POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT TH/JVE/'-Milton. 



Vol. II. 



JTJIiTT, 1887. 



No. lO. 



Sunrise. 



Ring welcome, birds in bushes dewirapearled, 



And rouse the sluggards with thy gay alarms; 



The landlord Sun comes up to see his farms, 

 His favorite fields, this fair and fruitful world. 



Let him not see his tenants idle stand; 

 Seed-time and harvest fail not, nor should fail, 



The patient will, the strong and skillful hand. 

 Whose help may make the Sun's warm heart avail 

 To flush with Roses cheeks now pinched and pale, 



And fill with plenty all the peaceful land. 



— Country Gentleman. 



If L(1ng, straoglino shoots start up in 

 flowering shrubs, they should be pinched back 

 while young,thus giving others a better chance, 

 and tending to a more shapely bush. 



Such free-blooming plants as Verbenas, 

 Petunias, Mignonette and many others are apt 

 to show signs of exhaustion from profuse 

 blooming after the first free-cropping of the 

 season is past. By treating these liberally with 

 liquid manure a niunber of times, pruning the 

 ends of flowering shoots back somewhat also, 

 the plants wiU take a new hold and amply 

 repay this care by increased bloom later. 



Prof. J. W. Sanborn has reported a series of 

 interesting experiments on the relation of dew 

 to soil moisture, made by driving iron tubes a 

 given length into the ground, and thus securing 

 a portion of the soil enclosed for examination, 

 capillary attraction being shut off from the 

 cylinders of earth by means of an inserted 

 bottom, placed by digging down one side. 

 Some of the leading results were, that the soU 

 loses moisture by night, both when there is 

 dew and when there is not ; that shallow-tilled 

 soil loses less by night than deep tilled ; that 

 deep tillage is followed by less evaporation in 

 drought than shallow tillage; and that a good 

 deal of study needs yet be given to the subject. 



The shipping of fruit in refrigerator cars 

 is opposed by some prominent fruit dealers, 

 who claim decided advantages for ventilation. 

 Here are the directions which a leading Phila- 

 delphia firm gives to shippers : ' ' The fruit and 

 packages should be perfectly dry and cool 

 when shipped; the shade temperature of the 

 place will do ; never use ice ; ventilation is better 

 than refrigeration. We have demonstrated 

 that ventilation of natural air is more pre- 

 serving to delicate fruits and berries than the 

 artificially low temperature of the confined 

 and damp air of any existing ice box or refrig- 

 erator system. Pick and pack the fruit as 

 above directed, in ventUated packages, and 

 ship via. all fast mail express only; and the 

 extra expense and smaller quantity will more 

 than be recompensed for in the better condition 

 of the fruit on arrival and its higher sale." 



It is with regret that we see an eastern 

 contemporary pitch into the Norway Spruce 

 as a tree not to be recommended for orna- 

 mental planting. Such an attitude must come 

 from a lack of appreciation concerning the real 

 wants of planters at large. Admitting, as 

 Popular Gardening does, that there are other 

 valuable evergreens, and even some like the 

 Hemlock Spruce, the Colorado Blue Spruce, 

 the Nordmann's Fir, that may retain the fresh- 

 ness of youth somewhat longer than the Nor- 

 way, the fact yet remains, that as an ornamen- 



tal evergreen for the million the latter has a 

 long lead on all of its class. It is hardy, it is 

 low priced, it is adapted to a wide range of soils 

 and climates, it is easily transplanted, it is of 

 free growth, it is a beautiful tree when young, 

 it is a beautiful tree at a score of years and 

 beyond, especially if its branches have occa- 

 sionally been shortened; it is among the best 

 of trees for ornamental hedges, and for screens 

 and windbreaks few equal, while none greatly 

 excel it. That such a tree should, in this day 

 when perhaps a million home grounds in 

 America are devoid of any evergreen or shrub 

 beauty, be condemned by the friends of horti- 

 culture is much to be deplored. It is em- 

 phatically the evergreen for the masses. 



