POPULAR GARDENING/Cg 



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AND FRUIT GROWING. 



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••ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE."— JS^Iqit.s (tf ^ '• 



Vol. II. 



-A.I'iaiXj, 18 87. 



IMO. 7. 



Uprose the wild old Winter King, 



And shook his head of snow; 

 '* I hear the first young Harebell ring 



'Ti8 time for me to go : 

 Northward o'er the icy rocks. 



Northward o'er the sea. 

 My Daughter comes with sunny locks: 



This land's too warm for me." 



— Iceland. 



That favorite the Sweet Pea is a flower that 

 should be sown early; the blooms come the 

 finer for having the roots of the plants form 

 mainly during cool weather. 



Temperance and flower-gardening easily 

 go hand-in-hand. The experience of those 

 who build cottages to let has proved that the 

 addition of a garden-plot affects a most bene- 

 ficial influence on the social, moral and re- 

 ligious life of those who occupy them. 



Extremes are to be avoided in lawn mow- 

 ing as in everything else. To keep the grass 

 too closely cut may give the sward a better ap- 

 pearance than to allow it to grow long, but the 

 lawn is as susceptible of injury in the one case 

 as in the other. Letting the cutting edge of 

 the mower lower down than an inch, and then 

 running over the plat of tener than once a week 

 is what we call cutting injuriously close. Such 

 a course has the effect of reducing the vitality 

 of the grass plants and giving various small 

 cre?ping weeds an undesirable advantage. 



A BEAUTIFUL Jerusalem Cherry-tree (Sola- 

 nnm rapsirasfrum of the seed catalogues) 

 loaded with red fruit, can be grown by any 

 child, for decorating the window next winter. 

 Procure a packet of seeds and start them in a 

 pot of light earth in April. They germinate 

 quickly and in a few weeks from the time of 

 sowing, the seedlings will be fit to prick out 

 into individual pots, as many as you care to 

 have plants of. About June first set the plants 

 in the garden. Let them grow there till Septem- 

 ber, by which time they will be full of green 

 fruit, and then lift and pot them in six-inch 

 pots, bringing them into the house as soon after 

 as frost threatens. 



The country boys and girls are the hope of 

 the nation. Let them appreciate their oppor- 

 tunities and take courage. As Prof. Haynes, of 

 Michigan, lately so well said, " the history of 

 the world proves that the tillers of the soU are 

 the safeguard of the world's best institutions. 

 All great enterprises depend upon the boys of 

 the rural homes. Washington, Jefferson, Clay, 

 Webster, Lincoln, Garfield, Gladstone had all 

 been country bo3-s, and throughout their lives 

 were more or less engaged in tilling the soU. 

 Great men in all ages when they have trouched 

 the earth have renewed their vigor. Mercy is 

 said to be twice blessed, but horticulture is 

 four times blessed ; it gives health to the body, 

 rest to the spirit, inspiration to the soul, and 

 by its reflex action most Liberally blesses his 

 neighbors." 



Americans are at the present time large 

 consumers of Cabbage imported from Denmark. 

 It is safe to say that the bulk of this vegetable 

 sold to what is known as first-class trade in 

 Buffalo, during recent months, has been re- 

 ceived from Copenhagen. The same thing is 



true concerning the Cabbage trade of many 

 other American towns as well. The peculiar 

 excellence of the imported article lies in the 

 solidity of the heads and the crispness and del- 

 icate flavor of the leaf. Mr. W. A. Burpee, 

 the Philadelphia seedsman, while in Denmark 

 last year, had an opportunity of making an 

 intimate acquaintance with the particular 

 variety that figures so largely in the American 

 markets. He terms it the BaU-head, and says 

 that the Danes grow it almost exclusively for 

 winter Cabbage. The variety has been selected 

 and perfected for more than 50 years by the 

 Danish gardeners, and it is remarkable that the 

 seed has not been offered before in America. 

 The heads are as hard as they can be, round as 

 a ball, of good marketable size, of extra 

 choice quality, very fine grained, and remark- 

 ably good keepers. 



