66 
V AND 
April, 1891. 
c 
ORCHARD 
GARDEN 
Spring Reminders. 
are its large and uniform size, great firm- 
ness, extra fine quality, coloring evenly with 
no green tip; strong plant, clean foliage, 
perfect blossom, and a productiveness equal 
to that of the Crescent. The illustration is 
an accurate one as to its average size and 
shape. 
Uncover strawberries, raspberries, etc., as 
soon as weather becomes settled. 
Topdress early the strawberry bed with 
unleached wood ashes. 
Apply to even; hill of raspberries, black- 
berries. currants, gooseberries, 
etc., one or two shovelfuls of 
well-rotted manure or compost. 
Where staking is practised 
tie up the canes early before 
the buds start. 
In matted beds of strawber- 
ries. make paths for the pickers, 
turning the plants under and 
leaving wide rows for picking. 
Do this early in the season. 
Never disturb strawberry 
roots by digging late in the 
season. 
When the spring rains have 
come and the ground is moist, 
mulch around all small fruit 
plants with salt hay, straw or 
other similar material. 
Especially do gooseberries 
need mulching to keep soil 
moist and prevent mildew. Fertilize them 
with cow manure. In the absence of any- 
thing better mulch them with stones. 
Lovett’s Early Strawberry. 
The leading novelty among strawberries 
this season is beyond question Lovett’s 
Early, and deservedly so. Since the palmy 
days of the Wilson there has been nothing, 
of its season, to equal it; and those who are 
in search of the best early strawberry should 
not fail to set at least, a few plants of it this 
season so as to get a supply of plants for 
their still further planting after they have 
fruited it, which they will most assuredly 
wish to do after having once seen it in 
bearing under favorable conditions. We 
described this berry very fully in an August 
number of last year; and it is sufficient to 
shy here and now that its greatest merits j 
Elaeagnus Longipes. 
Not only is this handsome plant desirable 
for ornamental planting but it is also a val- 
uable addition to the list of small fruits. 
Although grown here and there throughout 
this country for some years, it does not seem 
to have attracted much attention until last 
season, and now it is in great demand. 
Elaeagnus is a native of Japan, is entirely 
hardy, and belongs to the Olive family of 
plants. It grows to a height of from five to 
six feet, making a well branched bush of 
great beauty, with oblong-oval leaves of 
light green above and silvery-white be- 
neath. The blossoms appear in May, in 
great profusion, small, and pale yellow in 
color. The berries are ripe early in July, 
and are oval in shape, like an olive, light 
scarlet color, and very handsome. When 
cooked, like cranberries, they make excel- 
lent sauce and pies. More than one fruit 
grower has already planted them in his fruit 
garden as a standard crop, and the shrub is 
greatly in demand for lawn planting, which 
is a sensible way of combining the useful 
and the ornamental. There seems to be two 
distinct plants of Elaeagnus and four names 
for them — longipes, edulis, Simoni and um- 
bellatus — so that the two sorts have become 
rather mixed and are mostly all grown in 
this country under the name of E. longipes , 
which is the best. Edulis is a synonym of 
longipes. Mr. William Faconer describes 
the two species thus : “ The true longipes 
is the dense, bushy grower which begins to 
bear fruit when two years old and only two 
feet high; and the umbellatus (Simoni as I 
have heard from one source) is the vigorous 
willowy shrub that often attains a height of 
ten feet without showing the least inclina- 
tion to hear fruit. Longipes is the better 
species by far. 
EL.SGNUS LONGIPES. Fig- 413. 
Work of the Month. 
Pruning may still be done, but it would 
be better if already done, so that we can be 
ready for spring work. Vines may also be 
planted as soon as the ground is in good 
tillable order. Uncover all tender vines 
before the buds swell, and it is better to tie 
the canes to the trellis before the buds start 
or many of the buds will be broken off in 
the operation. We use willow ties of either 
the Yellow or Osier willow. Every vine- 
yardist should have such stock on hand to 
tie his vines on the trellis as well as to tie 
cuttings and vines in suitable bundles. In 
case willow cannot be had we use gunny 
sacks cut in pieces of suitable lengths, and 
separate the strands. If the pruning has 
been done in a proper manner with two 
good bearing canes or more, tie them each 
way along on the trellis wire. They should 
have at least two strong ties so that the 
wind cannot blow them down. If we have 
four canes, which is sometimes the case, on 
strong growing varieties like the Norton, 
Cynthiana and Hermon, which require 
more wood, not only because they are such 
strong growers but also because the bunches 
are so heavy they require more wood 
to get a full crop, we train in fan shape 
obliquely from the stock. 
Clean up the vineyard of all rubbish and 
be ready to plow as soon as the ground is in 
good tillable order. 
Grafting the grape can also sometimes be 
done this month if the weather becomes 
cold, but if the sap flows freely it had better 
be deferred until June. Then the sap be- 
comes thick and the work can be done better. 
We have just received an inquiry from 
the secretary of the Pennsylvania Horticul- 
tural Association, asking if grape vines 
can be grafted above ground, as sometimes 
there are different branches that might be so 
grafted if the work could be done success- 
fully. There is no difficulty in grafting 
above the ground if the grafting is done 
close to the ground, upon the same plan that 
they graft them in California and Europe 
upon non-resistant grape stocks, viz., by 
banking up the earth high enough around 
them to keep the grafts fresh and sound 
long enough for them to unite. If the 
weather becomes too dry they should be 
watered to kept them moist. We believe 
they may be also grafted and waxed over 
by the plan we follow in other grafting but 
we have never tried it, as we have had no 
occasion to resort to that method. We hope 
to make the experiment this season. 
Cuttings should be set out just as soon as 
they can in the spring, in nursery rows; so 
should all vines that have not made a 
sufficient good growth to be graded as No. 1. 
Watch the temperature of the propaga- 
ting bed, ventilate freely; and shade when 
necessary. — J. Stayman. 
