266 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



Corrfspondents are urged to anticipate the season in pre- 

 senting questions. To ask, for instance, on April 16 or 20 

 tehat Peas had best be sown, could bWnp no answer in 

 the May issue, and none be/ore June, when the answer 

 would be unseasonable. Questions reeeivedbefore the 12th 

 of any month stand a good chance of being answered in the 

 next paper, ^ot more than three questions should be sent 

 at one time. Ansu^ers to questions bearing on the com- 

 par.itive value of implements, etc., offered by different 

 dealers must notbe eJ^ected. Neither can we promise to 

 comply wiih the request sometitnes made to "please ansiper 

 by mail." Inquiries appearing without name belong to the 

 name next following . 



Replies to Inquiries are earmestly requested from our 

 readers. In answering such give the number, your 

 looality and name, the latter not for publication, unless 

 you desire. Write only on one side of the paper. 



l.ais. Apple Seeds. Where and at what price might 

 they be sold ?— H. J. B.. .Vohan-k, Ont. 



l,»lfl. Apple tree Bark Louse. What can I do for 

 my Apple and Pear trees ? The limbs are covered with 

 small white spots.— F. L. F., Mertztown, Pa. 



I,a47. Canning Fruit, Sweet Corn, etc. Some one 

 please tell how to have it keep.— S. M. S., Lafai/ette, 0_ 



1.348. Budding Peaches. Please give us lucid dl- 

 rectlous as for Rose budding in June number. 



1.349. Marianna and Abundance Plums. Are they 

 genuine, worthy novelties ? 



1.350. Plums, Cherries, Apricots. What varieties 

 do I need for home use, especially those that will bear 

 within a year or two after setting ? Thermometer here 

 seldom goes lower than two degrees below or higher 

 than 911 <Iegrees above.— G. W. B., Agassiz, B. C. 



1.351. Remedy for Pear Blight? How can I prevent 

 it ? Will stock of varieties subject to blight render the 

 graft more easily attacked ? 



1,353. Pears Cracking. What will prevent it 7 Will 

 lime tend to check it ? 



1.353. Rust on Raspberries. How can It be pre- 

 vented y— W. H. H., Leban^m Springs, N. F. 



1.354. yield of Strawberries. What is considered a 

 good average crop t What variety is most productive? 

 —I. P. C Mayflelil, Cal. 



1.355. Musa Ensete. How grown from seed ?— D. 

 M. D., Carpentera, Cat. 



1,35G. Grass from Lawn, Can It be utilized for 

 manure, and how? — G. W. B., Ruttedge,Pa. 



1,;K7. Herbaceous Plants. How can 1 raise them 

 successfully ? Sowed last year with all care, but none 

 came up.— R. S., Ont. 



1.358. Jacqueminot Rose for Summer. How shall 

 I treat it to keep it dormant for sununer flowering? It 

 is now in 6-inch pot. Have a small conservatory.- C. 

 V.C., Chicago, III. 



1.359. Cyclamen Persicum. How to be treated after 

 blooming in pots, to keep it over for blooming again ? 



1.3W1. Lily of the Valley. How are the pips treated? 

 I have not been successful in getting a nice bed of 

 them.— C. D., St. Paul, Minn. 



1.361. Propagation of Gooseberries. What is the 

 best way ? either by layering or from Cuttings.— L.C J*., 

 South Bethlehem. Pa. 



1.362. Aphis on Currants. How can I rid my seed- 

 ling Currant bushes from the pest ?— Sub.. Wisconsin. 



l.Sfi:). Quince Leaf Blight. What ails my Quinces? 

 The leaves on my five-year old trees annually turn 

 brown, and finally drop olt. Five applications *<if the 



copper mixture had no effect.— T. T., Lancaster, Pa 

 1,364. Hyacinths. How are they grown In moss and 



In gla.sses? When started ?—H. C. L., Penii ran, JV.r. 

 I,3«i5. Pot-Grown Strawberries. In setting them 



should the ball of earth be soaked and root.s .separated? 



— K.. Concord. N. H. 



1,3(». Cabbage and Cauliflower. At what date 

 should seed be sown here to winter over in cold frame, 

 and whether in the frames or in the open ground and 

 transplanted?- C. L. N., Winchendon, Mass. 



