1871 



THE POMOLOGIST AND GARDENER. 



195 



(isallamotts. 



Comments on Sundry Topics. 



By E. G. C. Hmlingtoii. lown. 

 CLIMATIC CONDITION OF IOWA. 



Ed. Pomologist and Gaudener : lu your July 

 number you publish an extract from a California 

 paper, expressing great surprise that a rainfall in 

 the summer months of 1S70, reported by the Secre- 

 tary of the State Agricultural Society as being 7.97 

 inches, 3.73 inches of which fell in July alone, 

 should be considered as a droutli in Iowa, and ask- 

 ing for an explanation ; this is easily given : There 

 was no such amount of rainfall as the Secretary 

 reports, either in May or July, 1870, nor one inch ; 

 nor^any rain whatever throughout the entire month 

 of July. I live only 50 miles from Secretary Shafter, 

 and know that he has made a great error in this 

 report. No weather could possibly be drier than 

 Jul}', for there was not only no rain, but no dew 

 whatever. The grass and soil were as dry as at 

 mid-day. There was not one soaking shower from 

 the time the frost went out of the ground in the 

 spring until the drouth broke upon August 3d. 



On the 37th of July, I broke up a small piece of 

 ground and planted a peck of Peachblow potatoes 

 as an experiment, all the early ones liaving failed, 

 and those planted later looked anything but prom- 

 ising. The earth was as hard as brick and could 

 not be broken tine with any implement in use. 

 The fragments were scraped aside and the seed 

 planted below tliem. Less than a week after, the 

 rains came and made the experiment a complete 

 success. The potatoes came up in a day or two 

 and grew to a weight of a pound each. They had 

 not ceased growing when the frost killed the tops. 



The drouth of 1870 was the worst Iowa has 

 sean since 1854. I planted wheat in September of 

 that year when the ground was in the same condi- 

 tion as last year. There was no rain then from 

 March 15th to September 37tli. 



The climatic condition of Iowa is very different 

 from California. The latter State enjoys the sea 

 breezes, which roll in for a hundred miles, and con- 

 dense their fogs on the snow-clad mountain tops. 

 In the centre of the continent, all our winds :ire arid. 

 They have been deprived of their ocean moisture 

 by more tlian a thousand miles of land contact. If 

 we cannot get rains we cannot enjoy any dews. 



EXPERIMENTS WITH POTATO BUGS. 



Prof. Bessey's potato experiments, to be of value, 

 require to be made by half a dozen persons in as 

 many different parts of the State for a series of 

 ye.irs. I have tried the same since 1800, the year 

 after the advent of Mr. Colorado, and have found 

 the Peachblow and Early Goodrich, for that many 



years, most impregnable to the bug, though both 

 must succumb if there is no other forage. No rem- 

 edy which has been named for this potato annihila- 

 tor is equal to Paris Green or Arsenious Acid. 

 These diluted with flour and scattered when the 

 dew is on, certainly destroy them. In a small field 

 planted with Early Rose and Goodrich potatoes, 

 while the former will be covered with larva, the 

 latter will scarcely have any. 



For our rich soils, a moderate attack of potato 

 bugs is not injurious, because the plants too often 

 run to vine and leaf instead of tuber. Within cer- 

 tain bounds, they actually increase the yield, and to 

 that extent are beneficial. 



NON CULTURE IN VINEYARD. — GRATIFYING RESULTS. 



Your Assistant Editor recommends frequent stir- 

 ring of vineyard soils during the formation of seeds 

 and juice in the fruit. Yes, if he certainly wishes 

 to bring grape rot without fail. I begin to have 

 the gravest doubts about stirring and cultivation at 

 all in established well grown vineyards or orchards. 

 A German who pronged up my vineyard this 

 Spring called my attention to the vineyard of a 

 neighbor of his, who in 18G5 made 1800 gallons of 

 wine, when no one else in the country made a drop. 

 Her husband was ill all the previous winter and 

 died in August. Caring for him cau.sed the vine- 

 yard to be totally neglected except to tie up the 

 vines, and the weeds grew as high as the fence. 

 There were weeds there, it is true, but there were 

 also abundance of grapes during a very rainy sea- 

 son, when nobody else had any at all. The aiflicted 

 widow made enough by this lucky neglect to pay a 

 mortgage on her home and build a good house. 

 There is certainly something in this. Foreign vine- 

 growers coddle and nip, and pinch and pull our 

 native seedlings altogether too much for their good. 

 The labor is worse than lost. To obtain the best 

 results, if you prong up the soil in the spring, (and 

 I do not recommend even that,) never do anything 

 more to it, except to keep the weeds from hiding 

 the vines altogether. 



FRUIT RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN IOWA. 



Taking tea with a neighbor recently, displayed 

 the resources of Southern Iowa. There were eight 

 different dishes of summer fruits on the table; 

 among them, cherries, cooked and uncooked, apple 

 sauce, blackberries, red and white currants, etc. 



Do you readers know that they gather the cur- 

 rant altogether too soon, and that its season is late 

 in July ? It is not ripe for a month after it colors. 

 When ripe it is one of the most delicious and beau- 

 tiful of fruits. There is nothing so hand some on a 

 tea table as a saucer of red and white currants. 

 Gathered when fully lipe, this fruit has lost all of 

 its acid and becomes very pleasant. 



WET WEATHER, VS. PLUMS. 



Plum.s, like grapes, cannot bear wet weather. 



