Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

"Man of the Prairie" was looking out for a little colder weather. Did he find it--and is he satisfied?

An extremely suggestive paper that, of Prof. Budd's on the "Cherry Possibilities." Further investigation in the wide field of European horticulture is demanded, not only in regard to this but to most other fruits. Even unpromising sorts, not prized there, transplanted here, may turn out to be the most valuable of any. I fear the agricultural colleges are not taking as much interest in this matter as they ought. Our State Society ought, and doubtless does, feel thankful to Prof. B., for his presence and wise counsel at its late Bloomington meeting. His remarks will be found valuable reading in the forth-coming volume of Transactions.

Seedsmen's catalogues will soon be floating around thick as autumn leaves, and planters will be puzzled what to buy. My experience may be worth something: Of tomatoes, I know nothing better than Acme and Trophy, and I think favorably of the Golden Trophy--though with some the color is objectionable. The Short-horn carrot can't be beat for table use, nor the Egyptian beet. Of the former, planted pretty thick in good soil, in rows two feet apart, 400 bushels per acre can easily be grown; and besides being good for stock, they are mighty good for men and women. In squashes the Hubbard and Boston Marrow are standbys, and that little Perfect Gem is likely to prove A No. 1. And give me the Stowell Evergreen sweet corn and the Winningstadt cabbage yet all the time. But Dio. will not be fooled with so many new sorts in 1884 as he has been in former years.

Yes--increase the tax on dogs, and collect it; so say the Iowa stock-breeders, and so echoes every sensible friend of the farmer and his interests.

Next time Dio. proposes to call up a subject of much importance to everybody, and one that badly needs ventilating.

DIO.

POSSIBILITIES OF CHERRY GROWING.

The insertion of one little word gives too unfavorable an idea of the best varieties of the Griotte cherries, grown all over the interminable steppes north and east of the Carpathian mountains in Europe.

As printed the paragraph reads: "Some of the thin-twigged Griottes, with dark skins and colored juice, are as large as the Morello and nearly or quite as sweet."

The copy reads--or should read--"as large as the English Morello and nearly or quid sweet."

As you say my object in talking the matter up is the hope of interesting some of the large nurserymen, like those at Bloomington, in the desirable work of importing and propagating the Griottes, Amarells, and the Asiatic sweet cherries known as "Spanish," of the East plain, on a large scale.

Why should our Western propagators permit our importing of fruits, ornamental trees and shrubs, to be done by the nurserymen of the Eastern States.

If we turn to a good map of Europe we will see at a glance that the importing of fruits so far has been from the west coast of France, Belgium, and Holland, or from the south of England. As with our west coast, this whole region has been made a land of verdure by the soft, humid air of the Gulf stream. Tracing on the map the line of the Carpathian and Caucasus mountains, we find three-fourths of all Europe, north and east of these ranges, without a mountain or hill traced on the great expanse except the Valdai hills, and these are only bluffs not as high or extensive as those of our rivers and dividing ridges. It is the greatest plain section of the world, and is the ancient home of the best fruits of the temperate zones. Common sense should lead us to give trial to the horticultural products of this plain. To find apples, pears, cherries, and plums as hardy, and as well adapted to the hot summers and cold winters of Illinois and Iowa as the Fameuse apple, we need not enter the empire of Russia. Northeastern Austria has a variable summer and winter climate, which will not permit the growing of apples of the grade of hardiness of the Ben Davis, Stark, Jonathan, and Dominie; of pears of the grade of Flemish Beauty, or of cherries of the grade of Early Richmond as to foliage and ability to endure low temperature. The commercial nursery-man who will visit the "King's Pomological Institute," at Proskau, in North Silesia, will see at a glance, as he wanders over the ground, that the fruits, forest trees, ornamental trees and shrubs of the nurseries of England, France, Belgium, etc., suddenly disappear with the Carpathians on the edge of the great steppes.

J. L. BUDD,
AG. COLLEGE, AMES, IOWA.

Prunings.

The soil for window boxes is the same as for plant culture in pots; the best is that formed by rotted sods with a little well decomposed stable manure mixed with it.

Rhubarb requires deep, rich soil. A good dressing of well-rotted manure, put on the ground this winter when it is not frozen, will start off the plants briskly in the spring. The same is true for asparagus.

Mr. Russel Heath, Carpenteria, Cal., has an "English walnut orchard" of two hundred acres of rich, level land, near the sea-shore. The trees are from ten to twenty-five years planted. His crop in 1882 was 630 sacks of 70 pounds each; this season he expects the harvest will aggregate about one-third more.

Gardener's Monthly: The writer found among the gardeners in Canada, when in that country recently, that the English plan of preserving grapes in bottles of water was in not uncommon use. The bunches are cut with pieces of stems, and then so arranged that the ends are in bottles of water. By this plan the grapes can be preserved far into the spring season.

The American Cultivator: "Can you tell we what kind of weather we may expect next month?" wrote a farmer to the editor of his paper, and the editor replied: "It is my belief that the weather next month will be like your subscription bill." The farmer wondered for an hour what the editor was driving at, when he happened to think of the word "unsettled," and he sent a postal note forthwith.

