236 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



be only nine inches above the water. When they 

 found the meadows became too wet and the 

 coarse grasses began to come iu, they began to 

 cart on sand. This was the third, and most fatal 

 mistake, because every load sank the meadow 

 lower by its weight. Many acres I have seen 

 carried under water after it has been drained, by 

 loading with sand. 



Depth of Outlet. If we have a chance to 

 draw water two, three or four feet below the 

 surface, we may reasonably expect to have a 

 valuable meadow that will not only bear good 

 grass, but can be brought into use for garden 

 purposes. The soil will settle at least one-half_ 

 It may be more, but if you draw the water four 

 feet below the surface of a meadow, composed of 

 grass, roots, peat, you may expect it will settle 

 two feet and then you will be two feet above 

 water, and it will last a great many years. But 

 you must look forward to the time when even 

 then it will sink too low. Now there are very 

 few meadows where the water cannot lie drawn 

 four feet by digging some distance. By the ex- 

 penditure of $10 or $15 per acre most of our 

 meadows might be drained, and some for a great 

 deal less than that. 



Land which is covered with wood and has al- 

 ways been in wood, is really the most valuable 

 for agricultural purposes. The material of which 

 such lands are composed is so near plant food 

 that I had really rather take a piece of woodland 

 and clear it up and drain it than take lands that 

 arc filled with hassocks and grass. In clearing 

 wet land I would recommend that a machine be 

 used to draw the stumps to one side rather than 

 from the center upward. 



Dnderdrainage. There are meadows where 

 it is best to underdrain. Not with pipes. It is 

 pretty difficult to underdrain soft meadow 

 with pipe. It can be done better by digging 

 ditches some three feet deep and rather narrow, 

 with a fall of Ave or six feet. A board plank is 

 laid in a shoulder in the diti-h, to cover the water 

 passage down eighteen inches from the surface^ 

 (with cross pieces laid every eight feet across the 

 ditch, the water passing through the open space 

 below), and it works admirably. 



There are meadows that have a sandy bottom, 

 where the vegetable substance is not more than 

 two feet or a foot and a half deep. It is difficult 

 to draw water very deep, because, the bottom 

 being sandy, they fill up very easily to the bot- 

 tom of the black soil. These meadows will bear 

 sand much deeper than meadows composed of 

 eight or ten feet of decayed vegetation. Each 

 man must be wise enough to treat his land in the 

 best and most economical way. 



Discussion. Mr. Philbrick : My land was a 

 swale, through which flowed a small brook. 

 There was little difficulty in getting an outlet for 

 the water at three or four feet below the surface. 

 The bottom was, however, very variable in char- 

 acter. In some places it was peat to a depth of 

 fcmr or five feet, in some places hard pan and 

 clay, in some places quicksand. The only way 

 to handle such land is to lay tiles, and where the 

 bottom is soft, lay them upon boards. The 

 drains bemg nearly level for considerable length, 

 great care was required to give them a uniform 

 pitch, with no dei>rcssions below the true grade, 

 such places being sure to fill up with sand or 

 mud, and cause stoppage. Stone drains will not 

 answer under such circumstances. Where the 

 bottom is soft, either peat or quicksand, stones 

 will sink into it and choke the ditch, and even 

 tiles must be laid on strips of board and carefully 

 blocked at each side to make them work well. 



These drains have been in use, some of them 

 sixteen years, some three years, and have suc- 

 ceeded perfectly, making the very best laud up- 

 on my farm for all garden crops, from a tract 

 that was previously almost worthless. 



The labor required to clean out an open ditch 

 and keep it in order will cost a very heavy inter- 

 est on the cost of underdraining. Land can be 

 underdrained at a cost of $00 to $75 per acre in a 

 most thorough manner, under most expensive 

 conditions, and it may often be done for consid- 

 erably less money. 



Mr. WaiTen Frost : I like that old style of dig- 

 ging a good broad ditch in the center of a mead- 

 ow. 1 believe the land is too valuable to ha\o 

 open ditches. We have wooden drains, but the.v 

 need watching. Sometimes, when we have great 

 Uoods, if they give way we lose the crop. Forty 

 years ago we had a meadow on our place so wet 

 through the season that you could hardly walk 

 across it with shoes on without wetting your 

 feet. We thought we would try and dry the 

 meadow. We had a very dry season, and along 



in September we put on a four horse team, and 

 it was ploughed up. We broke it up and dug a 

 main ditch through the center four feet deci). 

