THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
'5 
SUBSOILING IN THE NURSERY. 
Youngers & Co., proprietors of the Geneva Nurseries, 
at Geneva, Neb., give this experience : In the spring of 
1887 we commenced 011 our nursery grounds to prepare 
the ground for planting in the ordinary manner. We 
plowed the ground about eight inches deep and planted 
our nursery stock, among which was a quantity of seed¬ 
lings which were dug the same fall. In order to get the 
proper length of root to transplant successfully the seed¬ 
lings, it became necessary to get under them much deeper 
than the ground had been plowed, which was accomplished 
by using a seedling digger set to run nearly sixteen 
inches deep. It required six horses to do this work, and 
the ground was stirred up as it had never been before. 
The next season this portion of the field was planted to 
corn, and the yield was nearly 70 bushels per acre, while 
land plowed in the ordinary way yielded only 35 bushels. 
This led us to experiment in preparing the soil, our motto 
being: “ Plow deep and thoroughly prepare Hhe soil be¬ 
fore planting.” Each succeeding year gave us good re¬ 
sults by deep stirring, though we did not attain the full 
measure of success in our experiments until we began to 
use a plow to subsoil the entire ground. In the fall of 
1891 we purchased a Mapes subsoil plow with which we 
succeeded in getting down to the depth of sixteen inches 
below the surface. Our method is first to plow eight 
inches deep with an ordinary 14-inch stirring plow, which 
is followed by the subsoil plow running in the same fur¬ 
row, loosening the soil to the depth of eight inches more, 
but not throwing it to the surface. This gives us a reser¬ 
voir sixteen inches in depth to catch and retain all the 
moisture that falls, and we are convinced that during the 
twenty-three years we have resided in Fillmore county 
there has never been a season when the rainfall was not 
sufficient to fill this reservoir with water before the grow¬ 
ing season commenced. 
PICEA PUNGENS vs. ENGELMANNI. 
A certain party, who deals in Rocky Mountain conifer 
seed, has been proclaiming by private letter and other¬ 
wise, that many of the evergreen growers of the United 
States, who procure their seeds from other parties, are 
having Engelmanni seed palmed off on them for Picea 
pungens. Also stating that many growers are sending 
out Engelmanni plants for Picea pungens. This started 
my curiosity and I determined to make an investigation 
for the purpose of ascertaining the actual facts in the 
case. 
Having a stock of Picea pungens that I knew to be 
genuine, I cut off the tops of some three-year-old trees 
that had not been transplanted, and sent samples to ten 
evergreen growers and other men, who are supposed to 
be educated in these matters. I simply asked them to 
name the enclosed specimens. In due time the answers 
came back as follows : Five said they were Picea pun¬ 
gens. Three said they were Engelmanni. One said they 
were Picea alba. One said that he did not know what 
they were. 
One of the packages was sent to the chief of the 
Forestry Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D. C. I will quote it verbatim. 
TJ. S. Department of Agriculture, (. 
Division qf Forestry. | 
Washington, D. C., Feb. 14, lsite. 
Mr. Charles F. Gardner, Osage, Iowa. 
Dear Svi —The specimen of spruce sent by you is beyond question Picea 
pungens: anyone mistaking it for any other spruce, especially Engelmanni, 
is not acquainted with either species. The sharp needle point is absolutely 
characteristic. Engelmanni has a decided awl point. Also the buds of pun¬ 
gens are larger and lighter-colored. The needles are somewhat deficient in 
the usual stiffness, which deficiency is common with young thrifty shoots. 
Yours truly, 
B. E. Fernow, Chief. 
One grower sent specimens of what he called Picea 
pungens and also Engelmanni. These samples were 
alike, and all were pungens. 
Another grower, Mr. Hoyt, sent samples of both varie¬ 
ties that were named correctly. 
It will be seen that five out of the ten, to whom samples 
were sent, are not competent judges in a question of this 
kind, and as the “certain party ” alluded to at the com¬ 
mencement of this article, is included in the five, I have 
made up my mind that very little deception of this kind 
is practiced. 
Osage, Iowa. , CHARLES F. GARDNER. 
j) 
EUREKA RASPBERRY. 
Among the newer raspberries is the Eureka which is 
represented in the frontispiece of this issue, and is being 
introduced by W. N. Scarff, New Carlisle, O. 
Of this variety Professor W. J. Green, of the Ohio 
Experimental Station, has repeatedly stated that an acre 
of Eureka would yield as much as an acre of Palmer and 
Gregg combined. It is an early berry, ripening with 
Palmer, and continues to bear all through the season of 
Gregg. In size it equals the Gregg; this cannot be said 
of any other of the early kinds. In growth it also differs 
from others of its class, as it makes a strong upright bush 
and does not have that creeping nature of Palmer and 
Souhegan. 
In the ad-interim reports of the State Horticultural 
Society, at Canton, in December, 1895, C. H. Waid, Ful¬ 
ton County, O , says : “ Eureka fruited in my place this 
season, and I think Prof. Green’s oft-quoted prediction, 
early as Palmer, large as Gregg and productive as both, 
was very nearly verified. Surely every branch was loaded 
to its fullest capacity with nice fruit, and indeed some of 
my pickers reported that they saw countless numbers of 
other berries hovering around trying to get on.” 
F. G. Withoft, Montgomery County, O., in his report 
says : ‘ Eureka promises to be the leading blackcap." 
H. H. Aulthfathers, of Stark County, reports as fol¬ 
lows : “ Old growers are wanting something better than 
Gregg, Ohio, Souhegan, etc., and I think that Eureka is 
the one to fill the bill.” 
