BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



169 



has called forth some vigorous protests from the growers, 

 but without effect on the inspectors. It is stated in 

 defence, by the Californians, that the trees were affected 

 in peaches, by yellows ; in plums, prunes and apricots, 

 by curculio, and together by other ailments and pests. 

 The quarantine against eastern trees is further justified 

 on the grounds that some counties of the Golden State 

 quarantine against others, so anxious are they to pre- 

 vent the acquisition of any new obstacles to fruit-culture. 

 Eastern nurserymen must make up their minds that 

 California horticulturists are wide-awake and are not 

 going to run chances against the importation of any 

 enemies to their fruit-growing industries. 



An Extensive Arboretum. — It is refreshing to see a 

 man of great wealth, like George W. Vanderbilt, de- 

 vote some of his means to the establishment of a magnifi- 

 cent forest and experiment arboretum at Asheville, 

 North Carolina. A tract of fully 4,000 acres, partly 

 native forest, is being devoted to this purpose. It is de- 

 signed not only to occupy a large part of the estate with a 

 systematically managed forest, having commercial ends 

 in view, but the locating of the roads and the planting 

 of borders adjacent to them will be done with the object 

 of heightening the beauty of the natural scenery, and 

 of affording a display of all kinds of trees from the 

 world over, that will flourish under the local conditions 

 of climate and soil. The roadway borders will be three 

 or four miles in length. There will be but a small space 

 of ' ' kept grounds, " surrounding the proprietor's dwell- 

 ing. Some idea of the extent of the operations on the 

 grounds may be gained, when it is said that there are 

 now growing about 500,000 seedlings and cuttings that 

 were propagated within the domain during the last year. 



A Greenhouse Hod. — In our greenhouses no con- 

 venient way was provided for putting the dirt into the 

 benches, and as we prefer to renew the bench-soil at least 

 once a year, it is a job of no small size, especially as the 

 houses are devoted entirely to vegetables and require 

 much more soil than is needed for other kinds of green- 

 We found we could use no wheelbarrow ; 



so at first the benches were 

 filled by means of bushel 

 baskets. This method 

 wore out many baskets, 

 and made our shoulders 

 sore. At last at some- 

 body's suggestion we made 

 hods, and they fill the bill. 

 Having used them for over 

 two years, we would not 

 think of using anything 

 else. Carrying dirt is a 

 bad job anyway ; yet the 

 use of the hod makes it as 

 easy as can be expected. 

 Besides, the hands are left comparatively free, and the 

 work of raising and lowering is reduced to a minimum 

 Our hods are two feet long, twelve inches deep, fourteen 



house work. 



Greenhouse Hod. 



wide at the top and five at the bottom, and hold 

 about what an ordinary man can easily carry. The sides 

 are of light lumber ; the bottom and end of inch stuff. 

 We have found that in using the hod one man with two 

 hods will carry the dirt 30 to 40 feet as fast as another 

 will shovel it from the wagon, or two men with three 

 hods will keep one man shoveling, and carry the dirt 75 

 to 100 feet; and the hods are so inexpensive that itis best 

 to have more than one, as any one at all handy with 

 tools can make them. They may also be useful in other 

 places. I had occasion to bring some tile to the green- 

 house on a muddy day when the cart could not be used, 

 so I put the hod on my shoulder and carried 14 three- 

 inch tiles quite a long distance easily. — E. C. Green, 

 Ohio Agricultural Exptrinient Station. 



GrowingSquashes. — A porous loamy soil isprobably 

 best for the crop, but whatever the soil, it should be 

 very rich. Ten cords of manure to the acre are none too 

 much, and more would be better. An excellent plan is 

 to spread broadcast, in the autumn, as much compost 

 as can be conveniently plowed under, repeating the 

 operation again the following spring. Hills may stand 

 eight or ten feet apart upon ordinary land, but if the 

 ground is rich, twelve feet in each direction is needed. 

 To form good squash-hills, dig out the earth, and replace 

 it with a couple of large shovelfuls of well-rotted com- 

 post ; cover this with two inches of mellow soil, and on 

 it distribute ten or a dozen seeds, so that plenty of plants 

 may remain after the ravages of the bugs. As to the 

 number of plants to be allowed to remain permanently, 

 much depends on soil and season. Two to four is about 

 right. At maturity, the ground must only be well covered 

 with vines ; not running together in a thick tangled 

 mass. Cultivation must begin as soon as the plants are 

 up or before, if the land be weedy, and be continued 

 once or twice a week until the vines begin to run. This 

 work is best done with the horse cultivator. The only 

 hand labor required is the "hilling up." Wherever the 

 vine exhibits a tendency to produce axillary roots, by 

 all means encourage it by drawing a little earth over the 

 parts. Plainly, the more roots that are formed, and the 

 greater the area from which plant-food is extracted, the 

 higher the chances of success. It is well to pinch back 

 the runners, after they have attained a length of six or 

 eight feet. This is thought to throw more sap into the 

 channels of fruit-forming, thus increasing the crop. — 

 M. S. Perkins, Mass. 



Success with Fuchsias. — Along the north side of 

 our house is a porch, and far enough from the edge to 

 admit of passing is my bed of fuschias. I plant them 

 as soon as danger of frost is over, water freely, and when 

 the weather is hot and dry I sprinkle them thoroughly 

 every evening. With this care my 15 varieties are a 

 mass of bloom all summer. Everyone says that after 

 plants have bloomed so long they cannot bloom in winter. 

 Last year I took mine in before the buds had dropped 

 and they continued in bloom until January, when thelast 

 bloom dropped. By February 15, they began to show 



