THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
March 4, 
166 
PROPAGATING PLANTS. 
How to Treat Hardy Hydrangea. 
P. G.j Hudson, Mich .—IIow can I propa¬ 
gate hardy Hydrangea? 
Ans. —The hardy Hydrangea is propa¬ 
gated from cuttings of new wood dur¬ 
ing early August. They are cut to two 
joints or eyes, the lower leaves trimmed 
off, and the upper leaves shortened to 
about one-half; then deeply planted in 
pure, moist sand under glass. They root 
freely in about three weeks, and are then 
potted off, placing about six rooted cut¬ 
tings around the rim of a six-inch pot. 
They may then be either kept under glass 
or placed outside in a frame and carefully 
weeded and watered until frost, when the 
plants are turned out, planted in frames 
over Winter, and thickly covered to pre¬ 
vent heaving from frost. They can be 
propagated in the usual household way 
like oleanders, by placing cuttings five or 
six inches long in bottles or pots of moist 
earth and water, and keeping them in 
shady places until rooted. The after treat¬ 
ment is the same as above; that is, they 
should be wintered over in frames where 
some protection from hard freezing can be 
afforded, and planted out in the garden 
in the Spring. 
About Hybridizing Potatoes. 
O. F. M. C., Paris, Ark .—How can I hy¬ 
bridize t lie Irish potato? Give the best 
three early and the best three late varieties 
for this purpose. What two varieties are 
generally the heaviest yielders, and what two 
varieties make the largest tubers? Would 
the seedling be more apt to be an improve¬ 
ment ? Should varieties used he early, or 
should one be later than the other? What 
variety makes the largest number of tubers? 
Ans. —Hybridizing potatoes is a diffi¬ 
cult operation, as cultivated potato va¬ 
rieties yield very little pollen. It is very 
doubtful if anyone has ever made a true 
artificial hybrid between potato varieties 
except where pollen has been secured 
from plants grown under glass. Most, if 
not all, of the new kinds that are brought 
out are simply grown from seeds of the 
best obtainable varieties, and are either 
self-pollenized or the crossing is effected 
in the field by insects. About the only 
way to hybridize potatoes in the field is 
to gather clusters of the flowers from the 
variety from which you wish to secure the 
pollen, put them in a glass with water in 
a bright sunny window and keep secure 
from insects. After exposure for several 
hours shake the flowers over a sheet of 
dark paper, and possibly you may be able 
to get out a little pollen. This should 
be transferred with the finger tip or a fine 
brush to the stigmas of the flowers of the 
variety from which you wish to produce 
seed. The flowers should be prepared be¬ 
fore they open by cutting away the petals 
and anthers with a sharp knife or scissors 
so that they cannot pollenize themselves, 
and covered with fine netting until ready 
to apply the pollen from the other varie¬ 
ties. This process is easy enough with 
other flowers, but particularly difficult 
with potatoes, yet it may carefully be 
done. The best variety of potatoes for 
any given purpose is a mere matter of 
opinion. In this locality the best early 
varieties are Early Ohio, Irish Cobbler 
and Vermont Gold Coin. The three late 
kinds most preferred are Carman, Rural 
New Yorker, No. 2, and Green Mountain. 
In other localities the varieties differ wide¬ 
ly. The Rural New Yorker No. 2 and 
Autumn Giant grow the largest tubers of 
any varieties we know. We cannot say 
what variety produces the most tubers, as 
this is a characteristic not encouraged by 
good cultivators. I f you want to grow 
seedling potatoes possibly the best way 
would be to plant a number of selected va¬ 
rieties, a hill or two of each, very close 
together, and save the seed from any balls 
that may be produced in this way. You 
stand the chance of getting some natu¬ 
rally hybridized seed and may raise some 
good varieties. 
How to Propagate California Privet. 
A. W., Coeymans, 37. Y .—Can California 
privet be propagated, and if so how can it 
be done? 
