ftEINQMATTER 'WATDESERVES 

 To BE WIDELY KNOWN, 



The Influence of Forests in 



protecting the, water supply is 

 well illustrated in the case of 

 Greece. In ancient days she 

 possessed 7,500,000 acres of for- 

 est. To-day she has hardly 

 2,000,000 acres, and the scarcity 

 of water, and other injurious cli- 

 matic effects are traceable to the destruction of the trees. 



Distance Between Grape-Vines. — In a paper on grape- 

 growing, read before the Western Michigan Horticultural 

 Society, A. H. Smith gave the results of planting vines 

 at different distances. Delawares planted 6 by 8 feet 

 produced 8 pounds of fruit to the vine ; at 8 by 8 feet 

 they gave 9 pounds to the vine ; and in rows 20 feet 

 apart, 8 feet apart in the rows, 19 pounds to the vine. 



The Green Mountain Grape. — A joint meeting of the 

 Connecticut State Board of Agriculture and State Pomo- 

 logical Society was held September i, on the grounds of 

 Stephen Hoyt's Sons, the introducers of the Green 

 Mountain grape. The center of attraction, of course, 

 was a vineyard of this fine variety. It is on heavy clay 

 land, with a northeast exposure, and yet here were found 

 long rowsiof four-year-old vines, loaded down with great, 

 double-shouldered bunches of delicious, sweet, ripe 

 grapes, when no other good variety had begun to ripen. 

 Experts expressed the opinion that it was the best early 

 market or family grape that has yet been offered. 



Sheep in the Orchard.— J. S. Woodward stated, at a 

 recent horticultural meeting, that he always made a 

 sheep-pasture of his orchard, and the sheep made the 

 best insecticides he ever had, He would advise keeping 

 100 sheep on every 10 acres of orchard. Give them 

 plenty of linseed meal and bran, which will make them 

 ravenous for apples. Although he has not plowed his 

 orchard in 14 years, it is in excellent condition. 



Blight-Proof Pears. — At the last meeting of the 

 American Pomological Society, Prof. Burrill suggested 

 that attempts be made to develop blight-proof pears, by 

 growing seedlings from sorts that appear to be compara- 

 tively exempt from the disease, such as Seckel, Angou- 

 leme, Anjou, Winter Nelis, Clairgeau and others. First 

 of all, we should try to ascertain which of the many va- 

 rieties now in cultivation escape the attacks of disease 

 most frequently. In propagating scab-proof varieties, 

 the difficulty will be greater, since there is not much 

 freedom from the disease. 



Peach Yellows ; Try Again.— In many localities for- 

 merly famous for their fine peach crops, few trees may 

 now be seen. The growers have become discouraged, 

 after losing their orchards from attacks of the yellows. 

 The old orchards are gone, and it is not thought worth 

 while to set new ones. Mr. Morrill, in answer to the 

 question whether it be safe to reset peach trees on the 



same land where a diseased orchard had been recently 

 pulled up, stated before the Michigan State Horticultural 

 Society, that the safety of this procedure has been de- 

 monstrated in Michigan to a certainty. He is not afraid 

 to pull up a diseased orchard one year, and set another 

 lot of trees the next. 



Birds and the Law.— Many of the laws enacted by 

 our legislatures for the purpose of protecting native birds 

 do more harm than good. An instance of this was stated 

 at a meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 

 during discussions on native birds. Under what was 

 called the "Scalp Act," $150,000 was drawn from the 

 public treasury in bounties for the distruction of wild- 

 cats, foxes, minks, weasels and other animals ; but an 

 investigation proved that at least $80,000 was paid for 

 destroying beneficial animals. Bare-faced frauds were 

 shown, and bounties were paid for the heads of common 

 domestic fowls, partridges and cuckoos, and the officers 

 were made to believe that the heads of English sparrows 

 were the heads of blood-thirsty hawks and owls. 



Sod-Forming Plants.— Among plants that can be used 

 to icover the ground beneath trees where grass will not 

 grow are Herniaj-ia glabra and Veronica refiens. 

 The first is a moss-like, creeping plant, which covers the 

 ground in a very short time, and surpasses a grass-sward 

 in beauty. A strip of ground was planted in April with 

 100 such plants, and in less than two months the entire 

 surface was closely covered. A very cold winter fol- 

 lowed, and the plants were tinged slightly brown, but by 

 April were again charmingly green. They will thrive in 

 any soil, in the open sun or in the shade. Teroyzica 

 repcns has somewhat larger leaves, of shining green and 

 generally the same characteristics 'as II. glabra. A grave- 

 mound planted with it in August was completely covered 

 by fall, and, with a slight protection during the winter, 

 was brighter and fresher than the mounds covered with 

 myrtle and ivy. The special feature of this plant is that 

 in May it is completely covered with light blue flowers, 

 borne low on the plant-stems. — Association of Amer- 

 ican Cemetery Superintendents. 



Worthy of Imitation. — As a result of reading Amer- 

 ican Gardening's account of the successful flower- 

 shows held in the west, I have organized a horticultural 

 society at Wayne, a suburban town of 2,000 inhabitants, 

 14 miles from Philadelphia. Wayne was founded by 

 Messrs. Drexel and Childs, and is the most popular town 

 near Philadelphia. Probably nine-tenths of the people 

 own their homes, with the result that all properties are 

 kept in excellent condition. There is great rivalry be- 

 tween owners of adjoining lands as to who shall have the 

 finest lawn or garden. This led me to believe that a 

 horticultural society would be popular, and I was right, 

 judging from the way that invitations to organize were 

 accepted. The society was only formed about ten days 

 ago, but many applications for membership have already 

 come in. The executive committee will soon meet to 

 formulate plans to promote the culture of flowers and 

 make arrangements for holding exhibitions next spring 

 and fall. I shall be pleased to report the result. — Chris- 

 topher Fallon, Philadelphia. 



