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POPULAR GARDENING. 



April, 



Some Insects Injurious to the 

 Cabbage. 



R. J. CORYELL, HILLSDALE CO., MICH. 



As soon as the plant shows its first leaves in 

 the seed bed it is almost certain to be visited by 

 the Black or Striped Turnip Flea-beetle(i/aWiea 

 strioktta), which if left unchecked would per- 

 manently injure the plant by eating innumera- 

 ble small holes in the upper surface of the leaf. 

 The beetle is no larger than the head of a pin, 

 black in color, with a wavey white line on each 

 wing cover. They are shy in their habits, and 

 when approached they will leap away at some 

 distance, hence the name flea-beetle. A sure 

 indication of their presence is the spotted ap- 

 pearance of the leaf, but the observer must look 

 warily to see the insect that causes the damage. 



The surest way to destroy them is by using 

 Paris gieen or London purple mixed with land 

 plaster, one part of the poison to fifty of the 

 plaster. Other substances may be used, such 

 as fiour, well leached a.shes, etc. , but plaster is 

 so cheap and has such a beneficial efl^ect in 

 itself that there is little need to look farther. 

 If the plants can be dusted in the morning so 

 much the better, but I generally do it when I 

 fli'st see the insects at work, which is in the 

 heat of the day. One application usually suffices. 



The Cut-worm is another pest that not only 

 frequently causes the loss of a crop of early 

 Cabbages but of various other vegetables as 

 weU. Their presence can be easily ascertained 

 by examining a sod or clod of succulent roots 

 partly turned under. If they are found to be 

 abundant Cabbages would surely suffer if 

 planted among them. Tarred paper may be 

 wrapped around the Cabbage stem, or some 

 such means be emploved as a preventive if it be 

 found not too tedious. 



I like the following plan : put a teaspoonf ul 

 of Paris green or London purple in two gallons 

 of water, and sprinkle handfuls of glass or 

 sods, which then can be scattered throughout 

 the patch, walking crossways of the harrow 

 marks. By doing this toward evening, after 

 the last hai'rowing, during the night the cut 

 worms that are deprived of their food will 

 be out looking for fresh pastures and will ap- 

 propriate of the prepared bait, the smallest 

 particle of the poison of which will kiU. If the 

 worms are very troublesome the remedy can 

 be repeated, it being easily applied. 



The plants as they begin to head are hovered 

 over by a white beetle tty which is laying eggs 

 for their future destruction. This Rape butter- 

 fly {Pieris raphce) was imported from England 

 by the way of Canada and is very injm'ious, es- 

 pecially in small gardens. They ai'e double 

 brooded, the butterflies coming out in May and 

 August, the second brood being the worst. 



To fight these pests wo dare not use any ac- 

 tive poison, but Pyrethrum — the powdered 

 flower of a plant by that name — can be safely 

 used. It is not injurious to lung breathing 

 animals, while singularly enough it kills all 

 those that breathe by spores, as do the insects. 

 The fly powder of our market is made of this 

 substance, but is generally greatly adulterated. 

 If it retains sufficient strength to kill the house 

 flyi by putting a teaspoonful in two gallons of 

 water and sprinkled on, or better still, forced 

 on the Cabbage by a fountain pump it wiU kill 

 the Cabbage worm as well. 



The active principle of the Pyrethrum is 

 volatile and loses its strength unless extra 

 pains are taken to keep it in air tight boxes. 

 The fresh and pure aiticle can be obtained from 

 the grower, G. N. Milco, Stockton, Cal. 



The Cabbage maggot (Anthoniyia brassica) 

 or Club-root has not troubled our glowers much 

 as yet. In its mature state it is a fly and belongs 

 to the same family as the Onion, Radish and Tur- 

 nip Fly. The maggots do not turn into flea- 

 beetles as many suppose. The larvae of the 

 latter have feet, while the maggots do not. Ex- 

 periments of the Eastern growers show that a 

 liberal dressing of lime to the soil and harrowed 

 in acts as a preventive to Club-root and also 

 kills the Cabbage Maggot. 



A Norway Spruce Windbreak, and 

 Its Profitable' Uses. 



L. B. PIERCE, SUMMIT CO.. OHIO. 



An accoimt, in a recent issue, of an Illinois 

 windbreak leads me to describe one that pro- 

 tects my dooryard. Sixteen years ago I set 

 out for nursery purposes iOO Norway Spruce 

 trees in four rows four feet apart and twelve 

 rods long. In time one of these rows was en- 

 tirely removed and the others are all gone 

 but about thirty, which are pretty evenly dis- 

 tributed. 



The trees that remain start some two rods 

 back of my house and run north, forming a 

 background to my dooryai'd and having an ir- 

 regular outline next the yard as weD as a vary- 

 ing sky line ; they are very beautiful. This is 

 especially the case when they are covered with 

 a light snow or the ryme of a frosty winter's 

 morning. As they are closer than was neces- 

 sary I have sold occasionally one for a Christ- 

 mas tree, and last Christmas sold seven for 

 |33, delivered at Akron, seven miles away. 

 They were for church purposes, and I used 

 from eighteen to twenty -three feet of the tops, 

 the whole trees measuring from twenty-seven 

 to thirty-three feet in height. 



The uncut bottom portions of these trees I 

 have only to let stand and in a few years they 

 will again be perfect trees, as I have learned 

 by experience. In such cases one or more of 

 the topmost branches take a curving course 

 upwards and form a leader. I have two or 

 three Spruces standing on my place that have 

 twice been sawed off and sold and are now 

 shapely, handsome trees, although having three 

 or more leaders. 



