8o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 208. 



when purcliased are often old, and then sometimes take 

 longer than one year to germinate. I have never been able 

 to determine the exact rule of their conduct. Sometimes the 

 seeds germinate freely when not freshly gathered, but oftener 

 the reverse is true. Seed of A. aurantiaca gathered last fall 

 and sown at once is now coming up nicely, while purchased 

 seed sown a year ago is only just appearing. Romneya Coul- 

 teri is a plant that has puzzled many who have tried to raise 

 it from seed ; but a correspondent in California writes that it 

 will not germinate until two years after sowing, whether the 

 seed be fresh or not. I have from the same source seeds, both 

 old and new, sowed in the same box, hoping to test the matter. 

 If seeds sometimes fail it is not alwavs the fault of the dealer, 

 but the lack of knowing just how to treat them. Very small 

 seeds, such as those of Campanula Carpatica, are good, as a 

 rule, for one vear onlv, and will not grow when kept longer. 

 They seem to become moldy in the moist atmosphere of dog- 

 days. There is always abundant room for study in the matter 

 of seed and seed-sowing, and the more one learns with regard 



than a quite dry one. I have apples stored in a cellar into which 

 an elbow from the furnace projects, and last year the fruit 

 shriveled. This year the graveled floor is sprinkled once a day 

 with water, and the result is very favorable. My apples are 

 neither drying nor decaying. Those who store fruit are also 

 aware that when the cellar is opened in spring to a full circula- 

 tion of outside air the decay is much hastened. An equable 

 temperature, as conditions allow, should be maintained. In 

 city cellars fruit is more often lost on account of dryness than 

 heat, and I recommend the sprinkling process. 



By all odds the best place for storage is in bins about twenty 

 inches deep, suspended along the middle of the cellar in two 

 tiers. Barrels cannot so easily be looked over. There is a 

 prevailing opinion that apples had better not be picked over 

 or disturbed during the winter. This, of course, involves the 

 waste of all partly decayed fruit. Stored in bins apples can be 

 handled as often as necessary, if care is taken not to break rot- 

 ting ones and get the sound ones infected by the decay. There 

 really ought to be little loss from a cellar full of fruit. As fast 



Fig. 14. — Florida Pines. — See page 73. 



to perennials the more learning seems to be at fault. In old 

 times, if seeds failed to grow, we used to blame the dealer, and 

 the matter was settled, Init sometimes after throwing'out the 

 pans a few seed that chanced to be washed over begin to 

 grow, and then we wonder why. 



Any one with a garden loses half its charm if he does not 

 grow plants from seeds and watch them develop. Our best 

 Orchid-growers say buy newly imported plants. You have to 

 wait longer to see them flower, but you have the pleasure of 

 doing your own selecting, and so it is with all plants raised 

 from seed, whether tliey are annuals, perennials, tender or 

 hardy. ' 



South Lancaster, Mass. t/. C 



Late-keeping Apples. 



TVTONE of our apples will resist peculiarly unfavorable con- 

 ■'-^ ditions. An equable temperature is better than a low 

 temperature. It is particularly unfortunate to store fruit in a 

 drying atmosphere. A moist cellar, not really moldy, is better 



as decay begins the waste should go to horses and cows — 

 much to their advantage. I have stored over one hundred 

 bushels this winter, and shall use, not lose, every bushel. 



With these precautions, what sorts of apples are our best 

 keepers? The Hubbardston and Belmont and Snow are not 

 all gone before January, but they are of little value after that 

 time. The Spitzenberg may be counted as a January apple. 

 Pound Sweet will keep till April, but is not a good apple after 

 December, besides needing constant watching. The Wagner 

 is in its prime in January, and so is the Spy, but both will keep 

 until April. The Greening has the happy power of holding its 

 flavor until very late. The Kirkland, a native of this section, 

 a seedling of the Bellefleur, is good for r^othing before January, 

 and at its best in March and -April. The Jonathan holds its own 

 until April — a small but most delicious fruit — a seedling of the 

 Spitzenberg. Seek-no-further is excellent until March, and 

 keeps easily. The Black Gillifleur is finest in January and 

 February, but keeps into March. Baldwin keeps till April, and 

 holds its flavor well. An occasional King will be in condition 