1.367. Currant Cuttings. Should these be taken as 

 .soon as the leaves fall or later ?— R. J. N., Warsaw, Ind. 



1.368. Pansy Plants for Spring Blooming. Will 

 seed sown Sept, tst give plants that will bloom In June? 

 — MIS.S N. S., Kent, <i. 



1.3G9. Tobacco Fertilizer. Of what fertilizing value 

 Is Sturtevanfs Tobacco and Sulphur Insecticide and 

 Fertilizer?— J. W. P., Neu' RocheUe. N. Y. 



1,310. Cauliflower. Name best variety for home use 

 and market ? Is Sept. 15th early enough to sow for 

 wlnterlngover.- P. Z. N., Vincenncs, Ind. 



1.371. Lawn Mower. Is any machine provided with 

 a grass box or attachmeut for collecting the grass as 

 fast as cut ?— D. S. T., itfeii7,or(, B, 7. 



1.372. Green Manuring. What crop is best to sow 

 in fall ti) turn under next spring ?— O. L. T., Macon, Go. 



1.373. Tennisball Lettuce. Are there two varieties 

 of Tennisball Lettuce ? If so, name difference — P 

 Rutland, Vt. 



1.374. Adirondack Potato. What are the character 

 Istlcs of this ? Is It of much value;?- E. L. C, Saco, Me. 



1.375. New Nasturtium. Is there a new variety 

 called Comedian, and what are its characteristics ?— 

 X. A. U., Passaic, N.. I. 



1.376. Gladiolus. How shall I treat bulbs when 

 through flowering ? Last season I packed them In sand 

 and about half of them rotted.— N. T., .,4iifjiirii, N. I". 



1.377. White Tulip. What Is the best double white 

 Tulip ?— P., Bismark, Dak. 



1.378. Lawn Seeding. When is the best time to seed 

 down? Are the so called special mixtures for shady 

 locationsof valiie?-B. A, L., CVinfon, iv. Y. 



1.379. Bloomless Hoya. My three-year old seems 

 strong and healthy. Why no bloom ?-I.W.S.,JBoi-<'no,/H. 

 hl,.38n. Tomato Leaf Blight. What can I do for it ?— 

 G. W., Prosser, W. T. 



1,3S1. Gloxinias. How must 1 treat them both be- 

 fore and after blooming ?-A. G. W., Malone. N. Y. 



1,302. Gooseberry Culture. What, If any, publica- 

 tion or treatise is there on this subject ? 



1,383. Latest Strawberry. Which Is it for Western 

 New York?- H O. B., F.ureka, Wis. 



1,284, Cut Flowers. How should they be kept to 

 preser\-e their freshness ?— M. R. Sfb. 



1,:K5. Plum Trees Dying, The bark on my trees 

 turns dark on one side, splits, and reveals the wood dy- 

 ing beneath. What can I do for it ?— R. s., Ont. 



1,3.86. Rhubarb. Roots planted this year. How soon 

 may stalks be used ? How long in spring is it safe to 

 pull stalks on two year-old plants ? 



1.387. Grape Mildew. What remedy is there for my 

 Grapes ? Leaves turn up, but no insect is visible.— 

 T. W. L., I'o. 



1.388. Killing Woodchucks. Can It be done with 

 dynamite, and how ?— J. T. M. 



1.389. Wintering Celery. What is the best method 



on small scale for home use ?— Subscriber. 



1,390. Manure for Orchard. Can It be safely 

 plied in autumn ?— O. M. flIcR. 



ap- 



REPLIES TO INQUIRIES. 



],27.i. Strawberry for Amateur. I have found 

 nothing equal to the Crescent Seedling fertilized 

 with Capt. Jack or Wilson.— J. Ridley. 



],27-l. Tree Paeony. Evergreen Nurseries, Ev- 

 ergi'een, Wisconsin, have imported plants of the 

 Tree Pa'on.v at .Tlicts. each.— Geo. Finney. 



1,27(1. Boses not Bloomiag. Mildew is the 

 probable cause of the buds shrivelling and ap- 

 pealing out of shape. Try Henderson's Mildew 

 Mi.xture, and apply according to accompanyiug 

 directions.- C. E. P. 



