10 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[January, 



BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS RECEIVED. 

 Synopsis of a Course of Lectures on Practical 

 Fruit-Culture,delivered at the Ohio State University 

 during the fall term, 1881, by Prof. W. R. Lazenby. 



Eighth Biennial Report of the Trustees, Super- 

 intendent, and Treasurer of the Illinois Asylum for 

 Feeble-Minded Children, at Lincoln, 111. Dr. C. T. Wil- 

 bur, Superintendent. 



Farmers' Reference Book.— A small pamphlet, 

 published by A. A. Harrison, Omaha, contains, inter- 

 spersed "with various advertisements, some useful 

 tables and matter of genera] interest. 



Quarterly Report of the Kansas State Board 

 of Agriculture, for the quarter ending September 

 30th, containing reports as to the condition of grain 

 and other crops, farm animals, etc. ; also statistics and 

 experiences relating to Horticulture, Agriculture, etc. 

 The future Reports of the Board will be edited by Mr. 

 F. D. Cobum, who succeeds Colonel J. K. Hudson in 

 the Secretaryship. 



Bulletin No. 3 of the New York State Agricult- 

 ural Society.— Tills society is doing a good work in col- 

 lecting these statistics, which an- of considerable value, 

 not only to those living in the State, but to farmers 

 generally. The replies to the questions concerning 

 the Com and Potato crops have almost all been defi- 

 nite' statements of the proportionate reduction of this 

 year's as compared with last year's yield. Correspond- 

 ents generally characterize the drought of the late 

 summer and autumn as one of the longest and most 

 severe ever known. 



Journal of the American Agricultural Associa- 

 tion, Nos. 3 and 4, edited by J. H. Real, Secretary.— 

 This volume contains two hundred and sixty-two 

 pages, and is as handsomely and attractively gotten 

 up as the preceding one. Among its many valuable 

 articles arc a. description of Th. A. Havcmcyer's Dairy 

 and Stock farms, by F. D. Moulton ; Ancient Hus- 

 bandry, by Prof. J. M. McEryde ; the Experiment 

 Farm of the Sural New- Yorker ; Agricultural Educa- 

 tion in Bavaria, by Prof. R. B. Warder ; Relation be- 

 tween Seeding and Quality in certain Vegetables and 

 Fruits, by Dr. E. L. Sturtevant ; Agricultural Instruc- 

 tion for the Young, by Dr. Byron D. Hoisted ; Electro- 

 Horticulture, by Dr. C. W. Siemens ; Sheep Hus- 

 bandry in the South, by J. H. Moore ; and a large 

 space is devoted to the discussion of "The Railroad 

 and the Farmer." 



A Glimpse at Michigan Horticulture, by Charles 

 W. Garfield, Secretary of the Michigan State Horti- 

 cultural Society.— A plain and interesting account of 

 the fruit lands of Michigan is given in this neat 

 pamphlet. The extent and increase of the State's 

 fruit productions is shown in carefully prepared 

 tables. The shipments to Chicago via the C. & W. M. 

 R. R. alone amounted last year to nearly two million 

 quarts of Strawberries, 401,483 half -bushel packages 

 of Peaches and Grapes, and 57,405 barrels of Apples. 

 The beauties of the country and its advantages for 

 fruit-growing are clearly described, closing with the 

 statement that " the old derisive songs that told of 

 ague, marshes, rattlesnakes, and wolverines as the 

 natural products of Michigan are not sung any more ; 

 andnono visit the peninsular State who do not go 

 away with pleasant accounts of her climate, soil, pro- 

 ductions, and people." 



The New Botany, a Lecture on the best Method 

 of Teaching, by Prof. W.J. Beal.— In this highly in- 

 teresting lecture Prof. Beal explains briefly the im- 

 mense revolution which has taken place in the 

 methods of teaching and studying botany and all 

 natural sciences since the days of Aristotle and Pliny, 

 and even since "the father of Botany," Linnaeus. 

 While even as late as forty years ago Botany was 

 usually only considered a pleasant and proper pastime 

 for young school-girls, and, as generally pursued, con- 

 sisted mainly in learning from a book the forms and 

 names of roots and stems, leaves, inflorescence, and 

 the several parts of flowers and fruits, the Botany of 

 to-day is studied from the ever open and living book of 

 Nature herself. The student commences his studies 

 with observing and discovering for himself what was 

 formerly made a matter of memorizing only ; he he- 

 comes in a measure the author of his own text-books, 

 and an independent observer and experimenter. In 

 this way, young students not unfrequently make dis- 

 coveries new to science. Technical terms, which are 

 generally so disheartening to beginners, are only given 

 as a need is felt for a name or definition, so that the 

 learning of these does not become tedious. Little 

 stress is placed on investigating a number of chapters 

 in a definite order, as given in text-books, hut no 

 topic is abandoned till its various forms have been 

 thoroughly studied. The lecture itself is such a 

 model of condensation of the vast material it treats 

 of, that it is difficult to condense still more even its 

 most important points only In a short review. To 

 those who have not followed the marvelous progress 

 in modern science, the careful reading of this lecture 

 offers an unlimited amount of material for thought. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Mapes's Fertilizers.— Subscriber, Millerton, N.Y. 

