372 



CURREN7 GARDEN LORE. 



your country place, and especially the pleasant home 

 character of the house, is to establish a grove near that 

 building. Set out the best shade-trees — elms, maples, 

 beeches, tulip-trees, liquidambars and lindens — and let 

 them stand forty or fifty feet apart, so that they may 

 grow into broad and lofty trees, dispensing abundant 

 shade. Such a grove near the house will give perpetual 

 delight throughout the year. — S. Parsons, Jr., in 

 Scribner' s. 



Hillside Irrigation. — Between San Mateo and San 

 Francisco, gardening is an extensi\e industry. The 



Hillside Irrigation in Californi.a. 



hillsides are neatly terraced, and water is drawn up by 

 scores of windmills to irrigate and make productive, all 

 the long year round, what otherwise would be barren 

 hillsides. The illustration shows the manner in which 

 the water is distributed over the area. — Ch-anin,irs in 

 Bee Culture. 



Potato-Planting in Michigan. — The Michigan Ag- 

 ricultural Experiment Station's report on potato tests, 

 contains the following summary ; i, The seed-end is as 

 good if not better than any other part of the potato for 

 planting, and as a rule produces fewer small tubers. 

 2. As a rule, medium-sized potatoes cut into halves 

 lengthwise, and used at the rate of from 13 to 15 bushels 

 of seed to an acre, will produce best net results. 3. If 

 smaller seed is used, the eyes should be 15 inches apart ; 

 pieces containing two or three eyes about 18 inches. 

 Planted at distances more than 2'2 feet the number of 

 hills is so much decreased that the yield is lessened. 

 4. When potatoes are cheap, it does not pay to use small 

 potatoes as seed, but when seed-potatoes 

 are high, tubers the size of hen's eggs may 

 be used for one year without greatly de- 

 creasing the yield. 5. Even on fairly 

 rich soil, manure or fertilizers can be used 

 with profit. When manure cannot be ob- 

 tained without hauling two or three miles, 

 500 pounds of mixed chemicals or of some good brand 

 of commercial fertilizer will be cheaper to use, and a 

 profitable investment. 



Set Poles for Limas Firmly. — The poles should be 

 put in at least a foot deep ; if heavy, deeper, and set be- 

 fore the beans are planted. Where it is desirable to 

 economize room, or where the poles are expensive, one 



pole can be made to serve for four by setting strong 

 poles firmly and attaching to their tops either wire or 

 stout twine, about twelve strands to each. These are to 

 be fastened to pegs driven in a circle around the pole, 

 T-Yi feet from its base. The outer rows of late-growing, 

 tall varieties of corn may be utilized for Lima poles, but 

 only the south and east side of the patch will give these sun- 

 lovers enough heat and light for their needs. To prevent 

 having a large part of the crop caught by frost, one Illi- 

 nois man saves his beans by pulling up poles and beans 

 together before killing frost, and setting them compactly 

 in a basement ; thus he enjoys this delicious bean till 

 winter. — Nezc York Tribune. 



Use for Coldframes in Summer. — Coldframes 

 can be used to good advantage in summer for starting 

 cuttings of roses and shrubs. Hybrid perpetual roses 

 start readily, if planted in coldframes, about the third 

 week in May, in this locality. Last year, after putting 

 several buckets of sand in a frame, I planted a large 

 number of rose-cuttings, some deutzias and a few other 

 shrubs, in this manner. The glass was heavily white- 

 washed to keep out the sun. Almost every cutting made 

 strong roots within three weeks. I transplanted fifty of 

 the roses into another frame, 3x6 feet, using whitewashed 

 sashes again and gradually accustoming the plants to di- 

 rect light and sun. By August 15th the roses were too 

 high to allow the glass to be put on, and on the 15th of 

 November, after many of the plants had bloomed, I 

 potted most of them. Several hybrid perpetuals were 

 planted out in the open ground and given winter protec- 

 tion. Each of these hybrid perpetuals had sent up one 

 or two shoots apiece, from two and one-half to three feet 

 in height, and had woody roots averaging eighteen inches 

 in length. Cuttings of the same varieties made in June, 

 planted and cared for in exactly the same manner, were 

 a total failure. — American .IgricuUnrisl . 



Glazing Glass- Houses. — The new clip, made of 

 zinc, for use in glazing all kinds of horticultural structures 

 dispenses with the use of top putty, saves expense in the 

 first cost of labor, and time in 

 the making of repairs after- 

 wards. The smaller illustra- 

 tion given shows the clip , 



A New 'Way to Glaze Glass-Houses. 



the larger one the manner in which the clip is used to 

 hold the squares down upon the thin layer of putty 

 underneath, and the stops to keep them in position. The 

 clip itself is fixed to the sash-bars by means of a brass 

 screw or tack. The special advantages claimed by the 

 inventor, are a saving of 50 per cent, in the time re- 

 quired in glazing ; no breakage from contraction or ex- 



