I8S7. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



215 



the subject lost month by saying he grows them 

 readily in boxes fixed against the walls. He thinks 

 the best arrangement is to have a bench about 

 three feet wide, and anil-inch board in front lo 

 keeiJ the bed in its place. Beds on the ground he 

 prefers also to have a board in front of. The beds 

 ought to be made up of short stable litter, which 

 has been thrown into a heap and turned daily 

 until the violent heat has subsided. They should 



The Gold Strawbeny. 



be filled with the manure and it ought to be packed 

 in firmly. When the heat falls to 85 degrees insert 

 pieces of spawn the si/.e of a hen's egg about six 

 inches apart and two inches deep. The whole 

 should be covered with two inches of loam, beaten 

 down firmly with the blade of a spade. The 

 Mushrooms will appear in six or eight weeks. 



Fruit and Vegetable Diet. At a late fruit ban- 

 quet of the London Vegetarian Society Dr. Nichols 

 said that fruit was a perfect food, and the Apple 

 alone was able to sustain life and health for a very 

 long time. Why, then, he asked, needlessly take 

 the life of any creature, when they had at hand so 

 much delightful food? He had been a vegetarian 

 for fifty years, and during that time he had had 

 only one week's illness. Mr. A. F. Hills pointed 

 out that the vegetable-feeders were among the 

 strongest of animals— for example the horse and 

 the elephant. Dr. AUinson was of opinion that 

 vegetarianism would do away with the need for 

 the services of members of his profession. Fruit 

 contained vegetable substances that were very use- 

 ful in carrying away the injurious mineral matters 

 that tended to increase in the system. A mixed 

 diet of fruit and grain was the most valuable that 

 could be devised. 



A Talk With the Reader. We are striving 

 hard to make Popular Gardening and Fruit Grow- 

 ing the most useful and beautiful journal of its 

 class in existence. In this work we desire and need 

 the support of every well-wisher of the enterprise. 

 What we have especially in mind is the great help 

 that would result in further improvements if every 

 present subscriber would take pains to induce 

 some neighbor or friend to subscribe. That the 

 paper even now is well worthy of such eCforts on 

 the part of its friends there can be no doubt. But 

 this we can say further : if our subscription list, 

 large as it now is, could be just doubled (as our 

 readers easily have it in their power to make it), we 

 could promise not only a better paper in some re- 

 spects, but also one larger by some pages than at 

 present, and all at the present low price. To this 

 end we aspire, and to this end we solicit the aid of 

 every friend of horticulture. What say you? 



How to Measure a Tree, Various ways for do- 

 ing this have been suggested, but in practice we 

 have not found a better or more simple one than 

 ihat illustrated on this page. Take a stake, say 

 six feet in length, and place it against the tree you 

 wish to measure. Then step back some rods, 20 or 

 more if you can, from which to do the measuring. 

 At this point a light pole and a measuring rule are 

 required. The pole is raised between the eye and 

 the tree and the rule is brought into position against 

 the pole, as shown in the engraving Thei. by 

 sighting and observing what length of the rule is 

 required to cover the stake at the tree, and what 

 the entire tree, dividing the latter length by the 

 former and multiplying by the number of feet the 

 stake is long, you reach the approximate height of 

 the tree. For example, if the stake at the tree be 

 six feet above ground and one inch on your 

 rule corresponds exactly with this, and if then 

 the entire height of the tree corresponds with 

 say nine inches on the rule, this would show the 

 tree to possess a full height of fifty-four feet. In 



practice it will thas be foand an easy matter to 



learn the approximate height of any tree, building, 

 or other such object. 

 Parrot and Other Tulips. The Parrota as now 



improved are among the most effective of spring 

 flowers, being especially suitable for large borders 

 among green foliage. To grow the best they should 

 (lower in the sunshine when the light is reflected 

 and intensified, as if from petals of burnished brass. 

