1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



261 



and heuee one reiison of the good effects so of t<?n 

 observed from the application of lime and plas- 

 ter. The remaininj? substances— the phosphoric 

 acid, nitrotten and jiotafih— arc> the most import- 

 ant ingredients of our commercial fertilizers, be- 

 cause of both their scarcity in the soil and their 

 comparative high cost 



11. The chief use of commercial fertilizers- 

 such !is ffuano, phosphates, bone, potash, salts, 

 and special fertilizers prepared by formuhr for 

 different croiis, is to supply nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash. 



13. These materials are expensive, but the right 

 ones in the right places are nevertheless very 

 profitable. Hut the same fertilizers in other 

 cases bring little or no return. 



IH. 1 1 is not good economy to pay high prices 

 for material which our soils themselves may fur- 

 nish, but it is good economy to supply the lack- 

 ing ones in the cheapest way. Farmers cannot 

 afford to use commercial fertilizers at random, 

 nor to have their crops fail when a small outlay 

 for the proper fertilizer would secure them a 

 bountiful harvest. 



14. The only way to Hnd out what our soils 

 want is to study them by careful observation 



moved from such benign inflvience. We And by 

 experience that Pears grafted upon Quince 

 stock and Apples upon the Paradise stock can 

 and will produce handsome, clean, well-colored 

 and full-tlavored fruit even in adverse summers. 



Hitherto thLs culture has only been carried out 

 in gardening work, and I fully believe that the 

 agriculture of the future must find its profit in 

 gardening methods, if we are to keep the hardy 

 fruit trade in British hands. The practice of 

 winter manuring has done much to increase our 

 crop and induce (lualit.v, and I would go further, 

 and give also a top-dressing in May or June of 

 long dung fresh from the stable, or of London 

 dung or moss manure. This latter is, I think, the 

 best for our purpose; it is easily carried on to 

 the land in baskets, and as it contains a large 

 proportion of urine and ammonia, it is quick in 

 action and effective for its purpose Liquid 

 manure is most valuable, and can be applied at 

 any time, but to best advantage in May or June. 



If care and attention to mulching be carried I 

 out on existing orchards, a marked improvement 

 would soon be manifested, and it would have the ' 

 effect of bringing up the surface roots, which 

 would be more amenable to treatment, and 



bu.v from others. He said that in the growing of 

 Celery, flat culture is preferable ; the formation 

 and growth of suckers is to be encouraged, as it 

 adds fullness to the head. He had found the Hus- 

 ton Market, or stmius derived from it, to be as 

 good as the crimson Celeries for winter keeping. 

 Uoston Market is inferior in vigor of growth to 

 the later strains; as compared with the Arling- 

 ton, for instance, it gave n<3t more than <)ne half 

 the yield. Successive crops should be taken from 

 the same ground, in one season. Crops so raised 

 cost no more, if as much, and it would be even 

 easier by this plan to keep the ground in a. neat 

 and attractive condition 



George A. Tapley said he had planted Deans as 

 early as the 15th of April : a [Portion of the same 

 seed planted ten days later came along at least a 

 week behind that planted first. He had grown 

 Beets in forty-eight days from the seed, and 

 Squashes in sixty days from the time of plowing 

 the land. He had often raised three crops of 

 Meets and sometimes taken off a crop of Spinach 

 besides, making four crops in one season from 

 the same ground. He sowed the Siiinach between 

 the rows of the first i>lanting of Beets and re- 

 moved the Spinach, all at once, about May 2.5th, 



FIG. 1. 



FIG. 2. 



THE GROWTH OF ROOTS: ILLUSTRATING ARTICLE ON 



and experiments. Success in farming as in other 

 business requires the use of brains. 



Modern Fruit Culture in England. 



Abstra<:t of paper read before tlie Rochester (England) 

 Farmers' Clvb, by Mr. George Bunyard. | 



The drawback to successful culture of 

 fruit in England is undoubtedly the want 

 of quality in our produce, either in size, 

 color or condition, due not so much to the 

 fault of the cultivator as to the want of pro- 

 pitious seasons, and to a general absence of 

 combined sunshine, or an equality of tem- 

 perature and the want of rain at the right 

 time. Abnormal seasons we cannot pre- 

 vent, and it is to a different system of cul- 

 ture that we must, I think, look to gain all 

 possible benefit from the little sunshine we 

 do have, and to store up its effects. 



What I venture to call the modern system con- 

 sists of growing trees on surface-rooting stocks, 

 which, I believe, have not yet been fully or 

 largely tried in this country. I have taken up a 

 few Pear, Quince, Apple, and Paradise stocks to 

 illustrate my remarks. The Pear stock (fig. 1) 

 produces few but strong forked roots with a 

 minimum of fibres, and its appearance justifies 

 our practice in using it for orchard trees, as the 

 strong roots act as anchors to secure the tree in 

 its position, and to enable it to bear the weight 

 of its crop. 



