156 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



June, 



FROM 

 -THE- 



BE! N^-MATTER-TH AT-DESERVES- 

 •TOBE-WIDELYKMOWM- . 



GLEAMS. 



Fay's Prolific Cur- 

 rant. I think it is the 

 best Currant we have. 

 Am planting it as fast as 

 I can propagate.— Mr. 

 Holland, before Alt on- Southern. 



The moisture of a room containing a large stove 

 and water boiling on the stove a great part of the 

 time is very favorable to window flowers.— Dr. 

 Hunt, Montreal. 



York and Lancaster Rose. This is a satisfactory 

 but old-fashioned hardy Rose with us, producing 

 white, red and often striped flowers on the same 

 bush. The bush becomes very large.— ^nna Jack. 



Th,e North Screen. Last spring in getting scions 

 I traveled over a large part of Barren County, and 

 wherever I found an orchard protected on the north 

 and west I foimd my soundest cuttings.— -4. G. 

 Drane, before Kentucky Society. 



Prefers Late Planting. Mr. Wm. Jackson, at 

 the Ai)ril meeting of the Alton-Southern Illinois 

 Horticultural Society, said he preferred to plant 

 Strawberries after the fruit stems had developed 

 somewhat, in order that these could be removed at 

 the same time, to a saving of labor. 



The Niagara Grape. In the proceedings of the 

 Michigan Horticultural Society we find the follow- 

 ing as to the Niagara Grape: Reports generally 

 favorable, but liable to rot, at least at any place 

 where the Concord is affected. White Grapes are 

 not more affected by rot than other varieties. 



Watersprouts on Apple Trees. Mr. Maitland, 

 before the Lafayette Co. Society, said he thought 

 it a mistake to remove them all. He would prefer 

 to let some of the thrifty ones remain, especially on 

 aged trees, and rather cutoflf the ends of enfeebled 

 limbs. Mr. F. Neet had found some of the finest 

 fruit on such sprouts. Dr. W. A. Gordon had the 

 same experience with Peaches. 



A Fine Volume. The enterprise of the Michigan 

 horticulturists is well shown by the annual report 

 of their State Society. The report for 1886 is now 

 before us, a large volume of 6<X) pages, gotten up in 

 the usual handsome and painstaking style peculiar 

 to the work of its eflflcient secretary, the Hon.Chas. 

 W. Garfield, of Grand Rapids, and as backed by its 

 enterprising members and by legislative aid. 



Best Evergreens for Small Lawns- George 

 Ellwanger, of Rochester, N. Y., the well known 

 nurseryman and horticultural authority, said before 

 the Western New York Society that his choice of 

 twelve Evergreens for this latitude is Small-leaved 

 Hemlock, Colorado Blue Spruce, Glaucous Spruce, 

 Nordmann's Spruce, Venusta Juniper, Reeves' Juni- 

 per, Stone Pine, Erect Y'ew, Variegated Yew, Gol- 

 den Arbor-vitse and Pyramidal Arbor-vitte. 



Ornamental Value of Grass. Prof. Buckhart, 

 before the Pennsylvania Society, very truthfully 

 said that the commonness and apparent simplicity 

 of our humble and useful friends, the Grasses, lead 

 us to think lightly of them, if at all, as plants of or- 

 nament. It needs but little thought to show that 

 they are as valuable among ornamental plants as 

 they are among plants of use. They fill a niche in 

 the ornamental world as they do in the useful. 



The Crooked to be Made Straight. Many fruit 

 trees are out of perpendicular, which not only looks 

 bad but is an injury. The branches of a tree 

 should shade the trunk, this they cannot do when 

 the tree leans badly. The roots of a leaning tree 

 are subjected to unnatural strain and often yield to 

 the pressure. When a tree first leans it Is easily 

 righted up; and may be held in its place by a stake, 

 a prop, or if email, by earth or sods weighted with 



stones.- W^ommy Co. report to the Western New 

 I'orfc Society. 



