1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



85 



The Ivy is understood to signify in senti- 

 mental language fidelity and friendship, and 

 this fact, added to the beauty of the leaves and 

 their appearance of stabilitj-, renders this ma- 

 terial especially suitable for such purposes. 



Among flowers to combine with Ivy leaves, 

 none are more suitable than Violets or the early 

 spring flowers. The sombre appearance of tlie 

 former especially harmonizes well with the 

 dark leaves, while yet the appearance is suffi- 

 ciently varied 

 as to form to 

 create a very 

 pleasing com- 

 bination to the 

 eye. One thing 

 should be said 

 of preparing 

 the Ivy leaves 

 for such work. 

 They should 

 be rubbed with 

 a cloth to re- 



Fig. 4. Bell Ohtss or Cloche. 



move every 

 particle of 

 dust, and by this means also the general appear- 

 ance is much improved. To very lightly rub the 

 leaves with linseed oil will give them a polish. 



Some Simple Uses of Glass In Gar- 

 dening:. 



Such is the adaptabilitj- of glass to the uses 

 of gardening. that the climate of the Tropics and 

 the cultivation of all tropical plants may on a 

 moderate scale, be easily attained to throughout 

 the regions of the North. Glass allows those 

 important needs of plant life, sunlight and heat, 

 to pass through its substance, while it shuts 

 out the cold and untoward winds. It at the 

 same time retains the heat and moisture that 

 accumulate within its cover, and thus together 

 secures a variety of conditions most congenial 

 to plant growth. 



The province of this article is to call attention 

 to some of the more simple uses of gla.ss in aid- 

 ing the work of the plant grower and propa- 

 gator. As this is the season of general plant 

 propagation in the window and greenhouse, 

 notice is first invitetl to the propagating box of 

 figure 1, improvised by the use of a small-sized 

 box, such as a lower section sawed from a soap 

 box would make, and eight or more panes of 

 glass. In this instance the upright panes form- 

 ing the sides of the case are held in jjosition by 

 having then- lower ends embedded between 

 the sand or soil and the sides of the box. For 

 starting cuttings and seeds, as well as for bring- 

 ing on young plants, Ferns, etc., such a simple 

 affair is most useful. 



In figm-e 2 is shown an arrangement of but 

 four panes of glass, and these resting on the 

 surface of a bed of sand or soil. This may find 

 a wide range of usefulness in starting slips and 

 seeds, and for protecting young plants indoors 

 or out. The upper part, which serves to keep 

 the Ughts in position, consists simply of a pine 

 strip, size one inch by two inches and a half, 

 and of a length somewhat gi-eater than the 

 width of the glass used. In this strip are in- 

 serted, to project downwards, two pegs of wood 

 three inches long, against which the oblique 

 lights recline. Two grooves ai-e also sawed 

 crosswise in the strips at a proper distance 

 apart for retaining the perpendicular side lights. 



For simple small boxes, covered with one or 

 two lights of glass, the sketches of figure 3 

 serve to give an idea. Such boxes find a wide 

 use in open-air gardening, for jjlacing over the 

 hills of heat-loving seeds, such as those of the 

 Cucumber and Melon, and also in protecting 

 young plants of Tomatoes, etc., that are sus- 

 ceptible to injury from the late frosts and 

 harsh winds of spring. Boxes of this kind 

 should be made up ready to receive the gla.ss 

 early in the season, and be stored away for use 

 when the planting time arrives. 



All the appliances suggested are in general 

 designed to meet the same use as that long 



given to the bell-glass, or cloche, as it is called 

 in Prance, where it finds very extensive use. 

 The former contrivances referred to may be 

 made cheaply by any one ; the latter is a manu- 

 factured article, the price of which might debar 

 some from buying it. They may be bought for 

 about ?5.00 a dozen, for a size 7 inches across 

 at the base, of some dealers m horticultm'e 

 supplies. Being made of heavy glass, they are 

 decidedly durable, and with fair handling will 

 last for many years. 



Varietlesfor Heavy Clay Soil. 



Recently Prof. L. R. Taft of the Horticul- 

 tural Department of the Missouri State Agri- 

 cultural College gave an account of the work 

 during the year in that department. The hor1> 



vigorous canes are never so well developed 

 as upon medium-sized canes, for in large canes 

 the energies of the vine have been turned 

 too much towards 

 the development 

 of wood at the ex- 

 pense of the fruit 

 buds. Therefore, 

 in a strong grow- 

 ing vineyard these 

 larger canes 

 should be trim- 

 med and the medi- 

 Some Simple Forms u^ canes that 



Fig. 3. 



of Fonvarding Boxes. 

 developed buds saved for fruiting. 



