164 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[September, 



fie Jnrit ffsAn. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



White Grubs are among the most dreaded 

 and destructive pests in the Strawberry bed, 

 as we are almost powerless to prevent their 

 infestations. Yet, accepting the position as 

 we find it, we can do considerably to stop 

 them in their devastating career, similar to 

 the principle according to which burning 

 houses are pulled down to prevent the spread 

 of the fire to the adjoining ones. 



A grub-infested Strawberry bed should be 

 gone over every day, and wherever a wilted 

 plant is discovered, it should be dug up at 

 once, and search made for the marauder. 

 He will usually be at work at the main root, 

 where he may easily be found and crushed. 

 But when a plant is already badly wilted, 

 which is a sign that it has been attacked 

 some time ago, the grub — who prefers a 

 fresh, juicy root to a dry and dead one — has 

 generally already gone for another victim, 

 usually the next plant in the row. Careful 

 search has then to be made for another 

 wilted plant and, if there is one near by 

 which shows the least sign even of wilting, 

 do not delude yourself with the idle hope 

 that it may revive again, but pull it out at 

 once, and the grub will be found every time. 

 The treatment is radical, to be sure, — in 

 every sense of the word, — but it is far better 

 to pull out one half of your plants, in order to 

 save the other, than to let the grub take all. 



We have heard the remark made : " What 

 is the use of killing a few, others will come 

 to take their places ? " This is erroneous, 

 others will not, cannot come to take their 

 places, at .least not before another year and 

 before another crop of June beetles" appears 

 to deposit its eggs in the ground again. The 

 grubs themselves cannot fly, nor do they 

 wander very far, so that every one killed 

 lessens the amount of damage done. 



The Apple Crop. — Over a large extent of 

 country, fruit growers will have little time to 

 devote to the gathering and storing of their 

 Apples, yet in a few more favored regions 

 the crop is bountiful, and, as prices will no 

 doubt rule high, extra care should be used 

 to secure all in the best order possible. The 

 great demand for American Apples in 

 Europe, and the all but certainty of obtain- 

 ing remunerative prices for well grown, 

 carefully and timely picked, and properly 

 packed fruit, with the equal certainty of loss 

 when carelessly handled, have taught fruit 

 growers the necessity of bestowing the ut- 

 most care upon every detail connected with 

 the harvesting, storing, and packing of their 

 orchard crops. 



Picking Apples. — As a rule Apples should 

 be picked as soon as, or a little before, they 

 are ripe ; that is, when they separate easily 

 from the tree. 



Keeping Apples. — Whether Apples are 

 headed up in barrels or spread on shelves, 

 the place in which they are kept must be as 

 cool as possible, without actual freezing ; it 

 should also be dry and dark, and everything 

 in it must be kept scrupulously clean. 



Keeping Grapes. — In Europe, Grapes are 

 preserved fresh a long time by cutting the 

 bunches with a piece of the cane attached, 

 the lower end of which is placed in a jar 

 filled with water. 



CHARLES DOWNING FOB HOME MARKET. 



It is a fact well known to every practical 

 Strawberry grower that soil and climate have 

 a noticeable influence on the growth and 

 productiveness of the leading varieties of 

 Strawberries. Certain kinds grow rank and 

 produce bountiful crops in one locality, 

 while in another, under similar culture, the 

 same varieties fail, both in growth of plant 

 and yield of fruit. 



There are, however, a few exceptions to 

 this rule, as may be witnessed by the Wil- 

 son, that thrives everywhere under good cul- 

 tivation. The shipping qualities and large 

 yield make it popular and profitable to grow- 

 ers whose places are long distances from 

 market. For these reasons the Wilson is as 

 popular to-day as it was twenty years ago. 

 It would be safe to assert that in extent of 

 surface planted now in this country the Wil- 

 son stands as a hundred to one, that is, for 

 every acre of any other variety planted there 

 are one hundred acres of the Wilson. This 

 is not on account of the quality of the fruit, 

 for usually it is as sour as old cider vinegar. 

 It is solely owing to its uniform yield and 

 firmness for shipping. 



With Strawberry growers near to market 

 the matter of firmness is not of as much im- 

 portance as the quality, productiveness, and 

 uniformity of size. My own fruit farm is 

 located only two miles from the city of 

 Newark, New Jersey, which has a population 

 of one hundred and forty thousand, and 

 eleven miles from New-York. In either city 

 our fruit is delivered by our own wagons. 

 Ten years ago I stopped planting the Wilson, 

 and in its place planted Seth Boyden, Agri- 

 culturist, Triomphe de O-and, Charles Down- 

 ing, and still later added Great American, 

 Green Prolific, Sharpless, and the Crescent. 

