1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



185 



mixture of Giroiide (printed on page ISii of the 

 present issue) is also well recommened by the 

 present authorities. The fii-st application should 

 be made when the plants are in bloom, the 

 secon<l a week or ten days later, and, if the 

 weather be such as will favor the development 

 of " rot," a third and perhaps a fourth applica- 

 tion should follow within about the same in- 

 tervals. Where one has a considerable area to 



Cone of Nunlman7h's Silver Fir and Cone Scales, 

 H Natural Diameter. 



cover it would be economy to procure a spray- 

 ing pump; the essential features of a good 

 machine are ease and rapidity of application 

 with economy of material. 



Heliotrope Flowers In Winter. 



The Heliotrope with fair management is one 

 of the most profuse and steady flowering plants 

 for either the window or conservatory. It 

 may be had in bloom every month. Its flowers, 

 which are often described as smelling " like ice 

 cream " (in point of fact the fragrance resem- 

 bles vanilla, and ice cream Is usually flavored 

 with vanilla), are always prized forbouiiuets 

 or vases. While some would charge them with 

 quickly wasting, this is only true when they 

 are closely crowded in bunches; arrange the 

 stems loosely in vases of water and the flowers 

 will keep handsome for days. 



To have a supply of winter and spring bloom 

 the plants should have been started from slips 

 in June. They should soon after have been 

 given 3 iiich pots and a place in full ail- until 

 the approach of frost. During the summer in- 

 terval they require frequent stopping, for 

 inducing the usually preferred low bushy form, 

 with an abundance of flowering shoots. An 

 occasional shift should also be resorted to, re- 

 membering, however, that rather close root 

 quarters is a gain. 



If large jilants are wanted in the greenhouse 

 they may be somewhat oftener shifted than for 

 window culture, and attention to training the 

 plants as pyramids, bushes, or fan-shaped to a 

 treUise may be thoufjht more desirable. In the 

 latter form they are especially useful, inasmuch 

 as they can be placed in such positions, as 

 against the ends of houses, where otherwise the 

 space would not be of much consequence. 

 Here they will not only look well but flower 

 well. During the flowering stage the plants 

 should have from ■'Ml to 00 of heat, and about 

 once a week, or when in full blcKjm twice a 

 vreek, they may with benefit receive liciuid 

 manure at the roots. The plants, like the 

 flowei-s themselves after cutting, do better for 

 not being crowded together or with others. 



In dealing with that common pest of such 

 plants the Green-fly, care must be taken 

 that the foliage be not injured with the usual 

 remedy, tobacco smoke. This remedy may 

 with safety be applied in moderately strong 

 volume if the simple precaution of syringing 

 . or otherwise completely wetting the foliage 



just i)revious to starting the fumigation is ob- 

 served, otherwise the plants would bo liable to 

 become badly burnt. 



The Heliotrope delights in a compost con- 

 sisting of three parts of fresh loam or decayed 

 turf to one part of rotted manure, with a good 

 sprinkling of sharp sand added. In greenhouse 

 culture the plants are in many Instances bedded 

 out in soil spread some six or eight inches deep 

 over the stages. The new growth of the plants 

 should here be kept well tied up, having a cen- 

 tral stake each, in order that the light and air 

 may circulate not only between them to the 

 ground but also through the heads. 



Rejuvenatlngr Old Peach Trees. 



E. S. QOFF, GENEVA, N. Y. 



A few years since I came to occupy a place 

 upon which was a small Peach orchard that 

 bore many evidences of neglect. The trees 

 gave no indications that they had ever been 

 pruned. The limbs had grown out, forming 

 long crooked poles, which were nearly destitute 

 of branches. One specimen of these is shown in 

 Figure 1 , taken from a photograph. 



Peach trees of such a character are not in 

 condition to yield a crop. The branches pro- 

 duce little new wood and hence there is room 

 for but few blossoms. Even if they were cap- 

 able of producing a good crop, the long limbs 

 would be very apt to br<^k down from the 

 weight of the fruit. 



As an experiment, I determined to prune 

 these trees back severely, cutting off all of the 

 main branches a short distance above the top 

 of the trunk. I commenced in the sprin,? of 

 188.5 cutting back three trees, and the result 

 proved so satisfactory that the following spring 

 I extended the experiment to all the others ex- 

 cept the one shown in the illustration. 



