1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



217 



1,31S. Apple Trees from Seed. Seodlintrs of all 

 our improved oultivak'il fruits are liable to great 

 variations. Apple seedlings may or may not re- 

 tain the desirable (lualities of their parents. In 

 this ease we do not even deal with probabilities, 

 for all is uneertainty. 



1,2:^. Spent Hops. Yes, they ean be used for 

 putting over the drainage in reiiotting plants. 

 In preparing eomjiost for potting mix with turfy 

 loam from an olil pa.-^ture, using une-lhinl hoiis 

 to two-thirds loam The innipost shouldlie re- 

 peatedly turned, and used when about a yearold^ 



J,a33. Grafting Wax. The following recipe 

 for making a grafting fluid is given by Farm and 

 Fireside: Melt one pound of resin over a gentle 

 fire, add to it one ounce of beef tallow, and stir 

 it well. Take it from the fire, let it eool down a 

 little, and then mix with it a teaspoonful of 

 spirits of turpentine, and after that, about seven 

 ounces of very strong alcohol (il5 per cent). The 

 alcohol cools it down so rapidly that it will be 

 necessary to put it once more on the hie, stirrmg 

 it constantly. Care must be taken to pre\ent 

 the alcohol from being inflamed. To a\ niii it the 

 best wav is to remo\e the ves,sel from the Are 

 when the lumps that may have been formed com- 

 mence melting again. The melting must be con- 

 tinued until the whole is a homogenous mass, 

 similar to honey. This liquid grafting wax is 

 very cheai>, easily ]irepared, and ean be kept 

 corked up in a wide-imiutheil bottle, for at least 

 six niontlis unaltered. It is api'lied in as thin a 

 ci)at as possible. b\- means of a flat pieceof wood. 

 Within a few days it will be as hard as a stone. 

 It is not in the least affected by the severe cold 

 of our winters, and it never softens or cracks 

 when exposed to atmospheric changes. 



1,217. Mushroom Calture. Excellent practi- 

 cal directions are to be found in " Practical Gar- 

 den Points," recently published by James Viek, 

 Koclicster; price 2o cents. Peter Henderson's 

 Gardening tor I'n.Ht, price ?!.. Ml, also devotes a 

 chapter to Mushr n growing, and the instruc- 

 tions given are plain and i>ractical. 



1,231. Grape Rot. I find that I can effectually 

 stop it by means of carbolic acid. Try an ounce 

 of it dissohed in five gallons of water, and 

 sprayed over the fruit as soon as the rot appears. 

 —('. E. P. [We would rather rely on preventive 

 applications of the Bordeaux mixture sprayed 

 on the vines before any disease appears.— Ed.] 



1,230. Preserving Seed Potatoes. I have not 

 removed sprouts from Potatoes for se\'eral years. 

 Potatoes should be kept where it is perfectly 

 dark, and the temperature down to between 3»° 

 and 4.5°. I have a deep cold cellar without light, 

 and my Potatoes Aug. 1st; do not have sprouts 

 one inch long. The only thing to fear from the 

 use of ice is excessive moisture.— Wm. li. Hott. 



1,224. Geraniums for Winter and Summer. 



Geraniums that have been used for summer 

 bloomers will not flower again until the late 

 spring months. Geraniums for winter blooming 

 should be grown specially for that purpose by 

 keeping the flower buds nipped until August. 



1234. Geraniums for Winter and Summer. It 

 is expecting entii'ely too much of Geraniums or 

 any plants to have them flower well the year 

 round. For winter use therefore, grow the 

 plants carefully through the previous summer, 

 shitting as required, but pinch out all bloom as 

 it appears in sight. 



