484 



IN THE GARDENS A7 WOODBANKS. 



We say, then, pick all summer pears while yet pretty 

 hard. They will ripen rapidly when once packed, much 

 more so than is generally supposed. Many fruit-grow- 

 ers pick and handle them roughly, with as little care as 

 they would potatoes. Each specimen should be handled 

 individually in the picking-basket, conveyed in a spring- 

 wagon to the packing-house or shed, with as little expo- 

 sure to the sun as possible, and there allowed to cool be- 

 fore it is placed in the shipping package — this we regard 

 as very important. When in condition for packing, 

 fruit should be sorted by hand directly into kegs or bar- 

 rels. Carefully place the pears in layers, observing uni- 

 formity of size and quality in all packages. All fruit of 

 under-size and second quality should, when packed, bear 

 a mar to correspond, so that no party purchasing may 

 complain of deception. When fruit is scarce use a 

 small or bushel keg ; when abundant, a keg that holds 

 i}4 bushels is best, but a full-sized barrel should not 

 be used for a choice quality of pears, especially in hot 

 weather. 



In handling plums, a still greater degree of care 

 should be exercised. Many varieties ripen unevenly, 

 and trees of such varieties should be picked over several 

 times, so as to have the fruit well colored and ripened. 

 The plums should be picked into baskets provided for 

 this purpose, with such care as not to disturb the bloom, 

 which is attractive and often adds much to their market- 

 value on the fruit-stands in cities. When picked. 



they, like pears, should go into the shade of the packing- 

 house and be so carefully layered into baskets or pack- 

 ages in which they are to be shipped, that when the 

 cover is attached, they shall be air-tight and shall stay in 

 place. They should be carefully assorted and any fruit 

 inferior in quality should be placed in packages marked 

 No. 2. 



It will often be found economical to use baskets of dif- 

 ferent sizes, holding 5, 10 or 15 pounds each. In assort- 

 ing, specimens will often be found quite too ripe to be 

 shipped with safety to a distant market. Such fruit 

 can be handled and marketed best in five-pound baskets — 

 this is often true with large, fine, fancy fruit of all sorts. 

 The lo-pound basket is growing in favor annually, yet for 

 second grades or cheap and common varieties the 15- 

 pound basket is used to best advantage. We have known 

 large crops of plums to be picked directly from the trees 

 into the shipping-basket, and shipping without assorting 

 directly to the place of sale. Such lack of care should 

 meet with wholesale condemnation upon the part of all 

 honest men who have any regard for their good name or 

 pecuniary interests. 



Much might be learned by an examination of the 

 methods practiced by the Pacific coast fruit-shippers, 

 and unless eastern fruit-growers at once begin to prac- 

 tice more care and neatness in handling their products 

 for market, they may have occasion to regret their folly 

 and repent at leisure. — W. 



IN THE GARDENS AT WOODBANKS. 



NOTES FROM THE EDITORS' GROUNDS. 



HE TULIP-TREE. -No tree on 

 these grounds is more highly 

 prized than a specimen of Lirio- 

 dend}-on tulipifcra, the tulip-tree, 

 about 40 feet high and of the 

 same width. There is a beauty in 

 the smooth, rich green leaves, 

 which grow in a singular square 

 or "fiddle-shaped" form, and in the handsome light yel- 

 low and orange flowers, that charms every beholder. 

 These, reduced to about two-thirds their natural size, 

 are faithfully shown in the engraving, page 485. The 

 foliage is perfect in texture and color, and in autumn 

 turns to a mellow golden color almost as fine as its sum- 

 mer green. The tulip-like flowers appearing in June at 

 the north, are of a light, dull, sulphury yellow color, 

 orange-red within. This tint shows somewhat, through 

 the petals on the outside. The three sepals, long and 

 reflexed in form, are greenish yellow. A bunch of the 

 flowers, cut with long stems and foliage, makes an exquis- 

 ite bouquet for a table-vase. The tulip-tree is without 

 question the handsomest bloomer among our large-grow- 

 ing American forest-trees. In winter the light, graceful 

 spray of the tree is flecked with conical, persistent 

 brown seed-vessels. 



If the tulip-tree could be transplanted easily, it might 

 grace many more lawns than it does now. It has but 

 few roots, and they are of a soft, spwngy nature, quite 

 susceptible to injury from handling, and do not readily 

 grow after removal. The safe course to pursue in trans- 

 planting it is to order small, nursery-grown trees not 

 more than three or four feet high. Tulip-trees six feet 

 high, obtained from the woods and set in the open ground 

 as maples and elms are, would certainly die. This tree 

 likes a richer soil than do most of our native trees. We 

 advise every man who has a garden of considerable ex- 

 tent to plant at least one specimen of this fine native 

 flowering tree. It reaches in time a height of more than 

 a hundred feet 



OoR Evergreens. — One day in June an intelligent 

 visitor went all over our grounds, noting carefully the 

 many distinct species of trees, shrubs and flowering 

 plants. She ended her walk at the evergreen section 

 and remarked, "This, is, after all, the handsomest part 

 of your grounds." Now had such a statement been 

 heard in winter when the evergreens alone were clothed 

 in verdure, or in early spring or late autumn when few 

 flowers were open, the remark would not have seemed 

 surprising ; but coming at the time of early roses and 

 lilies, irises and pyrethrums, pansies and campanulas, 



