CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



6: 



winter the unsightly feature does not last long, and is in 

 a season when visitors are few. — Prairie Farmer. 



Effects of Girdling a Fruit-tree Branch.— Our 



illustrations show the effect of girdling a part of a tree 



Girdling Effects. — Jefferson Plum from Above 

 THE Constriction. 



so that its downward growth and development are 

 checked, and an accumulation of food formed above the 

 tie. The case in question occurred in the garden of 

 Philip Crowley. A branch of a Jefferson plum was acci- 

 dentally girdled in this way, with the result that the 

 fruits produced from the portion above the constriction 

 were very much larger than others on the same tree. 

 Ringing and girdling are very old cultural practices. — 

 Gardener's Chronicle. 



Ingenious Fruit-picking Contrivance. — An ingen- 

 ious fruit-picking contrivance has been invented by Ed- 

 ward D. Stodder, of San Francisco. It is a light, dou- 

 ble, wheelbarrow ladder, which can be folded up or 

 elevated at any angle at will. An endless belt, with 

 double pockets, like those of a grain-elevator, conveys 

 the fruit to the ground and automatically dumps it into 

 the boxes, doing away with the necessity of the picker's 

 leaving the ladder for any other reason than that of 

 changing its location. A number of the ladders will be 

 put into orchards the coming season by the inventor 

 to demonstrate their usefulness. — Cal. Fridt-Grower. 



A Drink from Hops. — The production of a non-in- 

 toxicating beverage from hops is a novelty that has 

 attracted some attention of late. It is stated that an 

 Assam tea-planter, at the close of the last hop-season, 

 settled down on the Medway, near Maidstone, and with 

 drying-machines and tea-rollers, as used in Assam, suc- 

 ceeded in making a kind of tea which, though it cost 

 twice the price of excellent Indian or Chinese tea, is 

 likely to become an important article for mixture 

 with the better-known beverage of that name. The 



infusion is said to contain all the tonic, soothing and 

 nutritive properties of the hop, and when mixed with 

 tea proper, counteracts its astringent and tanning prop- 

 erties. A company has been formed in London for 

 the sale of this tea, and it is now to be obtained from 

 any grocer. — Gardener's Chroniile. 



Bees and Fruit-growing. — I have had an abundant 

 crop of every kind of fruit this year. I have purchased 

 five acres of land which I hope to plant with fruit-trees, 

 and have enlarged my apiary in order that I may take 

 10 colonies of bees to my newly purchased ground when 

 planted, for I am more fully convinced than ever that 

 bees and fruit-culture ought to go hand in hand. It 

 makes me smile when I read of some correspondents 

 talking about "bees eating fruit." I certainly have 

 seen bees on pears, but it was after the fruit had been 

 attacked by wasps. Some grumble because the bees 

 eat a few plums or pears, which perhaps would never 

 have grown had they (the bees) not fertilized the blos- 

 soms. — Cor. British Bee Journal. 



How to Make Nuts Germinate. — The only reason 

 why many persons fail to make such nuts as pecans, 

 hickory, English walnuts, and chestnuts germinate 

 when planted is, that they allow them to get thoroughly 

 dried before they are placed in the ground. For pecans, 

 shellbark-hickory, butternuts, filberts, and other hard- 

 shell kinds there is no better place to store them during 

 winter than in heaps of sand piled up on some shady 

 spot in the open ground. First place a layer of the 

 nuts, then a layer of sand, then a layer of nuts, and 

 proceed in this way until your stock of nuts is exhausted, 

 and cover the heap with six inches of good soil or sods, 

 and leave all undisturbed until spring; then take out the 

 nuts and plant in 

 drills. If there 

 is danger of mice 

 and squirrelscar" 

 rying away the 

 nuts, place them 

 in well-drained 

 boxes, covering 

 with wire n e t - 

 ting. Chestnuts 

 may be stored in 

 the same way, 

 but the sand 

 should be clean 

 and the boxes 

 set where t h e 

 water from melt- 

 ing snows will 



quickly drain off. Fresh imported English walnuts buried 

 in the fall or any time in the early winter will usually 

 germinate quite freely. Imported filberts are some- 

 times gathered before quite mature, and for this reason 

 fail to grow ; but if the kernels are plump when ob- 

 tained there is no danger of failure if kept cool and 

 moist during the winter. — .4iiierican Agriculturist. 



Girdling Effects. — Jefferson Plum 

 FROM Below the Constriction. 