 Kven when seen at a distance the blooms have quite 

 a lamp-like effect, and are so bright that ordinary 

 kinds of late Tuhps look dull beside them. They 

 are free-blooming, strong-growing kinds, and vary 

 in color from pure yellow through all shades of 

 orange and red until a glowing blood-red or crim- 

 son ends the scale. On warm, dry, sandy soils they 

 are not only hardy, but increase rapidly from year 

 to year. Among some of these flaming Parrot 

 Tulips we have a pretty single kind {T. turcica) of 

 a pinkish terra-cotta color, which is much admired. 

 Can anyone tell us where roots of the old yellow 

 late Tulip, having a green bottom, can be obtained? 

 It was formerly much prized as a hardy kind, and 

 endures fresh and fair for a long time after it is 

 cut and placed in water indoors. The great crim- 

 son-red 7'. Qesneriana is a very fine sort, and en- 

 dures both sunshine and wind bravely. It is one of 

 the best of the hardy border kinds, but there are 

 two or three forms, varying in size, and although 

 all are good. Major or Strangewaysi are the largest 

 and best. — i?. B. Lynde. 



To Mount and Label Dried Flowers.— The plan 

 adopted at the great Kew Herbarium. London, as 

 given by an English writer, is £is follows: " A 

 mixture of gum Arabic ana gum tragacanth is 

 used The specimen is placed face downwards on 

 a sheet of common paper and entirely gummed 

 over Every leaf, tecdril, &c , is gummed. The 

 specimen is then laid gummed side downwards, 

 on the paper intended for it. A sheet of absorbing 

 paper, (ordinary drying paper or newspaper will 

 answer) is then placed on the specimen, and pres- 

 sure applied till the whole is dry. By this means 

 the plant is entirely fastened to the paper, so that 

 it cannot be injured when the sheets are rubbed to- 

 gtther. Should the specimen have a thick stem, a 

 further precaution is taken by placing one or more 

 straps of paper across each stalk. To prepare the 

 gum, take equal parts of the best gum arabic and 

 powdered gum tragacanth (the latter being fre- 

 quently adulterated, should be procured from a 

 reUable druggist); melt the gum arabic, and when 

 quite fluid stir in the gum tragacanth. Let it stand 

 for twelve hours or so to thoroughly dissolve. 

 These gums swell considerably, hence a good- 

 sized vessel should be used . It can be kept in 

 well-corked bottles ready for use. When retjuired, 

 mix with water until it runs readily from the 

 brush. Some persons prefer a sheet of glass on 

 which to gum the specimens. A thin and flabby 

 specimen, difficult to lift, it will be necessary to 

 lay on pap«r. gumming each part separately. 



Saving Flower Seeds. I think that my way is 

 simpler than the Elder's Wife's, referred to on page 

 153. I save all my letter en- 

 velopes. In May I get an open 

 chip basket (one costing 5c to 

 lOe is good enough and big 

 enough for any one who has 

 only a small garden) and a 

 bunch of old envelopes, and 

 start a-gathering, beginning 

 with Rock Cress, Erysimum, 

 Crown Anemones, and other 

 early bloomers, putting the 

 seeds of each kind into a sep- 

 arate envelope, on which is 

 marked the name with pen- 

 cil, and the envelopes, as they are filled, put upright 

 in the basket and bring them in. And every now and 

 again, all summer, as there are seeds ready to save 

 I gather them in the same way. And when I 

 bring them in I remove the envelopes from the 

 basket to a flat box— the same as I use for starting 

 seeds in— and set the box on a dry, airy shelf se- 

 cure from mice. After the summer's gathering 

 I clean the seeds, return them to the envelopes 

 whence they came, the envelopes to the boxes, and 

 the boxes to the shelves. But I never bother to 

 put the seeds into closed bags. As they are, they 

 are always handy, easy to get at, and open to 

 ventilation. So long as they are dry, hard 

 frost in winter won't hurt even tropical seeds. In 

 dealing seeds I use a small sieve made out of a 

 piece of mosquito wire netting. In order to sepa- 

 rate such wooly-coated seeds as Anemones and 

 Globe Amaranths rub tbem in dry, clean sand ; 

 this will not remove the wool from the seeds but it 

 will render it less liable to stick in bunches.— Wil- 

 liam Falconvr. 