In the Quince stock (fig. 2) we find the condi- 

 tions reversed, and the fibres outnumber the 

 anchor roots and are predominant, while again, 

 it we take the transplanted Quince stock (tig .3) 

 we get the fibres still more developed. In the 

 Crab Apple stock (fig 4), we see the same process 

 as in the free Pear stock (anchor roots with a few 

 fibres). It is this which is used for the Apple 

 trees prepared for orchards, and it is eminently 

 suitable for the purpose. In the Paradise Apple 

 (fig. 5) we get again the same surface root and 

 fibres that the Quince stock presents. 



Surface roots must receive the benefit of the 

 rains, sun and air more than the anchor roots, 

 which are, by reason of their position, more re- 



within the influence and warmth t>t the sun. I 

 am of the opinion that it is in the direction of 

 more careful cultivation, combined with vigor- 

 ous pruning of the branches, and also attention 

 to the thinning of the fruit that we must look 

 for improvement in our orchard plantations. 



I feel sure that plantations of dwarf trees 

 alone or dwarfs with standards at 30 feet apart 

 will be the orchards of the future. Before em- 

 barking largely in this modern culture a trial 

 orchard can be started with, say ten trees each 

 of twenty sorts. The beneficial effects of heavy 

 manuring are frequently seen in our Strawberries 

 Gooseberries and Kaspberries in the garden, and 

 I think much more of this must be done I should 

 only advocate free cropping sorts fur the dwarfs. 

 Much expense is saved in picking, by no ladders 

 being required; and the land must be good for 

 fruit growing o: it had better be left alone. 



Garden Vegetables: Discussion on. 



IFrom the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society,} 



William D. Philbrick said in regard to 

 growing good late liettuce, that in a soil 

 naturally moist, as for instance in peat land, 

 he had met with good success, although in 

 a warm, dry soil it is not to be expected. He 

 recommended White Egg Turnip as the best 

 for the table. It is a French variety. This 

 may follow a crop of Peas if the land is rich 

 enough, but otherwise should be sown ear- 

 lier. One ought, in most cases, to get a suc- 

 cession of crops in one season from the same 

 ground ; the land might be made to do 

 double, or even triple service in our kitchen 

 gardens as well as in our large market gar- 

 dens. It is only necessary to plant the first 

 crop early enough, and sometimes the sec- 

 ond crop can be planted before the first is off. 

 Squashes might thus follow early Potatoes. 

 If the Potatoes are of the early kinds, the 

 Squash vines would generally overrun the 

 Potato vines when these were done growing. 



W. W. Itawson advise<l the cultivator to grow 

 their own plants and sell to others rather than 



MODERN FRUIT CULTURE IN ENGLAND." 



sowing the second crop of Beets the same day. 

 The first crop of Beets was harvested the 2flth of 

 June. On the 10th of July, the first crop of Beets 

 being off and the second growing, he plowed for 

 and planted the third crop of Beets between the 

 rows of the second. Mr. Rawson understood from 

 this that Mr. Tabley got only two crops of Beets 

 —two half crops and one whole one, and Mr. Tap- 

 ley agreed that it did not show successive crops 

 out of the same rows, but still thought the grou nd 

 had yielded three fuU crops of Beets by the 

 method of successive plantings in alternate rows. 



In reply to an inquiry about Cauliflower cul- 

 ture, Mr. Rawson said the best cultivators do well 

 if they succeed with Cauliflowers three times out 

 of four. There was one season, about live years 

 ago, when every one succeeded, and since then 

 scarcely any one has. This result, he thought, 

 was not from any fault in the seed ; it was prob- 

 ably due to lack of moisture. Any prolonged 

 period of drought, even eight or ten days, unre- 

 lieved by artificial watering, is very detrimental 

 to this crop. His own success was attributable 

 solely to having provided the watering just when 

 it was needed. He had previously stated his ex- 

 perience with a field of three acres which was 

 on the point of suffering from drought, and was 

 relieved and made largely profitable as the result 

 of a single extensi\e watering. He would also 

 recommend the use of potash— not in a small 

 way, but liberally ; a ton to the acre would not 

 be too much. An inch of water once a week will 

 be readily utilized by the plants. 



William E. Endici;>tt, though disposed to consid- 

 er that the green-fleshed Melons, as a class, are 

 superior in flavor to others, instanced amongst 

 orange-fleshed varieties, Shaw's Superb, which 

 he thimght as good as any of the green-fleshed 

 kinds. This variety grows very even In quality 

 scarcely any are medium or poor. He also com- 

 mended the Butman Squash as of fine quality 

 and an excellent keeper. He had kept one of 

 these in perfect condition for a year and a month 

 and twenty-one days. 



James J. H. Gregory said he has an island un- 

 der cultivation, off Murblehead, where the at- 

 mosphere is cooler than on the main land, and 

 Cauliflowers there grow to extraordinary size. 

 Ex|)erimental gardens give very disappointing. 