12:36. Grafting the Grape. While almost any of 

 the different methods in grafting might be employed 

 the cion is most usually inserted in the root stock of 

 the plant below the surface of the ground, tying 

 with bass, and then covered with soil to exclude air 

 and prevent drying. The work may be done in 

 early fall or winter, but the cion must in some way 

 be protected from frost. This is sometimes done by 

 covering the cion with an inverted flower pot, and a 

 sufficient layer of straw on top or merely w'th 

 coarse manure. Fall or winter grafting is more 

 generally practiced, and perhaps more suitable in 

 the south, and spring grafting in the northern 

 states. It is important that the op»ration should be 

 performed very early . using cions that are perfectly 

 dormant, but if neglected until there is danger of 

 bleeding, it had better be delayed until the full 

 development of the leaf and danger from such 

 bleeding is past.— R. T. 



1,2.3T. Bleeding After Pruning. Our best Grape 

 growers prefer fall pruning, but do not hesitate to 

 prune in early spring when neglected until^then and 

 do not fear bleeding, as that is not regarded as 

 especially injurious, and there seems to be no reas- 

 on to greatly worry about it — M. N, O. 



1,226. Pot-Grown Strawberry Plants. Small 

 thumb pots are generally used for pottmg plants. 

 When the runners have started, select a convenient 

 spot near the parent plant, plunge the pot into the 

 ground up to the brim, and place the end of the 

 runner where the youn^ plant is forming upon the 

 soil in center of pot, weighting it down by means of 

 a little stone, clod, or a piece of wood, etc. When 

 the plant has well rooted, take up the pot and you 

 have the '^pot grown" ' plant ready to transfer to the 

 bed. Sufficient fruit, for all this trouble, as a rule 

 is only obtained from early grown plants and with 

 careful handling throughout.— T. R. 



l,21."). Grafting Apples, Plums and Cherries. 



You should procure a copy of Barry's Fruit Gar- 

 den or Downing's Fruits of America. In either of 

 these works yon will find the information you 

 desire.— C. E. P. 



1,241. Treatment of Cuttings. Cuttings of the 

 Grape, Currant and Gooseberry are generally; taken 

 off in the fall or winter, prepared for planting and 

 two-thirds of their lower end buried in the ground 

 until spring when they can be planted in rows on the 

 shady side of a wall or fence in a deep, rich, loamy 

 soil. You can place them in shallow boxes of 

 clean sand early in March and place in a warm, 

 moist situation in your greenhouse, where if given 

 a gentle bottom heat they will root readily, and as 

 soon as the weather becomes settled, can be 

 planted out in nursery rows.— C. E. P. 



1,34'3, The Orris Root of Commerce. Iris flor- 

 entiua is the Orris root of commerce — C. E. P. 



1,243. Vitality of Pansies. The seed retains 

 vitality for about two years but will not germinate 

 as rapidly as fresh. I know of no work on 

 this subject,— C. E. P, 



1,249. Granadilla Vine. Passiflora quadrangu- 

 laris is its botanical name.— C. E. P. 



1,252. Rose Slug. Dissolve one pound of whale 

 oil soap in eight gallons of water and syringe the 

 affected plants thoroughly every evening until the 

 pests are destroy ed.—C. E. P, 



1,2153. Cucumbers for Pickles, Plant late in 

 June. The Pickles cut fresh from the vines are 

 carefully and snugly packed in crates and shipped 

 to the Pickle factories. Always handle them gently. 

 To preserve them, pack in clean forty gallon casks, 

 with one-half bushel of salt. The brine formed 

 must entirely cover the Cucumbers, and it is always 

 necessary to press them down with a stone placed 

 upon a loosely fitting cover. All Cucumbers allowed 

 to float will soon rot. Another good way is to fiU 

 the casks with Cucumbers, shaking them in gently, 

 and to pour a brine of one-half bushel of salt and 

 tifteen gallons of water over them, holding them 

 under the brine by a weighted cover. 



