682 



BbDS, BLOSSOMS. FRUITS. 



ment as the oleander. " My fig trees," says this writer, 

 " are grown in tubs, and kept trimmed to a height of 5 or 

 6 feet, just so as to allow their being carried through a 

 door. I keep them in the dark, cold cellar, where they 

 cm stand a light freeze, but not a hard one. A cellar 

 that will keep vegetables will have just the right tempera- 

 ture for figs. I water the trees freely when putting them 

 away in the fall ; they will not need more than one or 

 two waterings during the winter, and require no other 

 care. They should be removed from the cellar, early in 

 the spring, to some protected place in the open air, be- 

 fore the fruit begins to form, or the change will cause thg 

 fruit to fall, and it will be six weeks before another crop 

 will grow. The fruit matures in August, and the yield 

 is abundant. The fig is a most refreshing fruit, particu- 

 larly for breakfast, durinj,' the hot months. Remove the 

 outer skin, which is easily peeled off with the fingers 

 Do not cut the fruit, but bring it to the table whole, and 

 serve it with sugar and cream." 



Danger of too Much Branching. — President Dean, 

 in his address before the recent convention of American 

 florists, touched upon the danger of forming too many 

 special societies, and thereby weakening the parent and 

 main society of American florists. Commenting upon 

 the existence of successful chrysanthmum and carnation 

 societies, he said that there was soon to be organized a 

 rose society, with possibly an orchid society, and at the 

 rate of advance being made there may soon be added 

 a palm and a fern society. If these societies were con- 

 ducted as branches of the main society, although having 

 distinct organizations, and made reports annually to the 

 main society, there would seem to be great usefulness be- 

 fore them. Individuals can accomplish more as specialists 

 in a particular field than when they attempt to compass 

 many fields, and the same is true of society w'ork. But 

 all members of the parent associations are interested 

 directly or indirectly in the work as specialists in their 

 profession, hence the necessity that the tie between the 

 general society and the special societies should be a close 

 and firm one. 



Vineyard Notes from Michigan. — Residing, as I do, 

 within walking distance of Mr. Woodruff's place (origi- 

 nator of the "Woodruff's Red" and other grapes), I 

 find much to interest and instruct in studying his collec- 

 tion. The early part of the present season was marked 

 by a two months' down-pour of rain, disastrous to the 

 fruit crop. In Mr. Woodruff's experimental vineyard, 

 his riparias, Black Pearl, Janesville, etc., were attacked 

 by mildew of the fruit, Janesville also by anthracnose, 

 which destroyed about every cluster. Niagara suc- 

 cumbed to anthracnose and black and brown-rot, while 

 a row of young Delawares showed perfect health, as did 

 also Colerain, Green Mountain, Jewell, Moyer, Witt, 

 Owosso and Ulster. These vines were all of two sum- 

 mers' growth and some of them bore fruit this season. 

 Jewell is a slow grower, but shows great produc- 

 tiveness ; its clusters are compact and handsome, not 

 heavier than Delaware's, but with berries a little larger. 

 Moyer showed stronger growth, not quite so many and 



smaller clusters, only half a dozen berries in some of 

 them, but its berries were decidedly larger than Dela- 

 wares. Jewell and Moyer are both good to eat as soon as 

 they show color, the Jewell being pulpy and of very fine 

 flavor. Mr. Woodruff has a variety not yet introduced 

 which he calls "Nina." It is a dark red grape when 

 fully ripe, and is eatable and sweet as early as Moyer and 

 Jewell, but much larger than either ; it is very hardy, 

 healthy and productive. The fruit of these three varie- 

 ties proved palatable the last week in August, when 

 Moore's Early, growing alongside, puckered one's mouth. 



Owosso, not yet 

 ripe, looks at 

 present like Aga- 

 wam in size, 

 shape and solor 

 of berry, but its 

 cluster, though 

 loose, is not rag- 

 ged, like Aga- 

 wam's and it is a 

 strong gr o w e 

 and veiy produc- 

 tive. It is also 

 much healthier 

 and hardier than 

 Agawam, and 

 seems to me to 

 merit extensi v e 

 trial. 



I am much 

 pleased, so far, 

 with Mr. Mun- 

 son's Brilliant, of 



which I have three vines two years planted in my yard. It 

 promises, with me, to be all that its originator claims for it. 

 It is a strong, healthy grower, and is this season ripening 

 up a few beautiful clusters, compact and heavy, a little 

 darker than Delaware, pure, rich and fine in flavor. This 

 grape promises to be as early as Brighton, and showed no 

 sign of rot when Lindley and Brighton, on one side, were 

 slightly attacked by black-rot, and Niagara, on the other 

 side, by both brown and black-rot. Mr. Munson in- 

 formed me that it has endured a temperature of 27^ 

 below zero in Missouri — H. Purfield. 



Ornamental Board Walk. — The above sketch 

 shows the manner in which a walk constructed of i^i - 

 inch wooden slats 6 inches wide can be laid more orna- 

 mentally than the usual plank walk. The walk is to be 

 laid on stringers running lengthwise, placed near the 

 ends of the pieces. Where there is a crossing, with the 

 part worked out as shown in the engraving, which repre- 

 sents the crossing of a house-walk and street side-walk 

 the stringers must be varied somewhat, but there is no 

 difficulty in this. One point should always be observed 

 in laying a plapk walk in which the pieces run crosswise ; 

 namely, to have the stringers so near the ends of the 

 pieces that when the walk gets old and loose there will 

 be no danger, if one steps near the end of a piece, that 



Or.n.^mental Hoard Wa 



