1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



157 



Crow goes to pull it up, or by tarrJng the seed 

 before plantiog. The Crow is a knowing bird, and 

 ■getting on to your methods leaves the field in dis" 

 gust to try some other. But. don't Hawks kill 

 chickens? Sometimes, and when they do I kill 

 that Hawk. Hawks live largely on field mice and 

 should, on that account, be let alone, except when 

 one gets a taste of chicken meat and goes to raiding 

 the barn-yard. 



Some thought the Jay should be killed because 

 he destroys the young and eggs of other birds_ 

 But nature intended he should in order that birds 

 should not become too plentiful, and in these things 

 it is best for man to let nature take her course; she 

 usually does these things about right. 



A good word for the Skunk. This little animal, 

 despised and killed by almost everybody, is one of 

 our best friends, living as it does almost exclusiveli' 

 on insects, and unlike most insect-eating creatures, 

 those it eats are largely injurious. And don't kill 

 the Snakes, except the rattler; they are great de- 

 stroyers of field mice and do us no harm whatever. 



As to insects, kill all that do harm, otherwise let 

 them alone. Some are great foes, others friends, 

 and do more to protect crops from depredation by 

 kinds that are injurious than all the birds combined. 

 The practice of killing insects by attracting them 

 into traps by lights should never be practiced, for 

 we are as apt to destroy our friends as our enemies. 



May Meeting of the Grand River 



(Mich.) Horticultural Society. 

 Reported by F. E. Skeels^ Grand Rapids, Mich. 



The meeting was held at the house of C. W. 

 Garfield, " Burton Farm," on May od. 



Under " Economic Management in Commer- 

 cial Fruit Growing '' Mr. Pierce said he had 

 found a small bag in which to carry twine 

 while tying Grape vines to trellises a great sav 

 ing of time and patience. With but one ex- 

 ception all members present would prime the 

 Peach tree down to four buds before setting out. 

 The use of rubber bands for bunching Aspai'a- 

 gus was recommended in place of twine, which 

 is used by most gardeners in the market. 



At the close of the discussion of the above 

 topic the association took a stroll over Mr. 

 Gartield's farm, returning to the residence to 

 enjoy a repast which the ladies had spread. 



Under " Fruits for Home Use" all agreed that 

 quality was the thing to be attained at the expense, 

 if need be. of quantity or size. 



By request one of our most prominent grocery- 

 men attended the meeting and led in the discussion 

 of "What Shall Consumers Require of Those who 

 Furnish Them Fruits":' " He deplored the fact that 

 so much fruit was put upon the market in a 

 "mussy " condition, in old musty boxes; such fruit 

 glutted the market occasionally, good fruit never. 

 Small fruits should be marketed in dry measure 

 packages to be taken home by the consumer instead 

 of the present system of emptying the boxes and 

 returning them to the producer, thus compelling 

 the consumer to receive their berries poured out 

 into paper sacks or baskets. People would use 

 more fruit if it were made more inviting to the eye. 



Many members favored planting fruit trees for 

 shade. Several spoke of having narrow sidewalks 

 across low places along highways, and thought 

 farmers' families would be more social if it were not 

 for the fact that at the time when farm work was 

 least urgent the roads were almost impassible for 

 pedestrians, especially ladies. Under suggestions 

 concerning the fight with insects numerous reme- 

 dies were given, but as many of these were referred 

 to in your last number I will not offer them. 



The attendance at this meeting was very large 

 and made up quite as largely of farmers' wives as 

 of gentlemen. Our next meeting will be in June, 

 at the residence of one of our members, who has a 

 large Strawberry plantation made up of nearly two 

 hundred varieties; and all our meetings during 

 summer will be with members at their respective 

 homes, at the time when some product in the grow- 

 ing of which they are specialists will be at its best. 



Fruit Growers* Convention at Dover, 

 Delaware, May 12. 



Over oOO delegates representing the fruit 

 growers of Delaware, Eastern Maryland and 

 New Jersey, together with invited commission 

 men and dealers from Philadelphia and New 

 York, met at this convention, and aided in 

 making perhaps the most imposing meeting of 

 its kind ever held in this famous fruit region. 