Tea Boses and Balsam Culture. My experience 

 with Tea Roses I am proud of, having Roses con- 

 stantly during summer's heat. The first of May I 

 set the plants in well enriched groimd ; kept them 

 growing rapidly by working the earth and keeping 

 as moist as possible. During the heated term 

 mulched with straw from stable. The Etoile de 

 Lyon and Perle des Jardinsare especially fine, both 

 for buds and bloom, and one is always sure of 

 flowers. Both of these are yellow, so will add La 

 t^rance, Bon Silene, Souvd'un Ami and Hermosa 

 for pink; Presse Guillot, for red; Michael Saunders 

 for crimson, and Mad. Rachel and Cornelia Cook 

 for white. I must have Balsams and have succeeded 

 in keeping them as double as Roses for years, by 

 saving the seeds from center stalk of plant. All 

 small shoots should be pinched off, leaving only the 

 strongest to grow, and one need have no fear of 

 digging in too much hen manure, if well rotted, if 

 the best success is desired.— Afrs. Lathey. 



Ohio Methods of Gathering and 

 Marketing Berries. 



[Gathered at the State Society's Meeting ] 



A paper was read by W. W. Famsworth on 

 this subject, in which he said: In order that 

 the expense be reduced to the lowest point, we 

 should get everything ready — crates, baskets, 

 pickers, and wide paths. He uses stands, and 

 each picker's berries are emptied and inspected 

 before he receives his ticket. He thinks com- 

 mission merchants cannot afford to do crooked 

 business, and we should give them credit for 

 faithful service when we can. 



Prominence was given to the matter of picking 

 berries on the Sabbath. Quite a number stated that 

 they had to do this or suffer loss. A still larger 

 number never picked on the Sabbath and never 

 will. One man went so far as to say that no man 

 should engage extensively in raising berries who is 

 too conscientious to have his crop harvested on the 

 Sabbath. Another expressed his opinion that fruit 

 growing is a business for the people, and that when 

 a man spreads over more than he can attend to in 

 six days every week, he has undertaken more than 

 he can manage, and no good will come out of it. 



B. F. Albaugh employs a woman to pick all his 

 berries at a specified price. She employs all the 

 help she needs, and is responsible for the work. 

 No small berries are sold in the market. They are 

 disposed of to pickers or some one at a nominal 

 price, or made into jam. Mr. Scott, of Ann Arbor, 

 Mich., sorts all his berries, and removes every 

 defective one. He never picks on the Sabbath, and 

 he thinks there is as much money in the business 

 now as there ever was. 



Successful Rose Culture In Quebec. 



By Annie L. Jack, before the Montreal Society. 



The old Cabbage or Provence Rose, once seen 

 in nearly every cottage garden, is fast dying 

 out, although excelling many others. The 

 curving inward of its petals is close and Cab- 

 bage-like, a quality few Roses possess. 



The Hybrid Perpetuals are a cross between 

 the Hybrid China Rose and the Bourbons and 

 Teas, thereby improving the blooming qualities 

 of the Roses, without impairing their vigor. 

 They are the most valuable of this class of 

 flowers for their full bloom in June and a suc- 

 cession of flowers in limited quantity later, but 

 sufficient to sustain their reputation. Some 

 gardeners believe in cutting back after the 

 summer flowering, but my experience has 

 proved that, if well cultivated and manured, 

 with a mulch around the roots, they go on giv- 

 ing us their lovUest buds and flowers until the 

 hard frosts of October or November. Of the 

 newer Hybrids, both Baroness Rothchilds, in 

 her pink satin gown, and Mabel Morrison in 

 the same of white, did not survive the winter, | 

 though protected as all my Roses. I 



Nor would I be without the Sweet Brier, 

 with its perfumed leaves, unlike anything 

 else that we grow, and its wild flower of 

 beauty, though there are now several varie- 

 ties with double flowers. The hardy Yel- 

 low Rose is allied to this family, and is 

 very beautiful, though its flowers are short- 

 lived. The Lord Macartney [R. bracteata) is 

 a half climber, and lives out-of-doors with 

 the protection we give it. 



