56 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



All occasional watering with weak guano or 

 manure water after the plants have set buds 

 will improve the blooms. Before taking the 

 plants to market it is well to tie the blooms in 

 tissue paper to prevent injury from jolting on 

 the journey. If the buds (particidarly of the 

 teas) are tied in stiff paper, leaving one end 

 open, when they first show color, they will at- 

 tain greater size. 



Among the best Hybrid Pei'petuals to grow 

 are Gen. Jacqueminot, Magna Charta, Paul 

 Neyron, Merveille de Lyons, Baroness de Roths- 

 child, John Hopper, Anna de Diesbach, Mad- 

 ame Masson, Queen of Queens, Pgeonia, and 

 Duchesse de Morny; the latter two varieties do 

 not produce pai-ticuiarly fine fiowei-s, but 

 they are of such good habit and freedom of 

 bloom as to merit growing in large quantities. 



Of the Hybrid Teas none are superior to La 

 PYauce, Pierre Guillott, Lady Mai*y Fitzwill- 

 iams, Antoine Verdier, and Countess of Pem- 

 broke. 



In the Teas, none are better than Perle ties 

 Jardin, Madame Welch, Marie Van Houtte, 

 Etoile de Lyons, Madame de Vatry, Madame 

 (Jusin, Coquette de Lyon and Marie Guillott. 

 The latter variety is one of the most profitable ; 

 its flowers are of pure white and of good sub- 

 stance: it pays to grow it for flowers in smii- 

 mer alone, and it is the best white tea for pots 

 in spring; it requires a stoiiey, clayey soil. 

 Coquette de Lyon also deserves special.mentioii ; 

 it has been called the *' Yellow Hermosa," and 

 the name is appropriate, for it flowers as con- 

 stantly and free as that well-known sort. 



in the Bourbon and Chinese classes we may 

 grow Hermosa, Agrippina, Archtluke Charles, 

 ESouv. de Mahnaison, Bourbon Queen and Queen 

 of Bedders. 



Ciimbers,Tenuessee Belle, Gem of the Prairies, 

 Baltimore Belle, Keine Marie Henrietta, Glorie 

 lie JJijon and Marechal Neil. With the excep- 

 tion of the three last named, they should be 

 planted outdoors in summer. Very strong 

 'plants make a fine appearance when trained on 

 treUises in oval form. 



The Polyanthus Koses are dainty little beau- 

 ties and weU woilh growing*. The best ai'e 

 Mignonette, Madam Cecil Bruner, Little Pet 

 and Perie d'Uro. 



A few of the Moss Roses aredesii-able; the 

 best for pot culture are Countess Mm'iuais, 

 Glory of Mosses, Crestata, Pi'incess Adelaide 

 and Henry Martin. The latter, although uot 

 producing first-class fiowers, blooms so eiisily 

 and freely as to well merit a place ou the list. 

 if grown under glass in pots thej" will bloom 

 weU the first spring, which is not the case (ex- 

 cepting Henry Martin) if they have been 

 planteil outdoors; under the latter treatment, 

 they are likely to produce only blind shoots. 



Coquette des Alps (Hybrid Noisette) is not 

 only first-cla^^ in pots, but will give satifaction 

 as a vigorous grower and bloomer when i>lanied 

 out. It IS surprising that it is not more lai'gely 

 grown. Coquette des Blanches is also distinct 

 and good. American Beauty promises to be 

 very valuable, but has uot yet been sufficiently 

 tested as a market pot Rose. Uf one thing i 

 am thoroughly convinced, and that is, that the 

 operator confining himself to eight or ten var- 

 ieties in the Hybrids and to twelve or fifteen 

 lu the Teas wiU realize more money than one 

 endeavoring to grow a greater number of kiinis. 



In growing cut flowers for winter bloom, 

 the growers have been compelled to di'op all 

 but less than a dozen in each class, and those 

 of us who grow foi- market in pots wiU be wise 

 if we take the hint and reduce our lists accord- 

 ingly; remember, 1 speak of Roses tor market 

 purposes, i can readily understand how those 

 who publish catalogues and mmister to the 

 wants of educated amateurs can afford to 

 grow more kinds, for then- patruus are more or 

 less faimliai* with future results. iSuch stock 

 may be sold either as very small plants or even 

 in an entirely dormant state and still give sat- 

 isfaction, but the successlul market phuit must 

 be a " thing ot beauty " on the day of its sale. 



A. M. FUBDT'S DEPARTMENT. 



Postofflce address^ - - Palmyra, N. Y. 



