THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



21 



RASPBERRIES ON SANDY SOIL. 



When Raspberries are to be grown on poor, 

 sandy land, the best mode of preparation is 

 to open during autumn deep furrows with two 

 horses, six to eight feet apart ; then to dig 

 and haul enough tide- water muck to fill in 

 the furrows, which will be thoroughly frozen 

 before spring, and at the approach of warm 

 weather will crumble aiid become mellow, so 

 las to spread evenly ; then apply a good coat 

 of ground bone or hair manure along the 

 rows, and set the plants two or three 

 feet apart, requiring about two thousand 

 plants per acre. Bone, hoof, horn, hair, or 

 any refuse animal matter is well adapted to 

 promote the growth of Raspberries. 



Muck is a valuable addition to poor, 

 sandy land; it gives a better color and sub- 

 stance to the soil, absorbs and retains warmth 

 and moisture, for which both Raspberry and 

 Blackberry roots show a great partiality by 

 following the muck deposit and making a 

 more vigorous growth there than elsewhere. 



Such treatment prepares a good foundation 

 for carrying a Raspberry crop through a spell 

 of dry weather without suffering from drought. 

 Potatoes or other vegetables may be grown 

 between the rows, the widest way, the first 

 summer ; after that the Raspberries will re- 

 quire the whole space. 



The cultivation is very simple. Stir the 

 ground frequently with horse and cultivator 

 to keep down grass and weeds, being careful 

 the latter part of summer not to disturb by 

 deep culture the small roots feeding near the 

 surface. 



PEACH YELLOWS. 



This destructive plague is still causing a 

 great amount of damage in many Peach-grow- 

 ing localities. In return for much valuable 

 information received through the columns of 

 The American Garden, permit me to say to 

 its readers that I have saved my trees by 

 scraping away the earth a little from around 

 the roots, and forming a dish or hole to hold 

 about four to six quarts, and filling it with 

 boiling-hot soap-suds, once a week, until the 

 grubs or borers are effectually cooked. The 

 day following each application, place the 

 earth back around the roots until the suds are 

 used again. I am inclined to think the dis- 

 ease is caused by poisoning from these borers 

 at the roots, and that the alkali in the suds 

 acts like medicine to the human system. 

 Whatever the theory may be, I know that 

 neither Westchester County nor all New Jer- 

 sey can show finer Peaches than I have raised 

 the past few years from the pits. I planted 

 nothing but pits from choice fruit. One other 

 suggestion permit me to make : that if the 

 ground is properly prepared, and pits are 

 planted just where the tree is desired to 

 grow, the tree will live twice as long as trans- 

 planted and bedded ones. H. K. Miller. 



[It is now well known that the Yellows are 

 caused by a minute fungus growth at the 

 roots, gradually spreading through every 

 part of the trees. Analysis of the fruit and 

 leaves shows a deficiency of ash; and to 

 supply this, soap-suds, lye, or wood-ashes 

 form ready means. The application of hot 

 suds or lye is more efficacious than when 

 used cold, and the boiling liquids do not in- 

 jure the trees in the least. As a rule, grafted 

 or bedded trees are not so long-lived as nat- 

 ural ones. — Ed.] 



SOME INJURIOUS FUNGI. 



Fungi, the plural of Fungus, is the name 

 given to a class of flowerless plants of which 

 the Mushroom and Toadstools are the most 

 conspicuous and familiar examples. Unlike 

 most ordinary plants, Fungi have no seeds 

 or leaves, or even stems and roots, in the 

 sense that these four terms are used with 

 regard to trees and shrubs. Their structure 

 is of the simplest kind, being entirely cellu- 

 lar—that is, made up of small sacs placed 

 side by side, and end to end, with no such 

 thing as ducts or vessels, bark or wood. 



Like all other living things, the Fungi 

 have methods of reproducing their kind. As 

 the formation of seed is the end and aim of 

 flowering plants, so the production of spores 

 is the final act of the Fungus. Seeds and 

 spores are alike in function but widely differ- 

 ent in structure. The seed contains a little 

 plant (embryo), while a spore has no such 

 structure within its cell-wall or coat. 



The Fungi that most interest the orehard- 

 ist and gardener are microscopic, and, though 

 very minute, frequently do serious damage. 

 Let us glance first at the 



AMERICAN GRAPE MILDEW. 



This Fungus is best observed on the leaves 

 of the Grape, where it makes patches of yel- 

 lowish brown on the upper side, while a 

 white frost is on the corresponding under 

 side. The smooth-leaved varieties show the 

 mildew best, as it is not obscured by the 

 growth of hairs. Further than a white, pow- 

 dery appearance it is not to be determined 

 without the use of the compound microscope. 

