20 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



potting plunge the pots to the rims in eai-th or 

 other material outdoors, and leave exposed to 

 weather and frosts until the setting in of 

 winter, when they should come to the cellar. 

 At any time after this the pots may be brought 

 to the window or the greenhouse for growth. 

 If this is done at intervals of three or four 

 weeks a long succession of the brightest bloom 

 may be secured. The flowers will appear in 

 about the same length of time after the plants 

 begin to gi'ow as Hyacinths require. 



Nothing has been said as to the source of ob- 

 taining the plants. They may be procured at 

 any roadside for the digging ; or perhaps some 

 young and plump ones that have strayed into 

 the garden can be found — than such there could 

 be none better. The plant we refer to is also 

 known as the Common Dandelion. 



A. M. PTfBDY'S DEPARTMENT. 



Posiofftce address^ - - Palmyra, N. Y. 



To " Fruit Recorder " Subscribers. Hereafter 

 all letters about missing numbers, specimens, etc., 

 and ail remittances fur renewals, must be sent to 

 the office ot Popular QAEDENiNa, Buffalo, N. Y. 



Walks and Jottings About the 

 Fruit Farm. 



There is that old Black Raspberry planta- 

 tion cleaned and trimmed up for one more 

 crop, and as they are to come off next season 

 after fruiting, and the bushes are old and small, 

 we have concluded to sow Corn half way 

 between the rows in the spring, and will thus 

 get a good crop of Corn and fodder. 



We are ploughing our truck land this fall, 

 and shall plough it again in the spring, as we 

 find by so doing it makes it much more friable 

 and easier to work next season, and not so 

 liable to bake. 



Here are two rows of old Concords that we 

 have allowed to grow every W'ay, more to get 

 wood for propagation than anything else. We 

 are now renewing it for fruiting purposes, by 

 cutting out all the old wood and leaving but 

 two canes of three years' gi'owth, four to six 

 feet long, and by digging well around the roots 

 and working into the soil plenty of compost 

 we will make them productive again. 



No better time in the whole j'ear for trim- 

 ming fruit trees than this month, and by the 

 way, what horrible work is made by many in 

 trimming, — no judgment as to how or what to 

 trim; no knowledge as to the growth of dif- 

 ferent sorts, the same kind of trimming being 

 given to the Rhode Island Greening, with its 

 broad spreading branches, as to the Northern 

 Spy, with its close top, or the Tompkins County 

 King, with its long upright limbs. While the 

 Northern Spy needs thinning out in the center, 

 the Rhode Island Greening requires cutting 

 back and, not too many limbs allowed to grow. 



The finest crop of Strawberries we ever 

 grew was a bed of Wilson's Albany, on about 

 one tliird of an acre that we had manured well 

 in the fall with well-rotted manure and ploughed 

 under shallow, and the next spring, as soon as 

 the frost was out and ground settled, we 

 ploughed it deep, following the common turn 

 plow with asubsod plow that loosened the gi'ound 

 at least is inches below the surface, but not 

 turning up the subsoil. After harrowing well, 

 we set the plants one foot apart in the row, 

 and rows three feet apai-t. We kept it well 



cultivated and hoed and the ground well worked, 

 and cut off all runners. Such fine berries and 

 such a mass of them was certainly a sight to see. 

 We are satisfied that one acre ot ground thus 

 prepared, planted and cared for would bring 

 as much actual profit as five acres in the ordi- 

 nary way. What was still better this bed 

 jaelded abundently for two seasons after that. 



There is nothing better for giving an even, 

 regular heat in a hot-bed than leaves, and these 

 should be gathered in the fall and put away in 

 a dry place. When used in the hot-bed mix 

 them with half their bulk of fresh barn-yard 

 manui'e and turn once or twice before using. 



We have the best success with all kinds of 

 cuttings by cutting in the fall, tying in bunches 

 of 25 to 50, and leaving in a protected place 

 tlii'ough the winter where frost will not dis- 

 turb them, and taking out and transplanting 

 early in spring. 



It's astonishing how vigorous Grape-vines 

 will grow where a few bones have been thrown 

 into the hole when planted out. 



The self bleaching Dwarf Celery is fine 

 for early fall use on the table, and we shall 

 plant out more. 



Less land, less help and expense and more 

 manure and better cultivation of fruit and 

 the surplus land in farm crops is our motto 

 hereafter. First-class fruit will sell at all times 

 at paying I'ates, and so we propose to grow 

 better fruit on less land. 



Notes on Kinds, Culture, Etc. 



Surprise (history unknown). Crimson Beauty, 

 Superb, Brandywine, Cuthbert, Turner, Reder, all 

 ripened nearly together within the next three or 

 four days. 



Hansel I shall abandon, as not earlier with me 

 than several others, while it is comparatively un- 

 productive, small, and not of high quality. 



We clip the above from an article written 

 by Lyon of Michigan to the i^io-ai New Yorker. 

 Mr. Lyon must certainly have strange soil, for 

 on our grounds the Crimson Beauty is five to 

 six days earlier than either kind he mentions 

 except Hansel. The Hansel is certainly not 

 less than six days earlier than any kind on our 

 grounds except Crimson Beauty, and both ai'e 

 profitable because of their earliness. 