The most prominent business before the 

 convention was that of considering the perfect- 

 ing of the Fruit Exchange and the better dis- 1 

 tribution and marketing of the fruit crop. 

 Although disclaimed by Chairman Martin that 

 the "gift package'' question was a leading one, 

 it could easily be seen that it occupied no small 

 place in the minds of most of those present, 

 and before the meeting adjourned it lead to a 

 very spirited, and in some measure, unpleasant 

 discussion, resulting in the passage of two 

 resolutions against gift packages. But this 

 result, after all, is believed by fruit growers of 

 good judgment to not fairly represent the 

 position of the majority on this vexed subject, 

 the passage of these resolutions being attributed 

 to the sharp tactics of some determined friends 

 and to the confusion in which the meeting at 

 the time had become involved. Following are 

 the resolutions in substance, as adopted: 



'* Resolved, That it is right and proper that 

 we, as fruit growers, make it our study and 

 pleasure to improve the quality and add to the 

 attractiveness of fruit,so as to uphold the char- 

 acter and reputation which our peninsula has 

 so long enjoyed in the eyes of the country. 



*' Resolved, That it is the well-grounded 

 opinion of this convention, based on the experi- 

 ence of six years, that it is to our interest to 

 dispense with the services of all middle men, of 

 whatsoever kind, and to use our very best 

 endeavors to bring the buyers face to face with 

 us in our orchards, and to sell them our fruit 

 oui'selves at home. 



" Resolved, That in this determination we mean 

 no disrespect to those who have been selling our 

 fruit in the large cities, but simply that if we can 

 save the commission and cartage and freight, and 

 avoid the risks naturally incurred to the transpor- 

 tation of produce so perishable, we will greatly add 

 to the profit to be derived from our fruit of all kinds. 



** Resolved, That to accomplish this most desir- 

 able purpose the growers at every fruit shipping 

 station should raise a fund to be placed in the 

 hands of the Fruit Exchange [now established] to 

 employ suitable agents to travel through the differ, 

 ent cities and towns accessible and solicit dealers 

 to come to us and purchase the fresh fruit directly 

 from us out of our own wagons. 



'* Resolved. That we will use the most strenuous 

 efforts to organize branches of the Fruit Exchange 

 at all the principal shipping points on the peninsula, 

 and by all possible means discourage the shipment 

 of Peaches on consignment, whenever they can be 

 sold on the spot. 



" Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting 

 that we are unwilling to donate our Peach baskets 

 to the commission merchants and tradesmen of 

 New York, as has been so discourteously demanded 

 by them, because of the fact that all Peach baskets, 

 heretofore and now manfuactured and offered for 

 sale are too high in price to be given away. 



*' Resolved, That a committee of three be ap- 

 pointed, who shall visit all the principal cities 

 accessible by railroad, and ascertain the best and 

 most reliable commission merchants who will agree 

 to sell our Peaches and pay the sum of 5 cents for 

 all Peach baskets not returned, and that the names 

 of all such be posted at every railroad station on 

 the peninsula, and that we recommend and advise 

 all growers not to ship to any commission merchant 

 who will not pay for lost baskets." 



Concerning the work of extending the market 

 the plan of Mr. Polk's, for a Bureau of Informa- 

 tion, was adopted. This plan involves an executive 

 committee of seven persons, to be elected annually 

 and to have full power to organize the scheme in 

 all its details; the committee is to appoint a "dis- 

 tributor of ability " and a secretary and treasurer, 

 who are to give bonds. This distributor may be an 

 officer of the Pennsylvania railroad, with his head- 

 quarters at Clayton or at any point where the 

 Delaware division railroad shall have its head- 

 quarters. The powers of the distributor are set 

 forth in the following clauses: 



The distributor shall keep a map and list of all 

 towns or cities (within forty-eight hours communi- 

 cation by railroad with Clayton) that can daily 

 consume, at profitable prices, one or more car- 

 loads of our Peaches. 



The distributor shall establish the quota of each 

 of said towns and cities. 



When 300 baskets of fruit are loaded in a car 

 (and not before) and the bureau's local agent has 

 on the day of shipment endorsed O. K. on a tele- 

 gram or message to that effect, any member or 



agent shall forward said message to the distributor, 

 mentioning therein the number of the car, the 

 owner's name, the consignee, and the destination 

 whither he or they desire said car to be consigned. 