Canning fruit in salicylic acid, and especi- 

 ally for exhibition purposes, was recently 

 referred to in these columns by A. T. Grant, 

 Worcester County, Mass. In reply to an inquiry 

 for detailed information as to the process, our 

 correspondent kindly forwarded the following 

 statement: " Use no heat. The fruit should 

 be put in the glass cans fresh and just as picked, 

 and for looks be shaken down as solid as possi- 

 ble, but not to bruise the fruit, as berries shrink 

 some but not nearly as much as when done the 

 old way by cooking. Then prepare a solution 

 of salicylic acid 3,5 grains, sugar 8 oz. , with 1 

 quart of water, and when dissolved pour over 

 the fruit. After about one hour a little more 

 of the solution may be added, seeing that the 

 cans are full, then seal as usual. Of course the 

 cans cannot be tight the same as when sealed 

 hot, because the shrinkage while cooling causes 

 a suction — so don't fear if the cans leak, as they 

 certainly will a little. Nothing can be finer 

 than f i-uit thus put up ' for the fair ' and similar 

 uses. For the table we have decided to use 

 pint cans so as to eat the entire contents of a 

 can when first opened. Then one can count on 

 putting up Strawberries, Raspberries and Black- 

 berries and find them good, but Blueberries are 

 not as good as shavings. Corn, Beans and Peas 

 are put up a little different, but as we did not 

 succeed with them, cannot advise trying them." 



The Value of Beauty In Selllngr 

 Products. 



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



To the man who has fruit and other pro- 

 ducts for sale mere beauty as such has a 

 value that can be measured by hard silver 

 dimes and hard gold dollars. 



Go along the street of some town early in 

 the morning, when the corner fruit stand 

 proprietors are getting ready for the day's 

 work. Notice how they polish the Apples 

 with a cloth until they are ro.sy and glisten- 

 ing. This work, which adds to the beauty 

 of their wares, is profitable, for it makes 

 quicker sales and better prices. Wait an 

 hour until sales begin. You will see that of 

 every ten purchasers nine select the hand- 

 somest apple or orange, no matter what its 

 (juality may be. Likely they know nothing 

 of the variety, or could not distinguish vari- 

 eties if they knew their qualities. However, 

 this may be, it is the handsomest fruits that 

 sell first and at the best prices. 



Go now to the vegetable market and you 

 will have further evidence that beauty has a 



value. About vegetables in general there Is 

 not much beauty, yet it is possible so to ar- 

 range them on the tables that what beauty 

 they have is enhanced and made so promi- 

 nent that it cannot fail to impress the intend- 

 ing purchaser. Nearly every stall keeper 

 understands this; but some are more partic- 

 ular than others and have a better eye and 

 taste; such have the best arranged displays 

 and sell out earliest and at best prices. Ber- 

 ries and other fruits also may be made to 

 look fresher by grouping contrasting colors. 



Every city fruit dealer also well under- 

 stands how well a little colored netting over 

 a basket or crate of lierries tempts the passer- 

 by to purchase. He buys not because the 

 netting is nice, but because the fruit beneath 

 it looks bright, handsome, tempting. 



It is strange that the growers do not prop- 

 erly appreciate the value of beauty and how • 

 to enhance and preserve it as these things 

 have been learned by the city dealers. It 

 will not do for us to say that this is because 

 it is their business to sell, for it is also our ' 

 business to sell. The fruit grower or mar- 

 ket gardener may not sell to the consumer; 

 in fact, very few of the former do; neverthe- 

 less both fruit grower and gardener must 

 sell to some one. To sell judiciously is as 

 important as rightly to cultivate or season- 

 ably to harvest. If we handle our produce 

 properly from the beginning we can have 

 more beauty to sell than the dealer who dis- 

 plays well fruit that the producer has improp- 

 erly handled; and the dealer will buy this 

 beauty as readily and pay as good price for 

 it as the consumer does. 



I know from sad experience that if the 

 berry grower would preserve well the beauty 

 of his berries he must keep a sharp watch 

 on his pickers. I know also that dirt on the 

 box or crate detracts from the berry. I 

 rarely have the boxes returned to me from 

 the near-by market; it does not pay. 



I make my own boxes, and if the stuff is 

 not bright I have it scrubbed off, using 

 strong soft soap. This can be done very 

 rapidly, and adds wonderfully to appear- 

 ances. No one cares to eat more dirt than 

 he must. If boxes and crates are dingy or 

 dirty people are ajit to think the berries are. 

 Berries in dirty looking boxes do not, at 

 least, tempt the appetite; hence there is 

 another and good reason why clean boxes 

 sell fruit more readily and at better prices. 



I find always that money spent for netting 

 is well expended; but netting must be used 

 judiciously. Most people prefer their Straw- 

 berries not dead ripe; hence the netting of 

 these must be of a shade to make them 

 brighter, but no darker colored in ajipear- 

 ance. On the other hand Blackcap Rasp- 

 berries, and especially Blackberries, .sell best 

 when they show a deep, pronounced color, 

 csi)ecially in our northern markets. Now 

 let the netting bo pure white and the pur- 

 chaser draws it aside to examine the berries, 

 they look dark and bright, and the purchaser 

 is sure they are nicely ripened and fresh. 



