August 



1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



367 



Early Horn variety. They grow quickly. Eclipse Beets sown 

 now will be better for winter use than the long ones usually 

 sown earlier. 



Late in the month of August sow seed of Chinese Rose-col- 

 ored Winter Radish. We have tested all the varieties of win- 

 ter Radish, and are of the opinion that this is the only one 

 worth growing. Successive sowings should be made into 

 September, as the first may grow pithy. Here we can sow 

 them until middle of October. 



From Maryland southward long cuttings of Sweet-potato 

 vines made early in August, say a yard long, and wrapped in a 

 coil, putting the whole in a well-watered hill except the tip, will 

 make a great crop of small tubers, which will keep better in 

 winter than the potatoes from the spring setting, and make 

 the best seed for next spring's bedding. In the Carolinas and 

 southward the best potatoes for winter table use are grown 

 from these cuttings. 



Raleigh. N. C. IV. F. Massey. 



The winter made matters worse; and now our bushes are 

 practically old and worn out, instead of being virile and young. 

 The remedy must, of course, be suited to the disease. Our 

 fields must be arranged to defy drought as far as possible, 

 This can be done by thorough cultivation in the spring, by 

 mulching, and by growing the canes five feet or more in 

 height, thus shading the soil more effectually between. But 

 it is not impossible or seriously expensive for many of us to 

 arrange a system of irrigation. In any event, there must be a 

 prompt removal of fall blossoms, if these are abundant. The 

 canes must in no way be devitalized before winter — that is, we 

 must get strong canes, and keep them strong. I have never 

 seen poorer than those prepared in 1891 for 1892 ; and the re- 

 sult is an inferior crop. Of course, a good deal can be done 

 by high manuring. It must also be borne in mind that differ- 

 ent varieties of berries demand different methods of culture. 

 The Turner must be grown in hills, to give any fruit worth 

 mentioning ; while the Cuthbert does best when grown in 



»»*»!; 



^>W^ 





Fig. 62. — Washington Headquarters, at Monastown, New Jersey. — See page 362. 



The Raspberry Crop. 



THE Raspberry crop of 1892, after all, is a failure. The fruit 

 is inferior, and the quantity produced about one-fifth what 

 it should have been. The case is one full of interest and 

 worthy of study by horticulturists. If the fruit as brought into 

 market is examined, it will be seen that it is rusty or has a 

 whitish appearance. The berries are not filled out well, and 

 are not large or succulent. At the opening of the season the 

 bearing canes looked as exhausted as they generally do near 

 the close of the picking season. In the spring these canes 

 were found to be killed back one-third, and were enfeebled. 

 The severity of the winter was not enough to account for this. 

 The second crop, borne last October, was my first reason for 

 the exhausted bushes. But, perhaps, the cause lies still 

 further back. The year 1891 was extraordinarily dry in the 

 growing season. The canes were few, and short and slim. 

 The lack of vitality and badly formed cells led to an effort to 

 bear fruit, exactly as girdling an Apple-tree makes it at once a 

 bountiful bearer. So our weak canes pushed out an autumn 

 crop, a useless fruitage. This still further weakened them. 



close rows with tops interlocking, and the whole ground shaded. 

 What is true of the raspberry crop is also true of most other 

 fruits, when the prolonged dry weather of last year was most 

 marked. The cherry and plum crops fail, and pears, while 

 blossoming profusely, have not set fruit. This result may 

 occur from numerous causes, but I am confident, from exam- 

 ination, that the chief cause for the failure this year is the en- 

 feebled growth of last year. It is agreeable to look forward to 

 1893 with a certainty that fruit will be admirably provided for, 

 so far as abundant and vigorous growth is concerned. The 

 Raspberry-canes are abundant and are strong. Such growth 

 will not encourage premature fruit-bearing in the fall. 



Clinton. N.Y. E. P. Powell. 



Notes on Shrubs. 



TOURING the last two weeks, or the second and third weeks 

 ^-^ in July, the objects of most comment and greatest popu- 

 lar interest and admiration by visitors to Franklin Park, in 

 Boston, have been the knolls, banks and other bits of ground 

 covered with dense masses of Rosa Wichuraiana in full bloom. 