The distributor on receipt of such communication, 

 if the quota of the town or point thus selected be 

 not already filled, shall telegraph or reply to said 

 member or agent, "Your car number is con- 

 signed to — (the point named by said member 



or agent). If the quota of the town so selected had 

 that day been previously filled, the distributor 

 Fhall so state, and the owner or agent may then in 

 a similar manner select some other town whose 

 quota is not filled. 



Whenever any member or agent shall wilfully or 

 by mistake consign a car to any town or point 

 whose quota is already full, the distributor shall 

 have absolute authority to change the destination 

 of said car to some point whose quota is not com- 

 plete. 



The bureau shall be accountable to the owner for 

 the sale of any car of fruit whose destination is 

 changed by the distributor without said owner's or 

 his agent's approval. 



The proceeds of sale from all cars of fruit thus 

 arbitrarily transferred by the distributor shall be 

 returned by draft to him, and he shall immediately 

 endorse the same to the treasurer, who shall 

 forthwith forward said returns, minus the regular 

 commission, to the owner or owners of said fruit. 



The utmost efforts are to be made for the prompt 

 dissemination of information concerning the mar- 

 kets. Blackboards shall herald the information at 

 every railroad station where the members of the 

 bureau may be located. Members are to pay 

 annual fees in proportion to the size of their 

 orchards, and to pay certain commission for the 

 distribution of their fruit. 



The last clause of the plan proposes to organize 

 the bureau as "apart of the Delaware Fruit Ex- 

 change, but the bureau's accounts and funds shall 

 be kept separate from the general exchange fund." 



An Acre of Fruit and Vegetable 

 Garden. 



[Synopsis of a Paper by Geo. J. Kellogg, read at 

 tlie Farmers'' Convention, Milton Jiinction.Wis.] 



That acre should be long, and all rows run 

 the entire length of the ground so that the 

 horse can be used in cultivating, The site, if 

 it can run over a knoll so as to give southern 

 and northern slope, will prolong the fruiting 

 season about ten days. It ought to be fenced 

 with woven wire and lath, to keep chickens out. 



Plow deep, and after plowing put on from 

 twenty to forty loads of well rotted manure 

 and harrow it in. Do not plow manure in, as 

 you lose nearly one-half its value. 



If the garden lays sixteen by ten rods north 

 and south, take the east side, four feet from 

 the fence, for a row of Asparagus. Where this 

 stands if a dead furrow can be made deep and 

 filled with good manure and six inches of earth 

 plowed on before the plants ai-e set, it is best, 

 and the only case where I recommend burying 

 manure. Asparagus will last a lifetime, there- 

 fore put it on one side of the garden. 



On the west side, six feet from the fence, 

 plant a row of Grapes eight feet apart. Set 

 Moore's Early, Worden, Concord, Brighton, 

 Delaware, Pocklington, Niagara, Empire State. 

 These can be had at ten to fifty cents each. 



Second row, eight feet from the Grapes, Currants, 

 and Gooseberries three feet apart. Red Dutch, W^hite 

 Grape and Fay's Prolific for Currants, and Smith's 

 and Downing for Gooseberries. These will cost 

 from five to twenty cents each. 



Third row. Blackberries, eight feet by three feet, 

 Lucretia Dewberry. Snyder, Stone's Hardy and 

 Ancient Briton. These cost two cents each in 

 quantity, except Lucretia. which are two dollars 

 per dozen. This is the most productive traihng 

 Blackberry known, and as easily covered as Straw- 

 berries. The others can be covered by lessening the 

 earth beside the plant and with a fork on the bush 

 and the foot at the base bend and cover with dirt. 



Fourth row, eight feet by three feet. Red Rasp- 

 berries. If you will keep down the suckers plant 

 Turner, Marlboro and Cuthbert; if not, plant Purple 

 Cane, Philadelphia and Shaffer's Colossal. This 

 row of 82 plants will cost from $1 to 83.50, accord- 

 ing to kinds. 



Fifth row. Black Raspberries, Tyler, Souhegan 

 and Gregg. Cost of plants two cents. 



Sixth row, Strawberries eight feet from the last 

 and two feet in the row. In this row put only per- 



