1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



271 



color. A. L. Aurca rettcnlntn, a distinct 

 anil beautiful sub-variety of the above, hav- 

 ing light green leaves which are beautifully 

 veined and marked yellow, sometimes 

 blotched with red. A. L. Emrrsonii, a va- 

 riety of A. liindeni, having bright red leaves 

 and stems— One of the best. A. CoUinnH 

 grows about two and a half feet in height, of 

 compact habit. T^eaves willow-shaped, most 

 beautifully variegated with golden yellow 

 and green. Stems and midribs bright crim- 

 son. A. Wiiolstyii is a very tlistinct, dwarf 

 minature variety growing about sixteen 

 inches in height, of compact habit with 

 small foliage of a deep bronze color. 



English Tomato Frame. 



Our English cousins like Tomatoes as 

 well as we do, but they And It not quite so 

 easy to produce them. England's sun is 

 not warm, and her skies not bright enough 

 to bring the crop to perfection and maturity 

 in the open air. But the fruit is too good to 

 go without, and since it cannot be grown 

 otherwise a system of forcing has to be 

 adopted by them. 



A good way of summer forcing is shown 

 in Illustration. The frame is shaped like a 

 desk with book case and intended to be set 

 against the south side of a wall. The desk 

 part gives us admission to the soil, in 

 which the plants are growing. The upright, 

 which is all surrounded by glass, except at 

 back, gives sufficient space for a single row 

 of plants. The front, consisting of swing 

 doors, and the top, can be opened for ven- 

 tilation. English firms manufacture such 

 frames in any length desired, and offer 

 them for sale at about $3.00 to $.3.35 per 

 running foot. 



Onions; Cheap Weeding and Costly 

 Seeding. 



FRED W. CARD, BRA.DPORD CO., PA. 



Some time since I saw an article in one of 

 the agricultural papers recommending rak- 

 ing over Onions with a garden rake soon 

 after they were up, to destroy small weeds. 

 Acting on the suggestion, I made a small 

 hand drag in the form of a "wing" or "but- 

 terfly" drag except that there are two center 

 pieces fastened together with hinges and 

 the arms framed directly unto these. The 

 material used was one inch ash board, with 

 10 penny steel nails about two inches apart, 

 for teeth. There are three arms on a side 

 and the whole is three feet long, and the 

 same in width. A strip is fastened to the 

 end of the center pieces for a tongue. 



Have tried this two seasons but prefer 

 using it before the Onions are up. This year 

 the first time, which was about ten days 

 after sowing, I went crosswise of the rows, 

 and lengthwise a few days later. While it 

 does not work as completely as one might 

 wish, I find that it destroys many weeds 

 without in.iuring the Onions, and requires 

 but little time to do the work. The first 

 weeding is usually the most tedious and ex- 

 pensive, and anything that will lessen that 

 work is worth looking after. 



I would recommend using thicker lumber 

 and larger nails, as mine is not heavy 

 enough without weighting. Also I think 

 that if the tongues were fastened on top a 

 little back from the end, it would draw 

 more evenly, as I find it necessary to fasten 

 a rope from the end of the tongue to the back 

 of the drag to prevent the front end from 

 being lifted from the ground. 



Expensive Seed. I have usually paid 

 more for seed than my neighbors, and have 

 never had any that was not good until this 

 year, when I bought two pounds of my 

 seedsman's "own growth" and a pound not 

 their own growth. The difference can be 

 plainly seen from any part of the field. Not 

 more than half of the cheap (?) seed grew. 



It is of course impossible to estimate the 

 difference in the crop now, but I think it 

 safe to say that one pound of tlie good seed 

 will produce at least twenty-live bushels 

 more Onions than this pound of cheaper 

 seed. In that Ciise, at fifty cent.s per bushel, 

 an average price, there is .*ll..'iO loss on the 

 crop to be added to $1.50, the price of the 

 seed, making the cost *U.(K) as compared 

 with $'J.35 the price of the good seed. 



It is but fair to state that I purchased one 

 pound in the same way last year and could 

 see no difference, but I ran the risk, and this 

 time I am caught. 



Fruit Picking Devices. 

 While it is true that we have been making 

 considerable progress in tlie construction of 

 ladders and other devices for picking fruit, 

 there seems to be still latitude for much 

 further improvement. We are yet far from 

 perfection. A section ladder which we have 



ONION WEEDING A SMALL HAND DRAG. 



in use, and which consists of a number of 

 adjustable sections each seven feet long, 

 does very well; but when a length of four or 

 more of these sections is required, it makes 

 a pretty heavy ladder to lift, and sometimes 

 we get afraid of it, especially when there is 

 no support whatever between top and loot. 



