 soil. The seed is then scattered (Cabbage 

 or Tomato) so that it averages about 5 seeds 



