1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



201 



through the cavity c, and issuing at c. By 

 turning the plug to the right, as indicated 

 by the dotted line, the discharge can be 

 delivered at </. Thus it discharges side- 

 wise, or straight ahead, at the operator's 

 will. By turning the plug to the left from 

 the position shown in cut, the discharge 

 will be reversed and delivered through the 

 larger straight orifice a, thus permitting the 

 washing out of any sediment or obstruction. 

 The nozzle is closed, when turned half-way 

 around to the right from position shown. 



The often mentioned " Vermorel" nozzle 

 is another, and perhaps the most important 

 modification of the Riley nozzle. It adds the 

 feature of a " disgorger," which is an 

 attachment for removingobstrvict ions 

 from the discharge orifice, consisting 

 of a rod which can be pressed for- 

 ward until .small end passes through 

 the orifice and forces out the obstruc- 

 tion. This feature is still improved 

 upon in the following modifications. 



The Albrand modification (fig. .S) 

 not content with the Vermorel prin- 

 ciple of cleaning the nozzle from 

 obstructions, gives the operator still 

 better control over this operation, as 

 the cap is attached to a thumb-lever 

 held in place by a spring. When 

 the discharge orifice, which is situti- 

 ted in the movable cap c, becomes 

 obstructed, a pressure on the thumb 

 lever a raises the cap and permits the 

 liquid to rush out carrying away any 

 obstructions. The eddy chamber is 

 situated at the end of stem b. 



The Jafy modification (fig 4.) em- 

 ployes a disgorger somewhat on the 

 principle of Vermorel's, but which 

 works in the opposite way. In normal 

 position the thumb-lever a is sufliei- 

 ently raised by a spring placed be- 

 tween it and the tube b to throw the 

 needle down into the discharge ori- 

 fice, thus closing it and preventing 

 the passage of the liquid. When the opera- 

 tor wishes to begin work, he presses upon 

 the lever, as shown In illustration, and im- 

 mediately the spray issues from the eddy- 

 chamber. If the discharge becomes clogged, 

 he releases the lever, and the needle, spring- 

 ing forward into the opening, clears it. 



rherry at the west are fairly good for dessert 

 use. A few years ago we top-worked an e.xcellent 

 variety on small Wild Cherry stocks and sent 

 them out for trial. In all cases the parties re- 

 ceiving them have been specially pleased. 



Blighting Russian Apples. Mr. Samuel 

 Miller expresses the opinion that Russian 

 varieties subject to blight might be proHtubly 

 used for stocks. I would not recommend their 

 trial. It is quite as well to make use of the 

 equally hardy sorts that do not blight. Con- 

 trary to the belief often expressed, the interior 

 varieties of Central Russia are not more subjei't 

 to blight than the Duchess. But the coast 

 varieties are as subject to it as the Siberian 

 Crabs and I should be afraid to plant 

 them even for stocks. 



F,y.z 



ng.3 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A department to tvhich all are invited to send notes of 

 experienee and observation concerning topics that re- 

 cently have been treated on in this journal. Many 

 such contributions monthly would be welvome. 



A Specialist. In notes on the work of the 

 experimental grounds at La Salle, I find notice 

 of "a select list of Russian fruits from thesiiec- 

 ialist at Ames, Iowa." Although we have given 

 much time and thought to the fruits, forest 

 trees and shrubs of East Europe and North Cen- 

 tral Asia, the thought occurs that we have tried 

 as faithfully every native and foreign tree and 

 shrub promising to pi-ove valuable in the north- 

 west and the cold north which Dr. Hoskins talks 

 of. The improvement by selection and crossing 

 of our native Plums has been a specialty. The 

 attempt to improve our native Crabs and other 

 fruits by hybridizing has been equally a hobby. 

 At this time we have probably more seedlings of 

 the orchard fruits ou trial coming from syste- 

 matic crosses than are to be found at any other 

 point on this continent. I only mention this to 

 impress the idea that good things for our.trying 

 climate may, in our opinion, come from other 

 sources than the steppes of Russia. 



Black Wild Cherrf. I am glad to see the 

 defense of the Black Wild Cherry. It Is true 

 that the caterpillar infests it to some extent, but 

 it is not true that an orchard near a wild Cherry 

 grove is more infected than one ten miles dis- 

 tant. (.)n my farm in Benton county are many 

 trees of Prunus serotina near the orchard, but I 

 have failed to discover that the Apple trees were 

 more infested with the caterpillar than those on 

 the prairies, miles from the Cherry. In Cherry 

 groves at the west we only notice the webs on 

 trees on the outer borders of the grove. In con- 

 nection I will state that select varieties of Wild 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYCLONE NOZZLE. 



Bush Honeysuckle roR Hedge. To the note 

 recommending the Tartarian Honeysuckle for 

 ornamental hedges I wish to add that the merits 

 of Ijonicera splendem for this use, are, so far, 

 overlooked in this country. It is listed often as 

 Lonicera Tatarica spleiidens, but it is a very dis- 

 tinct type or strain from Central Asia and repro- 

 duces its characteristic foliage, habit, and fruit, 

 with slight variations, from seed. In foUage 

 and habit it is much superior to the old form of 

 bush Honeysuckle, and its immense crops of red 

 or yellow berries are very showy during late 

 summer and early fall. In Poland, Bohemia, 

 North Silesia and South Russia, it is much used 

 for screens and ornamental hedges. It readily 

 grows from seeds, and with great certainty from 

 cuttings put out in the fall. It is hardy 

 everywhere at the west. 



