1889 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



241 



1,341 Tree Cricket. The damage was done by 

 the tree cricket, or Snowy tree cricket, an insect 

 nearly three quarters of an inch long, of a whitish 

 green color with darker stripes on the head and 

 thorax. The shrill notes of the male can be heard 

 in the hushes and trees all day long. The female. 

 thrusting her ovipositor obliquely more than half 

 way through the tender canes of Raspberries, 

 Blackberries, Grapes, Peaches, Plums, etc., places 

 one of her long, narrow, yellowish eggs into each 

 opening thus made. From five to fifteen eggs are 

 deposited in one row, and the injm-y to the cane or 

 twig weakens it frequently in such a way as to 

 cause it to break otf or die beyond the spot aflfected. 

 This, however, is not the only sin of which the 

 tree cricket is guilty. It Hves on the juices of cul- 

 tivated plants, and in order to get at the sap for 

 food, cuts off leaves, blossoms and young fruit, 

 oftenentirely denuding vines of leaves and clusters; 

 and while it may be said in its favor that in infancy 

 it lives largely on plant lice and other injurious 

 insects, yet such ^ood services do not begin to make 

 up for the vandalism which it practices in later life. 

 The remedy generally recommended consists in 

 hunting up, removing and burning the affected 

 canes and twigs in the winter or spring. Luckily 

 for the fruit grower the tree cricket has a powerful 

 and active natural enemy, the cricket catcher, a 

 small black wasp not very different in shape from 

 the common blue-black mud wasp, one-half inch 

 long, with seven-eighths Inch expanse of wing. In 

 an essay read before the Western New York Horti- 

 cultural Society in the year 1888. Mr. W.L.Devereaux 

 gave the first "description and life history of the 

 interesting and ussful insect ever published, and 

 his investigations show us a very convenieat method 

 of dealing with the tree cricket. The cricket 

 catcher selects hollow stalks of plants, especially of 

 the Wild Lettuce {Lactuca canadensis) for a 

 nursery for its offspring. Having found a last 

 year's stalk still standing erect, with the top broken 

 off, says Mr. Devereaux. our cricket catcher makes 

 a sort of stopper or nest in the hollow stem near 

 the ground, with pieces of dead grass and fibres. 

 Then she begins to stock up with tree crickets for 

 her first offspring. When the number gathered up 

 suits her, a neat partition is made of grass. This 

 closes the one nursery or store house from tho one 

 to be made above. An egg is fastened to the lower 

 or first cricket in each section. The crickets are 

 not killed, only paralyzed by a sting and devoured 

 by the young of its enemy alive Mr. Devereaux 

 estimates that each female cricket catcher destroys 

 1,000 crickets and he advises to provide the insect 

 with a home as we would our bird friends. Since 

 he has allowed the Wild Lettuce to mature its 

 stem in his Grape rows the crickets have been 

 mightily thinned out. Has fastened the stalks of it 

 in his Raspberry bushes with good results. The 

 moral Is obvious.— P. G. 



1,333. Strawberries in Young Orchards. There 

 can be httie objection to the practice of planting 

 Strawberries among a recently established orchard 

 and it has much to recommend it, provided that the 

 ground is well enriched. All kinds of small fruits. 

 in fact, seem to thrive in the congenial vicinity of 

 young trees, with what little shade and cooler at- 

 mosphere they provide. Sometimes these fruits 

 escape injury from a late spring frost when small 

 fruits in open field are badly damaged.— P. G. 



1.324. Value of Manure. Good stable manure 

 at 25 cents a load, even if it has to be drawn several 

 miles, is an extremely cheap fertilizer, and much 

 cheaper than commercial fertilizers at current 

 rates. A fair average sample of farm yard manure 

 compared with fertilizers, is worth from $2,00 to 

 $2.50 to the ton.— P. G. 



1.325. Land Plaster. This is sulphate of lime, 

 and can be regarded as plant food only in the 

 Umited sense that it provides lime and sulphuric 

 acid. It is valuable chiefly for its chemical action 

 on the soil, by which locked-up plant food is made 

 available, and for the fact that it makes an inter- 

 change with th© volatile carbonate of ammonia, 

 resulting in the two compounds, carbonate of lime, 

 and sulphate of ammonia, the latter a fixed form 

 of that valuable plant food. Plaster has often the 

 happiest effect upon Potato vines, Corn, upon 

 Clover and in fact any of the grasses, without our 

 being able to tell just in what way it exerts its 

 beneficial influence.— P. G. 



