200 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



June, 



the house was uncovered. This is further shown 

 in Fig. 3. Witli the sod tlius roiled baclt the plat 

 was ready for srrading by tilling in, and this was 

 done as indicated by the line marked "new slope*' 

 in the last figure and b.v the surface line of Fig. 1. 

 The next step after firming the soil of the new 

 slope to prevent later settling was to let out 

 the sod rolls now on the new soil, rolling or ram- 

 ming it evenly. A portion of the improved slope 

 was therefore grass covered, the remainder was 

 at once seeded with good lawn seed, there being 

 now no difliculty in seeding close up to the grass 

 sward. A plan similar to this should always be 

 adopted in uniting a new to an old lawn. 



Quick Results in Lawn Seeding. The north 

 lawn on the gi'ounds, consisting of nearly half 

 an acre, was sown April 19th with a variety of 

 grasses. Exactly one month later finds it a com- 

 plete lawn, so tar as vigor of the young grass. 



bono in combination with some form of potash 

 to good a<lvantage. 



Aclsnowledgcment. We are especially pleased 

 with the apparent general friendliness with which 

 leading horticulturists and fruit growers have 

 looked upon the establishment of our experi- 

 ment work, and we gratefully acknowledge an 

 especial obligation for man,v gratuitous contri- 

 butions of new, rare and choice subjects to our 

 grounds. It is a matter of regret on our part 

 that indirtdual credit, in this one instance at 

 least, for every thing thus sent cannot be given. 

 Hereafter we shall try to do all that can be ex- 

 pected of us in this respect. Mention may, 

 however, be made of the collection of rare 

 trees and shrubs, consisting of nearly 100 distinct 

 species, from the Arnold Arboretum near Boston, 

 Jackson Dawson, Superintendent, also of a val- 

 uable collection of hardy Evergreens from D. 

 Hill, Dundee, 111.; seed collec- 

 tions from Peter Henderson, W. 



A. Burpee, Johnson & Stokes, M. 



B. Faxon, Wm. Beckert and 

 others; plants from Wm. Scott, 

 of Buffalo, and from John Bur- 



„c^ dette and Hiram Munson of our 



-^"^ own County. 



Fig. 3. Uniting a New with an Old iMwn. 



evenness of the growth and general beauty are 

 concerned. This is indeed a charm in the ap- 

 pearance of the young tender grass not to be 

 found in the best old lawn in the world. What a 

 waste of time and labor goes on annually in the 

 sodding of hundreds of acres of green plats about 

 our large cities and towns. And seeded lawns 

 are easily the least weedy of the two. 



Prospective Apple Crop. Most of the trees this 

 season bloomed abundantly and give promise of 

 a rich harvest. The Baldwins, however, as might 

 be expected after last year's large crop,have only 

 a few scattering blossoms, and probably will not 

 bear hea\ily. The small size and general in- 

 feriorit.y of most specimens of the last crop indi- 

 cates that the trees were allowed to overbear, 

 and a comparative rest may be urgently needed 

 by them. Our experience is that the few speci- 

 mens which set the season following a full crop 

 generally remain small, and grow gnarled and 

 inferior, probably on account of the concentrated 

 attack of insects, now hungry after a season of 

 revelry. If the orchard was spra.ved for insects 

 last year, and again this season, there ought to 

 be little trouble from that cause, and the few 

 Apples now set, like those which remain after 

 undergoing the process of thorough thinning by 

 human interference, certainly must have all the 

 chance to grow large and come to perfection. It 

 is not always the tree that blooms most abund- 

 antly which bears the best crop. In fact, if the 

 season is favorable for fruit setting, but few 

 blossoms comparatively are required for a good 

 yield of fine fruit. We have seen Peaches and 

 Pear treeswhich were quite unpromising at bloom 

 ing time, give a most excellent crop of superior 

 fruit. The grower need not despair, if his trees 

 in spring are not a complete mass of flowers, but 

 he should use all the means at his command to 

 protect the comparatively small number of fruit 

 once set from any possible harm, and allow them 

 to come to that perfection, which each specimen 

 under the advantage of this natural thinning, is 

 given a chance to obtain. 



Modern Weed Slayers. Now the weeds are try- 

 ing t« run a race with our implements of 

 slaughter. But from the very outset they seem 

 to be given but very little show. We lie in am- 

 bush, with finger weeder and Planet Jr. wheei 

 hoe cocked, primed and pointed at them. Woe to 

 all that dare to start in the unequal race. 



Bone Flour for Vegetables. Gardeners of na- 

 tional repute often express their prefei-ence for 

 bone flour as a manure for garden vegetables 

 From their standpoint they may be right. Their 

 land is filled with the decaying organic matter 

 left by annual heavy applications of stable 

 manure, only needing a slight addition, especially 

 of phosphoric acid and nitrogen, to keep it up to 

 the same standard. We and all other people 

 whose soil is not in this happy condition, and who 

 must supply plant food to it for immediate 

 use of plants, cannot rely on bone flour, with its 

 slow action, and entire lack of potash. In order 

 to get the immediate results we are after, we 

 must make use of complete and more soluble 

 fertilizers, and only for some crops, like Toma- 

 toes, leguminous plants; and fruits, we can use 



About the Pear Blight. 