Roger's Grapes. The note on the Goethe 

 Grape suggests an item in our experience which 

 may not apply in all parts of our domain. About 

 eight years ago we set Goethe and other varieties 

 of the Rogers Grapes in a little plantation by 

 themselves, and a few as replants in a Concord 

 vineyard. The result has been that those planted 

 apart have borne very little fruit, and that little 

 imperfect in cluster, and the ^nnes are now dead. 

 On the other hand the same varieties— set at the 

 same time — among the Concords have borne reg- 

 ular crops of perfect fruit, and some of them are 

 yet in good condition as to health of canes. 

 Upon examination we found the poUen of all the 

 Roger hybrids we have defective. This accounts 

 for the bearing of those surrounded by the Con- 

 cords. The total destruction of the vines them- 

 selves we can only account for on the principle 

 that the fruitless vines made more rampant 

 growth and went into our recent hard winters 

 with wood less perfectly ripened than that of the 

 heavy bearing vines. Is the pollen of the Roger's 

 Grapes generally abortive, or is it rendered so by 

 our hot dry air of the prairies? 



Unsuitable Stocks. Under the head of 

 " Condensed Gleanings" it is assumed that the 

 abnormal knot is caused wholly by the use of a 

 stock slower in growth than the scion. Under 

 favorable circumstances the Miner Plum 

 enlarges about as rapidly as the Peach, yet if 



left to itself the "unsightly enlargement" is 

 found. In like manner we find this enlargement 

 when the Cherry is worked on the Miner Plum, 

 though naturally the Plum is the most rapid 

 grower. With the stone fruits the trouble 

 comes mainly from the character of the epider- 

 mis of the stock. If conditions be favorable the 

 outer bark (epidermis) hardens to such an extent 

 that the growing cell structure of the cambium 

 layer cannot expand it. Where a graft or bud is 

 put in above the ground the whole resources of 

 the stem and root are given to an extension of 

 growth of the new top. The sap goes up in the 

 alburnum, and the almost entire cessation of 

 growth and circulation under the bark favors 

 the hardening of the "corset strings" of the epi- 

 dermis of the stock. The remedy is to slit the 

 outer bark from the graft downward to 

 the earth at two or three points, and in 

 extreme cases to peel off with the fingers 

 the rings of hardened outer bark.— Pro/. 

 J. L. BurM, Agricultural College Experi- 

 ment Station, Iowa. 



Weeds on Lawns. I have had the care 

 of two acres of lawn that was full of 

 Dandelions and Plantains and now I can 

 show you a lawn as handsome and free 

 from weeds as any in the states. I con- 

 structed a tool for pulling out the whole 

 root without disturbing the lawn much. 

 The job is always done in the fall after 

 the weeds have made their growth so if 

 there is a small piece of root left the 

 frost is pretty sure to kill it. The lawn 

 is rolled in the spring when the ground 

 is soft. This closes all the holes, covers 

 the bare places and thus prevents other 

 weeds from starting.— J. M. R., New Bed- 

 ford, Mass. 



Digging Ditches. Your directions for 

 laying out and levelling ditches are worth 

 more to me than the price of the paper, 

 but I can improve on your method of 

 digging ditches. I use a Cassaday sulky 

 plow, which makes a wider and deeper 

 fuiTOw than a hand plow. Next I hitch 

 the team to a ditching plow or simply 

 "ditcher," as we call it here, using a long 

 double tree so the horses need not walk 



too close to the edge of ditch, and run 



the ditcher two or three times, or if the 

 ground is very hard or stony, even four 

 times, through the bottom of the furrow. The 

 loose dirt is then thrown out, and the process 

 repeated, until the ditch is nearly deep enough, 

 and must then be finished by hand. The ditcher 

 I use is known here as the Bartlett ditcher.— C.J. 

 Baldridge, Seneca Co., N. T. 



Birds and Grapes. A correspondent of the 

 Florida Dispatch proposes to feed the birds with 

 something they like better than Grapes and thus 

 save the latter. Incidentally, also, he gives a 

 strong testimony of the benefits derived from 

 the little feathered thieves. " If you have the 

 leaf rollers as bad as we have them here," he 

 says, "it will be poor policy to kill the birds. 

 Before the Grapes ripen birds can be seen going 

 over the vines daily devouring this little destruct- 

 ive worm, and but for their help the vines would 

 be stripped of their leaves and the fruit cooked 

 by the sun. An infallible preventive remedy 

 for damage done by fruit eating birds is to plant 

 plenty of Fig trees around, and a row or two 

 through the vineyard. The Grape is evidently 

 an unsatisfactory dish anyway, as is proved by 

 the fact that the bird hardly ever sticks his bill 

 twice into the same berry. They are all the time 

 hunting for something more substantial than 

 Grape juice, and the tender pulp of the Fig 

 exactly fills the bill. I have a row of Grape 

 vines within one hundred yards of half a dozen 

 Fig trees of the little Yellow Celeste that stand 

 on a neighbor's ground. Before the Figs or 

 Grapes ripen my vines are full of Mocking birds 

 and Uttle Mexican canaries, the most destructive 

 of all, hunting the worms, but as soon as the 

 Figs begin to ripen, which is just before the 

 Grapes, they bid me good by and leave me to en- 

 joy my G rapes in peace. I saw the same thing 

 in the city of Houston, beautiful bunches of 

 ripe Concords and other kinds, with not a berry 

 touched, while the Fig trees within a few yards 

 were alive with the birds." The same plan 

 might perhaps be adopted with equally good 

 results at the north. Birds are especially fond 

 of MuUierries, and it is more than likely that the 

 planting of Mulberries, perhaps Russian varie- 

 ties in hedge form or otherwise, will prove 

 effective as a protection to Grapes and perhaps 

 other fruits.— r. K. 