 —Mapes's Fertilizers are as reliable as any in market. 

 We have used them for years, and are well satisfied 

 with their results. 



Moore's Ruhy Currant.— H. K„ Leroy, N. Y., and 

 others— As stated in our last issue, no plants will be 

 for sale before next fall. Those owning the stock will 

 probably advertise in this paper as soon as they are 

 ready to fill orders. 



Crystal White Wax Bean.— H. 8., Brandon, Wis. 

 —This Bean has white seed, and is quite distinct from 

 the Black Wax Bean. Its pods are waxy, transparent, 

 as stringlessas a Bean can well be, ami of good quality. 

 It ripens very early, and is altogether a most valuable 

 variety. 



Anemones.— E. W., Beerfleld, Mass.— In a sheltered 

 position, and in naturally or artificially drained soil, 

 Anemones may be wintered outdoors without risk. 

 They have to he well covered at the approach of hard 

 frosts. Dry leaves and evergreeu boughs make an 

 excellent protection. 



Fall Planting.— Mrs. C. M. D., Georgetown, D. C— 

 Hydrangeas and most hardy shrubs may be trans- 

 planted during the fall months, and where the soil is 

 dry and easily worked, this season is in some respects 

 to be preferred. In heavy, cold soils, however, and 

 where water may stand on the surface during winter, 

 spring planting is more advisable. 



Propagating Quinces.— F. H. W., Guernsey Co., O. 

 -Quince seed should be sown very early in spring ; it 

 sprouts readily after being soaked in warm water. The 

 seedlings, however, will not beof the same kind as the 

 parent tree — some may be better, but most of them 

 will be inferior. The propagation of improved varie- 

 ties is accomplished by layers or cuttings. 



Cultivators and Seed Drills.— fi. W. B., Cliester, 

 Pa.— Hand and horse cultivators are used by all 

 extensive market gardeners. Seed drills are in 

 use more on farms than in market gardens. Hand- 

 sowing, although much more expensive, is found 

 more reliable by market gardeners, who not seldom 

 pay more for rent and manure of one acre of ground 

 than many a farmer for a hundred-acre farm. 



Injurious Insects in the Grapery— Reader, O.— 

 The green fly and thrip can easily be destroyed by 

 syringing the vines with the following mixture : one 

 gill kerosene, two pounds whale-oil soap, one pound 

 tobacco soap, eighty gallons water. Also against the 

 red spider and mealy bug this is a better remedy than 

 sulphur fumes. For destroying aphis and thrip, fumi- 

 gations of tobacco-stems will be found very effectual. 



Chicken Cholera.— D. T., Wacoochee, Ala.— Pep- 

 per or Blue Pills are the most renowned remedies 

 for Chicken Cholera, yet in fully developed cases there 

 is little help. Preventives are more effectual. Sulphur, 

 in small quantities, mixed with the food, is very good ; 

 broken charcoal kept in a box in the yard is also bene- 

 ficial to the health of fowls. " Imperial Egg Food," 

 given occasionally, keeps poultry in good condition, 

 and is probably as good a preventive against disease 

 as anything. 



Ornamental Weeds.— H. L. T., Upton, Mass., sends 

 a plant for name which he does not find described in seed 

 catalogues. He says it has a very pretty leaf, green, 

 striped with white ; some have red and some white 

 blossoms; it makes a very beautiful beddiny plant; 

 is very hardy, and spreads rapidly. Our correspond- 

 ent must be a lover of plants, indeed, and it seems 

 almost cruel to tell him that this " beautiful bedding 

 plant" is nothing more nor less than Zamimn amplex- 

 icaule (Dead Nettle), a common weed of Europe, which 

 is rapidly becoming naturalized here, and has already 

 become a troublesome pest in sonic localities. Never- 

 theless, when growing in rich, damp ground, the plant 

 is very pretty, and who can tell but fashion may yet 

 raise this lowly weed as high in the social scale as the 

 Daisy % 



Horse-Radish.-J. C P., Macon, Ga.— Market 

 gardeners near New York raise Horse-Radish as a 

 second crop by planting it between rows of Early 

 Cabbages, Beets, Cauliflower, etc., so that after these 

 crops are removed the Horse- Radish occupies the 

 entire ground. In this case the sets are planted two 

 feet one way and eighteen inches the other, requiring 

 about fifteen thousand per acre. In field culture more 

 room may be given, making the rows three feet apart 

 and planting the sets eighteen inches apart, requiring 

 about ten thousand sets per acre. After the rows are 

 marked out, holes are made at the proper distances 

 with pointed sticks, the roots dropped in these and 

 covered so as to be about two inches helow the sur- 

 face. During the first months the ground is well cul- 

 tivated and kept free from weeds; during the latter 

 part of the season the tops and leaves grow so rapidly 

 and spread so much, that cultivation becomes unnec- 

 essary. Horse- Radish, to do its best, requires a deep, 

 mellow soil and an almost unlimited amount of 



MISCELLANEOUS. 

