December 28, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



623 



hundredth meridian. There seemed to be little apprehension, 

 however, as to markets for Kansas apples. Tlie nortli-west 

 states and the mining regions of the mountains will long make 

 a good demand, and it was pointed out that there is a growing 

 inquiry in the south for long-keeping winter apples. 



The Best Varieties. — Ben Davis seemed to stand first in 

 the esteem of market-growers as an apple for profit. The free 

 growth of the tree, its hardiness and abundant yield of large 

 and handsome fruit are strong points in its favor. Missouri 

 Pippin ranked a good second, as it comes into. bearing early 

 and yields enormously. Gano and York Imperial are being 

 planted largely, but the test of time is needed before growers 

 will plant orchards of these sorts with the same confidence 

 which they feel in the two first-named. Duchess of Oldenberg 

 was mentioned favorably for its extreme earliness, being the 

 first on the Chicago market. Keswic Codlin, a later apple, 

 was regarded as worthy of more attention. Jonathan and 

 Wealthy were considered profitable late autumn sorts, although 

 they did not carry far into cold weather. 



The Year's Yield. — From the fruitreports it was evident that 

 such a general failure had never been known before of ap- 

 ples, pears and peaches. Except in an orchard here and there, 

 in some exceptionally favored and sheltered locality, nothing 

 like a crop was produced. Although in nearly every section of 

 the state the bloom was abundant and a full crop often set, 

 nearly all the fruit dropped before it reached any size. The 

 scab prevailed to an extent heretofore unknown, and the con- 

 sequent loss of foliage in most cases was great and ruinous. 

 By those who had given the subject the most careful study 

 it was believed that the premature dropping of so much fruit 

 was due to the low vitality caused by this disease. More 

 of Rawles' Janet apples were produced than of any other 

 sort. This variety blooms later than the average and seemed 

 in a measure to escape the unfavorable weather. In one 

 county a young orchard of Canada Pippins, or White Pippins, 

 had borne a handsome crop and proved very profitable. 

 Plums and cherries, except in a few cases, had failed. The 

 short strawberry crop suggested the rejection of varieties with 

 soft, watery berries, and the Robinson, a Kansas seedling, was 

 recommended by a good authority as the best all-around 

 berry. Blackberries in the eastern counties gave a full crop ; 

 further west they failed. Snyder seemed to be the favorite 

 sort. Of black Raspberries, Nemaha, Progress, Palmer and 

 the Kansas were commended by shippers, while Souhegan 

 was a general favorite for near markets and home use. 

 Thwack and Cuthbert were the favorite red varieties,, but this 

 fruit is not very generally grown. Gooseberries, to the few 

 who had tried them, gave good returns, and Currants, when 

 in a cool place, sheltered on the south, yielded well. Grapes 

 were nearly a full crop and the quality was unusually 

 good. 



Irrigation. — For the central and western counties the use 

 of water, wherever available, from spring, reservoir or wind- 

 pump, was advocated by the most enterprising gardeners, to 

 tide over periods of drought. The fact was pointed out that, in 

 many counties, there are numerous springs running to waste, 

 and often injuring the land below them, where, if properly 

 piped and distributed, they might bring a handsome income 

 from vegetables and small fruits. Celery, which is only 

 profitable when grown as a late crop, so that it can make its 

 growth after the dry, hot season, can be successfully culti- 

 vated with partial irrigation. It is now grown in this way to a 

 considerable extent, and the home product easily holds the 

 market against that from Kalamazoo. One grower, by the 

 way, whose young plants had been largely destroyed by the 

 tarnished plant-bug, had succeeded in routing the enemy with 

 a very strong kerosene emulsion. This was found to destroy 

 many of the plants, which rotted at the heart. Later on he dis- 

 covered that injury from the emulsion could be prevented by 

 turning a hose on his plants and washing them freely with 

 clear water. 



Growing Potatoes. — An interesting fact was presented in 

 a report upon potato-culture, as to the value for seed of 

 potatoes grown as a second crop. As ordinarily planted here, 

 the potato matures in July or August, and is apt to sprout 

 and make second growth, as it has a long season yet to lie in 

 the ground or in a warm cellar before cold weather. Such 

 potatoes come out in the spring soft and shriveled from much 

 sprouting, and lack the vitality necessary to a vigorous growth. 

 By planting early sorts, they may be dug in July, and, after a 

 few days' exposure to the light, can be planted for a second 

 crop. It is recommended not to cut them for this purpose. 

