POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



EweMATTER'niA'i Deserves 



TO B£rWlDE.lYKt(OWtl# 

 Wilson Strawberry. Our 



most \-aluable Strawberry 

 in Georgia is the Wilsou — 

 P,J.Be7cl;man$. 



Thinning Pears. I be- 

 lieve there is not much 

 prollt in Pears unless thin- 

 ned out properly.— G. Zim- 

 nicrtnaii. 



Spraying Trees. The reason why my fruit was 

 so fair was the spraying of Paris green given to 

 the orchard when the fruit was as large as Mar- 

 rowfat Peas.— J. J. 'I'liinnm. 



The Baldwin Apple. There seems to be more 

 money in it than ii} any other Tariety.and I think 

 that is all there is in it. Nobody puts a Baldwin 

 in the cellar for home use.— R.TF. Watson. 



Average Orchards. Our orchards are very far 

 from being what they ought to be. There are 

 instances of exceptionally good culture and good 

 management, but these are few.— P. lian-y. 



Berry Harvester. Last season was dry and 

 picking hard, the berries adhering to the stems 

 with great tenacity. IJut on moist land the har- 

 A'ester worked well. Must learn how to use it 

 before it is a success. — Mr, Ca^e. 



Choice Fears. The sorts which sold at highest 

 prices were ISartlett, Seckel and Claregeau— the 

 Bartlett for its general popularity, the Seckel for 

 its high flavor, and the Claregeau for its surpass- 

 ing beauty of api)earance.— J^. J. Thoma!^. 



Apricots and Nectarines. These are not a suc- 

 cess in common hands. A few choice varieties 

 of the Russian Apricots we think worthy of trial' 

 l»articularly Gibb, Ale.x'is, Catharine, Alexander' 

 Nicholas and J. L. Budd. They give a succes.sion, 

 l)ut we do not wish to speak too conlidentl.v. — 

 P. M. Auum: 



Fruit Trees Alon;; the Roadside. From the 

 long lines of Aiiple trees that skirt the roadside 

 adjoining many of the farms of Genesee (^ounty, 

 crops in paying quantities are already being 

 harvested. Mr. Charles E. Cook the past season 

 gathered from about 50 roadside trees 3011 barrels 

 of choice winter Apples of the Northern Spy 

 variety .—lnnn{t D. Cook. 



A Great English Society. Though its arrange- 

 ments are far from faultless, the Royal Agricul- 

 tural Societ.v of England is beyond all question 

 the greatest and most successful association of 

 its kind in the world. It consists at present of 

 nearly ll.iXIO members, and the prize money 

 which (with extra assistance from outside) it 

 otters for the great show to be held at Windsor, 

 in June, amounts to £12,000. 



Juneberry. I have been experimenting with 

 the dwarf varieties of Amelanchier for about 

 tlf teen years, and I have several varieties grow- 

 ing upon my place in Kansas which are abundant 

 bearers, extremely hard.v, and have never been 

 troubled with any fungus. Have sold tour to 

 five hundred tiuarts of the fruit in a season, gen-' 

 eraUy at good prices. The varieties differ greatly. 

 1 have one from the mountains of Pennsylvania 

 which is of unusually fine flavor, and very prom- 

 isiug.--H. £. Vamkinan. 



Commercial Fertilizers. These should always 

 be used to supplement, and never to supplant 

 our home manures. They should be used only in 

 such rations as are safe and healthful, never 

 passing the ma.ximum of a truly economic ap- 

 plication. If we desire perfection in fruits, we 

 must supply in the best and most available form 

 the elements needed in the desired article. It is 

 better, howevei-, to sujiply a little more than the 

 estimated need of the plant than to tall short.— 

 P. M. Auyui\ before Am. Poiiioloaical Society. 



Cemetery Arrangement, Cemeteries should 

 be as beautiful to drive through as to walk 

 through, and roads must be carried on and over 

 the hills and knolls- Steep grades, however, 

 should be a\'oided, unless they are absolutely 

 necessary, or otherwise they will be constantly 

 washing out, and always a trouble and expense 

 in keeping up. They must be placed, too, in har- 

 mony with the general design of the whole, 

 which must be in the eye of the landscape gar- 

 dener as the conception of a beautiful landscape 

 painting is in the eye of the thorough artist be- 

 fore he places it on canvass in all its details.— As- 

 sociation of Aiiwriean Cemetery Supcrintendcntit. 



Late Cultivation of Raspberries. H. M. Engle, 

 Pa.: I think it best, as a rule, to cultivate Rasp- 



berries later than other fruits. I have noticed 

 that those canes which are produced late in the 

 season bear the best the following year. A. S. 

