44 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



;!§If!®i§l Jfetp, 



THE GRAY SQUIRREL. 



Without pets of some kind, half the boys 

 of our country (and a fail' sprinkling of the 

 girls, too) would run wild, and there would 

 be a constant war to keep them at home. 

 But right here is where pets play a very im- 

 portant part, and no parent who is gifted 

 with any forethought will object to the com- 

 paratively trifling expense when there is so 

 much that is desirable at stake. It may not 

 pay in a mere dollars and cents view, but it 

 will in other ways, to buy your boys pets such 

 as they want, and can and will care for 

 properly. Many a boy has been led from 

 idleness and incipient sinfulness to habits of 

 industry and usefulness through having and 

 owning some pets, whether birds or animals. 



The gray squirrel, when gotten quite 

 young and well tamed, offers as handsome 

 and nice a j>et as a boy can have. Then 

 very young children should have something 

 quieter, and not so quick with legs and teeth 

 as is the gray squirrel. While they can, 

 when trapped full grown, be made quite 

 tame by kindness and gentleness, they never 

 entirely lose their wild nature, and several 

 times have we been reminded of this when 

 their sharp teeth suddenly pierced our fingers, 

 on our handling them too roughly in our 

 eagerness to catch them and return them to 

 their cages, for we were accustomed to giv- 

 ing them their liberty for a couple of hours 

 each evening in our dining-room. It is 

 always best to secure very young ones — those 

 which have never known what it was to have 

 their freedom, and then you can make them 

 very tame, while older ones have generally 

 to be kept in their cages all the time, which 

 detracts very much from a boy's estimate of 

 their good qualities as pets. 



The utmost cleanliness must be observed 

 with them, and their cages must be well 

 cleaned out daily, fresh litter (fine hay being 

 the best) being regularly supplied. They 

 must be watered daily with pure, fresh, and 

 cool water, which they lap like a dog from a 

 cup or basin, and can soon be accustomed to 

 come at one's call to take their drink from 

 their master's hand. They are very fond of 

 chestnuts and other nuts, which is their 

 accustomed food, but they take kindly to 

 bread, cake, bits of apple, etc., and we have 

 found that it does them good to vary the food 

 a little. They delight to gnaw on a piece of 

 fresh twig, and one should be given them 

 every two or three days to exercise their 

 teeth on. — Poultry Monthly. 



Carrier Pigeons.— It is stated in the 

 Scientific American that a Carrier Pigeon 

 belonging to Mr. John C. Haines, of Toms 

 River, N. J., flew recently a distance of 

 thirty-six miles, in an air line, in twenty-four 

 minutes. Ten other pigeons, released at the 

 same moment, reached home a minute later 

 than their leader. 



Gold-Pish. — One of the most frequent 

 causes of disease in pet fishes is handling, 

 while moving them from one vessel to an- 

 other. A net of gauze, or other soft material, 

 should be used for this purpose, and the 

 fishes never touched with the hands. 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. 



Bulletin No. 2 of the New York State Agri- 

 cultural Society.— A summary cf the replies from 

 240 correspondents as to the state of the crops in 



Market Gardening Around New York.— An in- 

 structive paper read before the annual meeting of the 

 Association of Nurserymen, Florists, and Seedsmen, 

 by Peter Henderson. 



Fair Edition of the Kural New-Yorker.-This 

 is intended for free distribution at the autumn ex- 

 hibitions, and may well serve as a model number of 

 that valuable agricultural and horticultural journal. 

 It is full of useful and practical information, and will 

 bo sent free to any one applying to Rural New- Yorker, 

 New York. 



Tree Planting and Forestry in Europe, by 



Professor B. G. Northrop, Secretary of the Connecti- 

 cut Board of Education.— This wort, although pri- 

 marily written as a State Report, contains much 

 information of the highest importance to the entire 

 country. The writer relates what he saw and learned 

 at the principal schools of Forestry in Europe, and 

 from these and many other facts he draws the perti- 

 nent conclusions how best to preserve our own forests, 

 and how to transform many large areas, which are 

 now worse than useless, into valuable timber lands. 