The orchardist needs quite a variety of 

 sizes of ladders, and there is no need of 

 having any of them very heavy. Young 

 straight Basswood trees sawed once through 

 the center, and then trimmed down to make 

 them light enough, are splendid material 

 for the sides. Light double or step ladders 

 of various lengths are also a necessary re- 

 quisite in every orchard. If we add to this 

 the simple board ladder described elsewhere 

 in this issue, we will have a pretty good out- 

 fit in the way of "climbing" devices. 



We doubt whether a better receptacle 

 could easily be found for gathering Apples 

 and Pears than a light round willow basket 

 of half-bushel size, with strong handle and 

 hook fastened to this, so the picker can hang 

 it readily to the nearest limb. In order to 

 facilitate the lowering of the filled baskets 

 to the ground, we generally make use of a 

 piece of washline. One end of this is fasten- 

 ed to a limb near the picker, and the other 

 end supplied with a hook, is attached to the 

 basket when full, and the latter lowered to 

 the ground, to be emptied there and pulled 

 up again into the tree by the same means. 

 Planks or ladders may often be laid from 

 limb to limb in a tree, and if properly fast- 

 ened, will supply a safe and convenient foot 

 rest for the picker. Great care, of course, is 

 always required in placing all such supports 



solidly, and where the least doubt exists, to 

 tie them, and ladders also, firmly to the tree 

 to avoid their moving about, or giving way 

 suddenly. Broken limbs often are,and may 

 be in your case, the result of neglect. 



The Rascally English Sparrow. 



The Department of Agriculture, Division 

 of Economic Ornithology and Mammalogy, 

 has issued a voluminous pamphlet (over 

 ■KKI pages) on the English sparrow. It pre- 

 sents the .subject in all its various phases 

 and aspects, gives a heap of evidence both 

 for and against the sparrow, and, in sum- 

 ming up reaches the conclusion that the bird 

 is a nuisance and unworthy of protection. 



From this standpoint it recommends the 

 immediate repeal of all existing laws which 

 afford protection to the sparrow and the 

 enactment of laws prohibiting to give them 

 food or shelter, and protecting their natural 

 enemies, especially the butcher bird, spar- 

 row hawk and screech owl. The authors 

 are not in favor of a bounty for killing the 

 birds, but advise people, for their own good, 

 to shoot, trap and poison them, to destroy 

 their nests and disturb their roosting places. 

 The devices for trapping the sparrow, de- 

 scribed by word and illustration, and the 

 methods of poisoning mentioned are for the 

 most part simple and practical. Altogether 

 the pamphlet is quite interesting and use- 

 ful. Every reader should apply to their 

 Representative in Congress for a copy, 

 which is free to all. 



Few sinners, however, areas black as they 

 are often painted. That the sparrow does 

 now and then a good deed, is admitted by 

 nearly all, and some people speak quite 

 strongly in favor of the bird. It is well to 

 hear all sides. The Daily World has just 

 undertaken the " Sparrow's Vindication." 



It begins to appear, says the World, that 

 the English sparrow has been grievously 

 misjudged and slandered. He was brought 

 here to protect the trees against caterpillars 

 but for many years it has been asserted over 

 and over again that he was a worthless little 

 beggar who fed fat upon the crumbs in back 

 yards and totally neglected his work as a 

 caterpillar exterminator. Popular displeas- 

 ure with him found expression a year or so 

 ago in a bill before the Legislature making 

 it a penal offense for anybody to feed spar- 

 rows or protect them. 



The blizzard of March, 188S, very nearly 

 exterminated the birds, and their number 

 in New York and Brooklyn is still very 

 small. Apparently as a consequence the 

 trees are this year infested with a species of 

 caterpillar whose presence first shows itself 

 in what looks like a white fungus growth 

 on the under side of the branches, but which 

 is in fact the resting-place of the eggs and 

 larva? of the insect. 



The trees are suffering terribly. Many of 

 them are dropping their green leaves, which 

 dry up and fall without ripening. Others 

 attacked by the more advanced caterpillars, 

 have had their leaves eaten up, leaving noth- 

 ing but midribs to show that there ever 

 were any leaves. Meanwhile the sparrows 

 are daily and industriously engaged in tear- 

 ing the egg depositories to pieces and feed- 

 ing upon their contents. But there are not 

 enough birds for the work, and it seems a 

 fair inference from the facts that the trees 

 are being destroyed because of the enormous 

 depletion of the sparrow population, and 

 that while we have been abusing the impu- 

 dent little birds for doing nothing in former 

 years they have really saved our trees until 

 now from the pest which afflicts them now. 



Ripeness In Water Melons. 



People who have grown Water Melons 

 year after year, especially for market on a 

 large scale, have no difficulty in picking out 