1,372. Grapes on Wall. I would keep them on 

 the frame, and nothing less than six inches from 

 the wall.— r. E. P. 



1,275. Strawberry for Amateur. I would not 

 confine myself to one \ariety. Charles Downing 

 and Sharpless are excellent sorts.— C. E. P. 



1,278. Well Botted Sawdnst is not good man- 

 ure for berries unless well mixed with good sta- 

 ble manure and allowed to remain in a pile for 

 some time before using.— C. E. P. 



1,282. Early Badish, Red Forcing Turnip or 

 Early Scarlet Globe are the best varieties for 

 forcing.— C. E. P. 



1,284. Hellebore for Aphis on Roses. Helle- 

 bore is applied by being dusted on with a gun or 

 bellows while the foliage is moist with dew. For 

 the Aphis or Green Fly I prefer Tobacco dust or 

 Insect Death powder to be applied as above ad- 

 vised.— C. E. P. 



1,257. Trimming Currants. Currants do best 

 when kept well pruned and thinned out. I would 

 not trim tliem up four or six inches, but would 

 cut the old wood out, and allow the strong young 

 wood to fruit.— C. E. P. 



l,2,5!l. Aphis on Boses and Fnchsias. Where 

 the plants are grown under glass, these pests 

 can be easily destroyed by fumigating with To- 

 bacco stems once or twice a week. In the open 

 air an application of Tobacco dust will destroy 

 them. It should be apphed earl.v in the morning 

 while the plants are wet with dew.— C.E. Parnell. 



1,357. Herbaceons Plants from Seed, Perhaps 

 the want of success was due, not to the failure of 

 seed to germinate, but to the ravages of insects 

 or slugs. The seedlings are often eaten off as fast 

 as they make their appearance above ground. 

 To outwit the slugs, one of our foreign exchang- 

 es advises to sow the seed in shallow pans or box- 

 es, as may be most convenient, and place them 

 under glass. Sow thinly, that there may be no 

 occtision to thin the seedlings b ifore they are 

 large enough to be picked off. When of a suita- 

 ble size prick them off into boxes or pots or in 

 the open ground, but the most satisfactory re- 

 sults are obtained by pricking off the small grow- 

 ing kinds into pots or boxes, and putting the 

 others in beds in the open ground. The beds 

 must be made moderately firm and have the sur- 

 face made quite fine. The seedlings should be put 

 about four inches apart each way, be well wat- 

 ered, and shaded from the sun in bright weather. 

 A sharii lookout must be kept for the slugs until 

 the seedlings are established and commencing to 

 grow freely, or a large proportion will probably 

 be destroyed. 



],3t7. Canning Frnit, Sweet Corn, etc. Mre. 

 W. D. Devol, at a recent meeting of the Musk- 

 ingum (O.) Farmers' Club, told her way of can- 

 ing. She thoroughly cleans the fruit before 

 conkiiif;- it, and sweetens it ready for the table. 

 While Ipiittling she allows the vessel of cooked 

 frnit to remain on the stove, where it keeps hot, 

 as this is the secret of success. With a gasoline 

 stove the canning may be very comfortably done. 



Keep the covers and the rubbers of the bottles 

 perfectly dry. Mrs. Devol i>refers the self-sealer 

 with the beer-bottle lid-fastener and keeps the 

 bottled fruit in a dark place. 



