i887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



93 



Some Suggestions on Rose Pruning. 



A French grower of Roses offers the follow- 

 ing statements deduced from facts under his 

 observation : 



1. If in the spring some Rose bushes are 

 pruned, and, on the contrary, some others are 

 allowed to remain without any suppression of 

 the branches, the latter will come into bloom 

 about a fortnight before the others ; their 

 flowers will be more numerous, and at the 

 same time less beautiful. 



3. If some Rose bushes are completely 

 pnined, and upon some others are left only 

 some twigs, these latter will have the same ad- 

 vance in time of bloom. 



3. If two Rose bushes are pruned alike, one 

 at the end of September, the other in Februai-y, 

 the one pruned in autumn will flower first. 



4, If, toward the middle of September, the 

 branches of a Rose bush are laid down hori- 

 zontally, and those of another bush in exactly 

 the same condition are left in the natural po- 

 sition, and in the spring both be pruned alike, 

 the bush with the branches laid down will 

 bloom first. 



.5. In pruning Rose bushes before vegetation 

 starts, that is to say, in early spring, bloom on 

 them will be obtained in advance of that 

 which will appear on bushes pruned later. 



6. Pinching the young shoots as they start 

 on bushes after pruning retards blooming 

 very much. In this case the pinching should 

 be done before the flower buds appear, or 

 when the shoots have only three or four leaves. 



Seed Sowing in March. 



WILBl'R F. LAKE, WAYNE CO., N Y. 



In various forms there are gains in early 

 seed-sowing, perhaps more to be noticed in 

 having well advanced plants of Annuals for 

 early decoration than in other lines. 



Without a supply of greenhouse bedding 

 plants, there is a time after the spring-flower- 

 ing hardy plants and shmbs are through, and 

 before the outdoor sown Annuals begin to 

 bloom, that the supply of flowers is inclined to 

 run short. In a measure this may be reme- 

 died by having a number of well started An- 

 nual plants to set early. To this end, I would 

 say begin the sowing now. 



If hot-beds (and every family possessing a 

 garden, no matter how small, should have one) 

 are to be used, they are to be prepared at least 

 a week before sowing, as the rank heat that 

 arises for the first few days after the comple- 

 tion of the bed is often intense enough to de- 

 stroy the vitality of the seeds. 



In sowing any kind of seeds the old rule of 

 covering twice the depth of their diameter 

 may be relied upon. The value of thoroughly 

 decomposed hops from the breweries, and so 

 old as to work up very fine, is hardly to be 

 over estimated for a covering material, as it 

 prevents the soil from crusting, and is of that 

 light, moisture-presen-ing nature so well 

 suited to the needs of young seedlings. 



Before having the conveniences of a green- 

 house for very delicate seeds. I employed the 

 following methods : 



I had boxes made somewhat deeper than the 

 small-size cigar box and three times the length 

 by twice the width. Potsherds to the depth of 

 three quai-t«rs of an inch were placed in the 

 bottom, coarser pieces below, with finer ones 

 above, and filled ^^ithin one-half inch of the 

 top with finely sifted mellow soil. The boxes 

 were then properly labelled, seeds sowed, cov- 

 ering to right depth with fine earth, dusted on 

 through a sieve, well watered, using a sprey, 

 covered with a glass and placed in a dark, 

 rather warm place until they began to germin- 

 ate, when they were given full light, hot sun 

 and air occasionally to prevent damping off. 



With this treatment I found little difticulty 

 in growing the finest seeded plants, of which 

 the Begonia and Calceolaria are good examples. 



My first batch of flower seeds I usually plant 

 the first week in March. For early plants to 



be set in open ground in May I generally include 

 Alyssum, Balsam, Tuberous Begonia, C'an- 

 na, Celosia, CJhrysanthemum, Coleus, Daisy, 

 Godetia, Nierembergia, Perilla, Phlox, Pansy, 

 Petunia, Sensitive Plant and Verbena. 



For early blooming in the window garden, 

 Abutilon, Smilax, Cineraria, Clianthus, 

 Cyclamen, Fuchsia, Gloxinia, Heliotrope, Hi- 

 biscus, Impatiens, Lantana and Petunia. 



All these for purposes named I find much 

 better sown early and given a chance to mature 

 hardy plants than if deferred till later and then 

 pushed, resulting in weak, tender plants that 

 need petting to succeed at all. An essential 

 point in the gi-owing of seedlings is the pre- 

 vention of crowding from very early. As 

 soon as the leaves begin to touch, I either 

 transplant to other boxes, giving space, orelse 

 thin them out. 



Hyacinths In Glasses. — An Ex- 

 perience. 



G. W. MERGLER, HrDSON C0.,N. .1. 



In the fall I set two hyacinth bulbs in glasses, 

 for winter blooming. One of the bulbs was a 

 little irregidar in shape, and the air could 

 easily get at the water. It took this one much 

 longer to root than it did the other, which 

 having been perfectly round, fitted the top of 

 the glass tight and completely prevented the 

 ingress and egress of air. 



The latter bulb threw down roots in a short 

 time, almost filling the glass. One day, how- 

 ever, when attending it, I noticed that the 

 water had a bad smell. This I took out and re- 

 filled with fresh, but after a few days this 

 water also became disagreeable. I then noticed 

 that the roots were rotting and the top was 

 not growing much, while the other bulb was as 

 fresh and healthy looking as it could be, with 

 the whole glass full of roots. So I concluded 

 it must be a lack of air that caused the trouble 

 with the first one, hence I placed a bit of 

 wood under the bulb so that the air could have 

 better access to the interior of the glass. 



The result has been entirely satisfactory. 