 With it the powder resolves itself into small 

 bodies, oval in shape, which are spores, and 

 have been produced in large numbers upon 

 minute branches of the Fungus. The threads 

 or filaments of the mildew run in all direc- 

 tions in the tissue of the Grape leaf, and 

 fruit also, and rob it of nourishment out of 

 which to form the spores. The mildew 

 makes its appearance at any date, from June 

 to September, the time depending much upon 

 the character of the weather, a warm, moist 

 spell being most favorable for its develop- 

 ment. 



Flowers of Sulphur, sprayed upon the 

 leaves from below by means of a bellows 

 early in the season, as soon as signs of the 

 Fungus are seen, is the remedy for Grape 

 mildew. Anything that weakens the Grape- 

 vine, as early and over bearing, will tend to 

 the development of mildew. The strong, 

 thick-leaved varieties, like the Concord, are 

 less affected than thin-leaved and tender 

 ones. 



THE PEACH CURL 



Is a prevalent and injurious deformity that 

 has been ascribed to plant-lice, but is caused 

 by a minute Fungus. This parasite makes 

 its appearance as soon as the Peach-leaves 

 begin to unfold, and causes them to twist 

 and roll until their natural shape is almost 

 entirely lost. The Fungus grows within the 

 tissue of the leaf, the affected portions soon 

 becoming spongy and frequently of a bright 

 red color. The young stems are sometimes 

 distorted. All the affected parts soon turn 

 brown, wither, and die. The remedy is 

 to remove the diseased parts with a knife 

 and burn them, to prevent the spread of the 

 " Curl Fungus." If thrown down, the spores 

 may ripen, and the work will have been 

 largely in vain. 



SEEDING ORCHARDS. 



As to the treatment of Apple orchards, we 

 know that when they are established on light 

 gravelly or sandy soils they require period- 

 ical applications of manure, that the ground 

 should also be kept loose by shallow plow- 

 ing, and afterward to be surface-stirred 

 with the harrow or cultivator— all of which 

 is requisite to maintain a proper degree of 

 fertility. 



We have learned that to sow grass on the 

 surface of the orchard planted in such soils 

 is simply the first step toward the destruc- 

 tion of the trees, so far as regards their 

 fruit-bearing capacities. Of course, we are 

 now considering ordinary condition and 

 management, for it is quite practical, merely 

 considering it as a question of possibility, to 

 so enrich the surface of even the lightest of 

 soils as to obviate necessity of further sur- 

 face culture. 



On the other hand, we may imagine the 

 case of an orchard placed in a condition of 

 things very much the reverse of the one we 

 have considered. In this the soil is a strong, 

 rich loam, perhaps with a preponderance of 

 clay in its composition, and the trees are 

 growing vigorously, and for some years have 

 been making a great quantity of wood and 

 but very little fruit. 



When a case of this kind occurs, we know 

 that in order to produce fruitfulness we 

 must, by some means, weaken the growth, 

 and the most available means is to cover the 

 orchards with grass. This will have a tend- 

 ency to check the growth of the shoots, 

 and as a consequence favor the production of 

 fruit. This is in accordance with the general 

 law that " whatever tends to weaken a plant 

 favors the production of flowers and fruit, 

 and whatever tends to the luxuriant growth 

 j of leaves and branches is unfavorable to the 

 production of fruit." 



Therefore it is that the question as to 

 whether orchards should be kept in grass or 

 cultivated like a corn-field cannot be an- 

 swered with regard to orchards in general ; 

 but when the question is applied to any 

 particular orchard it admits of a definite 

 answer, the condition of the trees (and soil) 

 indicating what the answer will be. — William 

 Sounders, before the Potomac Frmt-Growers. 



PROFITS IN PEACHES. 



A prominent fruit-grower of Georgia writes 

 thus: "I have just received the returns from 

 three one-third-bushel crates of Peaches which 

 I shipped to New York on May 30th. The net 

 proceeds for the three crates, after deducting 

 freight and commission, amounted to thirty- 

 two dollars. This is, perhaps, the highest price 

 ever realized by any Georgia fruit-grower for 

 the first shipment, and highly satisfactory." 

 Which we do not doubt in the least. The 

 wonder only is that every planter in the 

 South does not embark in Peach-growing 

 when a bushel of fruit gives him as large a 

 profit as an acre of cotton. 



Raising New Strawberries. — A man has 

 about as much chance to raise a new Straw- 

 berry, superior to every old variety, as he 

 has to draw the great prize in the Havana 

 lottery. 



A good mulch is a better preventive against 

 drought than watering. 