1,337. Improved Beehive. Buy one from the 

 nearest dealer in bee-keeper's supplies, or make one 

 according to instructions often given in modern 

 bee literature. You may also address A. I. Root, 

 Medina, Ohio, for information, price list, etc. 



1,330. Planting Raspberries. The usual time 

 of planting is in early spring, although autumn 

 planting is a good practice when good plants are 

 to be had. The latter, and care in planting, insure 

 success at either time Among the hardy sorts for 

 market there is none now among the Red varieties 

 that surpasses the Cuthbert. In many localities, 

 and especially for general purposes, th^ Turner 

 is a most excellent berry and quite large'j' grown. 

 Hansen, as an extra early sort and Marlboro, with 

 its later and very large and luscious fruit, are worth 

 a trial. Of blackcaps try Ohio,Souhegan and Gregg. 



1,33:3. Transplanting Rhubarb. Therootstock 

 and consequ'^ntly tlie number of stalks issuing 

 from it are apt to grow much too large in the 

 course of a few years for the good of the size of the 

 stalks, and the plants, for this reason, must be 



occasionally taken up, the roots divided, and re- 

 j)lanted in strong, well-enriched soil, not less than 

 four feet apart each way. This is usually done in 

 spring. Seedlings will be large enough to produce 

 stalks for table or market the third season from seed 



1.334. Improving Clay Soil. So long as the 

 clay is wet.no permanent and decided improvement 

 is to be thought of until the surplus moisture is 

 removed by drainage. This course alone will do 

 more to make the soil looser and warmer, and give 

 larger crops than any other treatment. Sometimes 

 the increased crop of a single year, especially of 

 garden stuffs, small fruits, etc., will more than pay 

 the whole cost of underdraining. If the clay is 

 very tenacious and hard to break up, the mere 

 application of sand— the more the better— would do 

 much in the way of correction; and good manure, 

 or in its absence peat or muck, with plenty of com 

 mercial fertilizers, should be used rather freely. 

 Green crops, especially Clover, plowed under, can 

 also be relied on to improve such soils. Applica- 

 tions of air-slaked lime will prove beneficial. 



1.335. Bones for Fertilizer. For the home gar- 

 den, and in a small way generally, we have always 

 considered fire the simplest and most eff'ective agent 

 for the transformation of bones into an available 

 fertilizer. Small quantities may be thrown into 

 any wood stove, upon a:brisk flre,aud then scattered 

 upon the land together with the ashes. Or, a big 

 fire of brush and other rubbish may be started out- 

 doors and the bones thrown upon it. The ashes 

 then contain the phosphoric acid of the bones, 

 reduced to a fine white powder, and are a most ex- 

 cellent fertilizer for soils or crops needing potash 

 and phosphoric acid. Of course the few per cent 

 of nitrogen, that fresh bones contain, are lost by 

 this treatment. These can be saved by the adop- 

 tion of the course, recommended by Prof. W. C. 

 Stubbs, of the Louisville Experiment Station. 

 Break 100 pounds of bones into small fragments, 

 and pack them into a light cask with 100 pounds of 

 good wood ashes which have been previously mixed 

 Vith 25 pounds of dry water-slacked lime and 13 

 pounds of "sal soda" (washing soda). Twenty 

 gallons of water will saturate the mass and more 

 may be added as required. In two or three weeks 

 the bones will be soft enough to be turned out on a 

 floor and mixed with two bushels of good soil. 



1.336. Date Palms. Phoenix dactylifera thrives 

 best in a compost of loam, peat and sand. If you 

 have them in small pots, transfer to larger ones as 

 needed. Palms deUght in a warm atmosphere and 

 only there will make quick, thrifty growth. Syringe 

 or sponge freely during the summer. 



