312 



THE V SA Y. 



Plums for Oswego. — Oswego, New York is a favor- 

 ed plum region. Although plum growing is in its in- 

 fancy there, about 20,000 bushels are marketed each 

 year. Mr. J. Hagerty, a very large dealer and handler 

 of fruits in that city, gives the following list of the 

 best plums for his region : German Prune, Bradshaw, 

 Yellow Egg, Damson, Reine Claude, Purple Egg and 

 Lombard. 



Culture of Water-Cress. — Select a level piece of 

 land, with a stream running through it. Mark out the 

 beds, 5, 10, 15 or 20 feet wide. Dig out all the soil 

 from one to four feet deep, according to the locality. 

 Dig out the beds six inches deeper than water freezes in 

 your locality, so you can fill your bed with water that 

 depth in the fall ; then the roots of the water-cress will 

 not freeze during the winter. If you have to dig the 

 beds more than one foot deep, I would advise you to 

 make the beds 15 or 20 feet wide. Drive some cedar 

 posts into the ground five feet apart each way, so that 

 they stand eight inches high ; upon them place planks 

 12 inches wide and two inches thick. These are to walk 

 upon, so you can pick the water-cress without getting 

 into the water or bruising the water-cress, as it does not 

 do to be roughly handled. If the land slopes much, 

 you must leave a narrow mound of soil across the beds 

 at short distances, so that you can keep the water at a 

 regular height. Cut a narrow opening from the brook 

 to let the water into the first bed ; also cut a narrow 

 channel through each mound, so you can have running 

 water gently passing through all the beds and out of the 

 last. Keep the beds from two to three inches deep with 

 fresh running water, and you will have highly flavored, 

 crisp water-cress. A sandy or gravelly bottom suits 

 water-cress best, and an occasional fertilizing with some 

 manure-water during the summer will increase the 

 quantity and size. 



Procure some seed from a seedsman. Sow it the last 

 week in July on some damp piece of land, or anywhere 

 else wid do if kept moist by watering. It will soon ger- 

 minate. When the seedlings are large enough to handle, 

 take them up and plant them singly in your beds one 

 foot each way. Turn the water into your beds to the 

 depth required, and nothing more is to be done till the 

 fall, when you must see that the beds are filled with 

 water to a sufficient depth to protect the roots from 

 freezing during the winter. 



If there is any water-cress in your neighborhood, you 

 can cut the branches off and trim them the same 

 as a pansy cutting ; take a pointed stick and plant them 

 in the soil of your cress beds, one foot each way, the 

 same as you would lettuce or cabbage plants. They 

 will root at every joint ; in fact, all along the branch. It 

 would be a good plan to let the water out every two or 

 three years, pull up all the water-cress, roots and stems, 

 spread a little rotted manure over the beds, then plant 

 it with fresh cuttings or rooted plants. By this means 

 you will have fine deep green, broad-leaved cress, with 

 larger sprays. 



Cut the bunqhes ofi' with a pair of scissors, or pinch 



them off with the thumb-nail. Be sure not to pull up 

 •the root. Get some bass or tying-grass, cut it into suit- 

 able lengths, and as you pick the water-cress, tie it. 

 Dip the bunches into water, then put them lightly into 

 large, open-sided wicker baskets, not packed, so that 

 the air can pass through to keep them from heating. In 

 this way it will keep fresh and green. 



With well made cress beds, watered by a slow but 

 continual stream of fresh water, cared for like other 

 crops, picked carefully, and near a large city like Chi- 

 cago or New York, cress would bring a return of from 

 $2,000 to $3,000 per acre. — G. M. Stratton, Minnesota. 



Late Cauliflower. — The cauliflower prefers a deep, 

 mellow, loamy soil, one that has not been previously 

 occupied by any rapid growing crop, and it should be 

 given a good dressing of thoroughly decayed stable 

 manure, plowed under as deeply as possible. A thorough 

 harrowing should then be given so as to level the 

 ground. Mark off into rows two and a-half feet apart 

 each way. At each intersection a good handful of some 

 concentrated fertilizer is scattered and thoroughly inter- 

 mixed with the soil by means of the hoe ; at the same 

 time a slight hill is formed in the center of which the 

 plants are to be placed. 



The crop should be planted just before or after a rain, 

 care being taken to remove the plants carefully from 

 the seed-bed. In planting, set the plant down to the 

 seed-leaf, no matter how long the stems may be, and 

 firm the soil well around the roots. 



I find it to be very satisfactory to make at least three 

 successive plantings, one about the 4th of July, another 

 about the 15th, and the remainder of the crop some 10 

 days later, equal quantities of each variety being set at 

 each plantation. After growth commences, the plants 

 should be well cultivated. At each hoeing let a little 

 fresh earth be drawn up around the plants. As soon as 

 the heads commence to form in September, turn a few 

 of the outside leaves over the heads ; by so doing they 

 will grow more compact and white. 



The plants can be obtained by sowing the seed on a 

 nicely prepared border about the loth of May. The 

 seeds should be sown very thinly, in drills about a foot 

 apart. Cover slightly, and just as soon as the young 

 plants make their appearance, they should be dusted 

 with soot or tobacco dust to prevent the attack of the 

 flea-beetle. 



For this late crop, the Large Algiers and Thorburn's 

 Nonpareil are the varieties usually employed. — Chas. 

 E. Parnell, Queens, N. Y. 



"Bacterial" Diseases in Corn. — Mr. Wing's 

 statement (p. 188) reminds me of a recently published 

 statement of a man who could see no good in ensilage, 

 for he could "see the microbes with his naked eye" in 

 it. Bacteria don't lay eggs and hatch out maggots. — 

 W. F. Massey., NortJi Carolina. 



Three Best Plums. — Charles A. Green names the' 

 three best market plums for western New York as Brad- 

 shaw, Lombard and Reine Claude. 