Ans. —California privet is very readily 
propagated from cuttings of either ripe or 
green wood. We have often given direc¬ 
tions in The R. N.-Y. The easier method 
is to clip the young or new growth some 
time in midwinter, after most of the 
leaves have fallen and cut the young 
branches, from a size of a wheat straw 
to that of a lead pencil, in pieces eight 
inches long. These pieces are tied to¬ 
gether in bundles of 100 or more, tops all 
one way, and buried outside in loose soil 
or sand, butts upward, and covered with 
two or tnree inches of loose soil or sand. 
When the ground is ready to work in the 
Spring, the cuttings are generally found 
well callused, and may be planted out in 
rows three feet apart, setting them two or 
three inches apart in the row, and deep 
enough so that only one or two buds ap¬ 
pear above the surface. The soil should 
be well firmed or tramped about the cut¬ 
tings after planting, and the space between 
rows thoroughly cultivated throughout the 
Summer. Under this treatment from GO 
to 90 per cent of the cuttings usually grow 
and make good plants. It is usual to grow 
the plants two years in the row before 
using them for hedges. 
Crowing Gladiolus from Seed. 
F. If., Washington, I). C .—Give the pro¬ 
cess of propagating the Gladiolus, from seed; 
and from the small bulblets or corms which 
form on the older bulbs or corms. Should 
these small corms be left on the older bulbs 
when planting next year? Or should they be 
detached therefrom and planted separately— 
the object being to increase the plants rather 
than to grow flowers? 
Ans. —The seeds are best sown in early 
Spring in pots or boxes, containing six 
inches of light, rich soil, provided with 
good drainage, so that water will not 
stagnate. The seeds should be thickly 
sown, well watered and kept in a temper¬ 
ature of about 65 degrees. They will ger¬ 
minate in about three or four weeks when 
the weather is warm, and the pots or 
boxes may be put in a partially shaded 
place in the garden, well watered and 
carefully weeded throughout the growing 
season. When the tops die down the small 
bulblets, which should be about as large 
as peas, may be sifted out, well dried and 
kept over Winter in dry sand. The small 
bulblets that form at the base of the large 
corms should be separated after the corms 
are harvested in the Fall, dried out and 
packed like the bulblets grown from seed 
in dry sand, and kept in a place free from 
frost during the Winter. When the 
ground is ready to work in the Spring 
they should be sown thickly like garden 
peas in drills about 20 inches apart, cover¬ 
ing them about three inches deep. The 
small bulbs grown from seed the previous 
year should be planted in the same way. 
They like rather dry, rich soil, but do not 
need fresh manure, as it often causes de¬ 
cay. They^should be carefully weeded and 
hoed during the growing season; in the 
Fall when taken up many should be 
blooming size. They should average from 
the size of a hickorynut to that of a Black 
walnut. When planted out the third year 
they may be placed singly, two inches 
apart, in rows 24 inches apart, and grown 
like older bulbs. The bulblets should al¬ 
ways be planted separately, and on no ac¬ 
count placed in with the large, corms. 
CULTURE OF DEWBERRIES. 
What do t think of the fruit (dew¬ 
berries) ? They are very much superior 
to the blackberry, and bring better prices, 
because they are a better uerrv all around; 
higher flavor, larger in size and smaller 
seed. I like them because they come to 
maturity before the blackberry is in mar¬ 
ket, and stand the dry weather better 
than the blackberry. How do I grow 
them ? I plant in rows seven feet apart 
and three feet in the rows. Mulch in 
the late Fall with straw, and in the 
Spring uncover them and take out the 
old wood and prune back the new to 
about three feet. I do not do any Sum¬ 
mer pruning; when I uncover and 
prune in the Spring I put the straw under 
the canes, which keeps the berries clean 
and the soil moist, and saves some culti¬ 
vation. I was led into the growing of 
dewberries because of the uncertainty and 
in dry seasons poor quality of blackber¬ 
ries. . _ W. HAMMOND. 
Illinois. 
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