1.337. Wide Planting for Grape Biseases. 



Even single vines are by no means exempt from 

 mildews and rot, but attacks may be less frequent, 

 or less severe. From the Vineyardist we learn that 

 successful growers on Lake Cayuga plant their vines 

 much further apart than they are gro'wn on the 

 shores of Seneca and Keuka, and it is probably 

 done as a precaution against the Grape diseases. 

 There is good reason to suppose, says the Vine- 

 yardist, that the remedy is a good one. as these dis- 

 eases are the results of close and dense foliage, a 

 hot and humid atmosphere and lack of air. More 

 space where summer fogs occasionally prevail 

 may be the dictate of wisdom. 



1.339. Seed of Squirrel Corn. Plants of Dicen- 

 tra canadensis may be had of Edward Gillett, 

 Southwick, Mass , perhaps seed also. Send for 

 price list 10 address given 



1.340. Asparagus Bed. The condition of the 

 bed seems to indicate that it has seen its best days, 

 and it will certainly be a wise move to setout a new 

 plantation without delay. In the selection of soil 

 and site give a moderately rich, naturally drained, 

 warm, sandy loam with southern or southeastern 

 exposure the preference. Prepare the bed thor- 

 oughly by deep plowing, cross plowing if needed, 

 harrowing, etc. ; then plow out the rows deeply, 

 four or five feet apart. Set good strong plants (one 

 or two years old) one to each foot or eighteen 

 inches (many prefer even two feet distance between 

 plants) cover lightly with soil and scatter some high 

 grade complete fertilizer, as for instance a good 

 vegetable or Potato manure, into the furrows, and 

 afterwards, in working the soil, gradually fill up 

 even with the surface. Well rotted compost may 

 be used in place of the fertilizer. If you plant in 

 fall, the furrows may be filled with soil or with dry 

 forest leaves, chaff,or other fine litter. If bleached 

 "grass" is desired, the plants are set at least six 

 inches deep: if im ended to be cut near surface of 

 ground, four inches depth are fully sufficient. 



l,;iOH. Rose Cuttings. See reply to 1,29H. 



l,:)-'^. Pea Weevil. Seed Peas and Beans can 

 be rid of weevil larvie in several ways. One, and 

 the simidest way is to plunge them for a few 

 moments in boiling water. Another and a very 

 good and effective one is what is called the 

 bi-suli)hide of carbon treatment. The seed is 

 put in a tight box or barrel, a small. vessel con- 

 taining hrtlf a gill of bisulphide of carbon placed 

 upon the seed and the receptacle kept tightly 

 clDsed for at least forty-eight h(mrs. The drug 

 will then have evaporated aud permeated all 

 through the seed sc» that every weevil is killed. 

 Uon't overlook that the vapor is extremely 

 intlaniniable. The ojieniti'Hi should be carried 

 on ()ut<loors or in an opi-u slicd, and the seed. 

 when emptied out, kept away irum light or tire. 



1,311). Dewberry Plants. These can be propa- 

 gated in same way as Hluekberry plants aud are 

 evt^u still easier to grow. In the autumn dig up 

 the roots and make cuttings about three inches 

 long, put them in boxes with alternate:' layere of 

 suud and bury the boxes iu a well drained spot 

 until spring. Then plant thickly in nursery rows 

 and cultivate' like Blackberry cuttings. Cuttings 

 of the green wood alsfi root readily in the propa- 

 gating bed. You might also try making layer 

 plants from the green wood. In fact it is easier 

 to propagate the Dewberry than to kill it. 



1,312. Bagging Grapes. This to be effective 

 iu'pi'otecting the clusters from mildew and rot, 

 should be done as soon as possible after the vines 

 have done blooming. Common raanilla grocery 

 bags are used, and if water-proof all the better. 

 Cut off the cornel's at the bottom, Ut give a 

 chance for the escape of rain water that may in 

 some way get into them. Also cut the open end 

 roumiiiig so that the flaps can be easily pinned 

 aroumi the cane, with the cluster inside the bag. 

 Another gooil way is to take a jnece of strong 

 wat^-r-proof manilla paper ten by .-^ix inches, and 

 told iu funnel slmpL' ar(niud the (.-luster so that 

 its stem enters at the small emi, while the open 

 end hangs downward, perfectly surrounding tho 

 cluster. The i)aper is fastened and helii in place 

 by a single pin. 