1,247. Napthaline as a Germicide, The strongest 

 vapors of this drug in hot-bed did not seem to be of 

 much inconvenience to flea beetle and Potato beetle 

 and for these toughs of the insect tribe at least 

 naphthaline cannot be regarded as a preventive or 

 remedy. As a germicide, however, it is highly 

 spoken of by chemists, that it is worth a trial for 

 Melon vine fungus, mildew, or Lettuce in forcing 

 houses, perhaps even for Grape disease. Let us 

 test it by all means. 



1,250. Thymo Cresol. This English remedy, 

 commonly named "cold water dip," and sent out 

 by a Baltimore Arm, has the appearance of tar. 

 only somewhat more Uquid, and a smell resembhng 

 carbolic acid. I have used it in weak solution for 

 Cabbage worms with the very best of success. A 

 single application seems to free the plants entirely 

 from worms and eggs, and to prevent in a measure 

 even future attacks It has no apparent effect upon 

 flea beetles. Potato beetles. Squash beetles and 

 such like members of the insect tribe,— T. R. 



1,212 Planting Blackberry Roots. The root 

 cuttings, when made in the fall, should be packed 

 in boxes in sand, providing for drainage, and the 

 boxes buried in the ground in a well drained spot. 

 In spring take them up and scatter in furrows made 

 same as for Potatoes, covering a few inches deep. 

 This will make excellent root cutting plants by 

 another season. Nurserymen often start their 

 choice new varieties under glass, but this would 

 hardly be profitable for the commoner sorts. I 

 have also planted three inch cuttings of the roots 

 for a permanent patch, in rows at the usual dis- 

 tance, placing two pieces of cutting in a hUl, but 

 the plantation will require one year more to come 

 to full bearing than when rooted plants are used. 



1,203. Grape Vine Leaf Roller, Go over the 

 vines in August when the folded leaves are noticed 

 and crush them with their occupants. A little care 

 should be exercised else the active worm will slip 

 out of the case, letting itself fall to the ground, and 

 thus make good its escape. The second brood 

 passes the winter in the chrysalis state, within the 

 folded leaves, and may be destroyed by going over 

 the vineyard, late in the season, gathering the 

 folded leaves and burning them,— R, 



1,230, Repotting Chrysanthemums, I learn 

 with many others that where the last shift has been 

 from the cutting into a b'A inch pot, say, or a 4>i 

 inch in the case of delicate growers, especially 

 where the plants arrived without soil through the 

 mail, it would be quite premature to move them in 

 to 7 or 8-inch pots in May, This applies especially 

 to the newer introductions, which so many growers 

 have been anxious to obtain. Here we have had a 

 great downpour of rain, several inches, within the 

 past week, I left my plants with a few exceptions 

 in the greenhouse. Neighboring growers removed 

 theirs under sheds or into frames. Where the 

 drainage is good it is a doubtful question whether 

 in the first week of May soft rain can or would do 

 vigorous healthy plants any harm. I think a 

 dwarfish, vigorous growth, and firm, well ripened 

 wood, with leathery foliage, is best secured by a 

 maximum of open air growth. — C. C. L. 



1,211. Liquid Putty. For glazing sashes, Mr. 

 Peter Henderson in " Gardening for Profit " recom- 

 mends white lead in oil, just thin enough so the ap- 

 plication can be made from an oil can in a thin line. 

 Dry white sand is strewn over this, thus making a 

 cement that soon Iiardens and stops all leakage, 



I, UK), Seeds that Failed, it is a common error 

 with amateurs to sow seeds too deep, and to put 

 plants and trees lower than a proper level in the 

 ground. Nature sows seeds in a very different way 

 to the jobbing gardener, who generally makes a 

 drill deep enough for the footing of a wall, and 



Elants a tree a foot or so deeper than it was before, 

 ow a few more seeds at once, in a shallow drill , 



1,176, Keeping Asparagus. The best way to 

 keep it for a day or two is to stand it upright in a 

 jar or bowl with a tew inches of water in full light 

 This treatment keeps it fresh and straight. If laid 

 on its side it is likely to turn up a little towards the 

 light, and although" this does not interfere with the 

 cooking it often causes the breaking of the points, 

 which is not pleasant— Chas, L, Merrill. 