 Southern Fruits and Vegetables.— Market gar- 

 dening at the South, for the supply of Northern 

 markets, is thus far only in its infancy, yet the ship- 

 ments from Charleston to Northern markets last year 

 amounted to 823,544 quarts of berries, 32,230 barrels 

 of Potatoes, and 90,514 packages of vegetables. 



Shrinkage of Wheat.— A series of experiments, 

 made by Prof. E. M. Shelton upon the Kansas Agri- 

 cultural College Farm, disprove the popular belief 

 that grain shrinks in the bin from evaporation when 

 put up entirely dry. In fact, the experimental sacks, 

 containing two hundred pounds of Wheat each, in- 

 creased in weight from one-half to a full pound during 

 a storage of seven months. 



Railway Gardening.— The value of keeping the 

 surroundings of railway stations neat and tastefully 

 planted with flowers, as a means of developing horti- 

 cultural taste, can hardly be overestimated. Several 

 companies have spent considerable sums for this pur- 

 pose dur ing the past summer. A plan which seems to 

 work very satisfactorily has been adopted by the 

 Boston & Maine R. R. The company allows its station 

 agents $10 a year each for seeds, plants, etc., and in 

 addition offers prizes of $50, $30, and $20 to the agents 

 whose stations are best kept and present the neatest 

 and most attractive appearance. 



Poisonous Perfumes.— Adulteration in perfumes is 

 carried on to an enormous extent here as well as in 

 Europe, and as long as no injurious substances are 

 used in their manufacture, not much harm is done by 

 their use. But when these so-called perfumes are only 

 poisons under fictitious names, some stop ought to be 

 put to their sale. Recent English papers report a case 

 where a little girl had bought some Heliotrope per- 

 fume at a bazar, and had applied it on her face. This 

 caused a vesicular eruption, swelling, itching, and in 

 fact erysipelas, which lasted for some time. The scent 

 was made with some of the products of coal tar and 

 not with the odoriferous principles of plants, thus 

 acquiring its irritating properties. 



Destruction of Historical Trees.— A few months 

 ago, one of the most renowned and oldest botanical 

 landmarks, the celebrated " Cypress Tree " of Sparta, 

 in Greece, was destroyed by a band of gypsies, who left 

 their camp-fires burning beneath its branches. The 

 tree must have been nearly three thousand years old, 

 for four hundred years before the Christian era it was 

 already described by Pausanias as an old tree. It 

 was seventy-five feet high, and* ten feet in diameter 

 near the ground. Our own " Big Trees of California " 

 are much reduced in numbers and have barely escaped 

 destruction by curiosity-hunters. And now we are 

 informed that the once famous and extensive Cedar 

 forest of Lebanon has dwindled down to the dimen- 

 sions of a mere thicket, numbering ahoutfour hundred 

 trees. To save it from complete destruction and pre- 

 serve it at least in its present extent, Rustem Pasha, 

 the Governor-General of the Lebanon, has issued a 

 special ordinance, containing a series of stringent 

 regulations calculated to check, if not quite to put a 

 stop to, the vandalism and carelessness of most travel- 

 ers. It is expressly forbidden to put up tents or other 

 kinds of shelter within the district of the trees, or to 

 light fires or cook any provisions in their vicinity. 

 No one is allowed to break off a bough or even a twig 

 from the trees. It is forbidden to bring any beasts of 

 burden within the district. Should oxen, sheep, goats, 

 or other pasturage cattle bo found within the pre- 

 scribed limits, they will be irredeemably confiscated. 



California Fruits.— We are indebted to Messrs. 

 Swett & Norcross, of Riverside, San Bernardino 

 County, California, for a box of new Seedling Limes, 

 to Mr. T. B. Cover for Washington Navel Oranges, 

 Lemons, and Limes, and to Mr. S. B. Bliss, of the 

 same place, for Grapes and Raisins— all the product of 

 their orchards and vineyards. The beautiful appear- 

 ance and excellent quality of these fruits surprised us, 

 as well as all those who saw them at the meeting of 

 the Horticultural Society, where we exhibited some of 

 them. Riverside is a new fruit region, as yet hut little 

 known in the East, but if its fruit-growers can pro- 

 duce such fine subtropical fruits in quantity, and can 

 ship them in as good a condition as these arrived, it 

 will not be long before they will be favorably known 

 in every Eastern market, and come in powerful com- 

 petition with imported fruits. From the Riverside 

 Press and Horticulturist, a bright and live weekly pub- 

 lished by Mr. L. M. Holt, which was received at the 

 same time, we learn that the settlement was begun 

 but ten years ago, and that since the completion of the 

 irrigation-canals, land which was formerly absolutely 

 worthless finds now ready sale for from two to three 

 hundred dollars per acre. It has been practically dem- 

 onstrated that no section of California excels this 

 region in the cultivation of semi-tropical fruits, and as 

 the climate is delightful and healthy, and the settle- 

 ment is composed largely of intelligent and wealthy 

 people, a most promising future awaits this " Modern 

 Garden of Eden." 



