458 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 240. 



taken up by some body of national importance so that a 

 code of laws, which are general in their character and 

 which would be applicable to the needs of all the states, 

 could be devised. Bills should be drawn which would be 

 comprehensive enough to include the most dangerous con- 

 tagious diseases of plants and the most destructive of in- 

 sects, and they should be framed to fit the special needs of 

 different states. There is little doubt that such bills could be 

 pushed through to enactment if the association of station 

 officers and, through their influence, the various state 

 boards of agriculture would urge their importance upon 

 our law-makers. Only by some strong movement of this 

 sort can we hope for a code of laws under which a hopeful 

 contest can be waged against the enemies of our crops. 

 The enforcement of this legislation might cost considerable 

 to begin with, but the expense incurred would be small 

 compared with the enormous drain upon our resources 

 from the unchecked, or only partially restrained, ravages 

 of these pests. 



An American gentleman, writing from England, notes 

 two things in particular which help the people there to get 

 more for their money in the way of recreation than we do 

 here. One of these is the enormous amount of common 

 land so easily accessible from the great cities, and the 

 other the fine roads for bicycling, a form of recreation in 

 universal vogue. In his native city, Cincinnati, this gentle- 

 man remembers that it was almost impossible for the boys 

 to have a game of base-ball, and the few places then avail- 

 able are now covered with buildings. He says: "None 

 of Cincinnati public parks are ever used for games, and 

 I don't think many of our western cities allow such use 

 of their parks. Here nearly all the parks have immense 

 spaces reserved for cricket, tennis and the like, and the 

 London vestries are continually acquiring new land for 

 recreation purposes." 



While Cincinnati is exceptionally backward among large 

 western cities in providing proper park facilities, the 

 charge of not permitting a sufficient use of the parks for 

 games would certainly not hold against Chicago, where 

 the people enjoy the parks to a remarkable extent. Here 

 in New York and Brooklyn, as well as in Boston and other 

 Atlantic cities, ample facilities for popular recreation are 

 provided in the parks. In Boston the open-air gymnasiums 

 for men and women on the Charles-bank are such grati- 

 fying successes that a number of others are to be estab- 

 lished in various sections of the city. The Earl of Meath 

 reported to the London park authorities most enthusiastic- 

 ally on these institutions, and, in consequence, the example 

 of Boston has been followed by the establishment of 

 fourteen gymnasiums on a similar plan in the British 

 metropolis. 



Although England is very fortunately possessed of 

 ample open-air spaces near her great centres of population 

 and makes appreciative use of them, neither in beauty of 

 landscape design, tastefulness of maintenance, or adapta- 

 bility to their purpose do the English public parks, as a 

 rule, approach the great parks of our own cities. But there 

 is great room for the growth of an intelligent sentiment in 

 favor of public parks in this country. Many of our great 

 cities are alive to the advantages of spacious park-areas ; 

 but even here, the oldest, the most famous and the most 

 useful, because the most beautiful, parks are in constant 

 danger of confiscation or perversion to some special pur- 

 pose, which would destroy their highest value as recrea- 

 tion-grounds for the entire population. On the other hand, 

 the rapidly growing cities of moderate size, which in a de- 

 cade or two more will rank as large centres, have not been 

 alert to make provision for the future by taking for 

 park purposes attractive suburban, sites. Such sites 

 may now be obtained for a trifle in comparison with 

 what they will cost when the absolute necessity actu- 

 ally arises. And then it will too often happen, when 

 the need does become urgent, that the favorable sites are 

 built over or in some way ruined for park purposes. 



Overland in the Cayuga Country. — III. 



■pROM Farmer Village an old " angling" road runs over the 

 -*- country to Ovid, a quiet village midway between the two 

 lakes, Cayuga and Seneca, and which commands a view of 

 both. This was in early times a famous Wheat country, and 

 much of the staple is still grown, with as great yields as ever. 

 But the old line of farming is not paying well, and the younger 

 men are branching out into specialties. In Ovid is perhaps 

 the most typical example which I have found of the success 

 resulting from persistent and thoughtful effort in a minor 

 branch of agriculture, all the more remarkable from the fact 

 that the man has labored without instruction in a compara- 

 tively isolated inland town. This man is a berry-grower. 