 Prom year to year I kept on discarding for 

 field culture one or more of those kinds, until 

 six years ago my list was reduced in num- 

 bers to one variety, and that variety was the 

 Charles Downing. Many of my neighbors, 

 practical and intelligent growers, were 

 amused and somewhat surprised at my 

 choice in selecting this one, throwing aside 

 such berries as the Seth Boyden, Great 

 American, and Crescent. But since then I 

 have contiuued with the Charles Downing, 

 increasing the acreage, and have grown in 

 a single season as many as one thousand 

 bushels of this variety, and have never had 

 any difficulty in finding a ready and a paying 

 market. My neighbors, who have been eye- 

 witnesses to the results with this variety on 

 my place, have changed their former opin- 

 ions about the merits of this berry for a 

 home market ; and now they have more sur- 

 face planted with it than they have with any 

 other variety. 



The Charles Downing, when grown under 

 high culture on my farm, is rank and vigorous 

 in foliage, the fruit stems strong and upright, 

 and the crop of fruit always large. The 

 berries are above the average in size and, 

 what is still better, when grown for profit, 

 the last picking will nearly equal the first 

 in appearance ; or, in other words, there are 

 no " culls" or deformed fruit, as happens to 

 be the case always with the Seth Boyden and 

 some of the other large varieties. I am so well 

 satisfied with the Charles Downing that last 

 spring I set out over forty thousand plants. 

 This, too, with the knowledge of the fact that 

 the Mount Vernon, Manchester, and Bidwell 

 were promising rivals, all of them having 



been indorsed in complimentary terms by 

 well-known horticulturists in different sec- 

 tions of the country. But in my own case, I 

 must see more proof than came under my 

 observation this year before I will throw 

 aside the Downing for either of these new 

 kinds 



P. T. Quinn. 



MARKET AND SHIPPING BERRIES. 



In describing new fruits there is frequently 

 a deplorable vagueness of terms displayed, 

 which leaves the reader- entirely in the dark 

 about the real facts, and results not seldom 

 to the detriment of the introducer. 



The terms " Market" and " Shipping" ber- 

 ries are generally used as synonyms, which 

 is a great mistake. A berry may be excellent 

 for shipping purposes and yet be a very poor 

 market berry. All that constitutes a good 

 "shipping berry" is firmness, while in a 

 "market berry," for the great fruit centers 

 of the country, size and good appearance are 

 of first consideration. 



Small berries, however excellent shippers 

 they may be, find but slow sales when they 

 come in competition with larger ones. Neu- 

 nan's Prolific, the " Charleston Strawberry," 

 for instance, which is probably the best 

 shipping berry in existence, is only salable 

 here as long as other varieties are not to be 

 had ; but as soon as the larger berries from 

 Virginia make their appearance, it cannot 

 any longer be sold profitably. On the other 

 hand, the Sharpless, which is of inferior 

 quality and a poor shipper, is in its season 

 one of our leading market berries. The 

 Crescent is one of the most profitable market 

 berries, but worthless for shipping. 



PROPAGATING GRAPES FROM SINGLE BUDS, 



A very simple method of propagating 

 Grapes practiced at the Geisenheim School 

 of Horticulture, on the Rhine, is described 

 by C. A. Keffer, in the Rural New-Yorker, as 

 follows : 



Thoroughly ripened canes are eut in the 

 fall, and packed in sand until January and 

 February. They are then brought to the 

 propagating house and cut for potting — a 

 single bud in each pot. The piece is prepared 

 with a slant cut through the cane, beginning 

 half an inch from the bud on each side, and 

 cutting toward it. This gives a blunt, wedge- 

 shaped form, the bud being on the longest 

 side. Small thumb-pots are used, which are 

 filled half with sandy soil, and then to the 

 top with clean sand. In this the cutting is 

 planted in a slanting position, so that the 

 bud is just on the surface. 



The pots are then plunged to the tops in 

 the sand of the propagating benches and a 

 steady bottom heat of eighty-eight degrees 

 is given them. They are watered freely, and 

 soon take root, though in this there is great 

 irregularity, some varieties rooting much 

 quicker than others. 



As soon as the roots show against the pot 

 they are transplanted in a light, sandy soil, 

 and taken to the hot-house, where they are 

 kept close to the glass to insure the most 

 perfect sunlight. As the subsequent repot- 

 tings occur, the young vines are gradually 

 acclimated to a cooler atmosphere, and ac- 

 | customed to a stronger soil, and are finally 

 I planted in nursery rows, where they receive 

 I careful culture. 