 Fuller, N. J.: I am satisfied that a late growth 

 f)f Raspberries is to be encouraged. The trouble 

 all through the South is that in summer the leaves 

 burn so that the canes do not mature. In the 

 mountains of New Mexico I have seen snow upon 

 the bushes when they were full of leaves and 

 fruit, and yet there was a full crop the following 

 year. The ability of late growths to endure cold 

 is especially true of Red Raspberries, but also to 

 some extent of Black Raspberries and Blackber- 

 ries.— Anifj'icnii Pom(Aoi)lfal Society. 



Working Hen and the Study of Botany. An 

 exhibition of marine plants, M(jsses, Ferns, shells, 

 etc., extending over five days, was held recently 

 in Aberdeen, England, by the worklngmen of 

 that place. This is the third exhibition of the 

 kind, but the present one, both in point of num- 

 bers and the quality and neatness of handling of 

 the specimens, tar eclipsed the preWous two. It 

 says a great deal for the members of this society, 

 all of whom are working men, that they are aUe, 

 during their limited leisure, to gather together 

 such -an excellent collection. These exhibitions 

 are intended to foster a love of research among 

 all classes of the community, and if we are to 

 judge by their large numbers of visitore who 

 nightly crowded the hall, this worthy intention 

 should be to a great extent verified. 



Plums for Market. Bradshaw is a large early 

 purple variety, of fair quality, that always sells 

 well, because it is large and handsome, and also 

 because it may be put into our market before 

 the same is supplied from New York and else- 

 where. The tree is a thi'ifty upright grower and 

 ccjraparatively free from the black knot. Smith's 

 Orleans is of good size and showy, covered with 

 a deep purple bloom and sells well, though only 

 of fair quality. The Lombard is a well-known 

 fill-basket variety of medium size and fair qual- 

 ity. It is reddish purple in color and the tree is 

 an enormous bearer. The variety needs to be 

 thinned to secure fruit of good size. Here we 

 are inclined to stop, but if a yellow Plum were 

 to be added, it would be Prince's Imperial (lage. 

 F. C. Hyde, before JlfOAs. Hort. Society. 



Booting Cuttings of House Plants, Plants can 

 be easily grown from cuttings in moist sand. 

 Place an inverted tumbler or glass shade over 

 them, as it will greatly promote the growth by 

 retaining the moisture. Much depends upon 

 the selection of the cutting; if too young and 

 full of fresh sap, it wiU fade away from too much 

 evaporation; if too old— hard and woody— it will 

 be too long in striking root. Select a cutting 

 that is perfectly ripened, from a vigorous shoot, 

 a trifle hardened at the base, with a joint near 

 the end of the cutting, as all roots strike from it; 

 keep up a good supply of moisture and you can 

 hardly fail. I usually start cuttings early in 

 August, so that they get in fine growing condi- 

 tion before frosty nights compel me to bring all 

 plants indooi-s. We feel quite inclined to leave 

 them out as long as possible— this is a mistake; 

 the change will be too great if taken immediately 

 into a heated room. With the best of manage- 

 ment they feel the change, but by using care they 

 recover much more quickly.— ilfrs. Amf)M, hc- 

 fore the Win. State Hort. Society. 



Planting Apples for Export in Canada. The 



best time to sell any article is when it is first 

 ready for market. If farmers would grow the 

 right varieties, they would receive better prices. 

 Formerly the English market took any variety 

 that was good in appearance, now they want a 

 really good Apple. While some shippers have lost 

 money the past season, those who handled the 

 right varieties, packed and culled properly, have 

 made money. Apples should bring what they 

 are really worth, and the practice common with 

 buyers of going to a man and paying so much 

 per barrel tor his Apples in bulk is bad, as in that 

 case, he aims to produce quantity regardless of 

 quality. When the shipper could pay $1., 50 per 

 liarrel for such Apples as King Tompkins, Rib- 

 ston Pippin and Blenheim Pippin, some other 

 varieties are not worth more than SI. 00. The 

 Greening is coming up in value in the English 

 market. Great care is necessary in recommend- 

 ing what varieties to plant, as some varieties 

 succeedqji best in one section and others in 

 another, perhaps but a short distance from it. 