SAMUEL MILLER. 



This destructive disease 

 seems to be almost as much 

 a mystery today as it was 

 forty years ago. Some say, keep them in 

 sod, and this with me has worked well for a 

 few years, but the present season they have 

 been struck even when the trees are in sod. 



To use ashes freely on the ground, wash 

 the trees and larger limbs with white wash 

 well charged with sulphur, or paint them 

 with linseed oil will prevent it. But how 

 many of us carry out these doctrines ? I for 

 one did not do it this spring, nor do I at- 

 i tribute the disease in the present case to the 

 omission. There are times when the atmos- 

 pheric conditions will cause it in spite of all 

 precaution. That electricity is the main 

 cause I am pretty well convinced. Another 

 thing is pretty certain that when Pear blight 

 is doing its work yoti may be sure of Grape 

 rot. About a month ago I noticed the end 

 of the present year's shoots on some Le 

 Conte Pear buds three years old on a bear- 

 ing tree of Cocklin's Hybrid, a first cousin 

 to LeConte. They were cut off promptly as 

 fast as they appeared. 



It then occurred to me that 

 the three year old trees of this 

 variety in the orchard on the 

 hill might be affected in like 

 manner but they were clear of 

 it, and still so a month later, 

 nor has there any appeared 

 since on the buds. 



Near the blighted LeConte tree 

 is a natural tree about four inches 

 in diameter which I grafted with 

 the Lawson in the spring. The 

 grafts are growing nicely, while 

 all the natiu-al branches left, as 

 also the young shoots let start, 

 became blighted in a few days, 

 as if lire had swept over the 

 tree. Of course they were speed- 

 ily cttt off. The I>awson being 

 perfectly free seems to indicate 

 that in this we have a blight-proof variety. 



It does not seem to resent neglect,or easily 

 succumb to bug attacks, and no diseased 

 plant was ever found in our quite large 

 patches for two seasons. It is fully as hardy 

 and bug resisting as Crockneck Summer 

 Squash, perhaps more so, and we do not 

 think that it will be difflcult for even the 

 unskilled gardener to produce all he may 

 want. Its shape and general appearance is 

 shown in illustration (reduced from Rural 

 New Yorker). The average size of the fruit 

 is about ten inches in largest diameter, and 

 four or five inches from stem to blossom 

 end. When nearly ripe, it is of a dark 

 bluish green, turning to greenish yellow, 

 with firm, dry, yellow meat. We have a 

 few hills of it growing on our experiment 

 grounds. 



Important Modifications of the 

 Cyclone Nozzle. 



A spraying nozzle for use in orchard and 

 vineyard, to be perfect, must combine many 

 features, among them adjustable size, 

 fineness and direction of spray, force of de- 

 livery, prevention of clogging, or chance for 

 cleaning out obstructions. The best of our 

 existing nozzles, chief among them the Cy- 

 clone or Eddy-chamber, and the Climax, 

 answer some of these requirements, but fail 

 in others. In the desire for a perfect nozzle, 

 many efforts have been made to strengthen 

 the weak points of the Cyclone, and this has 

 given us quite a number of modifications of 

 the original form. The terms " Cyclone " 

 or "Eddy-chamber" apply to the whole 

 class of nozzles, in which the spray is pro- 

 duced in consequence of a rapid rotary 

 motion given to the water in a chamber 

 .lust before its ejection. No patent on it. 



The Riley nozzle, shown in Fig. 1. of 

 illustration Is the original form of the 

 Cyclone. At A is shown the typical small 

 stem nozzle with the screw cap c above the 

 chamber a as it appears when removed from 

 the chamber. The circular body of this cap 

 is chambered out inside, with a small open- 

 ing (1-64 to 1-16 inch in diameter) in the 

 center of top, for the discharge of spray, 

 and screws down to the bottom of chamber 

 o, the orifice d coming opposite the orifice c, 

 shown in the section at B, in the wall of this 



A Japanese Winter Squash. 

 For the past two or three years we have 

 tried quite a number of vegetables from 

 Japan, but none of them proved of sufficient 

 value for further trials with them, except 

 the subject of our illustration, which at its 

 home bears the euphonious name Kikusa- 

 tonasu, while with us it had to be content 

 with the simple appellation "Japanese 

 Sqtiash." The most valuable character- 

 istics of the plant are hardiness, remarkable 

 thrift, early and full bearing, while the fruit 

 is perhaps the equal of Hubbard Squash in 

 flavor and keeping quality. 



A JAPANESE WINTER SQUASH, 



chamber. This section (B) shows the con- 

 struction of the stem and chamber. 



The " Universal Spray Tip," invented by 

 a Californian fruit grower, is shown in Fig. 

 2. In general form it resembles a water 

 cock. The spherical body of the nozzle has 

 on its outer surface two counter-sunk de- 

 pressions, c and d, and at the bottom of each 

 is a small circular opening communicating 

 with the orifice in which the plug is inserted. 

 The larger straight orifice (i communicates 

 with the center orifice. Two cavities are 

 drilled into the plug h and connected by a 

 small orifice which passes from the shallower 

 cavity tangentiaUy into the base of the 

 deeper one. The illustration represents the 

 water entering the shallow cavity, passing 