1,3H3. Quince Leaf Blight. The Quince leaves 

 submitted to me for examination are affected 

 with a disease to which we have given the name 

 Leaf Blight. It is caused by a parasitic fungus 

 which we have quite fully described and figured 

 in our Annual Report for 1888. What foUoAvs is 

 in part a quotation from that article. The dis- 

 ease first shows itself in the shape of small, dull, 

 carmine-red spots which appear first on the up- 

 per, and finally penetrate to the lower surface of 

 the leaf ; the color soon changes from red to a 

 dark brown, with a slightly elevated, minute, 

 black spot in the center. The spots also increase 

 in size, and if very numerous, the tissue between 

 them also turns brown, and loses its vitality. As 

 soon as the leaf becomes badly diseased it falls 

 off ; and if another growth of leaves is produced , 

 these, too, become diseased. The spots are usual- 

 ly about one-fourth of an inch in diameter. This 

 wholesale destruction of the foliage interferes 

 very seriously with the growth of the wood and 

 the maturing of the fruit. The seed or spores of 

 the fungus are borne in compact masses, and as 

 seen by the naked eye consist of little black- 

 specks seated upon the brown spots. Under prop- 

 er conditions of moisture and Ineat each spore is 

 capable of infecting a healthy leaf. The spores 

 that are formed late in the season live over win- 

 ter in the old leaves so that it is readily seen that 

 the latter, if allowed to remain under the trees, 

 are a constant source of danger. To get rid of 

 this infectious material the leaves should be raked 

 together in the fall and burned. As an additional 

 means of preventing the disease the trees should 

 be sprayed with a solution prepared as follows : 

 Into a 1-gallon vessel pour 1 quart of ammonia 

 (strength 22° Baum), add 3 ounces of carbonate 

 of copper, stir rapidly for a moment, and the car- 

 bonate of copper will dissolve in the ammonia, 

 forming a very clear liquid. For use, dilute to 

 23 gallons. Make the first application when the 

 leaves are about two-thirds grown— taking care 

 to roach every leaf— and repeat at intervals of 

 three weeks throughout the season. It must be 

 borne in mind that in neaiiy all fungus maladies 

 the treatment is preventive and this disease of 

 the (Juince is no exception to the rule. It will be 

 sheer folly to begin spraying the trees after the 

 disease appears. The whole secret of success in 

 such work is early treatment.— B. P. Gaxloway, 

 Chief of Section Vegetable Pathology Dep. Ag. 



1,298. Booting Bose Cuttings. Hybrid Per- 

 petuals and any others equally hardy may be 

 readily started in the open ground any time 

 after suitable firm, partially ripened, growths 

 can be obtained. A shady location is essential. 

 Teas and other tender sorts should be started in 

 pots, and given protection under glass.— M.B.F. 



l,2»fl. Mulch for Blackberries. I should much 

 rather use straw or Pine needles. Chips or rotted 

 shavings make a snug harbor for all manner of 

 pestiferous insects. We use salt marsh tiay in 

 this locality but of course in the majority of 

 places this would not be available.— Faxon. 



1,:300. Ampelopsis Veitchii, If well started it 

 will need no protection. If not use a covering 

 of Rye sti'aw or similar light material as the vine 

 will not be so high but that can be readily done. 

 — M. B. Faxon. 



1.302. Plums on Hill Side. Yes they would 

 be as well adapted to this location as any fruit 

 you could select. Heavy soil is preferable.— F. 



1.303. Sod for Small Fruit. Tour best way 

 would be to plant some hoed crop ne.xt season 

 before setting your small fruits. If you cannot 

 conveniently wait, plow to a medium depth the 

 coming fall and in the si>ring work thoroughly 

 with a disc or wheel harrow, then plow the 

 second time before planting. Well rotted ma- 

 nure is adapted to all fruits in any location. 

 Bone dust is perhaps the best of the manufac- 

 tured fertilizers, though unleached wood ashes 

 or any high grade phosphate is good.— Faxon. 



1,305. Insects in Cistern, In order to have 

 pure water you will necessarily have to clean it 

 out. Then use a few pounds of powdered bora,x, 

 taking pains that it is thoroughly stirred in. 

 Should any bugs afterwards make their appear- 

 ance make a fresh apidication, though so large a 

 quantity will not be required as at first.— F. 



1.309. Treatment of Bose Seedlings. Mix the 



sand with leaf mold or well rotted compost. — 

 M. B F. 



1.310. Dewberry Plants, They may be propa- 

 gated from root cuttings the same as Black- 

 berries. Every piece of root that has an eye will 

 grow if planted in light finable loam. — M. B. F. 



1,313. Japan Anemones. The soil can hardly 

 be made too rich for this class of plants. Very 

 likely this is where the cause of the trouble lies. 

 — M. B. Faxon. 



1,315. Improving Sandy Soil. The best plan 

 where a muck or peat deposit is available is to 

 cart on a quantity, applying the same as stable 

 manure and work into the soil by plowing and 

 harrowing. I have seen wonderful results from 

 this treatment.— M. B. F. 