An Indiana Beport on Kew Strawberries. This 

 season I have fairly fruited several new Straw- 

 berries, of which Bubach. Ilasea and Logan are 

 some of the best, and will soon be widely known 

 I and jdanted I have no doubt. Bubach's berries 

 are of the largest size and fine appearance, and are 

 I borne in great profusion on robust, free-growing 

 1 plants, witii ftdiage free from all trace of rust. 

 Its flavor is not first-rate, but (juite equal to some 

 other popular market varieties. Itasca is more 

 productive and a better grower than Crescent, with 

 larger, sweeter and more solid berries. Its foliage 

 was free from rust, although it grew near other 

 varieties whicii were almost ruined by that disease. 

 In productiveness, solidity and flavor I know of no 

 variety that would excel this. Logan produces 

 berries that are very large and beautiful, and it is 

 remarkably productive. In flavor it is rather better 

 than Bubach but not as good as Itasca. It is the 

 most rampant grower in my patch. It also is free 

 from rust. It will be ottered to the public next 

 spring. I fruited Jessie on plants set last spring 

 and these produced some very fair berries. All 

 who have fairly fruited it have a good word for it, 

 and I have no doubt it will prove valuable. Some 

 of the largest, most beautiful and delicious Straw- 

 berries I ever ate were taken this season from 

 "Wabash," a seedling of .J. A. Foot, of Crawfords- 

 ville, Ind. It is unlike any other variety I ever saw, 

 and in size, beauty, solidity and flavor seems equal 

 to any. It is a compact, strong grower with large 

 staminate flowers —O. Cowing, Delaware Co.^ Ind. 



Carting the Gift Packages.— A Mer- 

 chant's Side of the Case. 



In the July number I noticed your correspondent's 

 special pleading for fruit growers, in which a re- 

 duced rate of freight is demanded, and that com- 

 mission merchants pay the carters for carting the 

 *' gift package," simply because they do not return 

 the package. The writer must know that trans- 

 portation companies, in all fairness, calculate to 

 make a profit on the capital interested, yet he 

 seems to think they should be run for fruit growers. 



It is true the fruit is handled roughly, both in 

 receiving and delivering, but that is caused largely 

 by the pressure brought to bear on ihe company 

 for a reduced rate. Better far did the growers 

 submit to the freight rates and demand greater 

 care. These boats are not arranged for carrying 

 Peaches, but there is a railroad whose cars can be. 

 Why not ship Peachts by them? 



When the Fruit Committee waited on these 

 companies for reduced rates I think they succeeded 

 inobtaining^Ocentsper ton,a very trifle considering 

 that the larger portion of Grapes would be shipped 

 in gift cases and no empties to be returned. Yet 

 they deliberately demand of the dealers a reduction 

 of about $2.00 per ton on cartage. A gift case filled 

 weighs say 50 pounds, cartage 5 cents per package. 



HOW TO MEASURE A TREE. 



Why did not those gentlemen wait upon the 

 carters, or get the merchants to ask for a reduc- 

 tion from them instead of asking the merchants to 

 pay for the cartage in full':' 



I challenge any Grape grower to show that these 

 "gift c£ises" have been detrimental to their inter- 

 est. I will prove that they have been a benefit and 

 one brought in operation largely through these 

 merchants, and I consider that instead of the mer- 

 chants being taxed they should be rewarded. 



It is not the case that the merchants refuse to 

 return all packages, as some would have it appear. 

 The fact is, that with the exception of the Peach 

 basket, all have been returned as usual, gift cases, 

 of course, excepted. 



There is one peculiar feature in this movement 

 that is worthy of notice, that those most active are 

 noted wealthy men. The poorer fruit growers of 

 the country are willing to live and let live, asking 

 no favors of merchants but honest returns for their 

 fruit. Commission Mrrchant. 



New York, July, 1887. 



