October 



THE POMOLOGIST. 



141 



Clay Soil for the Pear. 



An csperienced fruit grower of Northern 

 Ohio, closes an article to the American 

 Journal of Horticulture, on pear culture by 

 saj-ing: " I am more than ever convinced 

 that teuacious clay sub-soils are the best for 

 pear trees, but a tile drain should be laid at 

 least every thirty feet, and full three feet in. 

 depth. Last season the United States gov- 

 ernment surveyors put a range light in my 

 pear orchard, as a guide for vessels entering 

 the river, hence I had to take up a few of 

 my best trees, and in doing so I dug out 

 strong roots three or four feet in depth in 

 the solid yellow clay, and there I had to cut 

 them off. It is astonishing to see what an 

 affiaity pear roots have for deep, tough clay > 

 and trees on such soil are generally more 

 healthy and vigorous than on friable soils, 

 especially if the subsoil is sandj' or gravelly. 



I have coiitluded to plant five hundred 

 more Bartlett trees, as we find this the most 

 popular market variet3-, and the earliest and 

 surest for bearing. People know Bartletts 

 better than any other pears, and will pay 

 more for them. Good samples sold readily 

 at home last season for five dollars pi-r bush- 

 el ; and in Chic;igo, nicely selected, and 

 wrapped in thin paper, they sold for twenty 

 to twenty-five dollars per barrel of two and 

 a half bushels." 



noes M. THE Codling Moth. — la the 

 Report of the Ohio State Horticultural So- 

 ciety for 1869, the following statement 

 occurs in the report from Mahoning county ; 

 "The curculio and Codling moth are very 

 injurious to fruit here. I have two orchards 

 of sixty trees each ; iu one I let my stock 

 hogs run from spring till the early apples 

 ripen, and never take a crop of any kind 

 from the soil. This never fails of gimng a 

 full and fair crop of apple). The other is 

 kept in gras:-, which is mowed annuallj', and 

 no stock allowed to run, as tliis cannot be 

 well done. The result is, the orchaad is not 

 worth any thing for fruit, and very|little for 



hay'. 



*-«-#^ 



PiLFERLNG Fruit. — The Joumcil of the 

 Farm says truthfully — " It is a reproach 

 to the moral character of our people, that 

 fruit is considered lawful plunder. The cul- 

 turist can have full and exclusive right to 

 his corn and potatoes, and it would be con- 

 sidered infamy to steal them, but, as far as 

 fruit is concerned, he has no exclusive right 

 to it, when a certain class of biped pilferers 

 surreptitiously lay claim to it. From infancy 

 upwards, our people become inured to pil- 

 fering fruit, and it is a fixed idea that there 

 is no harm in stealing as much fruit as the 

 pockets will hold, but when many pockets 

 are filled, it is a serious loss to the owner of 

 the fruit. Children should be tauglit to re- 

 spect th' ir neighbor's propi/rty, by which 

 means this growing evil might be abated. 



oisser Barbm. 



Fall "Work hi the Flower Garden. 



Autumn is the time for planting many 

 very desirable flowers. Nearly all the hardy 

 Bdlbs must be planted during autumn, and 

 October, in this latitude, is the best month 

 for the work. Many Tubers arc quite as 

 certain to do well also, if planted in autumn, 

 still the planting of these may be deferred 

 till spring. BuiiBs and Tubers are some- 

 times confounded, but a familiar example 

 will show the differnce. The onion is a 

 •* Bulb"— the potato a "Tuber." 



SOIL AND HOW TO PLANT. 



The soil for bulbs should be made rich 

 with well rotted manure, and leaf mould — 

 the whole well mixed, deeply spaded, and 

 finely pulverized before planting. It is well 

 to do this two or three weeks before plant- 

 ing, and have the soil well settled and packed 

 by rain. Bulbs will flourish in almost any 

 kind of soil if made rich enough, dug deep 

 and well drained. 



Bulbs of large size should be planted from 

 three to four inches deep— small ones, from 

 one and a half to three inches— reckoning 

 depth from the top of the bulb when plant- 

 ed. They must always be so deep as not to 

 be easily uncovered by rains. In aid of this, 

 and to guard against the lifting power of 

 frost, tread or pack the bod hard after plant- 

 ing. Rows, one foot apart and nine inches 

 iu the row, is a medium distance for single 

 bulbs of most kinds intended to be taken up 

 every fall for re-planting. Large ones like 

 Crown Imperials, Tiger Lillies, etc., should 

 have more space, and so do all if intended 

 to stand several years in the same bed with- 

 out dividing and re-planting. 