 To the agriculturist, as well as to the student of 

 national economy, the work offers many suggestions 

 for thought. 



Transactions of the Massachusetts Horticult- 

 ural Society for 1880.— The two parts of the re- 

 port were kindly sent us by Mr. Robert Manning, the 

 efficient secretary of the Society. The first part con- 

 tains.in addition to the minutes of the meetings, valu- 

 able papers and discussions on New Hardy Orna- 

 mental Trees and Shrubs ; Native Plants ; Profits 

 on Farming and Gardening; Peat and Peat Lands; 

 Influence of Stock on the Scion; Rose Culture; 

 Seedless Fruits; Dates of Flowering of Trees and 

 Shrubs in Eastern Massachusetts, and many other 

 shorter articles. The second part is filled with re- 

 ports of the exhibitions, and other matter of local 

 interest mainly. 



History of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society from 1829 to lS^S.-Tho title of this 

 handsome volume, edited by Robert Manning, hardly 

 conveys an idea of its contents. Although the primary 

 object of the work is to give an accurate account of 

 all that relates to the history of this society, it is 

 edited in that liberal and unselfish spirit which has 

 always characterized this excellent organization, and 

 the work does almost take the place of a history of 

 American Horticulture. The paiustaking care and 

 endeavor of the editor to secure the utmost accuracy 

 in every detail are apparent throughout the volume, 

 and to any one interested in the progress of American 

 Horticulture, or the history of the introduction and 

 improvement of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, the 

 work will fill a long-felt want. 



Second Quarterly Report of the Kansas State 

 Hoard of Agriculture.— A pamphlet of 108 pages, a 

 leading feature- of which is valuable papers by the 

 most prominent growers in the various counties on 

 the raising, handling, and marketing of Broom Corn, 

 Castor Beans, Flax, and Hemp. These crops, though 

 formerly considered of minor importance, are found 

 to be well adapted to Kansas soil and climate, and 

 owing to their comparative freedom from insect depre- 

 dations are especially likely to receivo no small share 

 of attention in future. To all interested in a greater 

 and more profitable diversity of crops, this collection 

 of information from men actually engaged in their 

 cultivation will provo of great interest and value. 

 The report can bo obtained upon application, by in- 

 closing two three-cent stamps to the Secretary, J. K. 

 Hudson, Topeka, Kansas. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Plant for Name.— E. A. M., Green Tree, Pa.— The 

 name of the flower sent is Hibiscus trionum (flower 

 | of an hour), the popular name given to it on account 

 of its short time of efflorescence. It is a native of 

 Southern Europe, and has found its way into gardens 

 and cultivated grounds so as to be almost naturalized. 



International Cotton Exposition.— This fair is 

 held at Atlanta, Georgia, from October 5th to Dccem- 

 | her 31st. We are informed by tho Director-General 

 that excursion tickets will bo sold during October, 

 November, and December, from Now York to tho 

 Exposition, at .$30.00, good to return within thirty 

 days from date of purchase. 



Hoya carnosa (Wax Plant).— Subscriber, South 

 Bend, Ind.— This curious plant belongs to tho Milk- 

 weed family. It is a native of Asia, and has to bo 

 grown in a hot-house or warm sitting-room. It 

 thrives splendidly in tho warm, dry air of our rooms, 

 when exposed to the full sun and syringed frequently 



with tepid water. It requires a light, rich soil and 

 good drainage. 



Supply of Nitrogen.— Prof. Atwatcr says: "The 

 prevailing opinion among agricultural chemists for 

 some time, and one which I have shared, has been 

 that plants get nearly all their nitrogen from the soil, 

 and extremely little from the air. But there are 

 many facts which are very hard to explain on this 

 theory, and I am, with many others, coming to suspect 

 very strongly that plants do, somehow or other, get 

 considerable nitrogen from the air." 



Barren Peach Tree.— IV. C, Chateauguay, Can- 

 ada.— Barreness in fruit trees may result from various 

 causes. The most frequent one is a too vigorous 

 growth of wood. In such cases, nothing promotes 

 fruiting so much as pinching in of the young shoots 

 during summer. Fall and winter pruning has just 

 tho opposite effect, and is performed mainly to shape 

 and thin out the tree. " Prune in summer for fruit, in 

 winter for wood," says an old adage. 



