68o 



BUDS. BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



Flower-Gardens in the Forest. — It has just been 

 my privilege to visit a clearing in the woods where the 

 yellow (false) foxglove is still flourishing finely. On one 

 clump the branches, capped with graceful buds and bells, 

 reached a height of five feet. Clusters of bush-clover, 

 with minute, purplish-red blossoms set like gems in dense 

 tufts of tiny leaves, grow here also. At any time of the 

 year some floral treasure may be found in this clearing. 

 There is no protection for such lovely places from en- 

 croaching forces. We enjoy them to-day ; to-morrow 

 they may be gone, but there is a suggestion of what is 

 possible in the future of forestry. Of what inestimable 

 value are such places to communities ? They are verti- 

 able ' ' God's acres ' ' where humanity can come out from 

 the shadows of walls, and realize occasionally its heir- 

 ship to the "earth and the fulness thereof." What 

 studies of natural life are here ! What laboratories of 

 science ! — Kate Clement, N. J. 



California Fruit in England. — We cannot but ad- 

 mire the enterprise of our Pacific growers in pushing out 

 to capture the markets of the world. August 21 the ar- 

 rival of a consignment of California fruit created a flutter 

 in the Covent Garden market of London, England- 

 The shipment comprised 2,000 packages of peaches, 

 nectarines, plums and pears. It arrived in superb con- 

 dition, having been carried in cold chambers, kept at 45 

 degrees of temperature. The entire lot, when put up at 

 auction, brought excellent prices. The London papers 

 state that nothing was left to be desired, either in size or 

 quality of the fruit, to which fruit-growers of eastern 

 United States would add that such judgment is certainly 

 based on an English standard of quality, for it is well 

 known hereabouts that California fruit is decidedly 

 lacking in richness of flavor. However, this Pacific-coast 

 fruit left an excellent impression on the palates of Lon- 

 don, and the first consignment was followed by others, 

 and the shipping will be continued until the end of the 

 season. It is expected that these California fruits will 

 enter into strong competition in the English market with 

 those from French orchards 



Michigan Flora. — The Michigan Board of Agricul- 

 ture has published a flora of the state. An interesting fact 

 brought out by this is the peculiar richness of Michigan 

 in trees and shrubs. According to the count of the care- 

 ful compilers, there are in the state 69 species of indigenous 

 trees and 3 exotics which have escaped from cultivation ; 

 150 native shrubs and 5 exotics spread from cultivation, 

 making a total of 220 indigenous woody plants and 8 

 naturalized exotics. To comprehend the real active im- 

 portance of such a showing, attention is directed to the 

 fact that Great Britain and Ireland, with an area more than 

 twice that of Michigan, have but 10 species of native 

 trees, while in all Europe there are only 85 native species. 



A Profitable City Garden. — My city garden consists 

 of one-sixth of an acre of land. The soil is heavy and 

 hard to work. We grow such crops as we can handle 

 easily, preferring to buy our corn and coarse-growing 

 vegetables. Our first crops are radishes and lettuce, fol- 

 lowed by kidney-wax beans, and later by White Plume 



celery, so that altogether we take off three crops, 

 Where we grow cucumbers as a second crop we get but 

 two crops. The cucumbers, pay better than the beans, 

 but not quite so well as the celery. To date, August 

 25, four rows of cucumbers occupying 16x120 feet of 

 land, have brought $21.80, and we have 25 gallons of 

 small pickles in brine. The first specimens brought 

 60 cents a dozen ; now they are 10 cents a dozen The 

 beans, in rows 2 feet apart, brought $1.25 a row. This 

 ground is now in celery. Th> figures given are from 

 actual sales at wholesale, as we do not care for the retail 

 trade. Besides this, we use from this garden all the vege- 

 tables we need for a family of seven. Being gathered in 

 early morning, our vegetables reach consumers in good 

 condition. They were earlier than any in the market. 

 We could not account for it until we thought of the elec- 

 tric lights on three corners of our block. One crop — 

 our radishes and lettuce— is five days earlier than other 

 people's. This is an important item in sales. We irri- 

 gate, of course, using the city water. Fertilizers, so far, 

 have cost us nothing, manure from the city stables being 

 hauled to our lot. This will not last long, as farmers 

 are taking the manure, and the stables need not haul it 

 away. We turn the water on the manure as soon as it is 

 dumped, and irrigate with the liquid manure, making the 

 quickest-acting fertilizer we can get ; the results are 

 astonishing. We consider a net annual profit of $50 in 

 cash from this one-sixth of an acre as quite a small one. 

 With careful management it can be made to average 

 $100. Does it pay ? Yes, but don't take this as a basis 

 for large operations. — E. Brayton, Colo. 



Late Potatoes. — Their was great complaint this season 

 that potatoes of the early crop rotted after being bedded 

 for sprouting for the late crop. Our own were not so 

 affected, but in the eastern part of the state the deluges 

 of rain during intensely hot weather caused heavy losses" 

 From a little experiment this season, I am inclined to 

 think that potatoes of the previous season can easily be 

 kept for the late planting. I have kept potatoes grown 

 in late autumn of iSgi until the first week in August, 

 entirely unshriveled and just starting sturdy, short sprouts. 

 These were planted for comparison with the seed of the 

 present year's crop. It may be that the remarkable 

 keeping quality of these late-grown potatoes, will make 

 them not only the best seed for the early crop, but for the 

 late crop also. All my experience heretofore in growing 

 a second crop from seed of the same season seemed to 

 indicate that the seed should not be cut. I, therefore, in 

 my buUetine insisted upon this point. Several of our 

 growers wrote to me, disagreeing with me upon this 

 point, and therefore, in bedding my seed-potatoes this 

 summer I cut part of them, and left the others uncut. 

 Those that were cut all sprouted in time for planting Au- 

 gust 15, while of those uncut many failed to sprout. 

 While one experiment in an unusual season will not 

 reverse the experience of several seasons, I shall continue 

 to experiment in this line. — W. F. Massey. 



Shade Trees and Winds.— It is not difficult to make 

 a selection of shade-trees for the street or lawn pleasing 