The pruner should before commencing oper 



possess the better 



icultural grounds comprise forty acres, and ^t'ons look each vine over, and trim according 



to the vine's condition. He will invariably 



find that upon a thrifty, strong growing vine 

 the buds upon the medium-sized canes are 

 swelled larger and stand out from the cane 

 more prominently than the buds upon the lar- 

 gest canes. 



I have tried the experiment over and over, 

 and this is the sum of my observation, that the 

 medium canes are the ones that develop the 

 best fruit buds whenever the vines are strong. 



the soil is a hea^-y White Oak clay 



The grounds are devoted to large and small 

 fruits and vegetables. Of Strawberries they 

 had last year seventy varieties, but have dis- 

 carded one-half of them. On these grounds the 

 best berries for a commercial plantation it 

 has been found are the Cumberland Triumph, 

 Capt. Jack and Crescent Seedling, and these 

 seem to suit a large part of the State. 



Of Red Raspberries the Turner did well. 

 Shaffer's Colossal was also good, large and 

 productive, but rather soft. Among the 

 Blackcaps the Carman is promising for an 

 early kind. 



Taylor and Snyder are the only Blackber- 

 ries they raise, and are not profitable in that 

 market, there being too many wild ones. 



Of vegetables, the Professor spoke well of 

 Cleveland's Alaska Pea, which was six days 

 earlier than any other. He had grown an ex- 

 cellent crop of Celery, though the season had 

 been very dry, by putting the plants in a cold 

 frame which had been used for early vege- 

 tables. The soil in the frame was moderately 

 rich and the plants were set in rows ten inches 

 apart and a few inches in the rows. 'With an 

 occasional watering the plants did well and in- 

 side were well blanched, and when sunk in the 

 ground for a short time were blanched per- 

 fectly. It is hard to grow good Celery in their 

 hard dry soil, but by this method a large quan- 

 tity of an excellent quality can be grown in a 

 small space. Of the varieties the Golden 

 Hearted Dwarf is one of the best. 



Which Grape Canes to Leave for 

 the Best Fruit. 



D. S. MARVIN, W4TERT0WN, N. V. 



" There is one well authenticated fact in the 

 fi-uiting of the Grape, \iz., the finest fruit, the 

 best, earliest and largest crops ai-e produced 

 upon the strongest 

 shoots of the previous 

 year's growth." 



I have seen the above 

 from the pen of one 

 who is usually a care- 

 ful observer, going the 

 rounds of the press as 

 the sum of accurate 

 hmnan knowledge upon 

 this point, so often, 

 that my mental dissent 

 each time I have read it 

 has finally taken the 



form of an earnest protest. The truth is that 

 the strongest canes are often not the canes that 

 should be saved for fruiting, for they do not 

 yield the heaviest and best crops of fruit. 



This matter of which are the best canes, like 

 nearly every other horticultural practice, 

 should be governed by the conditions. There 

 is no such unvarying rule for trimming the 

 vine as the item asserts. Wherever there is a 

 feeble growth of the vine, there the idea is 

 right ; but wherever there is a strong growth 

 then it is wrong, and here are the reasons : 



All the operations of the vineyard should be 

 directed to the production of well developed 

 fniit buds. But the fruit buds upon strong, 



Do Transplanted Cabbage Plants 

 Head Better Than Others. 



It has been claimed that the act of trans- 

 planting Cabbage plants exerts a beneficial in- 

 fluence upon their heading qualities. The sec- 

 ond and third plantings in our test of varieties 

 gave an opportunity to make a comparison in 

 this respect, as the second planting was made 

 in boxes iu the cold frame. May 6-10, and the 

 third in the open ground May 7-10. It is thus 

 possible to compare 106 rows of transplanted 

 plants with the same number of rows grown 

 " iu place," the vai-ieties being identical, and 

 the seed being taken from the same packages. 

 The resiilts were as follows: 



Second planting. 



Plants transplanted . 

 Third planting. 



Plants grown in pla celll6.17 



It is evident that, in this case, the transplant- 

 mg shows no lieneficial effect. The little differ- 

 ence is in favor of the plants grown " in place." 

 —Report of the New York Eji-periment Station. 



Propagating Case. Fig. 2. Plant Sh ield. 



Easily Improvised with Paties of Glass. 



As to Hardlnsss of Trees. 



Hardiness depends on many things — as 

 elevation, soil, drainage, exposure, cultiva- 

 tion, rapidity of gi-owth, the nature of the 

 summers, springs and winters, or any one or all 

 of these, and doubtless on still other conditions. 



Last winter was as cold as any we have had 

 in 20 years— 38' F. below zero — yet thrifty 

 sprouts of Mwjnolia umbrella remained alive 

 to the terminal bud. Perhaps this was owing 

 to the fact that there was plenty of moisture in 

 the soil, or little wind, or no sunshine during 

 the freezing pericnl, or all combined. These 

 Magnolias have usuaU}", even in mild winters, 

 died to the snow line. — Prof. Bears Report, 



