POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE."— Jlnjioill. 



Vol. II. 



SEI'TEOSdlSEia, 1887. 



No. 12. 



The Cornsilk tassels on the ridge 



Are bronzing in the sun ; 

 The Elderberries by the bridge, 



And all along the run, 

 Grow purple through the golden days; 



Barberries by the wall 

 Glow crimson in the silver haze 



That ushers in the Fall . 



— Annie M. Libby. 



An eye should be kept for the hairy cater- 

 pillar on Chiysanthemums; one on a plant 

 will in a short time mar its beauty. 



Castor-oil Plants, now at the height of 

 beauty, are so easily snapped off by a gust of 

 wind, that they should not be trusted without 

 a stake or stays j-unning to pegs in the ground. 



A Word to Exhibitors: In case of disap- 

 pointment at receiving no premiums, bear up 

 by considering that in the very nature of things 

 your own judgment must be somewhat biased 

 as that of the judges should not be. 



Ferneries for winter may be stocked at this 

 season to be charming by the use alone of wild 

 plants from the woods. The Squaw or Part- 

 ridge Berry plant, with its dark, shiny ever- 

 green leaves and red fruit is excellent for one, 

 and then there are various low-growing ever- 

 green Ferns of value for the purpose. 



The remarkable contrast between "the 

 trade " of fifty years ago and now as regards 

 the use of catalogues and advertising has re- 

 cently been commented upon by an English 

 writer. At that time the English house that 

 advertised was hardly considered " respecta- 

 ble," and certainly not " genteel." But certain 

 houses thought otherwise, and persistently ap- 

 pealed to the public through the pages of the 

 journals that were ready to afford them the 

 desired publicity. The consequence was that 

 they shot ahead of their antiquated rivals, and 

 many of the former are now the most exten- 

 sive and the most prosperous to be found. In 

 fact we may say that almost if not all the great 

 firms that have sprung into existence during 

 this period have attained their position through 

 advertising. Another peculiarity of the old- 

 fashioned trade was not to issue priced cata- 

 logues. Catalogues of their saleable commodi- 

 ties were common enough, but to indicate the 

 prices of them was a privilege that the public 

 was not admitted to. How all these are changed ! 



A LARGE commission merchant of New York 

 has the following practical suggestions to offer 

 to shippers of Apples: A new barrel only 

 ought to be used, and after taking out the bot- 

 tom, not the head, tack the lower middle hoop 

 on each side of the bulge of the barrel with 

 three-penny nails (no [larger sized nails), and 

 clinch inside for smoothness, putting the head of 

 the barrel to the floor. Select perfect Apples, 

 uniform in size and appearance, wipe and place 

 with the stems down ; when by placing in the 

 fruit with the haud layer after layer till the 

 barrel is a little more than full, gently press in 

 the bottom head, and head line across the head- 

 ing, using the three-penny nails and then tack 

 the top hoop with five or six three-penny nails; 



turn up the head and do the same. Mark the 

 owner's initials and number of barrel, say No. 

 1 and up, so that when the fruit reaches your 

 merchant it can be known. He has had much 

 trouble from this omission. Ship with instruc- 

 tions to the carrying company to forward the 

 bill of lading. Ship in round lots of 50, 100 or 

 more barrels, as large uniform lots sell at better 

 prices than small and irregular lots. Ship 

 neither any defective nor any mixed fruit, and 

 upon no account put large, fine fruit on the 

 head and poor small fruit in the middle of the 

 barrels ; one such barrel will defeat the sale of 

 a thousand. In plain words, pack honestly. 



Four Crops In a Season on the Same 



Land. 



M. F. THOMPSON, EAST ROCKPORT, OHIO. 



How I raise four crops on the same land 

 and harvest three in the same season may 

 be told as follows; Let me add, however, 

 that I could have done even better this year 

 by my plan but for the severe drought. 



To begin with, I plant two acres of the 

 Egyptian Onion along in September. These 

 I commence bunching for market about 

 the 1st of March. They are planted in rows 

 one foot apart. By the 1st of May about 

 half of them are sold; then the land is plowed 

 and marked in rows 3 1-3 feet apart with a 

 strong marker, which makes marks about 2 

 inches deep. 