From the pruned trees many new buds 

 promptly appeared upon the bare stubs of 

 branches, and before the summer had passed 

 almost all of the trees had formed fine dense 

 tops, making them appear like young trees. 

 Figure 2 shows one of these trees cut back the 

 first season, spring of 188.5. This last will beai- 

 a full crop this season, but those cut back last 

 spring, with a few exceptions, are bearing but 

 little. Next season, however, if the winter is 

 not too severe, I shall look for a full crop upon 

 aU. The trees cut back did not suffer so much 

 from the leaf curl last season as did the single 

 one left unpruned. 



Experiments In Curing Prunes. 



A committee of fruit growers in California 

 to whom was submitted some samples showing 



Foui'th. Dipped in bji\ rinsed, drieii find 

 syrtijieil. These dried rapidly, have a good 

 api)oarance and flavor, a very tender skin, light 

 colored and fresh looking inside. This is the 

 ordinary method of preparing prunes. 



Fifth. Siniphi dried, in the sun. These 

 were longer in drying than those dipped in 

 lye; the flavor is good, the skin a little tough, 

 appearance not uniform in the different speci- 

 mens, some retaining the natural bloom and 

 being beautiful, others nearly destitute of 

 bloom. This lack of uniformity detracts greatly 

 from the general appearance. 



Sixth. SiiDie as Irisl, Ind after dipped in 

 .•sip-up. These were uniform in appearance, 

 and softer and apparently in better condition 

 every way. In appearance and taste they more 

 nearly resembled a well cured raisin than any 

 fruit we have ever seen; there was a more 

 delicate and perfect flavor than we have ever 

 seen in any other method. The only objection 

 that can be raised is that the skin is tougher 

 than when treated with lye, and this point 

 might go a long way in the general market. 



Doings In the Washington Seed Shop. 



Some of the odious methods of the Govern- 

 ment Seed Shop at Washington have, accord- 

 ing to the New England Homstead, recently 

 been given away by one who styles himself 

 " the only practical seedsman in the depai-t- 

 ment." This clerk, it seems, has been writing 

 confidential letters to a seedsman, whose name 

 is for the present suppressed, desiring to interest 

 him in selling "anything that is new and of 

 promising merit." This is to be accomplished 

 through some practical worker among his 

 political friends. "I could," says this writer 

 in confidence, ' ' talk and do things with you 

 personally that I would not dare to write. If 

 this is managed properly it will give you an 

 annual sale of from $:!0,0(IO to ^^.'JO.UOO at from 

 30 to 101) per cent more than your regular 

 wholesale list. This I know. At least for this 

 time it will be necessarj' for you to use a middle- 

 man to get a good slice of Uncle Sam." Of 

 this infamous business Commissioner Coleman 

 may be ignorant, for we believe him to lie 

 above suspicion as to official honesty. The 

 trouble may, as in the case of Loring, lie with 

 his subordinates. But a system that can be 

 open to such palpable frauds upon the people 

 ought promptly to be abolished. Better yet: 

 let this entire seed business in its present form 

 be done away with. 



Dewberry Management. Many who have 

 planted this comparatively new class among culti- 

 vated small fruits are at a loss to know just how 

 they should be managed. So we give these direc- 





Fi(j. 1. 



An Vnpi-uned Old Tree. Fiu- *• 



REJUVENATING OLD PEACH TREES. 



An Old Tree Rejuvenated. 



the results of experiments in different methods 

 of curing prunes reported as follows: 



First. Dipped in hot salt water and dried. 

 This fruit dried very slowly, has a dark look 

 inside, and seems to have lost flavor. 



Second. Same as idiuee, hut after dipped 

 in si/rup. An improvement in appearance, 

 but not in taste. 



Third. Dipped in simple hot water: dried 

 and sijruped. A decided loss of flavor, fair 

 appearance outside, but dark inside, and having 

 I a sort of a cooked taste. 



tions in a nutshell, which should meet about all 

 cases : Set the plants in fall or spring eight feet 

 by six feet. When the vines have reached a length 

 of 311 inches the ends should be nipped out. I.ate 

 in aiitunm or early in winter the vines are covered 

 lightly with corn-fodder or straw. This is easily and 

 cheaply done as the vines lie on the ground. The 

 following spring all the vines are cut back to three 

 feet, and thinned to four or five canes to the hill. 

 The straw and fodder are now put under the vines 

 for a nudcli, and keep Ihe berries clean. Treated 

 in this way the improved sorts will bear every 

 year large crops of splendid fruit, 