1,318. Russian Mulberry, Prof. Budd answers 

 a similar inquiry in the Fanner's Review as fol- 

 lows: The Ku-ssian Mulberry is not tit for an 

 ornamental tree, shade tree, or for forest plant- 

 ing. Like the old Morus multicaulis, it has an 

 eternal tendency to throw its most vigorous 

 shoots from near the ground. In Nebra-ska it 

 will have greatest value as a wind-break or 

 screen to shelter from winds or snow. Planted 

 three feet apart it assumes a low, spreading form 

 and has thick, handsome foliage. For arresting 

 wind sweep it has no superior among the decidu- 

 ous trees. In this form it also bears fruit abund- 

 antly, which is valuable for attracting the birds 

 in Raspberry and Cherry time. As to its size and 

 quality for other uses, the less said the better, 

 unless some special variety be selected larger 

 and better than I have yet seen in this country. 

 At (_>rel, in Central Russia we heard of a variety 

 with large and good fruits. We ordered plants 

 of it which will soon tell the story as to size, 

 quality and value. The so-called white Mulberry 

 makes a pretty good tree where it proves per- 

 fectly hardy. If put out for forestry plantation 

 it should be planted as closely as otner trees to 

 give it clean, upright growth. It" set for shade 

 or ornament, it will need as much room as Bos 

 Elder. If set for feeding silk worms,put in hedge 

 row five feet apart and train low. 



1,258. Book on Amaryllis. "Bulbs" by E S. 

 Rand, gives as full culture directions as any pub- 

 lication that 1 am acquainted with.— M. B. F. 



1,250. Aphis on Roses and Fuchias. I use 

 Sturtevaut's Tobacco and Sulphur Insecticide on 

 Roses. It ought to work equally as well with 

 Fuchsias.— M. B. F. 



1,261. Pine Sawdust as Manure. My experi- 

 ence with sawdust of any kind whether used by 

 itself or mixed with other material has been any- 

 thing but satisfactory. It certainly should never 

 be used on heavy soil, and I have yet to see 

 whei-e even light sand has in any way been bene- 

 tited.^M. B. F. 



I,2t)2. Grapes and Strawberries in Colorado. 



There is no apinirent reasons why you should 

 not succeed with the hardier varieties of Grapes, 

 such as Concord. Worden, Clinton, etc. Try 

 some of the common Strawberries at first. Cres- 

 cent, ('has. Downing, Sharplcss and Cumberland 

 Triumph are tirst class. The first is a pistillate 

 \*ariety and should only be planted in alternate 

 rows with some perfect flowenng sort, such as 

 the others named. A southern or soutneasteru 

 exposure would be earlier than anv other loca- 

 tion, and would be preferable on tuat account. 

 — M. B. F. 



I,2fi4. Muriate of Potash. Try Bowker Ferti- 

 lizer C(j., Bosttui, Ma^s ." or Mapes' Formula & 

 Peruvian (Juano Co., New York.- M. B. F. 



l,2r>5 Sprouting Magnolia Seed. Sow as soon 

 as ripe in a frame, and keep moderately moist 

 until germination takes place.— M. B. F. 



l.^Cfj. Arbor Vitae from Seed. Sow early in 

 spring under glass and as soon as the seedlings 

 have reached sufficient size, harden off and put 

 out in the open ground. No particular care is 

 re<iuired as they are of sturdy growth.— M. B. F. 



I,~ti7. Barren Vines in Grapery. Does the old 

 growth die down to the ground or only the lat- 

 eral branches V Grapes produce their fruit on 

 new growth each season But vines are some- 

 times barren with no apparent cause. I have in 

 mind an Isabella which gi-ows or did grow near 

 m>' bo>hood home. For several j'ears every 

 I)ains was taken with it but I never to mv 

 knowledge lu'odueed a single bunch of fruit — M. 

 B. Faxon. 



l,~'*iK. Fruit Dryer. The Zimmerman, made 

 by the Zimmerman Machine Co., of Cincinnati, 

 Ohio, gives excellent satisfaction here in the 

 Kust.— M. B. F. 