The new law about to be pas'sed (if not 

 already passed) in the State of Minnesota, 

 against the um'eliable tree agent, is very strict 

 on some points, but none too strict. It requires, 

 for one thing, that every dealer must carry 

 satisfactory proofs of his honesty as certified to 

 by a judge of the courts. Another impor- 

 tant requirement is that he shall deal only 

 in stock that is hardy in the State, and that 

 he must deal in all kinds known to be hardy. 

 These last demands are important ones, as 

 everyone who has studied into the work of the 

 average agent knows. An immense quantity 

 of nursery stock is peddled out by this class 

 throughout the North, which, while it would be 

 hardy and reliable some degrees further south, 

 is anything but this where it is sold. The agent 

 who will urge plants, however valuable they 

 may be in place, upon people who are utterly 

 without power to meet their needs is little 

 better than a charlatan. The fact that he him- 

 self may be ignorant of their relative hardiness 

 does not mitigate the offense ; he should not be 

 allowed to proceed. The course of the Min- 

 nesota brethren could well be adopted by the 

 people of every other State. 



On Choosing and Pruning Standard 

 Pear Trees. 



PETER COLLIER, LENAWEE CO., MICH. 

 SELECTION OP TREES. 



With my twelve year.s' experience in Pear 

 culture my choice is for yearling trees, par 

 ticularly if wanted for low heads, which are 

 preferable Two-year olds are passable, but 

 I would purchase nolliing older. A second- 

 size two year Pear tree, if it be well grown, 

 is not objectionable. 



Why I prefer such young trees is that I 

 may, by removing all the branches, the more 

 readily form a new head from new wood. 

 I aim always to avoid forming a head on 

 two or three year old wood, because it is 

 almost impossible to force out dormant buds 

 on such wood and form a well balanced top. 

 True my method may take a little more care 

 the first summer, but this is amply repaid 

 in a handsomer growth and early maturity 

 as to fruit bearing. 



- As may be inferred from my remarks, I 

 care little for the form of the top as the tree 

 comes from the nursery, for all side branches 



are soon removed. I want to see a strong 

 top, but only because a good top indicates 

 vigor and a good root. Besides the objec- 

 tion named to trees that are older than two 

 years, is the one that such usually have less 

 fibrous roots, they incline to be spiky and 

 unwieldy, and often are received in a broken 



Fig. 1. Pear tree one 

 year oldy the cross 

 marks shotcing places 

 to prune at time of set- 

 ting out. 



Fig 2. The same tree 

 one year later, cross 

 marks showing places 

 to prune, half circle 

 places to disbud. 



and mutilated condition as a result of 

 digging, packing and shipping. 



PRUNING THE FIRST YEAR. 



Starting with a vigorous one-year-old I 

 take off all side branches and cut the leader 

 back from one-fourth to one-third, .is shown 

 by the cross lines of figure 1. If a very 

 low head is wanted I cut still lower. 



It is the buds on the upper portion of the 

 remaining part that will ordinarily start the 

 first and grow the fastest, hence it is from 

 this portion that the head forms The cut- 

 ting of the leader must not be nearer than 

 one-half an inch to the upper bud, for from 

 this is to come the new leader. A short 

 stub will be the result, and this should be 

 removed after the leader is well started. 



Let the leader always start on the side of 

 the prevailing winds, and it may be added 

 that throughout the early training of the 

 tree always encourage the most growth on 

 this side. If needed, for effecting this, 

 shorten on the opposite side. 



Too many branches should not be allowed 

 to grow the first summer, six or seven being 

 about right. Remember, however, it is 

 easier to cut one out the following spring 

 than to put one in. Whenever a shoot starts 

 in a wrong direction off with it, you don't 

 want to grow much wood that afterwards 

 should be cut away. 



PRUNING THE SECOND YEAR AND LATER. 



By the second year my trees should in 

 general present the form of figure 2. Then, 

 at some time before the buds begin to swell, 

 I would prune as indicated by the cross 