 While the diseased roots of that bulb rotted 

 completely and were rubbed off, since then it 

 has formed a number of new roots, some of 

 which at this writing are two inches long, and 

 a great many more coming out, while the top 

 is growing well. The water had not been 

 changed since, and appears to be all right yet. 



Yesterday I noticed that the water of the 

 irregular shaped bulb was in a tainted state, 

 and as its roots almost filled the glass, I con- 

 cluded that the bunch of roots blocked up the 

 opening of the glass too close, preventing the 

 passage of the air. I have resolved hereafter 

 to change the water in the jars once a week. 



Tree Roots and Sidewalks. 



Instances are not rare throughout every city 

 showing the power of roots to disturb the street 

 walks and pavements. Indeed, it is well known 

 that roots, by their gradual increase in size, 

 have lifted large rocks of several tons weight. 

 Their force, though exerted through a slight 

 space, is almost irresistible. 



On this account it would be well, in setting 

 street trees in cities, to keep them at least sev- 

 eral feet away from walks and curbings. To 

 remove roots of large trees that cause mis- 

 placement of stones, as sometimes must be 

 done if growing too near these, is not only a 

 big job, but the severing of the roots also 

 seriou.sly injures the trees. 



The Ailanthus is one of the worst shade trees 

 for exerting the power referred to. Wherever 

 the seed-producing sort grows its seeds are 

 liable to scatter everywhere and germinate in 

 every place containing a little soil or street 

 dust. They often fall into the cracks of pave- 

 ments and walks, to be followed by a seedling, 

 which if not removed will in a few years make 

 a tree several inches in diameter, and requir- 

 ing considerable labor to take out. 



Maples and Elms sometimes, but quite rare- 



ly, start up in this way. In every such case, 

 no matter what the kind of tree may be, it 

 should be lemoved while young, before the 

 roots have caused mischief. It is very unwise 

 to allow such to grow on for years, to see what 

 may result, as once was done by an acquaint- 

 ance of ours, with considerable trouble later. 



A Talk about Fruits, New and Old. 



E. WOODS. ES(^, BEFORE THE MASSACHl'SETTS 

 HGRTICCLTURAL SOCIETY. 



It is difficult to confine our subject to new 

 fruits, for many that are new in one place 

 are old in another. Most fruits are best in the 

 place where they originated, and deteriorate 

 elsewhere; exceptions, the Wilson Strawberry 

 and the Gravenstein Apple. 



In Massachusetts our winter Apples possess 

 many good qualities difficult to sui-pass. The 

 Baldwin gi'ows well, bears early, and is of 

 good size and color, and it will probably be 

 long before anything will displace it for market. 

 Among good Apples is the Palmer Greening, or 

 Washington Royal, a late keeping variety, 

 green, changing to yellow when ripe, and of 

 excellent quality, bringing from fifty cents to 

 a dollar per barrel more than Baldwins. The 

 Sutton Beauty is not as well known as it de- 

 serves to be. It is of good size, excellent qual- 

 ity' and handsome, and has other good points. 

 The Chenango Apple is little known here ; it is 

 large, handsome, of fine quality and valuable 

 for famil)' or market. 



The Frederick Clapp Pear has now been 

 sufficiently tested to show its superiority; a 

 good grower and bearer and should be in every 

 amateur's garden. The President Clark is of 

 the highest quality, but is not yet disseminated. 

 Of the Keiffer there has never been a specimen 

 shown here of fail- quality as a dessert fruit. 



There has been much improvement in Grapes 

 in recent years. The Worden is probably the 

 best of the many seedlings from the Concord. 

 The Cottage, raised by Mr. Bull, the origina- 

 tor of the Concord, and the Early Victor, a 

 native of Kansas, are desirable early kinds. 

 The Niagara ripens with the Concord ; it is a 

 vigorous grower and bears abundantly, and is 

 a valuable white Grape. The Hayes Grape in 

 quality is superior to the Niagara. Wine 

 made from this variety has by experts been 

 thought the best wine they had ever tasted 

 from a native Grape. The Prentiss (said to be 

 a cross between the native and foreign) is of 

 fine quality, but lacks in vigor and productive- 

 ness. We shall have to look to pure natives 

 for these points. Of the 40 or .50 Roger's Hy- 

 brids introduced under favorable conditions 

 only 13 dishes were shown at our exhibitions 

 during the last season. 



In Plums, owing to black wart and the cur- 

 culio, almost all varieties may be said to be 

 new. The Green Gage is unequaled in qual- 

 ity, but there are many better gi'owers. The 

 Jefferson, McLaughlin, Washington, Bradshaw 

 and Niagara are among the best. 



In Strawberries, kinds that did well 10 or 

 1.5 years ago have become almost obsolete. The 

 Hovey ceases to produce good crops, and the 

 same with Brighton Pine. The Triomphe de 

 Gand has not been shown here for yeai's. 

 Among the newer excellent market berries are 

 the Charles Downing, Miner's Prolific, Sharp- 

 less, and Cumberland. The Wilson and Cres- 

 cent are exceedingly productive, but of inferior 

 quality. With amateurs the Hervey Davis, 

 Wilder and LaConstante ai-e favorites for 

 their fine quality. Among newer kinds which 

 promise well are Bidwell, Manchester, Belmont 

 and Jewell. Some complain that the Bidwell 

 does not carry out its fruit; perhaps higher cul- 

 tivation will obviate this. The Manchester is 

 very prolific and of good size. The Belmont 

 is most productive and the quality is from fair 

 to good. It is a late variety, with fine flesh, 

 and keeps remarkably well. The Jewell is per- 

 haps a little better in quality than the Belmont, 

 large, and while of good form it is very proli- 

 fic, and makes strong runners. 



