SEASONABIE HINTS. 
During the past month some of our readers 
have, no doubt, reveled in the enjoyment of a,n 
abundance of Strawberries, and have ample 
reasons to be satisfied ndth their well-caie 
for Strawberry beds ; a large number, how¬ 
ever, we fear, have fared scantily, and aie 
now meditating how best to avoid a siimlar 
deficiency another season. We have written 
about this subject repeatedly, and should not 
recur to it again had we not several inquiries 
about it on hand; and as this column^ is 
mainly conducted in the interest of begin¬ 
ners, we will tell them how to have plenty 
of Strawberries next year. 
Preparation- of the G-rouud, —As soon as the 
location of the bed or row has been deter¬ 
mined upon, a heavy coat of yard mamvre — 
decomposed is best — should be thoroughly 
incorporated with the soil, by plowing or 
spreading it under. If the ground is heavy 
and full of weed seeds, which is unfortu¬ 
nately too frequently the case, it should be 
turned over again once or twice before plant¬ 
ing, loosening and mellowing it at the same 
time. 
Planting in Midsummer .— If the plants to 
be used are growing on the place, select, if 
possible, a day when the ground is moist; 
then with a spade or a large trowel dig out 
the young plants singly with as much soil 
attached as can easily be handled; transport 
to the new location and let the whole clump 
slide into the holes previously dug for the 
purpose, fill in the interstices with mel¬ 
low soil, press firmly, and if dry give a 
thorough watering. With ordinary care, not 
a plant in a hundred so transplanted need 
fail to grow. But when plants have to be 
procured from a distance, this is not practi¬ 
cable, and ordinary ground-layered plants are 
af this season so tender and delicate that 
considerable loss, if not entire failure, results 
from their use in summer. 
Potted Plants come to our aid in this emer¬ 
gency and furnish ready means for ifianting 
Strawberries at this season, with hardly any 
risk of loss. These are simply yoimg plants 
or runners which, instead of having been 
permitted to root in the gi’ound, had small 
flower-pots, filled with soil, placed under 
There is a great tendency 
IS a greau -- - f tree, 
the topmost tean^^^ 
itself to 
which induces a f*"^;7^<,st boughs, 
watery shoots growth is mainly 
Unless this is checked, the ^ 
lecitea, the noui’ish- 
upward, and tbe largest shai 
ment of tV treewUl, natively 
this new gi'owth, leaving u 
small amoimt to develop a^ upon 
the lower branches. 
This tendency is 
;;;::iarly noticeable in t^Grap^';;^: 
thr=i—-y^cli^- 
the highest trees, perhaps, and ai 
the vines are allowed to follow 
from the 
the tops of _ 
that immense length of stem 
ground to the top but serves as a cainei toi 
the nom-ishment that is * 
top. They may fruit luxuriantly afte y 
have reached the top of their support, but 
not a branch or a twig, or a bunch of ben-ies 
will you find on that long stretch of stem. 
Now, this same vine might have been trained 
over a six-foot trellis, where it would have 
borne more and better fruit within easy 
reach of the grower. If you want small, 
wild Grapes, let your vines go imprimed, and 
you will soon have them — by climbing foi 
them. This tendency to upward growth to 
the loss of the lower branches is more 
noticeable in the Grape-vine than in the 
Apple-tree, but it is the nature of all tree 
growth, and it must be checked, or the rank 
shoots will surely rot the fruit stems. 
The healthy growth of the lower branches 
and the successful ripening of the fi’uit 
depend upon the proper return-floiv of the 
sap from the extremities. Long-continued 
damp, cloudy, and wet weather will some¬ 
times induce an extra growth of wood that 
absorbs this sap to the drainage and loss of 
the fruit clusters. If these shoots are nipped 
off in the summer, the flow of sap is checked 
and thrown back to the lower branches. The 
excessive wood-growth is checked by the 
same means, and the tree kept in proper 
form. The tree is kept in a uniformly thrifty 
condition which will enable it to withstand 
the severe winter much better than if there 
were a rank growth in one part, gained 
through a lack of nom-ishment and conse¬ 
quent vitality of another part. 
Early summer is the most, effective time 
of all the year for pruning. The immediate 
iiu>ver-i.»ut», luieu wltD soil, piacea under frnif ^ 
them, so that all their roots remain confined ’ and 
within the pot, forming a compact net-work,- 
a ball of roots. About three weeks after the 
runners have been layered in the pots, they 
are in the best condition for transplanting. 
They are then detached from the parent 
plants, kept in a partly shaded place for a 
few days, and well suppUed with water. 
