420 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 399. 



written rather to touch certain tender chords of memory 

 than to convey information. Nor was tlrere any need for 

 Mr. Van Dyke to have stated that he was no murderer. 

 No thirst for blood is manifested in all these pages, and 

 there is nothing among all the accounts of successful 

 shooting to cause indignation or pity, but only admiration 

 for the skill of the man and the intelligence of the dog, 

 which combine to make a prosperous day's sport. Alto- 

 gether, this is a book to be thoroughly enjoyed by all who 

 take a wholesome delight in the country and in its wary 

 inhabitants whose capture requires the exercise of so much 

 intelligence and skill. 



Notes. 



A neat little booklet on the care of house-plants has been 

 issued, for the use of their customers, by Bertermann Brothers, 

 florists, of Indianapolis, Indiana. 



One of the prominent pomologists of Russia, Mr. Jaroslav 

 Niemetz, has been sent by the Government of his country to 

 make a tour of the United States and Canada in the interests 

 of Russian pomology. In his large experimental orchard at 

 Roveno Mr. Niemetz has under trial twelve hundred varieties 

 of Apples alone, and of other fruits in proportion. 



IMr. Joseph Meehan considers Cypripedium insigne one of 

 the best winter-blooming window-plants. This Lady's-slipper 

 will thrive in a five or six inch pot wilh ordinary care, and 

 from its clusters of bright green leaves flower-stems will rise 

 and bear from three to six flowers, which will last in good 

 condition from six weeks to two months. When not forced, 

 as in a cool window, the flowers will open at Christmas and 

 they will be in good condition in March. 



In the Horticultural Department of Cornell University, in 

 addition to tlie courses formerly given, among the new sub- 

 jects to be taken up next year are : (i) the literature of horticul- 

 ture, including what has been written of plants in cultivation 

 ill all parts of the world, with reviews of periodical literature ; 

 (2) greenhouse management and construction ; (3) floricul- 

 ture ; (4) the botany of cuhivated plants ; (5) theory and practice 

 of spraying plants. These courses, in connection with those of 

 pomology, landscape-gardening, the propagation of plants and 

 handicratt, will make the horticultural course in Cornell very 

 complete and attractive. 



Vegetables from the south are already in our markets, to fol- 

 low the latest which escaped frost in the north. Peas are com- 

 ing from Charleston and sell for sixty cents a half-peck. String 

 beans, from the same section, cost as much, and new south- 

 ern okra is selling for ten cents a dozen. Celery, which is now 

 coming from the south and west, as also from near-by points, 

 has been scarce, owing to deferred shipments, while growers 

 are busy storing the crop for winter; one dozen staUvS cost 

 seventy-five cents. Field mushrooms, the first seen here this 

 autumn, cost but fifty cents a pound, although their natural 

 flavor is preferred by many to that of the cultivated product ; 

 the cultivated ones, which are of even size and more inviting 

 color, cost$i.ooapound. Egg-plants still come from Newjersey, 

 and sugar corn, Lima beans and peppers from Long Island. 

 Vegetable marrows cost ten to fifteen cents apiece. Besides 

 escaroUe, chicory, Romaine and other lettuces, spinach, mint, 

 water-cress, chervil, tarragon and chives are the greens most 

 in demand. 



A correspondent inquires how to suppress the Wild Carrot. 

 This is certainly a pestilent weed, but it is rarely troublesome 

 in cultivated fields, and this shows that it can be kept down by 

 moderate cultivation, and if the weetl is destroyed in waste 

 places it will soon be comparatively harmless. If the plants 

 are mowed off as often as the flowers appear they will eventually 

 be destroyed, although they will continue to throw out stems 

 from the bottom alter each cutting, so that at first they will 

 appear to increase rather than diminish. Sheep will eat the 

 young plants, and they can be pulled out by hand when the 

 ground is wet, which is a laborious, but sure, means of extir- 

 pation. If the root is cut off with a spud some distance below 

 the surface of the ground t)ie plant will usually die. A detailed 

 account of this and many other of our aggressive weeds will 

 be found in Farmers' Bulletin, No. 28, published by the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, with the best means of 

 exterminating the individuals and different classes of weeds. 



The careful protection of Blackberries, Raspberries and 

 other small-fruit plants in the winter is an essential of the 

 highest success throughout the northern states. Even where 

 the plants are not killed, their vitality is often so weakened by 



the cold that only a fraction of a crop can be expected. This 

 is particularly true of the best varieties, which are more often 

 grown under high cultivation, and, therefore, make a large and 

 comparatively tender growth. The best method of protection 

 is to lay down the canes and cover the tips with earth. The 

 Western Farmer gives these directions for treating the plants 

 in more northern latitudes. Where the rows are set north and 

 south, begin at the northern end, remove the earth from the 

 north side of the first hill to a depth of four inches; gather 

 the branches closely with a wide fork, raising it toward the top 

 of the bush, press it gently to the north and set the foot firmly 

 on the base of the plant, bearing hard in the same direcfion. 