 Liberal treatment of the orchard in the matter 

 of manures is essential to success. Our Apple 

 marketsuffers severely from bad handling of the 

 Apples, from the fact that Canadian Apples are 

 sold by auction on the Liverpool market by com- 



mission men. Canada has comparatively a mon- 

 opoly of the proiluetiim of first-class Apples, and 

 for this reason there was little or no danger 

 of a glut in the market. The American Golden 

 Russett at the spring season brings better prices 

 than any other variety. It is folly to plant many 

 varieties, as too many farmers have done in the 

 past. The new Apple called Enormous,of which 

 we are now hearing such good reports, is 

 probably only the Alexander with a new name. 

 This has been done frequently with this variety, 

 and as it is unusually handsome, the tree sells 

 readily from the colored plates, although only a 

 fall Apple.— A. Mc D. Allan, before Dominion 

 Fa/rmcrs^ Council. 



Manures for the Orchard and 

 Garden. 



lExtract of paper read before tlie Weste7~n New Yortc 

 Horticultural Society by Josepfi Harris.^ 



Manure is a by-product. Its price is de- 

 termined, not by the cost of production, but 

 by competition among consumers. If stable 

 manure were sold in Rochester for 10 cents 

 a load, there would be just as much pro- 

 duced as if it sold for .*3.00 a load. 



This view of the subject seems to be overlooked. 

 If gardeners, nurserymen and fruit growers 

 would study the subject of the oft ridiculed 

 " special fertilizers" I am confident they would 

 soon be able to use them with great profit, and 

 not be obliged to bid against each other for the 

 by-product of the city stables. 



We greatl.v need some reliable experiments 

 with nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, super- 

 phosphate, potash, etc., alone and combined in 

 different quantities and different proportions. 

 Our average commercial fertilizers do not contain 

 as much nitrogen as Clover hay, hence gardeners, 

 nurserymen and fruit growers often find little 

 benefit from their application. 



The profit of using nitrogen depends on the 

 price of the product. Artificial manures will 

 make trees grow but it wou Id not pay to use them 

 on a timber lot to grow wood for fuel at $3.00 per 

 cord. It is strange that this point is not more 

 generally recognized. We hear now-a-days a 

 great deal about "nitrogen free extract" or 

 " carbo hydrates " or "digestible woody fibre." 

 They are all classed together and in tables of nu- 

 tritive food values are estimated to be worth $18 

 per ton. Calling Timothy hay $1,5 per ton; Indian 

 corn 60 cents a bushel ; Potatoes 30 cents a bush- 

 el ; Apples $1..50 a barrel ; Pears S3.00 a barrel ; 

 Peaches 70 cents a basket, and Strawberries 2 cents 

 a quart, we have the following market prices of 

 a ton of carbo-hydrates ; Timothy hay, $30 per 

 ton, Indian Corn $30 per ton. Potatoes, $58 Apples, 

 $12.5, Pears, $2.50, Peaches, $.500, Strawberries, 

 $750 all per ton. 



The significance of these figures is ob\'ious. 

 Chemists are not going to persuade people to eat 

 what they do not like. It is useless to tell us that 

 Corn and Potatoes are the cheapest food we can 

 eat. As fruit producers we should study to grow 

 those crops that people are willing to pay a good 

 price for. And if we grow crops in which the 

 carbo-hydrat-es, instead of being worth $30 per 

 ton, are worth $100, or $200 or $300 or $.500 or $1000 

 per ton, we should see to it that the plants have al I 

 the food and especially all the nitrogen, that they 

 want to produce a maximum growth. It will 

 not pay, perhaps, to use nitrogen to grow carbo- 

 hydrates in Hay,Corn,Oats and Wheat,but it will 

 pay largely to use them to gi-ow carbo-hydrates 

 in Apples, Pears, Peaches, Strawberries and 

 other fruits. But it should be understood that 

 when we use manure for fruit trees we should 

 see that the fruit trees get it. If we grow Wheat 

 Oats, Potatoes, Beets, Strawberries and seeds 

 among our Peach, Pear, and Apple trees, we 

 should have to furnish an excessive supply of 

 nitrates before the fruit trees would get much of 

 it. The greater portion would be absorbed by 

 the annual crops and weeds, and it may well hap- 

 pen that a moderate dressing of manure would, 

 by increasing the growth of the weeds, actually 

 lesson the crop of fruit, for the reason that the 

 greater the growth of weeds the more water they 

 evaporate and the drier would be the soU where 

 the roots of fruit trees are searching for food 

 and water. 



As vegetables and fruits are improved, they re- 

 quire richer land, just as improved herds of ani- 

 mals require richer food. I do notcall grass and 

 hay rich foods ; neither are phosphoric acid, pot- 

 ash, soda, lime, magnesia and other ash constitu- 

 ents rich food for plants. They are absolutely 

 indispensable, but in addition to these we must 