1,218. Summer-pinching of Trees, etc. Where 

 the branches are thinly disposed the growths not 

 required for extension may be pinched as soon as 

 they have made five or six leaves and before the 

 whole of these are developed, the subsequent 

 growths to be pinched at one leaf. When trees are 

 much crowded early topping is calculated ,to aggra- 

 vate the evil, and disbudding would be the most de- 

 sirable. If good crops of fruit, regardless of the 

 size and shape of trees, is the main object the 

 branches cannot well be too thinly disposed, then 

 summer pinching will scarcely be needed and very 

 little pruning at any time. Leaves should not be 

 permitted where there is not space for their growth 

 without crushing violently against each other. 



1197. Mint in the Garden, This useful herb is 

 by no means diflioult to suit as regards aspect, and 

 if the bed !gets sunshine at any part of the day it 

 ought to do well. The main thing to ensure a 

 plentiful supply is to transplant a few roots 

 every year to entirely fresh soil, as it soon gets 

 tired of one spot and will die out if confined to it. 

 But nature itself helps it to do this as its roots keep 

 pushing outwards on to fresh soil from the center, 

 and in this way will travel over a large area in a 

 few years. If the .soil is heavy a plentiful supply 

 of gritty soil or old mortar rubbish will help to 

 make it more congenial to the roots, which are 

 liable to rot away in winter if the soil is very wet.-- 

 E, H. Lamy. 



1204. Mulching Fruit Trees. In order to de- 

 rive the the full benefits from mulching, the manure 

 should be put over the roots in May or early June. 

 Then the virtues of the manure are generally 

 washed down to the roots, and the moisture is re. 

 tained in the soil to such an extent that should dry 

 weather follow, the new wood, foliage, and fruit 

 will become fully developed. Many do not attempt 

 this until the atmosphere is excessively hot and the 

 soil dust dry from the effects of a July sun.— C.C.L. 



120s. Toads our Friends. I only wish I was 

 near to yon ; I would gladly take them. You need 

 not have any horror of them, as they are perfectly 

 harmless. I have got four or five in my greenhouse 

 and they are so tame I can do anything with them; 

 they will feed from my hand. I may futher say 

 they are the greatest friends the gardner has got. 

 as they eat woodlice. slugs, and lots of other insects 

 that so infest the greenhouse. I would not have 

 one of mine hurt in any way if I knew it. I watch- 

 ed one the other day and saw him catch no less 

 than rive or six woodlice in about t>vo luintes,— L.J, 



1,23, Cactus for Day Blooming. Epiphyllum 

 truncatum and its several varieties are among the 

 most desirable as they fiower freely during the 

 winter months Of the spring and summer bloom- 

 ing varieties Phyllocactus phyllanthoides, P. acker- 

 mani, Cereus flagelliformis, C. speciossimns. are 

 very desirable and easily grown species.— C, E, P 



How to Bud Roses. 



The explicit directions for biiddiug Roses, 

 given in a recent number of Gardener's 

 Magazine, London, can hardly tail to be 

 welcome to a great many of our readers. 



Budding is unquestionably the most im- 

 portant of the methods by which the multi- 

 plication of Roses can be effected. It is not 

 sufficient to know that the soil should be 

 rich, the water supply liberal, and the 

 details of prtming properly carried out. The 

 cultivator must make himself acquainted 

 with the peculiarities of the stocks and en- 

 deavor to become proficient in working 

 tlicm, for it is only by raising at least a por- 

 tion of the stock at home that he can hope to 

 derive the fullest possible amount of en,joy- 

 ment from his Roses or occupy a leading 

 position at the exhibitions. It cannot be too 

 widely known that the ma,iority of the 

 finest blooms annually staged at the public 