The Farmer and Fruit Grower: Mr. Willis, Lamer, a prominent fruit grower of the Cobden region, says he very distinctly remembers that the freeze of 1864 killed young fruit trees to the snow line, and that he cut his peach trees to that line, and saved that much. In 1864 the temperature was about the same as it was on January 5, 1884--in the neighborhood of 21 degrees below zero. Mr. Lamer thought no damage was done to strawberry plants.

A pomologist gives the following excellent advice in regard to maintaining the fertility of fruit lands: "Encourage the utmost variety of vegetable growth near and upon your orchard lands, and never rob the soil of its honest dues. Give judicious and thorough cultivation and pruning; and with our generous soils and climate, I do not believe the child is yet born that will live to see our orchards languish on account of poverty of soil, or any necessity arise for the importation of fertilizers."

The Country Gentleman says two things are necessary for the growing of good asparagus, namely, plenty of room for the plant to grow, and copious manuring. The latter is best applied to thick beds by covering the whole surface with manure two or three inches thick, late in autumn, and forking it in very early in spring, before the new shoots start. Thick beds, however, should not be planted, but the plants allowed three or four feet each way to each. Three by five is a common and suitable distance, and large stalks may be obtained in this way.

Charles Merritt, of Battle Creek, has been very successful with strawberries. His plan is to plant rows about two and one-half feet apart and plants nine inches in the row; he prefers the spring time. He manures highly, cultivates thoroughly and mulches with clean straw late in the autumn. The next season he gets a large crop, and, while he is taking it off, another patch is being treated in a similar manner for the next year's crop. The second year with any bed he simply pulls out the weeds, and after picking turns it under. This plan proves to be satisfactory.

T. F. Leeper, of Warsaw Horticultural Society, says: I have been greatly interested in the condition of orchards this season, and have examined quite a number. One orchard in my neighborhood died during the summer--I supposed it was winter-killed, but an investigation showed that the roots had been destroyed by mice. Last spring I reported a number of trees in my orchard, winter-killed. These trees have been dug up and it appears that they too, were killed by mice. In my orchard the greatest injury by winter-killing has occurred in the draws or low places and I would not plant another orchard without tile drawing such places.

FLORICULTURE

Gleanings by an Old Florist.

THE PANSY.

Gray, in his Manual, says: "Viola tricolor (pansy or heart's-ease) is common in dry or sandy soil. From New York to Kentucky and southward, doubtless only a small portion of the garden pansy runs wild. Naturalized from Europe."

Seen in this condition the flowers are very small, not more than one-half an inch across and oblong in shape. Cultivated at its best it has a flower two inches in diameter, almost an exact circle in outline.

All this has been brought about by lovers of flowers during a long period of years, by saving the seed of only the best, a sort of survival of the fittest, and only to be kept up by rich soil and constant cultivation, for if left to itself the pansy dwindles back into its original nature.

It has another peculiarity also: the young plants always bring the largest flowers, so that if the extra large flowers are wanted they can be obtained only by seed annually, or a division of the old roots by cuttings. The latter is too much trouble for most cultivators in the country, and named kinds are never thought of, while in the old they used to be; perhaps it is still common for the pansy grower to name his pets, and reproduce them each year by cuttings or division of the roots.

The seed that brings the largest and best flowers generally come from Germany, although some of our own florists save them themselves for several consecutive years. I was a long time before any fixed character was maintained in color in this flower, but now seed from certain kinds will mainly reproduce its like, hence are often so used for massing kinds of a color. The plant being a native of the cooler and moister parts of Europe is better adapted to their climate than ours, and hence as our spring weather is more nearly like their original climate than our other seasons, they luxuriate in it; it is the only season in which the florist finds much of a market for his goods, and even then he receives some round abuse for selling very large noble flowers that quickly deteriorate after leaving his hands. This, however, is not his fault, the hot weather being one cause, the other that the plant refuses to produce large flowers except in its young state.

There are two methods adopted by a florist in the preparation of his stock; one, by sowing the seed in the fall and wintering the young plants in cold frames, or even by means of a slight protection of brush. The other by sowing the seed on a bench in the green-house in January. If sown in the fall early enough to get well into rough leaf, if they do not flower in the fall, which they usually will do, they are ready to do so at the first peep of spring, as they flower at a comparatively low temperature. If sown in January, they are transplanted once on other benches, from which they are lifted and transferred either to the outside borders or to other cold frames as the case may be. It is not best to keep them in a green-house longer than necessary, say the first of March, as the conditions of a green-house will bring about the small flowers similar to the hot weather of the summer.

By the different systems the market florist can have his goods always at their best during the selling season, which ranges from the first of March up to the first of June. They are so easily grown he can afford to sell cheap, even if his goods are of the very best, and will usually bring about seventy-five cents by the single dozen, down to as low as three dollars by the hundred. Enough sod should hang to the roots to keep them fresh, and they will, after planting, go on flowering just as though they had never been disturbed. Nothing can be done with this plant, at least worthy of the name, in the window, hence it should not be attempted. To enjoy the large flowers as long as possible during summer, if there is any choice of position, give them the coolest and moistest place in the garden, not forgetting plenty of watering in dry spells. A rich, loamy soil, inclined to be porous, will give the best satisfaction, but almost any garden soil will grow them.

EDGAR SANDERS.

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DRAINAGE.

PRACTICAL FARM DRAINAGE.

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