 Where the bushes are old or the ground is hard, it is best to 

 have a second man, who inserts a potato-fork deeply on the 

 south side of the hill, pressing it over gently until the bush is 

 nearly flat on the ground. It should then be held down with 

 a fork until it is properly covered, and tiie top of the next hill 

 should rest near the base of the first, and so on, making a con- 

 tinuous cover in the line of the row. 



A late report from the United Slates Consul at Rheims gives 

 an account of some experiments for keeping fruitfresh, which 

 have been made by A. Petit, Chief of the Laboratory of 

 Research in the Horticultural School at Versailles. Having 

 observed the action of alcoholic vapors on the mold which 

 appears on the surface of fruit in damp air, Mr. Petit, on the 31st 

 of October, placed fresh grapes in a brick vault, cemented on 

 the inside and closed as nearly hermetically as possible with a 

 common wooden door. Among the fruits he had placed an 

 open bottle of alcohol of about sixty cubic inches' capacity. 

 On November 2olh, grapes which had been placed in two other 

 vaults, one of which was shut up without alcohol, while the 

 other was open, were mostly rotted and covered with mold. 

 In the one containing the alcohol the grapes were plump and 

 fair. On the 7th of December these continued in good 

 condition, although a few had turned brown, and at the end of 

 nearly two months the bunches had lost only from two to four 

 grapes each, while the rest were in a perfect state of preserva- 

 tion, the stalks being perfectly green, the berries full, firm and 

 savory, havinp^ all the qualities of fresh-cut grapes. Experi- 

 ments with this cheap and easy device are now in progress 

 under direction 01 the Division of Pomology at Washington, 

 but so far the effects of the treatment are not as good as they 

 are said to have been in France. The fruits do not show any 

 mold, it is true, but in many cases they are strongly impreg- 

 nated with alcohol, and their value is thereby lessened. It 

 seems, therefore, that further tests should be made before we 

 can consider the vapor of alcohol as an ideal fruit preservative. 



The first Almeria grapes of the season arrived last week, 

 and 1,542 barrels were sold at the wholesale auction on Thurs- 

 day. Prices ranged from $3.00 to $6.50 a barrel, the average 

 for the enfire sale being $4.65. This sale is ten days earlier 

 than the first offering of last year. The fruit was not of the 

 best cjuality, though the prices were high. It is estimated that 

 90,000 barrels will constitute the total shipments to the United 

 States this year, against 125,000 barrels last season. The only 

 oranges now to be had, excepting a few from Sicily, are those 

 from Jamaica, and the fruit is of fair quality, considering its 

 earliness. Several car-loads of Albemarle Pippins from Vir- 

 ginia have already been shipped from this port to England. 

 Other American apples now in European, markets are Bald- 

 wins, Greenings, Kings, Northern Spies and Ben Davis, the 

 highest grades selling there for $3.00 to $6.00 a barrel. 

 Ahhough 17,845 barrels of cranberries have thus far reached 

 this city, besides 3,082 crates, twice as many as were received 

 up to the same time last year, the demand for this fruit has 

 been active enough to force high prices. The excessive heat 

 during September is said to have injured the Cape Cod crop, 

 and frosts have more recently damaged the New Jersey cran- 

 berry-bogs, so that it is estimated that the total yield will not 

 more than equal the short crop of last season. Extra-large 

 varieties from Cape Cod command $8.00 a barrel. The season 

 for California fruits is drawing to a close. The last plums, 

 prunes and peaches have been received. Pears are scarce, 

 and will continue to be so during the winter, since much of 

 this fruit has been forwarded to England. One hundred car- 

 loads of California fruits have crossed the ocean during the 

 summer and autumn, and Clairgeau, Duchesse, Easter Beurre, 

 Comice and Glout Morceau pears nowcommand $3.50 to $5,003 

 box at wholesale in Great Britain ; prices for the same sorts 

 here range from $1.85 to $3.20 a box. Grapes constituted the 

 bulk of thirty-seven car-loads of western fruits sold in this city 

 last week. Chestnuts, which early in the week sold for $7.50 

 to $8.00 a barrel, fell to $4.00 by Saturday, and hickory-nuts 

 were plentiful at seventy-five cents and $1.00 a barrel. 