Mr. Ohmer, of Ohio, had four acres of Kittatinny 

 Blackberries that were just beginning to ripen, 

 when the drouth began to dry them up. By culti- 

 vating once a week, he secured a crop of large, nice 

 berries, that sold at enormous prices, because others 

 had no berries to sell, they not so cullivating. 



The above is from the Miehitjiin Farmer. 

 We have practiced cultivation for years in our 

 small fruits of all kinds, where drought set in, 

 with the most favorable and paying results. 



Phelp's Iron Clad shows the most vigorous and 

 thrifty foliage ot any we have seen, even surpass- 

 ing the Vick. The berry is large and lobe shaped, 

 resembling the Sharpless or Parry. It is of excel- 

 lent quality, sweet and agreeable. It seems to be 

 fully up to the standard for yielding. We consider 

 it one of the most promising of the newer sorts. 



We agi-ee with this writer in the Orange 

 County Farmer concerning this variety, and 

 can also say that ou our grounds it gi'ows as 

 early as the Crescent. Judging by the numer- 

 ous favorable testimonials we see of it and our 

 experience we consider it the best large early 

 sort on our grounds. 



J. E. E., Bncyru.^, Ohio. A liberal supply 

 of superphosphate scattered around Strawberry 

 plants is not only beneficial to the plant and 

 fruit but drives the grub away. A trifle of 

 salt, say a thimbleful, scattered around each 

 plant is also a prevention to grubs. 



H. G., Salem., Va. We have had best suc- 

 cess in keeping Apples by wrapping paper 

 aromid each Apple and packing closely in bar- 

 rels. We prefer packing them in barrels and 

 allowing them to stand outdoors in a cool 

 shady place until freezing weather comes on, 

 and then putting in the cellar. 



E. W. M. We don't know that Gooseberries 

 succeed better near the sea-shore than inland. 

 Its a good plan to scatter salt around and under 

 Gooseberries and Currants, as it keeps the sur- 

 face moist. Gooseberries begin to yield a 

 profitable crop on favorable soil the second or 

 third year after planting. 



M. B., North Sjiringfield. Yes, the Dorches- 

 ter Blackberry is an excellent variety to plant 

 with the Brinton Early as a fertilizer. The 

 Early Harvest is also good tor that pui'pose. 



T. N. F. Yes, Celery may be planted early 

 in spring for early fall use if put on low, moist 

 ground. We do not consider transplanted 

 Blackberry roots equal to this season's layered 

 plants. In fact would rather buy the latter 

 at $10 per 1,000 than take the first as a gift. 



Mixed Plantations. 



Fruit growers, like many farmers, make great 

 mistakes in planting too largely of some kinds 

 ot fruits and none of others, and also in de- 

 pending entirely on such. There are thousands 

 of localities through the country where a gen- 

 eral assortment of "truck" or garden vegeta- 

 bles sell well, and especially where one sends 

 out his own wagons and peddlers. 



We have found early Peas, Potatoes, Corn, 

 Radishes, Onions, Beets, Cabbage, Lettuce, 

 Beans, etc., in good demand, and by keeping a 

 wagon or two on the road have taken in a 

 good deal of cash, which helps out on expenses 

 amazingly. 



An assortment of fruit grown properly is 

 safer than making one kind, like Raspberries 

 or Strawberries, a specialty, and the best only 

 taken to market and the culls made into jelly, 

 which seUs well the following winter. 



Too many ship to distant markets that are 

 over-flooded and hardly pay expenses, while if 

 they sold ne.arer home they would do much 

 better. It does not take a large bed of Rad- 

 ishes, Onions and Beets to bring in fifty to one 

 hundred dollars from the sale of the product, 

 and that, too, with but little expense out. The 

 fact is this "castle" building must cease and 

 growers get down to rock-bottom. 



Pruning Peach Trees. 



The tendency is well known to throw out 

 long branches, which lose their side-shoots and 

 become bare poles, with fruit and leaves near 

 the end only. Referring to this tendency, 

 some cultivators <lo not allow any of the 

 branches of their trees to extend more than 

 five feet from the center, as hardly more than 

 two feet, at the outside, ever bear fruit. With 

 this care the trees at any age need never have 

 a spread of more than ten feet under the man- 

 agement of careful pruning. Large orchardists, 

 however, in regions of the country where the 

 trees do not live long after coming into full 

 bearing, let the trees take their own course, 

 and do not give them this attention. Finer 

 fruit would be had with good pruning, and 

 when the trees continue healthy their vigorous 

 growth and good bearing condition may be 

 indefinitely prolonged by judicious pruning 

 and proper cultivation. [We clip the above 

 from the Spirit of the Farm, and can fully en- 

 dorse from our own experience the same. A 

 few days since we were in Cayuga Co. , and a 

 friend pointed out an orchard to us that had 

 been closely pruned each year and had not 

 failed a crop f6r five or six years, while 

 orchards near bj- and under just as favorable 

 circumstances had failed at least half the time 

 and when fruiting gave only a light crop. He 

 claimed that the shortening in made the wood 

 hardier, and trees being planted closely together 

 in a bunch were considerable protection to 

 themselves ; we say plant close. — not over 12 to 

 14 feet apart, and cut back strong and put only 

 planted crops among them for a year or two, 

 and then give the ground to the orchard, keep- 

 ing it weU cultivated.] 