WHAT TO PLAJSIT. 



TIte Crocus. — This is a very pretty little 

 bulb, hardy and easy of cultivation, and 

 among the first flowers of spring — some- 

 times blooming along-side a melting siviw- 

 bank. Its colors are varied and often beau- 

 tifully mixed. It is a great bloomer and 

 stands the hardest frost when in full flower. 



The Tidip is a great favorite ; its colors are 

 almost infinite and their blending delicate 

 beyond the power of imagination. 



Due Van Tfiatt flowers early in April, 

 during the continuance of severe frost. 



Th^ Tulip, with its goblet-shaped flower 

 cups, makes a magnificent show on its stems 

 t'.vo or three feet high. To have fine tulips 

 no pains are to be spared in cultivation. Its 

 tall .stems should be .supported with stakes. 



The Little Orape Hyacynths is cheap and 

 multiplies rapidly. 



The N'arcii.ius family contains many desir- 

 able and early blooming plants, and many of 

 them extremely fragrant. The polyanthus^ 

 Dafodil, Jonquil, etc., belong to this tribe. 

 All are cheap and desirable. 



Tlie Tig^er LUy, Orange Lily, the Native 

 Lily, and many others are all cheap, showy 

 and desirable plants. 



Crown Imperials are extremely hardy and 

 quite showy during the hardest frosts of 

 .spring. They appear best planted in clumps, 

 and should occupy the least frequented parts 

 of the garden or the lawn. 



In Nov. No. we will give directions for 

 protecting the beds. 



How Lilies are Popagated. 



The Japanese lilies are so hardy, as well as 

 beautiful, that they should become as com- 

 mon as the Turks L'ap and Tiger Lilies. — 

 They are now all uujderately cheap, and if 

 one only has a bulb or two to start with, the 

 stock may readily be increased. If left to 

 themselves, the bulbs b;Come clumps by 

 natural subdivision, but this is a slow way of 

 multiplying them. If a lily be taken up in 

 autumn, alter the leaves have withered, 

 there will be found upon the stem, just 

 above the old bulb, a mass of small bulbs in- 

 termingled with roots. A dozen, and even 

 more, are frequently found. The little bulbs 

 may be removed and planted out separately, 

 or the stem to whicli they are attached may 

 be cut ofl' just above the old bulb, and set 

 out with the cluster of bulbs and roots at- 

 tached. They should be covered the first 

 winter with a few inches of litter. The 

 next season they will make strong bulbs. 



Another method of propogation is from 

 the scales, of which the lily is mostly made 

 up. These scales are attached to a solid por- 

 tion at the base of the bulb, and they are 

 broken oflf close to this, it being important 

 to get the very base of the scale. The outer 

 scales of a buld may be removed without 

 injury to it. Indeed the majority of those 

 offered for sale by flurists have first been de- 

 prived of their outer scales, which makes 

 the bulb look better, and at the same time 

 gives them material lor propagation. The 

 scales are set out iu an upriglil position in 

 boxes of sandy compost, pressing them down 

 auto it until the point is about level with 

 the surface. The boxes are to be placed iu 

 a room where they will be at abcmt the tem- 

 perature of 50 or 00 degrees, and kept just 

 moist enough to prevent shrivelling. In 

 about two months a small bulb, sometimes 

 twowill be found at the base of each scale. 

 In spring the bo.xes are plunged iu the open 

 ground, and the bulbs allowed to grow all 

 summer; in the fdlowing autunm cover 

 them with litter, and next spring if too thick 

 they are to be planted out separately. — B.v. 



Red Spiders on FucniA.s.— A correspon- 

 dent of the American Agriculturist says : — 

 " Fill a barrel nearly full of water and slake 

 in it about a quarter of a peck of lime, and 

 let it stand until perfectly clear. Hold the 

 plants aft'eeted in the water (bottom up) for 

 about five or ten minutes, then wash them 

 with pure water." 



Instinct op Plants. — Hoar, in his trea- 

 tise on the vine, gives a striking exemplifi- 

 cation of plants. A bone was placed in 

 tlie strong, but dry clay of a vine border- 

 'Ihe vine sent out a leading, or tap-root, di. 

 recti}' through the clay to the bone. In its 

 [lassage through the clay, the main root 

 tlirew out no fibres; but when it reached 

 the bone, it entirel}' covered it, by degrees, 

 with the mo.st delicate and minute fibres, 

 like lace, each one sucking a pore in the 

 bone. On this lucious morsel or marrow 

 bone would the- vine continue to feed as 

 long as any nutriment remained to be ex- 

 tracted. 