 We struck gravel after going down about four 

 feet. We went on the first of Aiiril and could go 

 over it as well as any other part of the farm. It 

 worked down and then we put on the sand. We 

 sanded it over, and the meadow could not be 

 bought to-day for a thousand dollars an acre. 

 Potatoes, Lettuce and Cabbages, and nearly all 

 vegetables thrive on it. It is one of the most 

 valuable plots of land I ever had. We have rais- 

 ed over $1,000 worth of vegetables a year and as 

 good as any can be grown. We use stable manure 

 and Canada ashes. The latter give good results. 

 Mr. Ware : I am satisfied that in some places 

 wooden drains can be used. In some places,— 

 peat meadows for instance— you can put in Hem- 

 lock boards. They will last many years under 

 water. Take Hemlock and lay a "V"-shaped 

 drain. Make a three-cornered box, a little water 

 running through will clean it better than run 

 through a four-sided drain. It cost but little and 

 is better than any other. I am satisfied that 

 stone drains would not be economical even if 

 you have stone to get rid of, tor you can put in 

 tile di'ain with less cost. 



Should a Nurseryman use Commer- 

 cial Fertilizers 7 



[Five minute paper by Thomas Meehan, read before 

 the recent Nurserymen's Convention.'] 



To ask this seems to me like inquiring, 

 might he eat beefsteak ? Some may and 

 some may not ; and some may at one time 

 when, at others, it would be improper. We 

 would use them only to a limited extent. 

 We use almost wholly manure from horse 

 railway stables. It is so satisfactory that 

 we desire no other. 



We have been told by friends that this is waste- 

 ful; that most that we pay for and haul away, is 

 but water; and in a whole cart load of stable 

 manure all that is of use to a plant may be car- 

 ried in a saucer. But this is true of almost 

 everything. Water is the chief article we pay 

 for in a Peach or a Watermelon; and the whole 

 profit a baker derives from a barrel of flour con- 

 sists in the water needed to turn it into bread. 



The bulk of what an animal eats is rejected. 

 The propt)rtion of food assimilated by the ani- 

 mal is ridiculously small, yet is that bulk of 

 waste useless? Would the animal thrive as well 

 if only that which it assimilates were given to 

 it V No one wiU believe it; and I equally believe 

 that bulk is of great value in manure, though 

 there be no great proportion of immediate value 

 than in the food of animals. 



It has been said of a Scotch Laird who was en- 

 thused with agricultural chemistry, that he once 

 told his farmer that the time would come when 

 he could carry the manure for an acre of ground 

 in one vest iiocket. " No doubt, my Lord," was 

 the respectful reply, "and he will most likely 

 carry the crop from it home in the other." 



We have got no further than that to day. The 

 concentrated manure has not given us the great 

 crops. Bulk, with all its hard labor and suppos- 

 ed waste is popular with all, but only when they 

 can be had at reasonable rates, are commercial 

 lertilizers popular at all. 



The expression, " reasonable rates," to my 

 mind, tells the whole story. No nurseryman 

 can succeed without rich soil. A half starved 

 tree is like a half starved animal. The spark of 

 life is low. An accident to a man of low vitality 

 may be fatal. The man with strong vital power 

 will easily survive that which will kill the other. 

 Transplanting is an accident; a blow at vital 

 power. Mortality among trees where the ground 

 has been allowed to become poor is always great- 

 er than where good food is continued with the 

 trees. Many understand this and will give more 

 for trees from a well fed nursery than for trees 

 from poor concerns. But usually the nursery- 

 man cannot get more. His only comfort is then, 

 that he doubles his acreage. He gets trees as 

 large in one year as he would in two on poorer 

 soil. He must have manure. It he cannot get 

 the bulky kind at a reasonable rate, he must get 

 commercial fertilizers. 



It is to my mind wholly a question of profit 

 and loss to be determined only by actual experi- 

 ence in each case. 



But so much am I attracted by bulk, that in 

 many cases where others would use commercial 

 fertilizers, I would prefer to plough iu a crop of 

 green Clover, though I lost the use of the 



ground for a whole season. If the ground did 

 not grow good Clover, I would use Lupines or 

 green Corn. 



