68 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 207. 



very pretty dwarf-growing species, grow well under the treat- 

 ment recommended for A. Farleyense, and, like the latter, are 

 easily multiplied by separating the crowns and keeping the 

 divided plants in a moderately close house and well shaded to 

 induce fresh growth. 



All pots used for Ferns should be clean, new pots being 

 preferable, but in case these are not at hand the old ones 

 should be thoroughly scrubbed before they are used for re- 

 potting, not only for the sake of neatness, but for the well- 

 being of the plants. 



Holmesburg, Pa. fF. H. Taplifl. 



Growing Earl}- Strawberries. 



'TTHE following plan which I have followed for years will at 

 -'■ a moderate outlay bring strawberries a week earlier, and 

 add to their size and quantity. I use a thin muslin, known 

 here as tobacco cloth or plant-bed cloth. This can be bought 

 at about two cents a yard, and it must be thick enough to 

 shade the plants. Tiiis cloth should be stretched over the 

 plants early in the spring before the least growth begins. In 

 North Carolina, March ist is about the right time. No one can 

 expect the Strawberry-plant to do its best unless protected in 

 winter. Here we use pine-needles, covering the ground half 

 an inch deep. As soon as these are removed, and the manure 

 or fertilizer applied and enough straw replaced around the 

 plants to keep the berries clean, the cloth should go on, 



After many experiments in search of a cheap and effective 

 way of holding the cloth in place, I use small sticks of riven 

 pine, known here as tobacco sticks, which are about three 

 quarters of an inch square. These sticks are sawed up into 

 stakes fifteen inches long, and sharpened at one end. The 

 other end for about half-way is smoothed with a drawing-- 

 knife and a wood rasp if necessary, so as to remove all splinters 

 and irregularities which could tear the cloth. A very small 

 hole is then bored about one inch from the smooth end. Into 

 this hole a section of small, soft wire, say number 17, about si.x 

 inches long is run and bent around and wrapped on itself so 

 as to hold securely. The other end of the wire is bent either 

 before or after putting in the stake into a hook to hold the 

 cloth. The hook should e.xtend about three inches clear of 

 the stake. 



These stakes should now be driven into the ground for 

 about half their length, placing them three feet apart in rows 

 thirty-four inches apart, as some allowance must be made for 

 the shrinking of the cloth, which is a yard wide. Turn the 

 hooks the way the rows run, and let them all point in the same 

 direction. 



They are now ready for the cloth. If the hooks set to the 

 east — and I set mine that way as our hardest winds come from 

 the west — begin at the western end of the row. Run the hooks 

 through the selvage of the cloth on each side and lock the 

 outside row of hooks as you go, by twisting the wire around 

 on itself. Leave the inside row of hooks open till you bring 

 up the other width of cloth. Then when the selvage of that 

 is caught on them lock those hooks, leaving what is then the 

 inside row unlocked to hold the cloth on the ne.xt trip up. 

 Always go back to the same end to start. When the bed is 

 covered lock the outside row of hooks also. 



Your bed is now covered solid with the cloth e.xcept for the 

 small gaps along the rows of stakes, and if they are placed in 

 straight rows and driven perpendicular, the gaps will be too 

 small to do any harm. As the cloth is stretched only four 

 inches from the ground and is quite elastic, snow presses it 

 down without tearing it. When the danger from snow is past 

 and the plants about ready to bloom, the covering can by a 

 few minutes' work be raised to quite eight inches from the 

 ground, in this wise : Begin at the end opposite to that on 

 which you began to attach the cloth and Isend the soft wire 

 hooks straight upward over the stakes and leave them there. 

 The cloth is so elastic that it can be walked on without injury 

 except very near to a stake. 



Wlien the berries ripen remove the cloth, fold and tie it up 

 neatly. Well handled it will last three years. The stakes, 

 pulled up and kept where the hooks will not rust too badly, 

 will last five years. 



The benefit of this mode of covering is threefold. It 

 protects from any ordinary late frost, even though the plants 

 may be in full bloom. It hastens the growth and ripening of 

 the berries, bringing them to the table a full week, and in some 

 seasons ten days, earlier. The vines are thriftier thus sheltered, 

 perhaps, because it is the nature of the Strawberry in the wild 

 state to have the protection of weeds and grass, and they 

 bear finer fruit and more of them. 