When wanted for shipment, they are care¬ 
fully shaken from the pots, the balls 
wr-apped in papers, and all placed in a box 
When received, they should be planted with¬ 
out delay, by digging holes somewhat larger 
than the ball, sinking this level with the 
^ound, filling in and pressing the soil firmly 
If the roots are found to be much netted it is 
best to break the ball before planting by 
crushing it with the hand. In very dry 
weather, they should bo watered until well 
established. .Good potted plants set out in 
the latter part of this month, and properly 
eared for, will produce ah abundant crop next 
year, provided all runners are promptly cut 
off before they have taken root. 
in 
are 
uniformly thrifty 
, condition. This slashing out of largo limbs 
m the fall and winter is not the thing to mv 
mind. Where a limb is cut off lefore tho 
; sap goes up, the rising sap will cause a niini- 
ber of shoots to spring out around the end — 
.just like root sprouts that come up around 
the stump of a tree that has boon felled i 
GmrbutVtirvrinTr'nlirS 
anowodfogot^oyri^^rlXr”’" 
kr-ife. When I see a man Hawing and 07'" 
ping out the top of a trnn t i ^ ’“b- 
pruning fever strikes him , bou't 
every decade. Such pruning is wlL 7““ 
pruning. ^e than no 
Borne follow tho nraotioo 
fall, and I havo often wondoS'T"^' 
could fail to see tho absurdiro 
such an over-growth in the summont'S 
After a fruit tree has attained 
size and form, all further 
should be discouraged by nipping 
most forward shoots, especially th 
are pushing out from- the top. 
MAKING APPLE-TEEES BEAE EVEEY Tp 
In many parts of the country. Anr.i . ' 
__O '^PPle-tre,. 
yield a crop of fruit only every 
year, the year represented by anoddnto?' 
(1879) being ban-eii, while that represent 
by an even number (1880) will he fruitf? 
In other places, orchards bear every 
Some trees will yield fruit only every o7’ 
year, while others near them, on every s 
will produce a bountiful crop. ’ 
Two seasons are required to produce 
crop of Apples, that is, during one season 
the fruit-buds are developed, and during the 
next, the fruit. All the vital energies of 
some trees are employed, during one season 
to develop the fi-uit-buds; then the yearfot 
lowing, theii- entire vitality seemsto he spent 
in developing the fruit, without sufacientfoice 
being left to form fruit-buds for the crop of 
the next season. 
Now, in order to induce an Apple-tree to 
bear every season, climb into the top, or go 
up on ladders, just as one does when plni 
ing the ripe fruit, and -with a pair of sharp 
shears clip off all the yoimg fruit from about 
half the tree. Then fruit-buds will form 
on that side of the tree from which the yonng 
Apples were cut off. One-half the top, then, 
will bear fi-uit one year, while the other half 
will yield fruit the next season. 
S. E. T. 
7 
EEMEDY FOE OEACKED PEAKS. 
If any one has a Pear-tree that hears 
spotted or cracked fruit, says Groppie, in th® 
Ncw-YwTc Tribune, let him sprinkle wood 
ashes freely over the soil beneath the tree, 
as far in diameter as the branches extend- 
not a light spirinkle, either, but a liberal 
dressing. Then wash the bark thoroughly 
with strong soap-suds (old-fashioned soft- 
soap pireforred), with the addition of lim®' 
water, and a little flom- of sulphm’. I bad a 
white Doyenne Pear-tree treated in thiswab 
that previously bore only imperfect fmitr 
but which after treatment gave some de 
cious highly colored specimens. It may 
cure in every case, but it will do no ham'. 
lisb" 
inis- 
ittf» 
lest 
iSlt'’ 
.-ists 
forfb 
ff 
,nits' 
its 
>at 
tear' 
fee' 
(lea 
irodo 
jffrt 
j: isbk 
prefti 
ihaa 
karii 
kjdi 
nigh 
tempt 
Kil 
Tile 
iwpi 
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iiit 
^ 'd pr 
il'tah 
HAEDY BLAOKBEEEIES AND 
Charles A. Green, editor of Qrcen 
Groiccr, found on his fruit farm, near B® 
ostor, N. Y., that, amongBlackberrios.Ston 
Hardy is tlio hardiest; Snyder nMt, | 
u 
ami Wallace next, Agawam next, ■ 
next, then Kittiitiimy and Lawton, -tal 
■Briintoii’s Early, Early Harvest, aud ri 
White, tho last five dead to tho 
oxeopt whore protected by tbo ' jg,,,-. 
Btono’s Hardy, Snyder, Taylor, and ® 
this 1008 “'®, 
are 
...u all hardy enough for tui» '“hiyof 
Wallace is tho largest and best in qa® 
tho hardy Blackberries. 
j 
ptoit 
'%) 
bc-tii 
isd I 
Sle-lr 
Jan 
"lab 
«fts; 
hit; 
Among Bod Kaspberrios, 
'rt. Turner, and Lost Bubios first 
Cotk- 
bort 
him. 
Shaffer has suffered some 
for the 
time, yot it stands tho winter in 