Vallota purpurea.— Mrs. A. P., Unionville, Conn.— 

 The Vallota succeeds best with ordinary pot culture. 

 While growing, it requires an abundance of water, 

 but during winter no more water should bo given than 

 is necessary to prevent its drying off. It requires but 

 little heat, and grows best in a compost of loam, leaf, 

 mold, and sand. It can easily bepropagated by offsets, 

 which arc freely developed, and, after potting singly, 

 will soon produce flowering bulbs. 



Cauliflowers not Heading.— J. H. F., Compton, 

 JV. Y.— The general error in the cultivation of Cauli- 

 flowers is, to plant the early kinds too late and the 

 late varieties too early. Still, during so severe a 

 drought as the present one, it is not surprising that 

 Cauliflower should not head well, even if all possible 

 care has been given. Cauliflower needs rich, deep soil, 

 good cultivation, considerable moisture, and, when the 

 heads are forming, tho long outside leaves should be 

 turned over to the center of the heads. 



American Potatoes in England.— At the Great 

 International Fruit, Vegetable, and Flower Show, 

 recently held at Manchester, American Potatoes 

 formed a remarkable /eaturo of the exhibition, and 

 are desciibed as of fair size, exceedingly clean and 

 handsome. Triumph, Trophy, Late Bosc, Snowflalcc, 

 Pride of America, Beauty of Hebron, Early Ohio, and 

 Matchless wcro among the most admired varieties. 

 The latter was awarded a first-class certificate by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. 



Guano and Potatoes. — T. G. C, Central Falls, M. I. 

 — Guano and all strong nitrogenous fertilizers have a 

 tendency to produce rot in Potatoes and to deteriorate 

 their table qualities. Potash salts and Phosphates, 

 when applied to ground on which a good dressing of 

 stable manure has been plowed under during the 

 previous year, give generally tho best results. 

 Plaster, dusted over tho leaves during the growing 

 season, is very beneficial. We have never perceived 

 any good from applj-ing it in the hill, but it may act 

 differently on other soils. 



Scraping Grape-vines and Trees.— R.H., Colum- 

 bus, O., asks: "Should the loose bark on the main stem 

 and branches of Grape-vines be pulled off, and what is 

 the best time for doing it ? " 



The. bark of Grape-vines and fruit trees serves as a 

 protection against sudden changes of temperature, 

 against wind and sun, and is as necessary to the life 

 of the plants as hair and feathers are to animals, 

 Only in exceptional cases, in order to destroy injurious 

 insects, is it advisable to scrape tho trunks of trees 

 or pull off the loose bark of Grape-vines. Spring is the 

 best season for this operation. 



Cocoa Fiber Refuse. - A. D. states, in Gardening 

 Illustrated, that "this very useful material may not 

 possess any valuable manurial properties, but it is 

 remarkablo that all kinds of seedling and soft-rooted 

 plants tako to it most readily and grow in it freely. 

 Its chief recommendation when mixed with stiff soilsis 

 held to be its enduring properties, giving fiber to these 

 and keeping them open and porous, instead of running 

 together and getting baked like a brick. Leaf soil 

 and decayed manure, full of nutriment as these may 

 be, soon disappear, but tho Cocoa fibcris moro lasting. 

 Not least, tho refuse is most valuable as a top-dressing 

 for soils that burn." 



Compost Heaps.- C. A., Colorado Springs, Col.— 

 The principal object of composting fertilizers is to 

 prepare them by fermentation and dissolution so 

 that they become sooner available for plant food than 

 would bo tho case when applied in the raw state. 

 The easiest way to make a compost heap is to spread 

 a layer of muck, sods, or soil about six inches deep, on 

 any convenient lovel spot ; over this spread a layer of 

 stable manure, about twelve incl-.cs deep, then soil 

 again, and so on, to any convenient height. Ground 

 bono or other concentrated fertilizers may also be 

 mixed through the mass. The top of tho heap should 

 be made level, so as to catch tho rain, and that water 

 maybe carted on it when the mass becomes too dry. 