The trees of this line form a wonderful pro- 

 tection against the westerly winds, and I can 

 stand at the back of the house and see them 

 bend nearly double in a northwest blizzard, 

 while around the house there is scarcely wind 

 enough to close an open door. It has attracted 

 the attention of the neighbors, and some are 

 discussing the matter of similar protection. 



Scattering Shots by An lilinoisian. 



N. Y. L., ADAMS CO., ILL. 



The benefits from the application of potash 

 to Grape-vines are usually very marked. All 

 fruits generally show marked improvement 

 when given potash. It is the element of their 

 food for which they most often lack. The fruit 

 tree or vine which gets the slops and suds 

 from the kitchen has become proverbial for its 

 f ruitf ulness. The potash may be applied in the 

 form of muriate of potash, kainit, or wood 

 ashes. Grape-vines are also much benefited 

 by bone. Apply bone and potash and you will 

 be certainly repaid by the improvement in the 

 fruit, especially in its quality. 



There are good and bad varieties of fruits, 

 vegetables and flowering plants, yet the excel- 

 lence of every variety depends more upon the 

 treatment it gets than upon anything else. 

 Stai've the best variety and it will not do well. 

 The breeders of fine stock understand that the 

 well-bred animal is superior to the scrub only 

 by reason of the greater return it makes for 

 good treatment; the scrub will make the larger 

 return for very bad treatment. It can " rough 

 it " best. It is so with the plant. The best 

 variety, neglected and starved, is no better 

 than the poor variety; the best treatment 

 makes the best variety the very best. 



With us the Crescent seedling is yet grown 

 more extensively than any other variety. It is 

 productive, the berry is well shaped, and ships 

 to St. Paul in good condition if picked before 

 perfectly ripe. For fertilizing the Crescent I 

 like best the Sucker State, originated by Mr. 

 MiUer, of the southern part of the State. It 

 will produce a greater quantity of berries, year 

 after year, than any other perfect variety I 

 have been able to find. The berries are large, 

 splendidly shaped, and I know of none that 

 ship better; they are held well off the ground 

 and are of good size and quality to the last. 



The Captain Jack is not so good. Its berry is 

 smaller, of light color, and there is too great a 

 percentage of small ones, while the seeds are 

 large and prominent; but the berries are well- 

 shaped and ship well. Bidwell blights badly, 

 the blossoms are caught by frost, and one side 

 of the berry ripens before the other. Iron 

 Clad is perfectly hardy, but blights, and the 

 blossoms are apt to be caught by frost. The 

 Sharpless is too tender — so easily frosted that 

 we rarely get a crop. 



I DO not think Strawberry rust can be as- 

 cribed to wet weather. It has been bad when 

 the season was dry. It appears on all ground 

 alike. In a patch which I see often the land is 

 quite fertile except one " point," which is quite 

 poor ; the rust seems to be as well distributed 

 over the poor gi-ound as over the rich. I don't 

 think it is caused by lack of manure; if it were, 

 some growers that I know of would have mighty 

 rusty plants. Heavy manuring may indiiectly 

 favor the appearance of rust ; I am inclined to 

 think that it does, but am not certain. Some 

 varieties rust little, if any, with us; and with 

 om" present knowledge the only commendable 

 course is to use those varieties, and give the 

 ones that rust badly "a rest." 



Neither my neighbors nor I have yet found 

 a Blackberry that we wish to put in the place 

 of the Snyder for the bulk of our crop. It is 

 perfectly hardy here (on the fortieth pai'allel) 

 and always very productive. But the berry is 

 not the largest, and we have found it not the 

 best shipper, though it carries very nicely 

 when picked in season. The Lawton ships 

 splendidly, but is too tender for us. The Tay- 

 lor is a good berry, haixly, but not very produc- 

 tive, a little later than the Snyder, and the 

 berry somewhat larger, but of of poor quality ; 

 yet, all in all, a good berry. Knox kills down 

 to the ground every year. Stone's hai'dy is 

 later than Snyder. Kittatinny freezes at least 

 three years out of five. 



Some are advocating low lauds for orchards, 

 but I am clearly of opinion that when only 

 elevation is taken into account, the higher land 

 is the better. Often an orchard on low land 

 does best because it is later to starve on such 

 land, the rains taking fertility from the high 

 lands to the low lands. The former orchard- 

 ists double crop their land, and yet the orchard 

 is the last spot to get manure. 



When I moved on the farm which I now oc- 

 cupy about one-third of the land in orchard 

 was low, though fairly well drained. In spite 

 of all I could do, the trees on that land would 

 die, and I have now given it up for orchai'd 

 pui'poses. I have had no trouble in having a 

 fine orchard on high land. 



One corner of the orchaid was a natural 

 basin, which I did not get drained until a few 

 yeai's ago. Of course the trees died right 

 along in that corner. One wet spring when 

 I was setting a two-year old Maiden's Blush 

 the hole was filled with water till 1 had finished 

 digging it. I poured a bucket of unleached 

 wood ashes in the hole, set the tree in the water 

 and ashes ; it blossomed that fall and grew right 

 along in that wet corner. Did the ashes do it? 



How to Make Straight Rows. 



It is vastly more satifactory to work with 

 straight rows than with crooked ones, but it 

 bothers some people to lay out the former 

 without a reel and line for each row. Even 

 this excellent plan has been known to have its 

 drawbacks, as for instance in a case which 

 once came to the writer's notice, where a tidy 

 German gardener by some mishap neglected 

 for one time to move the line at one end of 

 the plot. The result was that two rows of 

 Potatoes met at one end of the field while at 

 the other they were thiee feet apai't, with all 

 rows on each side off from the pai'allel. 



A good and simple way to provide straight 

 marks for planting is to use a wheelbarrow as 

 a mai-ker. Nail a crosspiece against the front 

 board to project on both sides of the barrow. 