A new species of Rose, R. rugosa, from Japan, 

 was first sent to this country by Commodore Perry 

 in 1855. It has taken some time to be natived as it 

 deserves, but is reaUy one of the handsomest in cul- 

 tivation. The foliage is dark green and glossy, 

 resembling that of the Rose, and the flowers are in 

 terminal clusters from ten to twenty, crimson or 

 white, and very fragrant, continuing in flower all 

 summer, and into the late autumn, if the season is 

 not too dry. It is perfectly hardy, and stood with- 

 out protection last winter on a terrace where snow 

 did not lodge at all. The flowers are single, and the 

 fragrance that of Sweet Brier. 



Coltivation. My method is very simple. The 

 Rose-walk is between two rows of Apple trees, 12 

 feet apart, and kept cultivated early in the season 

 with a one-horse plow. After the July blooming, 

 the ground is once more thoroughly stirred, and a 

 mulch put on, and allowed to remain. It is a fav- 

 orite promenade, and has many beauties, for be- 

 tween the Roses grow clumps of Lilium longi- 

 fiorum, that come into bloom just after the first 

 flush of Roses is over. 



Liquid manure twice a week during the growing 

 season is of great benefit, and it is only by this rich 

 feeding that Hybrid Perpetuals are kept in bloom. 



Milde%v has never troubled our outdoor Roses 

 until the latter part of last summer, when Giant des 

 Battles and Magna Charta were attacked by it. We 

 attributed it to the very damp season, and the close 

 growth of trees around the Rose walk that pre- 

 vented the free circulation of air. To cut off the 

 infected shoots and dust the plants with sulphur is 

 the only remedy. 



Let no amateur be discouraged from cultivating 

 Roses in good garden soil. With a little care and 

 good feeding, no plant better repays attention, and 

 one grows to love them as dear friends. 



Wintering. When laying them down in this 

 climate they require the same treatment as Straw- 

 berries and Raspberries, which, with the latter, is 

 to peg down and then throw a furrow of earth over 

 them. If, at this time, soot is scattered among the 

 shoots and on the crowns, it prevents the attacks 

 of field mice that are very troublesome in winter, 

 and is said to enhance in richness the coloring of the 

 flowers the next season. All varieties are the better 

 for a little protection in case of a winter of severe 

 snow. Our climate is considered severe for many 

 things, but the protection afforded by snow enables 

 us to winter safely many things that do not live un- 

 protected in New York. 



Birds and Insects; Which to Kill and 

 Which to Protect. 



[Secretary Elehl, before the Alton Southern Illi- 

 nois Society, May 7.] 



Some pereons conclude that we must wage a 

 continual war against these foes. I do not 

 think so and have followed a different course. 

 I make war only on such as do me positive 

 injury. Most birds do so little damage that 

 the good probably overbalances the harm. 



In my experience of over twenty years I 

 have never had to make war on but two kinds 

 of birds, the Cherry bird, or Waxwing, and the 

 Oriole, both of these I have killed by the thou- 

 sand, and find that a No. twelve breech-loader, 

 with plenty of shells loaded with No. ten shot 

 in the hands of a boy ten to fifteen years old, 

 is about the best means to do it with. I also 

 kill the English Sparrow whenever I can find 

 them on my place, as I prefer our native birds, 

 which the Sparrow will drive off if allowed. 



Some birds never do harm and should be en- 

 couraged to breed on our premises. Foremost 

 among these I consider the Wren and Bluebird. 

 These can easily be encouraged by putting up 

 boxes for nests, where they will be secure from 

 their foes, especially the cat. 



Crows and Hawks should also be protected, al- 

 though by many these birds are considered great 

 nuisances. The Crow, I think, never does us any 

 damage except when he pulls some late planted 

 Com, which can be prevented planting the Corn so 

 deep that the grain will not come up when the 