 This second crop is left in the ground as late as possible, and 

 yet escapes freezing. While the crop is usually light, the quality 

 is remarkably fine, and these tubers come out in the spring as 



firm and free from sprouts as when put in the cellar. Planted 

 by the side of ordinary seed, the difference in vigor and yield 

 is remarkable, the unusually high percentage of choice table 

 potatoes being a great inducement to the market-grower. 



A discussion of this paper revealed the fact that tliis method 

 of growing seed had been followed in a quiet way by several 

 old gardeners in the state for some time, and that the Experi- 

 ment Station had the report of three years' work in this line 

 ready for the press. Of course, the idea was not new, but the 

 application of it to Kansas gardening was a revelation to 

 many. 



The Propagation of Trees. — Under the subject of methods 

 of propagation a veteran nurseryman exhibited two-year-old 

 Ben Davis trees worked on pieces of seedling-roots of various 

 length, with samples of the grafts as made. There were 

 whole-root grafts so long as to require a deep trench to set 

 them in, and " piece roots " in sizes down to an inch in length. 

 The sample trees showed little difference resulting from these 

 different methods, all being furnished with abundant roots 

 from the cion, and making a tree practically on its own roots. 

 The best trees shown were from cions eighteen inches long 

 grafted on pieces of root two inches long. Here the additional 

 foliage secured at the start seemed to excite more vigorous 

 root-growth, and a strong, well-balanced tree of unusual 

 strength, both of root and top, was the result. A special com- 

 mittee, appointed to report upon methods of propagation, gave 

 it as their opinion that no advantage, but rather a positive det- 

 riment, resulted from the use of whole root-stocks for Ap- 

 ple-trees, and the practice of certain nursery companies in 

 selling such trees to uninformed persons at exorbitant prices 

 was severely condemned. 



How to beautify the farmer's home and surroundings was 

 one of the subjects debated, and a very careful study of plans 

 for remodeling old homes was presented by Professor J. D. 

 Walters, of the Agricultural College, who showed that in the 

 hurry of opening up a new farm in the west the buildings are 

 too often placed here or there with little thought as to a gen- 

 eral plan or the convenient and tasteful arrangement of the 

 whole. Some possibilities in rearrangement and the bold 

 strokes often necessary to get unsightly barns and yards back 

 from the road were very graphically set forth in this paper. 



Manhattan, Kan. . S. C. M. 



Recent Publications. 



Short Studies in Botany for Children. By Harriet C. Cooper. 

 New York : Thomas L. Crowell & Co. 



Each one of the thirteen chapters in this little book is de- 

 voted to a description of one of the natural orders of plants ; that 

 is, the principal characters of che Mint family, the Pine family, 

 the Pulse family and the rest are explained in simple but ac- 

 curate language, so that a bright child who goes through these 

 pages, undei; the direction of some careful teacher, will acquire 

 a considerable rudimentary knowledge of botanical science. 

 The best way to begin the study of botany is to study the 

 plants themselves, and this book will be helpful, so far as it is 

 used in connection with living or dried specimens, to encour- 

 age original investigation. It may be questioned whether the 

 shadowy persons who carry on the dialogues in the book add 

 much to its interest. The real plants need no accompaniment 

 of fictitious little girls who are little more than empty names. 

 But the merit of the book is, that the descriptions are precise, 

 and the points of fundamental resemblance which unite tlie 

 various genera into families are carefully brought out and are 

 treated in such a way as to suggest the most useful lines of 

 study. 



Old Concord : Her Uiffhzuays and Byways. By Margaret 

 Sidney. Boston : D. Lothrop Company. 



This is a new and enlarged edition of a book published four 

 years ago, and the fifty or more illustrations of points of his- 

 toric interest which it contains, give an attractive view of the 

 more striking features of the old town. The gossipy text 

 hardly equals in merit the pictures, many of which have a 

 genuine artistic value; but very little that is novel or fresh can 

 now be written of Concord. Scenes once described by Haw- 

 thorne or Thoreau can hardly be depicted more vividly by 

 other pens. But one never tires of reading ff the famous old 

 town, with its memories of Revolutionary times and its homes 

 of great thinkers in later days, and this beautiful volume cannot 

 fail to bring genuine pleasure to those who have visited Con- 

 cord, by reviving memories that slumber, and to those who 

 have never trodden its historic highways and byways, by giving 

 them a clearer idea of its appearance and suggestions of its 

 singular charm. 