Brief Fruit Notes. 



We prefer pruning Grapes now to waiting until 

 in April. 



There is enough waste from houses of liquids 

 which, if properly saved, would give sulificient fer- 

 tilizers for an acre of ground. 



Don't throw away the waste water. It's one of 

 the best of fertilizers^especially if tlirowu over a 

 pile of coal ashes, basin shaped at the lop. 



A good time to haul out manure and throw a lit- 

 tle around each Kaspberry jjlant or scatter under 

 the fruit trees. A tine place for wood ashes is over 

 the Strawberry beds. 



A correspondent asks us how it will do to set out 

 Strawberry plants on ridges. It will not do except 

 on low, wet soil. As a rule set on level ground and 

 they will get ridged up enough in a few years. 



It is found that Peach trees growing near the 

 house where dish and wash-water are thrown out 

 are long-lived, tree from worms, disease, etc. A 

 hint can be had from this, showing that salt and 

 alkali are what gives the result. 



Berry Baskets South. Inquiries as to where 

 these are manufactured and sold at Southern 

 points are coming in. If our readers know of such, 

 teU the manufacturers it will pay them to put a 

 card in the advertising department of this paper. 



Currants Running Out. In our boyhood days 

 we remember ut lemoving an old Currant planta- 

 tion from our father's back yard, dividing the 

 bushes and cutting back well and transplanting in 

 a smgie row along one side of the garden. They 

 done splendidly, and seemed to renew their vigor 

 and production. 



A riorida correspondent writes us he has or- 

 dered buaw berry plants Irom tUe NortU to be sent 

 in April, and has had a nice supply of straw berries 

 for nis own use months atter plants there had 

 fruited. Ut course it would not pay to practice 

 this on a large scale, unless they sold for at least 

 *>io cents per quart in the home inarKet. 



Will Blackberries and Kaspberries yield the 

 first year alter setting out? asks Wm. J. Johnston, 

 of Ohio. No; not any to speak of. The plants or 

 canes should be cut back wiieu set to at least one 

 foot of tne loot, and this stub may have a few ber- 

 ries. Ifs better uot to set too much wood at the 

 start it strong, healthy growth is wanted. 



Different Kinds of Storage. From the Vineyard- 

 ist we make the loilowmg pointed extract: We 

 caution om- friends against "'cold '' and "air-tight'" 

 storage, so much talked of ; there is a great ditfer- 

 euce between this and cool, well ventilated storage. 

 In the one case the truit spoils quickly after being 

 removed into a warmer temperature, while in the 

 other it does not sufier from the sudden change of 

 temperature. 



The "Best." It's getting to be too common to 

 grasp at a conclusion and to say this or that sort 

 is "tne best," when perhaps it may prove a perfect 

 failure on other soils in other chmates. Then, too, 

 what oue might tiunk the best, ten others might 

 disagree with such an opinion. We ^remember a 

 weJl-Known writer saying once that all good judges 

 of truit would prefer the I'each to all other fruits. 

 At our table were some nine good judges, yet only 

 two preferred the Feach above aU other fruits. 



Grapes that Will Stand- Many kinds have to be 

 renewed auu re-set, especially of the more deUcate 

 ones, but such vigorous growei-s as Concord, Diana, 

 Rogers 4 and 15 and Worden wiU stand in the same 

 place for years. Fully twenty years ago we set a 

 vineyard ot all the leading new and old sorts of that 

 day, and of aU these the four sorts first named 

 above are all that are left, and these are productive 

 every year. The Worden was planted some four 

 years after For those wanting hardy, rehable 

 sorts, they will not miss it to set out the above. 



Worden and Concord. The Rural New-Yorker 

 says: "If any oue were to eat first a Worden, then 

 a Concord Grape he could uot tell which from the 

 other. As to the time of ripening there is very ht- 

 tle difference. The Worden bunch wih not average 

 so large as the Concord bunch. ^' We cannot be- 

 lieve the A'. N.-Y. has got the genuine Worden. 

 With us it colors at least a week to ten days before 

 the Concord and is good to eat as soon as it turns, 

 while the Concord is not tit to eat for a week or ten 

 days after it turns, thus making the Worden from 

 two to three weeks earlier than the Concord. 



The Pumpkin Hive. While Mr. Shuman, of 

 Santa JMana, (jal., was gathering his Pumpkins he 

 loaded oue on the wagon from which he noticed 

 bees issuing. It w^as a veritable bee-hive. The bees 



had gained access through a crack in one side of 

 the vegetable and taken up permanent quarters. 

