54 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 27 
; Ruralisms ; 
THE RESOURCES OF AN AMATEUR 
GREENHOUSE. 
Tomatoes in a Cool Climate. —The 
greenhouse on the Rural Trial Grounds 
is a small affair, 16x24 feet, hut was 
carefully built, and has a fine southern 
exposure, getting about all the sunlight 
there is, and is well protected from 
the north by the dwelling house, to 
which it is attached. It is heated by hot 
water circulation, the apparatus having 
been put in by one of the most experi¬ 
enced firms in New York, but it has not 
proved as efficient as expected by a con¬ 
siderable , margin. However, we can 
generally keep frost out, tnough the 
night temperature often runs pretty 
close to the danger line. We have 
grown tomatoes with great success in 
this rather cool house for reveral Win¬ 
ters, and now have seven plants trained 
up the north wall, which is of brick, and 
the warmest place in the house, and four 
others established in 12-inch pots in a 
cooler position. Some of these plants 
were grown from cuttings made early 
in October from selected plants growing 
in the field, and others from seeds sown 
about the same time. All are hybrids 
between Lorillard, a favorite forcing 
variety, and good field varieties, includ¬ 
ing a scarlet-fruited cross of Dwarf 
Champion. The plants along the north 
wall were planted in a border of good 
compost about 14 inches wide and seven 
inches deep. 
T rai ning the Tomatoes. —As the 
plants grew they were trained to a sin¬ 
gle stem, supported by a stout cord sus¬ 
pended from the rafters above. The 
first blooms appeared early in Novem¬ 
ber, and the first fruits ripened on the 
plants grown from cuttings, January 3. 
The first tomatoes on the seedlings be¬ 
gan to color a week later. Every plant 
is set with clusters <: three to five per¬ 
fect fruits at almost uniformly every 
second node or leaf joint. The tallest 
plants are about seven feet high, still 
growing, blooming freely, and setting 
tomatoes. They have reached the glass, 
and are now being suspended from the 
rafters by loops of binding twine. In 
order to insure pollinization we rap the 
cords two or three times sharply with a 
light stick every day. The fruits are 
most brilliant in coloring, and are less 
acid and of higher flavor than when 
grown outside in Summer. It is aston¬ 
ishing what an amount of water strong¬ 
growing tomato plants require under 
such conditions. We are obliged to keep 
the soil saturated all the time after the 
plants are well set with fruits, or the 
foliage at once flags. Liberal applica¬ 
tions of liquid fertilizers and wood 
ashes are also very acceptable while the 
tomatoes are developing, but should be 
avoided until the pot or border is well 
filled with roots. 
Other Winter Garden Products.— 
Besides the tomatoes noted above we 
have growing in a small way radishes, 
lettuce, parsley, chervil, watercress and 
mushrooms. A trial is also being made 
of a particularly hardy sweet corn, 
which is quite promising at this writing, 
January 12, although the low tempera¬ 
ture and lack of direct sunshine in that 
particular part of the house make the 
test a severe one. The radishes are 
planted, 100 seeds or so at a sowing, in 
a row on a front bench, near the glass 
We use the Twenty-day Forcing, a 
quick-growing strain of the small-leaved 
Scarlet Globe, sowing about every three 
weeks, and a sufficient number for table 
use are coming on all the time. Grand 
Rapids lettuce is also grown in the same 
manner, except that a planting is only 
needed about once in six weeks. The 
parsley and chervil are grown in eight- 
inch pots, two of the former to one of 
the latter, the plants being started the 
previous Summer. They are, of course, 
only used for flavoring and decorating. 
Water-cress. —Water-cress is a most 
unusual glass-house crop, but is highly 
appreciated in the Rural Grounds at this 
season, when the natural supply is cut 
off by the freezing of the brooks. We 
grow it in a tray of galvanized iron, 
about two feet across and four inches 
deep, containing an inch or two of com¬ 
post, and kept filled with water. A few 
rooted plants are placed in the center, 
and they soon spread over the whole 
surface, and trail over the edges in in¬ 
numerable sprays. Grown in this man¬ 
ner it is very clean and delicate, and a 
most appetizing relish at this season. It 
seems necessary to clean out the tray 
and start anew every 10 or 12 weeks, as 
the cress ceases growing when the mud 
becomes filled with roots. The mush¬ 
room spawn was planted in a number of 
large pots filled with earth and horse 
manure, placed against the hot-water 
pipes under the benches. This method 
is not as generally successful as the .reg¬ 
ular mushroom bed when well managed, 
but has the advantage of being very 
portable when changes in storage space 
are in prospect. The table products 
above mentioned occupy only a small 
part of the greenhouse, which is used 
for the propagation of hybridized seed¬ 
lings of many plants, and for general 
trial purposes. 
A New Horseradish. —The United 
States Department of Agriculture is 
about to distribute roots of the famous 
Maliner horseradish, long grown to 
great perfection in northern Bohemia. 