In ground thus prepared Cucumber seed is 

 dropped in alternate rows, at about 3 to 4 

 inches apart in the row, I cover with my 

 feet, just drawing them along the ground to 

 bring the soil over the seed. 



The Cucumbers planted, I next plant in 

 the vacant rows, made by the marker. Red 

 Raspberries about 3 feet apart, and between 

 each Raspberry stool a hill of Sweet Corn. 



At this writing (Aug. 3), my early Cucum- 

 bers on such a patch are out of the way, 

 and I still have time enough to cultivate 

 them up and put in a crop of the same for 

 late pickles. The balance of the piece I dug 

 out every fifth row and planted my Rasp- 

 berries and Corn between. As the latter 

 comes off early it gives the Raspberries a 

 chance to make a good growth this fall. 



I also dug four remaining rows of Onions 

 and planted Cucumbers in these. Through- 

 out I market from 200 to 700 dozen bunches 

 of Onions per day, and by keeping the land 

 planted and worked in this manner it is 

 loose and requires very little hoeing. 



Let me impress the fact that such heavy 

 cropping takes lots of manure, but by plant- 

 ing so many kinds there is not much wasted. 

 The reader can easily see how, by some 

 such system, certain men will make more 

 money from 10 acres of land than others 

 will from hundreds. In these times market 

 gardeners and farmers ought not to let a foot 

 of land lay idle. 



Some years, owing to unfavorable weather 

 or other contingencies, this system may 

 perhaps not be very successful, but one year 

 with another there is no reason why it 

 should not be, if done with a will and de- 



termination not to give up and not to let 

 your neighbors beat you. Let me add that 

 I would at any time rather live in a neigh- 

 borhood where men are enterprising than 

 where they are not, for one helps the other. 

 You see your neighbor going ahead it will 

 start you and so on, but where everybody is 

 behind you are apt to fall in the same rut. 



To young gardeners and fruit growers I 

 would especially advise that whatever you 

 do, do it with a will. Get amongst enter- 

 prising men and one will push the other. If 

 I am beat by a neighbor I will try my chance 

 again, and so with others, and all are the 

 better off for the competition. 



A Native Fruit for Cultivation.— The 

 Dwarf Juneberry. 



E. S. GOFF, GENEVA, N. Y. 



The true horticulturist is not satisfied with 

 attempting to improve our cultivated fruits. 

 He wants to explore the forests and prairies, 

 to see if Nature has not some new material 

 upon which he may experiment. To him 

 a poor fruit, taken from its native wilds and 

 made to yield its crop in his own garden, is 

 often of more interest than a far more de- 

 licious one that has been cultivated for 

 centuries. 



If the readers of Popular Gardening 

 include any such, I want to suggest to them 

 the Dwarf .Juneberry, Amelanchier Cana- 

 densis, as a fit subject on which to operate. 

 I think there may be something really worth 

 wj)rking on in this fruit. I have no hopes 

 or fears that, even in its most highly im- 

 proved state, it will ever drive the Straw- 

 berry out of our gardens. I do not, however, 

 see why it may not take rank along with 

 our finest varieties of Currants and Goose- 

 berries. 



My knowledge of this fruit commenced in 

 1883. Some young plants set out in the 

 spring of that year bore a few berries the 

 next season, and the yield continued to in- 

 crease until the summer of 1885, when the 

 bushes bore an immense crop. The berries, 

 if such they may be called, average about 

 the size of the largest samples of Blueberries, 

 to which fruit they have a striking resem- 

 blance both in color and form. The flavor 

 Is sweet and delicate, but not very pro- 

 nounced. No one that has tasted them in 

 my presence has expressed a dislike to them, 

 though some pronounce them insipid. With 

 cream and sugar the flavor is rather height- 

 ened. The berries begin ripening toward 

 the latter part of June and the crop lasts 

 from two to three weeks. 



The plant is a somewhat straggling shrub 

 a1)0ut five feet high when full grown, though 

 our bushes at present are but three feet high. 

 It appears perfectly hardy and in favorable 

 seasons bears profusely. It is readily propa- 

 gated by divisions of the roots and also by 

 seeds. The latter method is, of course, the 

 one to which we must look for the improve- 

 ment of this American fruit. 