 Mr. Shuman took out eight pounds of fine honey. 

 Is there any other land under the sun where the far- 

 mer can raise his own Pumpkins and bring on his 

 honey on the same vine? 



[We clip the above from the Orange County 

 Farmer. Would it not be a good idea to bore holes 

 in a lot of Pumpkins so that the bee-hives could be 

 scattered around? They would certainly be prefer- 

 able to Samson's bee-hive.] 



Evaporated Fruit. " Where there is an excess 

 of fruit, especially Apples, there is profit in evapor- 

 ating it. Evaporated Apples sell at from eight to 

 eighteen cents, according to supply, quality, price 

 of green fruit, etc., but average from eleven to thir- 

 teen cents. A bushel of Apples will average about 

 six and a half pounds of evaporated fruit, making 

 at the average price from seventy to eighty-four 

 cents a bushel. The cost of evaporating is slight." 



[The above is going the rounds of the papers and 

 is misleading. We have had evaporated Apples for 

 years and in all our experience never succeeding in 

 getting over ten to twelve cents per pound, and 

 then we had to pay thirty to fifty cents per bushel 

 for the green fruit. Instead of a bushel averaging 

 six and a half pounds it averages but five pounds. 

 Instead of the cost being ''slight" to evaporate, 

 help, coal, machineiy, etc., costs ai/eaA-f^/feeji cen^s 

 per bushel. For five or six years past we have 

 obtained but six to eight cents per pound, so that 

 our readei-s can see that the above is something of 

 an "air castle."] 



Hen Manure for Strawberries. Hen manure is 

 excellent for Strawberries, but it should not be used 

 in its crude state. If ashes can be had at a reason- 

 able price, then, for an acre, crush down 300 pounds 

 of hen manure with the same amount of ashes. If 

 ashes cannot be had use a like amount of gypsum 

 (land plaster). Then mix all intimately with a 

 wagon load of dry muck or good loam and apply 

 the whole broadcast over the bed, or if the Straw- 

 berries are in rows applj' to the cultivable spaces 

 and cultivate in slightly. When necessary to mulch 

 at all on accoimt of severe winters it is as valuable 

 on a bed two years old as on one of one year. 



[The Farm., Field and Siockman is decidedly off 

 the track in giving the foregoing advice. If you 

 wish to make fowl or animal manure worthless mix 

 it with wood ashes. If the writer means coal ashes 

 all right. We have applied hen manure freely di- 

 rect to a Strawberry bed after bearing and the next 

 year and the year following obtained splendid 

 crops. However, it is well to mix it with five times 

 its bulk of dry earth.j 



FRUIT CRATES INSTEAD OF BASKETS. 



There is perhaps nothing connected with the 

 growing of small fruits that is more trying than 

 the loss of baskets and boxes. Now especially, 

 when berries are down td a price that every 

 little expense makes it the more questionable 

 as to any profits therefrom, it behooves the 

 grower to try aud adopt some plan for shipping 

 to save on baskets — most ot which ai'e not re- 

 turned to him by the time the season is over. 



We remember well when the old "Cincinnati 

 Stand '' of four drawers was most exclusively 

 used at not to exceed one third the expense that 

 crates and baskets now cost. The great objec- 

 tion to these was that in careless handling by 

 exju'essnien the}' would get tipped on the side, 

 thus bringing down the entire bulk of berries 

 in each di'awer on top of one another, aud ren- 

 dering many worthless by thetmie they reached 

 market. Thenagam, even without being tipped 

 the jai"riug aud shaking about of such a quantity 

 of berries in each th'awer of about lb quai'ts, 

 would shake them to one side or the other, and 

 they woiUd thus be badly bnjised aud damaged. 



Now, while such serious objection can be 

 raised to these ch-awers and stands for shipping, 

 3'et they had some adyantages over the present 

 system of picking and shippmg in baskets: fii-st, 

 theii- use prevented dishonesty on the part of 

 pickers in filling up with green fruit, .stems and 

 leaves, a thing impossible to prevent in the 

 great di'ive of picking, packing and shipping, 

 tor as the fruit was then brought in from the 

 fields by the pickei's, it was emptied from their 

 picking stands into the di-awer and the one who 

 had the chai'ge could quickly detect any such 

 cheating. Second, buyers knew just what 

 they were getting, and by the dealer scooping 

 out the berries with a ladel and putting them 