 Seven years ago Mr. Banker had one and a half acres of land, 

 a very poor house and few of the conveniences of living, and 

 was $200 in debt. He now owns sixteen and a half acres, is laying 

 up money, has built a new house and furnished it well 

 throughout, and his children are going away to school. This 

 he has made legitimately from the land, with no capital and 

 no help. The neighboring farmers offer to sell him land, but 

 he wisely concludes that sixteen and a half acres is enough, 

 and will not buy more. I have never met a happier and more 

 contented farmer. " I have just enough land to keep me 

 busy, and not enough to work me to death," he remarked, 

 "and I make a good living and have all the fun I want. No 

 other business has any temptation for me." The largest part 

 of Mr. Banker's business, probably, is in raspberries. These 

 he sells both fresh and dried. He has a home-made evapo- 

 rator, in which he manufactures about a ton of dried product 

 annually. Among black raspberries he finds Gregg best for 

 selling upon the daily market, and Ohio best for drying. 

 Among the red Raspberries he still grows the Red Antwerp, 

 with Early Richmond for the first markets. Mr. Banker 

 makes a strong point of close-planting of the Raspberry, and 

 rightly, too, I think. His rows for all variefies are seven feet 

 apart, but the plants stand only two feet apart in the row. This 

 thick setting brings earlier berries and gives more bearing 

 surface per acre, and as he thins the growing canes severely 

 and gives excellent cultivation, the plan succeeds admirably. 

 But his strongest point in favor of this close planting is the 

 smothering of grass and weeds, and the consequent great 

 saving in hand-labor. He seldom hoes his plantations after the 

 first year, and they remain clean. He declares that if he had 

 learned this simple thing early in his experience, he would 

 have been much better off to-day. It is needless to add that 

 Mr. Banker believes in thorough work. In 1890 he bought 

 five acres of waste bush-land near the village at a cost of $300. 

 This was tile-drained and thoroughly improved, and was set 

 to black Raspberries in the spring of 1891. The improvements 

 and plants cost $200. This year he sold plants to the amount 

 of $175, and he estimated that the crop upon the vines would 

 easily clear off the remainder of the $500. Judging from the 

 remarkable crop the bushes were carrying, I am convinced that 

 he is right. 



It is not far from Ovid to Romulus, and at this hamlet we 

 came upon the Niagara Grape at its best. It is impossible to 

 estimate the number of acres planted in this Grape from East 

 Varick on Cayuga Lake to Kendaia near Seneca Lake. Mr. O. 

 .F. Reed, at Romulus, has the management of 590 acres of 

 Niagara vineyards. This immense area is divided into three 

 portions, each owned by a different company, but belonging 

 to practically the same parties. The King Niagara Vineyard 

 Company owns 150 acres, the Cayuga Lake Vineyard Com- 

 pany, 205 acres, and the Seneca Lake Vineyard Company, 235 

 acres, and these represent three solid blocks of the areas men- 

 tioned. These vineyards are all young, the oldest having been 

 set but four or five years. The labor problem, therefore, has 

 not yet presented itself in its full force, although Mr. Reed is 

 now considering plans for securing sufficient pickers when 

 needed. A crop of 70 tons is expected from one vineyard this 

 year, and 140 tons from another. When the vineyards are eight 

 years old the crop is expected to be from 2,500 to 3,000 tons 

 annually. "No, we shall not try to sell it all as green fruit," 

 he replied, in answer to a question. "We may make some 

 wine, but we are looking more especially to unfermented 

 grape-juice as an outlet for our crops." He then explained 

 the process of making this arficle, as follows : Grind the grapes 

 coarsely, -taking care not to crush the seeds. This should be 

 done in the afternoon. Place the material in tubs. The next 

 morning, filter through paper, and heat nearly to the boiling- 

 point and remove scum. Filter again, heat to nearly boiling- 

 point and bottle. All those great vineyards, like that of 

 Moore's Diamond, at Farmer Village, are trained upon the 

 Kniffen system, and the tying is done almost entirely by 



