286 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



July, 1908 



frost the gardener must 

 pull off the leaves and put 

 earth around the bottom of 

 the plant. Every tuft must 

 be covered with manure, 

 which must be removed as 

 soon as the snow and ice 

 melt, so as to give the plant 

 a chance to bud. To have 

 good artichokes their 

 ground must be changed 

 every two or three years. 



Orchards are pruned in 

 the spring. In May all the 

 useless branches are clipped 

 off and the new slips are 

 propped. In June and July 

 the fruits about to ripen are 

 uncovered. In August the 

 bunches of fruit are tied 

 up in paper bags to protect 

 them from wasps and in- 

 sects, a simple and easy de- 

 vice. Pear trees can be 

 trained in any form, for in- 

 stance in the shape of a great branched candlestick or a palm 

 leaf. In the latter form the branches are trained hori- 

 zontally, parallel to each other, and are then allowed to 

 grow vertically. When trained in this way, the trees grow 

 better along the wall, as they need support. I advise ama- 

 teurs to train the trees in easier forms; for instance, the 

 branch candlestick with only two or three branches. This 

 is done by taking the graft of one year and when it is 

 planted cut off half of it. Then the following year the 

 trunk is cut down to about thirteen inches from the ground, 

 keeping only two branches, one on the right of the tree and 

 one on the left. Then at the length of thirty-nine inches 

 they are again bent and the last twelve inches of the branch 

 is allowed to grow up vertically and form the branches of 

 the candelabra. Once the growth of these branches is 

 assured the middle of each horizontal branch is taken and 

 two buds are chosen to make new ramifications, parallel to 

 the preceding ones. 



Very few varieties of pears grow in France. They are the 



Banking Up the Artichokes 



"Doyennes" ( V a 1 e n t i a 

 pear) , whose fruit, which 

 is small and delicious, 

 ripens in July; the big 

 "Williams," which are 

 lemon yellow, have a musk 

 flavor and are eaten in 

 August; the "Bons Chre- 

 tian," which is green 

 spotted and much appreci- 

 ated, and the Butter pears, 

 "Buerres" and "Louises- 

 Bonnes," whose fruit is 

 yellow and red and which 

 is very juicy. 



Apples grow very well 

 in granite regions and in 

 siliceous earth. The 

 northern, northeastern, and 

 northwestern exposure suits 

 them. The only kinds of 

 apples much cultivated 

 around Paris are the "Cal- 

 villes," which are ivory 

 yellow, are acid, and recall 

 the flavor of pineapples; the "Reinettes," large and yellow 

 with red stripes, and very spicy; little apples called "Apis," 

 very popular in Paris. Other fruits that grow in France 

 are peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, and currants. Under 

 our climate strawberries ripen earliest. The large straw- 

 berries, which are of a great variety (the Ananas, the 

 Chiliens, the Scarlet Strawberry of Virginia), are planted 

 in pots under frames, as shown in one of the illustrations. 

 They should be open to the air as much as possible, watered 

 often, and covered with straw matting every night. Props 

 are used to hold up the fruit. The little strawberry, "Fraise 

 des Quatre Saison," is propped up, and with care bears 

 fruit the whole year. 



Flower Gardens. — Manure is put in the ground to 

 hasten the growth of the flowers. Dahlias are planted in 

 the middle of May. The tubercle is pulled up from the 

 ground, where it has been all winter, and put in earth cov- 

 ered with compost. Immediately one or more shoots sprout. 



Propping-Up the Strawberries 



Potting the Geraniums 



