-2.o6 



Garden and Forest. 



[August 22, 1888. 



with white. Althougli white or striped-fleshed Beets may 

 taste as well as crimson fleslied ones, they do not look as well 

 upon the table, and therefore should not be used. For Snap 

 Beans he uses Mohawk, Valentine and Black Wax. For On- 

 ions, Silver Queen, Red Globe and Yellow Danvers. For Cel- 

 ery, White Plume and Boston Market. He eartlis up White 

 Plume to make it tender, and sprouts Boston Market to 

 confine it to a single head. Nearly all the private gardeners 

 grow Boston Maiket to one head, and grow it for a main 

 crop. Now this is a trouljlesome way. Golden Heart is just 

 as good a Celery as Boston Market and it generally confines 

 itself to one heart and by using it we do away with much of 

 the labor spent in sprouting. But'. Boston Market keeps 

 best of all Celeries ; we usually have it till the end of April. 

 Market gardeners usually plant Celery in single rows, private 

 gardeners often in double rows and in trenches a few inches 

 under the ground level. Mr. Robinson, of Easton, had his 

 Celery on the level, because he thinks this a preventive of rust. 

 But no matter whether it is planted on the level or in shal- 

 low trenches rust will appear, and where land is dry and sandv 

 it is essential to plant in shallow trenches to help retain mr)ist- 



covers the canes with earth in winter, and with this treatment 

 finds it hardy enough. He would be willing to confine him- 

 self to Sharpiess and Belmont for Strawberries, the latter Vjeing 

 the best in quality. 

 Glen Cove, N. Y. Wvi. Falconer. 



The Plum. 



T^HE cultivation of the Plum in some sections of the coun- 

 -'■ try when confined to the foreign varieties, is getting to be 

 quite as precarious as that of the Gooseberry, and hereabouts, 

 at least, it is more uncertain than that of the Peach. If the 

 trees grow they produce a crop of black knots. If they bloom 

 freely and set a full crop of fruit it too often rots before it 

 ripens. We only manage to save the fruit by canning it as 

 soon as it approaches maturity. And yet the time was when 

 the older of the improved varieties, such as Washington, Jef- 

 ferson and Yellow Egg, yielded good crops, while Damsons 

 and Blue Gages came up in our yards spontaneously and bore 

 abundantly. If this Plum rot is due to a fungus similar to the 

 Grape rot we might discover some remedy or employ the 



Hardy Bulbs Blooming in the Grass — See page 30a, 



ure, for the great point in Celery growing is to keep it moist 

 and in vigorous growth from the time the seedlings appear 

 till the plants are stored for the winter. 



Mr. Sander considers Fotler's Champion Erfurt one of the 

 best Cauliflowers. Sown about the first of February, and 

 grown along in pots, then planted out in spent hot-beds, twelve 

 plants to a three hy six foot sash, he liegins cutting Cauliflower 

 early in May. Veitch's Autumn Giant does not do well with 

 liim. It does very well here and gives good heads from Oc- 

 tober till January. Of course if it has not hearted before frosty 

 weather sets in it is lifted and heeled in close in cold-frames. 



Mr. Sander finds Christiana the best of all Musk Melons ; it 

 never fails to l>car and ripen a heavy crop of fruit. He saves 

 his own seed from tlie finest early fruit. About New York 

 Christiana is a most uncertain variety, seldom of anv good 

 whatever with us. Hackensack is our most reliable variety, 

 but it IS a large, coarse melon. Emerald Gem has been very 

 satisfactory for the past few years. Surprise is our best red- 

 fleshed melon. 



_ Mr. Sander grows Cuthbert and Brinkle's Orange Rasplier- 

 ries. The latter is somewhat tender, but he lavs down and 



same or similar means to stamp it out. Here is a good sub- 

 ject for our mycologists to study. 



Until the growing of choice Plums is attended with less risk 

 than at present, it is well worth while to pay some attention to 

 ouf native varieties, of which the Wild Goose is the most 

 prominent and widely known. Its advent was heralded with 

 great promises, but so many different types have been palmed 

 off on fruit-growers that the results have been more varied 

 than satisfactory. The general complaint was unproductive- 

 ness, and this was finally attributed to defects in the flowers, 

 and the remedy proposed was to plant it among other kinds 

 that would supply the deficiency in pollen. My original tree 

 stands among a number of other kinds amply able to furnish 

 all needed pollen, and yet it has never been more than fairly 

 productive, and this year is almost an entire failure. The fruit 

 is of an attractive scarlet color, an inch and a quarter in length, 

 with a cross diameter a trifle shorter. It is not a very desira- 

 ble dessert fruit, but does very well for cooking and preserv- 

 ing. Other trees, sold under the same name, bear fruit not 

 more than half the size. The name Wild Goose is therefore 

 no ti'uarantee as to what the fruit will be. 