It seems, too, that the distribution of pollen, especially when 

 pistillate are grown with staminate varieties to pollenize them 



is far better under the cloth. As thin as it is, it offers enough 

 resistance to the air to keep the pollen-laden currents of air 

 in great measure near the ground and among the plants. 



The original cost of this protection is from three to four 

 cents a square yard. After that it is the mere trouble of 

 putting on and taking off, till the material has to be replaced 

 by new. No thorough-going gardener, after once using it, 

 will ever relapse into the old haphazard manner. 



Kittiell. N. c. O. If". BlacknaiL 



Early Peas. 



'X'HERE is fortunately no longer any need to waste the space 

 -'• in our home-gardens with the little extra Early Peas so 

 much used by the market-gardeners. 



We now have Early Peas of fine quality and productiveness, 

 and dwarf enough in habit to suit the smallest garden. 

 Among these the American Wonder is still unsurpassed in the 

 matter of earliness. Its chief fault is its extremely dwarf 

 character, but this will allow of closer planting and make 

 it desirable for limited grounds. One of the most promising 

 of the new peas is the Chelsea, which we tried last year 

 for the first time. This variety was conspicuous among- 

 forty or fifty other sorts for its compact, dwarf habit — about 

 fifteen inches high — and the wonderful profusion of its 

 bearing. The snowy promise of its blossoms, which made the 

 row conspicuous among its fellows, was fully met by the 

 abundant pods. This is the most formidable rival of our old 

 favorite Premium Gem that we have ever yet tried, and it is 

 early with us as Alpha. While here, in North Carolina, these 

 early peas now (January 25th) are being- planted a little later 

 than usual, owing to the wet weather. There is still time to 

 consider the question of varieties and modes of culture in 

 more northern gardens. 



Peas grow rapidly and complete their growth in a very short 

 time, so give them plenty of readily available food. Even on 

 the richest garden-soil it will pay to give them a send-oft' with 

 a good dressing of dissolved South Carolina phosphate and 

 sulphate of potash. The mixture should contain eight to 

 ten per cent, of phosphoric acid and six "per cent, of 

 potash. A little cotton-seed meal will be of benefit for 

 an early start. The early sowing of Peas should be in a 

 shallow furrow and the soil drawn up in a sharp ridge 

 over the rows, so as to cover them about six inches deep. 

 The ridge lessens the danger of their rotting in too wet soil 

 when sown early, and will warm up earlier than the fiat 

 surface. No matter what your latitude, sow the earliest Peas 

 just as soon as you can possibly get the ground in order. 

 They will germinate when only a few degrees above the 

 freezing point, and if not pushed into too rapid a growth by 

 unseasonably warm weather, will stand a hard freeze when 

 once above the ground. 



My practice is to sow some of the extra early and early sorts 

 at the first sowing, and then as soon as these begin to appear 

 above the ground sow more of the early sorts, with a selection 

 of late varieties for succession. For earliest planting in the 

 family garden we advise American Wonder, Alpha, "Chelsea 

 and Premium Gem. For the second and later sowings a few 

 Premium Gems, and a good lot of Stratagem, Yorkshire 

 Hero, Horsford's Market Garden and the old reliable Blue 

 Imperial. 



Most of these are rather dwarf in habit, but all, except 

 American Wonder, will be better for some support, and in a 

 private garden neatness alone requires that they should be 

 kept off the ground. For support there is nothing better than the 

 galvanized wire netting, which we have before recommended. 

 This can be had of various widths, at about half a cent per 

 square foot. I used large quantities of it last year, and the 

 rolls have been kept stored away ready for many future 

 seasons' use. It is cheaper than cutting brush out of one's 

 own woodland as I have pro.ved, and is the neatest trellis that 

 can be had. It is fastened to stout stakes set 16 feet apart in 

 the row. We use the same material for training Tomato-vines. 



Raleigh, N. C. ^ f^- F. Masscy. 



Lithospermum prostratum. — This lovely little rock-plant has 

 not proved quite hardy here. It has endured a few winters, 

 butnever seemed to recover from the cold, getting weakerevery 

 season, until finally it died. But our rock-garden is in a very 

 exposed situation, without a warm or sheltered nook in it. It 

 is such a favorite with me, however, that I now grow it as a 

 cool greenhouse-plant. Naturally decumbent in habit if grown 

 in a suspended pot, it will hang over on all sides, completely 

 hiding it. The foliage is small, dark green and abundant. The 

 flowers are a bright metallic blue, a color almost characteristic 