It is a variety developed by long selec¬ 
tion, and is distinguished by its un¬ 
usually sharp flavor, uniform shape and 
excellent keeping qualities. Its culture 
is made a great specialty in Kuttenburg, 
Bohemia, from which place large quan¬ 
tities are exported. The Department is¬ 
sues a circular, Circular No. 20, Division 
of Botany, detailing the method of cul¬ 
ture as practiced abroad, which, how¬ 
ever, would seem to entail too much 
hand labor to be acceptable in this coun¬ 
try. Cuttings 12 inches long are planted 
in an oblique position in beds three feet 
wide, placing the cuttings 18 inches 
apart along both edges, but alternately, 
so that they are not opposite each other 
across the bed. The larger end of the 
cutting is barely covered with earth, 
while the lower end lies three or four 
inches deep. The roots thrown out, 
consequently, make nearly a right angle 
with the main stem. Of course very 
thorough cultivation is given through¬ 
out the season, and about the end of 
June the beds are gone over, each cut¬ 
ting uncovered separately, and slightly 
raised with the hand. All root fibers 
are rubbed off from me body of the root 
with a woolen cloth, or if too large, cut 
off with a sharp knife. The roots emit¬ 
ted from the lower end are not dis¬ 
turbed, as they form the cuttings for 
next season’s use. A little powdered 
charcoal is dusted over the cut surfaces 
to prevent decay, and the root is again 
covered with earth. The soil is well 
prepared previous to planting, by deep 
trenching and the thorough incorpora¬ 
tion of well-rotted manure. If the soil 
is too rich and deep, the beds are some¬ 
times underlaid with a pavement of 
porous cement, 18 to 20 inches below the 
surface, which checks the growth of the 
small roots, and causes them to thicken. 
Grown in this careful manner the mar¬ 
ketable roots are said to be of great uni¬ 
formity in length and diameter, the 
average thickness being about 2% 
inches at the top and l x / 2 inch at the 
small end. It will be interesting to note 
whether the variety will retain its su¬ 
periority any considerable time after 
dissemination in this country, as it is 
very unlikely that it will receive the 
painstaking care which has developed 
its characteristics. Foreign cooks use 
horseradish much more extensively than 
is customary with us. They employ it 
as a prominent ingredient in dressings 
for boiled meat dishes, as well as in 
the raw state. Pictures of the roots, 
much reduced in size, are shown at 
Fig. 19, page 51. 
HARDY CLIMBING SHRUBS. 
Part II. 
Aristolochia Sipho, Dutchman’s 
pipe.—A native woody climber of lofty 
and rapid growth. Produces immense 
heart-shaped leaves, 10 to 12 inches in 
diameter, when grown in deep, rich soil. 
The curious yellowish-brown, pipe¬ 
shaped flowers are not very conspicu¬ 
ous. Hardy south of New York. 
Clematis, or Virgin’s bower. The 
large flowered varieties of Clematis are 
among the handsomest of all hardy 
plants. As climbers for verandas, fences 
or arbors, they cannot be surpassed. A 
great variety of named hybrids are of¬ 
fered, but many are not thrifty or re¬ 
liable enough for general use. C. Jack- 
mannii, rich, dark purple; C. Henryii, 
pure white; Ramona, blue, and Mme. 
Edouard Andre, violet crimson, are 
probably the most desirable. Duchess of 
Edinburgh and Belle of Woking are fine 
double forms that are very useful for 
variety. The above varieties are quite 
expensive, good plants costing about 60 
cents each, but they are treasures when 
well established. C. coccinea is a pretty 
and useful native species with small 
coral-red, bell-shaped flowers, and C. 
crispa produces somewhat larger blooms 
of the same form, but purple-blue in 
color and very fragrant. C. paniculata 
is a rather new and extremely valuable 
species from Japan. The flowers are 
small, pure white, and borne in fleecy 
masses, covering the entire plant in 
August. They are deliciously fragrant. 
C. paniculata is apparently very hardy, 
and is a strong and lofty climber when 
well-established. All varieties of Cle¬ 
matis are benefited by a liberal mulch 
of old manure in Winter. 
Lonicera, the climbing honeysuckles 
or woodbines. The honeysuckles are 
very familiar and desirable vines adapt¬ 
ed to all forms of exterior cottage deco¬ 
ration. They are neat and clean grow¬ 
ers; all have lovely and distinct flowers, 
and many varieties are very fragrant. 
Some of our native species are quite sub¬ 
ject to attacks of the aphis, or green 
plant louse, which has formerly been an 
objection to their extended use, but 
spraying with kerosene emulsion, now 
becoming a very common insecticide, 
will quickly destroy aphides or any 
other soft-bodied insect. Lonicera Ja- 
ponica, the Chinese twining honey¬ 
suckle, is probably the most useful. It 
is a strong and rapid climber, with 
foliage almost evergreen. The flowers 
are produced very freely during most of 
the Summer, and are particularly sweet- 
scented. They are pure white, changing 
to yellow. L. Halleana, Hall’s Japan 
honeysuckle, is very similar to the Chi¬ 
nese form, but a more profuse bloomer, 
being covered with flowers from July to 
December. Holds its leaves until Janu¬ 
ary; is generally preferred to the type. 
L. brachypoda aureo reticulata, Japan 
Golden-leaved honeysuckle, has foliage 
beautifully netted with yellow. Rather 
a slow and slender grower, but very de¬ 
sirable. L. Belgica, the Monthly frag¬ 
rant or Dutch honeysuckle, has fragrant 
flowers produced all Summer, red out¬ 
side and buff color within. L. semper- 
virens, the scarlet trumpet honeysuckle, 
is one of the most rapid-growing species, 
with large scarlet inodorous flowers. 
L. Canadensis and L. flava are two hand¬ 
some native species, both producing yel¬ 
low trumpet-shaped blooms, without 
fragrance, in the Spring. 
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