224 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



Fruit-growers to Organize. — The Chautauqua 

 grape-growers have made vigorous efforts in the direc- 

 tion of organization for the purpose of securing better 

 and cheaper shipping facilities, and better returns from 

 their grape crops. These efforts deserve success, and 

 are worthy of imitation by fruit-growers everywhere. 



Prizes for Good Road Essays. — The Pope Manu- 

 facturing Co., Boston, Mass., will give loo bicycles 

 for the 100 best original essays upon "Good Roads," 

 the competitors being free to select and treat any phase 

 of the subject. This prize contest is open to students of 

 high and preparatory schools, academies and colleges. 



The irrigation problem is going to cost the begin- 

 ners dollars for experience, unless they have an immense 

 storage capacity. I had a wind-mill, but by the side of 

 my steam-pump it was as a squirt-gun to the hose of the 

 fire-department. When we want water we want it, and 

 we cannot wait for the wind to blow it up. — E. H. 



CUSHMAN. 



The thorns of rose-stems frequently wound the 

 fingers of retail florists painfully. Every active work- 

 man can show dozens of scars obtained in hurried prepa- 

 ration of bouquets and devices. Some of the veterans 

 of the trade insist that the stems become impregnated 

 with the poisonous substances used by growers to de- 

 stroy plant-bugs. 



The Mansfield Tree-Tomato is a thrifty grower, 

 and a moderate producer of large, solid, irregular fruit. 

 But it is putting the color on pretty thick to say, as 

 some "editorial" notices do, that "no vegetable ever in- 

 troduced has created such a sensation as the Mansfield 

 tree-tomato." We have grown the tomato, but failed to 

 note the sensation. 



Potatoes in the Arts. — It is said that large quantities 

 of buttons are made from potatoes in this country. They 

 are hardened with acids and take then the aspect of horn, 

 ivory or bone, to a degree that renders it difficult for 

 even specialists to distinguish the real from the artificial. 

 The cost is extremely low. Soon we shall see small po- 

 tato statues in imitation of ivory. 



Some timid souls seem to be afraid that with our 

 present mania for spraying we will poison fruits and 

 vegetables, the very soil even, and every live creature, 

 human beings included, that eats of the products of our 

 orchards and gardens ! Rest easy, friends. The little 

 poison that we can apply is a mere nothing compared 

 with the poisonous substances already in the soil. 



Clinton Grapes for Jelly. — Why do we seldom see 

 the Clinton grape recommended for any purpose save 

 wine-making? To my taste there is no more delicious 

 acid-jelly than that made from the Clintons. Where 

 shade is desired, erect a simple arbor, and plant one or 

 two Clinton grape-vines. They will supply an abundance 

 of shade and material for a quantity of excellent jelly. — 

 Elder's Wife. 



Natural Grafting. — I read in the February American 

 Gardening about a remarkable case of natural grafting 

 of two hemlock trees. I know of an elm tree whose dif- 



ferent roots are about i8 feet apart and the union about 

 25 feet from the ground, where they form one tree about 

 15 inches in diameter. The ground is level all around, 

 and the tree is perfectly healthy and can be seen from 

 the gravel road that leads from Larnia into London, On- 

 tario, near Lobo village. — J. M. W. 



A Good Use for Tobacco. — Some of us who do not 

 have access to cigar-factories may find it difficult to get 

 tobacco fit for use as an insecticide. Why not raise a 

 few plants? Last year I raised some in my cabbage 

 patch, giving the same culture, and now I have an 

 abundance of tobacco, much better than I could buy. A 

 leaf crushed and placed on the earth under the roses in 

 the window kept the lice off more effectually than any- 

 thing I have tried.— J. H. Van. 



Parks for Villages. — The recent attempt to pass a 

 bill enabling all towns in New York of 5,000 inhabitants 

 or upwards to raise funds for public park purposes, did 

 not succeed. A substitute was then introduced into the 

 legislature, relating to a particular town, and this seems 

 likely to pass at this writing. Because the first attempt 

 on securing a general bill of this character has failed, it 

 does not follow that its advocates need be discouraged. 

 The time is nearly ripe when a carefully prepared law of 

 this kind can be passed. 



n. THRIFTY SAPLINGS. 



The Golden Prune. — Some samples of this prune 

 in the dried state were sent us by H. I. Blakesley, of 

 Oregon, who says that they came from Seth Lewellen, 

 the originator. It well deserves its name, for its size is 

 very large, with pit in proportion, and the flesh of a rich 

 golden yellow color. Evidently it is one of the finest of 

 its kind. Mr. Lewellen says of it : " The Golden prune 

 is a little larger than the Italian. On our land it is from 

 six to ten days earlier than the other, and a little sweeter. 

 I have no doubt it will do well where the Italian is a 

 success. " 



The Bean-Weevil. — It is stated on good authority that 

 the bean-weevil may continue to breed within the same 

 lot of beans, although old and dried, for as long a time 

 as the food-supply lasts. At the New York Experiment 

 Station, at Geneva, a few handfuls of beans put up in 

 1882 in a glass case were seen swarming with hundreds 

 of these beetles a few weeks ago. One remedy formerly 

 recommended by entomologists for both bean and pea- 

 weevils was, to keep the peas or beans over till the second 

 season in tightly closed packages, thus destroying the in- 

 sect. This remedy can no longer be depended on in the 

 case of the bean-weevil. 



Kew Gardens. — The average Londoner considers these 

 famous gardens merely in the light of a pleasure-ground, 

 and in this, perhaps, most visitors to the English metrop- 

 olis join. This impression the Gardeners'" Chronicle 

 aims to correct by calling attention to the botanical ac- 

 tivity — not only in a purely scientific line, but particu- 

 larly in garden botany — that prevails in the place. "It 

 has been a main agency in the collection and diffusion of 