It may be gathered from my remarks that I 

 think a Nurseryman may sometimes profitably 

 use commercial fertilizers, but that I think I 

 should use them less than some others would, 

 through favoring bulk, as a very useful ingredi- 

 ent in a good manure. 



Palms for Florists ; Their Culture. 



I Abstract of paper by John Miller before the Buffalo 

 Florists' Club.i 



I wish to treat of such as are of value to 

 the commercial florist, on account of the 

 large sales for all purposes of decorations, 

 such as we come in contact with everywhere. 



Baising the Plants. Palms, with one or two 

 exceptions, are gi-own from seed. The prepara- 

 tion of soil is of great importance. The best is 

 one-fourth sharp sand, one-fourth leaf-mold 

 and one half virgin loam, old rotten sods taken 

 from a cow pasture being generally preferable. 



The seed boxes should be new or newly painted 

 so fungus will have no chance to penetrate into 

 the seed when germination takes place. A depth 

 of two inches, well drained, is sufficient; place in 

 a temperature of 70° with a gentle bottom heat. 

 Seeds of Pandanus utilis and Latania Borbonica 

 would not germinate in a cool house without 

 bottom heat,but as soon as they wei-e transferred 

 to heat the plants appeared in a fortnight after. 

 The.v should never be exposed to the full rays 

 of the sun; the glass should be shaded either by 

 unbleached cloth or by a wash. 



Kinds of Palms. I find it difficult to name the 

 sort for first position, favors being about 

 equally divided between Kentias and Arecas. 

 Both kinds are graceful and handsome with 

 many advantages over all othere. Kentia Aus- 

 tralis, Balmoriana, and Fosteriana are the three 

 principal varieties usually grown in this country 

 but they are not as handsome. I had the good 

 fortune to see the first plants of Lindenii, Mc- 

 Arthurii, Bowreii, Mooreii and Wenlandii sent to 

 this country (one to Mr.Isaac Buchanan, the other 

 to Mr.Robert Buist.) They were brought by Mr. 

 Veitch from Lord Howes island, near the coast 

 of Australia. Few would have suspected then 

 that Kentias would fill such a demand as they do. 



Arecas are certainly a worthy class. A good 

 grown plant of Vei'schafeltii, lutesens, rubra or 

 supida is an object of grace and beauty. Still 

 others of their kind, f ull.v as elegant and some 

 even more handsome, such as Madachas careinsis, 

 manastachia and alba, are almost ignored by 

 florists of this country. Speaking of Arecas as a 

 whole, I consider rubra the peer of all, being of 

 unusual growth and very ornamental. Under 

 my personal observations this vax-iety recovered 

 its symmetrical beauty from a very dilapidated 

 condition in twelve months, where lutesens, its 

 companion in misfortune, was not itself again 

 in two years. By this we can judge of its value 

 for decorating purposes, as all of us know a poor 

 used up Palm is not a very handsome subject in 

 the house, especially when we receive a visit from 

 a neighboring gai'dener or a distant friend. 



Cocos as an ornamental Palm is onl.v useful for 

 conservatories; their ornamental and graceful 

 foliage is too easily injured and the plant of too 

 slow growth in reasonable time. Weddleana is 

 the peer of this family. Nucifera, commonly 

 called imperialis, cannot be grown well without 

 bottom heat. Flexuosus, Komanzaffiana and 

 coronatii, are all handsome but of no use from a 

 florists' standpoint, as the plants are too easily 

 injured and very slow to recover. Many of you, 

 no doubt, have special favors, hence my prefei-- 

 ence may not meet with your approval. 



Latania Borbonica I consider the Palm for the 

 milhon. Its ornamental beauty is so well known 

 by every one, from the mechanic to the million- 

 aire, that further praise is not necessary. The 

 same may be said of Pandanus utilis, another 

 class very ornamental with lasting qualities if 

 not overwatered, which is really its only weak 

 point. Veitchii leads to great expectations, as 

 its variegated foliage gives it a great advantage 

 over utiUs; being also easily propagated by off 

 shoots freely produced, makes it a very i>rofitabIe 

 plant to grow. Javouica is equal in foliage to 

 Veitchii, still it never gained public estimation. 



The Phcenix, commonly known as late Palms, 

 as a class till a want for decorative purposes not 

 easily filled by any other. Rupucola for a center 

 of a parlor display will show its finely cut foliage 

 equal almost to Cocos Weddleana. As a rule the 

 whole family is well furnished with foliage, and 



