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CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



ruit. We sold to a house in Winnipeg at $3 a bushel 

 here. Sixty Duchess were planted 20 feet apart each 

 way ; three trees had no fruit this year, and four had 

 been replaced with other varieties. — W. K. Dcmpsey, in 

 Canadian Horiicidturist ^ 



Cone of Picea pungens 



Picea Pungens. — We here show the cone of this 

 beautiful spruce. Picea pungens is now gradually be- 

 coming known, but it is worth while mentioning that it 

 varies in color from dark apple-green to the most beau- 

 tiful silvery tint, as in the variety known as P. argentea, 

 which is even more beautiful than the variety P. glauca ^ 

 originally known as Parryana glauca. It is widely dif- 

 ferent from, and in this , 

 climate far inferior to, 

 P. Engelmanni, which 

 is often confounded 

 with it. P. pungens is 

 perfectly hardy, and its 

 color remains through- 

 out the year, though 

 naturally brightest in 

 spring. It does well 

 even in the vicinity of 

 towns, so that we can 

 strongly recommend its 

 extended culture as an 

 ornamental tree. — Gar- 

 dener's Chronicle . 



Asparagus-Culture. 

 — When I had to grow 

 asparagus with plenty 

 of manure in a cold and heavy soil, I was utterly dis- 

 heartened with the result, as during the wet winter the 

 plants frequently died, while in the summer the grass 



rarely exceeded a height of four feet eleven inches. 

 When making a new garden, taken in from an arable 

 field two years ago last April, I planted a bed of aspar- 

 agus without any manure, simply digging the ground one 

 spit deep. The result is that I was able to cut a pretty 

 good supply of grass during the season just past. 

 In proof of this, I send to the editor with this note 

 a single stalk" that measures six feet three inches 

 in height, having a stem large enough to please 

 any person of reasonable wants, while there are 

 more even of a greater height. Better asparagus 

 can be grown on land that is naturally well-drained 

 ' without manure than where the ground is well- 

 dressed, but of a retentive character and badly 

 drained. — J. C. Clarke, in Gardeners' Magazine. 



Killing Greenfly. — I use a small oil-stove, place 

 a piece of tin over it, and strew some tobacco- 

 dust on the tin. The stove being lighted gives 

 off a very strong fume, which destroys greenfly 

 quickly and does not injure the plants, neither 

 does it require watching, as there is no flame. In 

 a rose-house 60x12, in which the aphis was quite 

 thick, they were entirely destroyed in one hour. 

 The stove which I use has only one burner, but I 

 would recommend a two-burner stove for a larger 

 house. The amount of tobacco-dust used for a 

 small house was a 5-inch pot full.- — George Staf- 

 Jlinger, in American Florist. 

 Passiflora edulis, says Gardeners' Magazine, is a de- 

 licious fruit, wholesome, and handsome on the table. It 

 was mentioned in a previous issue as succeeding well in 

 some parts of England. Its growth and habit of fruiting 

 is shown in illustration, reduced from the journal be- 

 fore mentioned. 



Setting Permanent Posts. — Lately, in digging a pit 

 for a greenhouse, I dug down beside a post set in water- 

 lime cement three years ago, and had a chance to see 



how that work looked. In setting heavy chestnut posts 

 for a greenhouse I dug holes 32 inches deep and 8x18 

 inches in size, the broad way being in the direction of 



