32 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



November, 



The Little Leaves. 



'■ We must go," sighed little Ruby, 

 Orange, Topaz, Garnet, Gold; 



" For the chilly breeze is calling. 

 And the year Is growing old. 



Good-by, quiet, sunny meadows 

 That we never niore shall see ; 



Good-by, winding brooks of silver. 

 Snowy lambs, and dead old tree- 

 Dear old loving mother-tree." 



From the branches down they fluttered. 

 Like a rainbow scattered wide ; 



And the old tree looked so lonely, 

 That was once the woodland's pride. 



But the wind came wildly piping, 

 And they danced away with glee. 



Ruby, Topaz, Garnet, Orange, 

 Soon forgot the poor oltl tree- 

 Poor old loving mother-tree. 



But when skies of drear November 



Frowned upon their wild delight. 

 All the little leaves grew lonely. 



And they wandered back oue night: 

 And they nestled in a hollow 



At the foot of the old tree, 

 Sighing, " All the long white winter 



We shall now so quiet be 



Near our dear old mother-tree." 



—Harper's Toung People. 



Red and White Roses. 



Roses the lover gives to his love ; 



Roses we lay on the breast of death, 

 That nevermore fondest whisper can prove— 

 Which is the sweeter, answer and prove, 



Passionate love, or sleep without breath ? 



For love you bum with a crimson flre. 



For death you are pale as the winter's snow ; 

 Warm for the one with the heart's desire, 

 Cold for the other, since hopes expire— 

 Which is the sweeter ? When shall we know ? 

 —Louise Chandler Moulton, in Indepetident. 



Sort before storing. 



Writ© for your own paper. 



No rake to the late fall spadings. 



Plant vitality lost is hard to recover. 



Dusty Millers now need but little water. 



We say again, dirty pots are abominable. 



Flowers flourish for those who love them. 



A word on plant culture: Don't overwater. 



Free, raw drafts, are bad for any tender plants. 



"A Common Sense Journal,'' one reader writes. 



Crushed charcoal is a good ingredient in pot- 

 ting-soil. 



Thanks for many compliments on our fine ap- 

 pearance. 



For root pruning fruit or other trees fall is the 

 best season. 



Green Aphis cannot endure a sprinkling of 

 tobacco dust. 



It's well to pinch the first flower shoots from 

 most of the young Primrose plants. 



Some salt on the Asparagus bed is beneficial, 

 no doubt, but spring is the time for applying. 



If we tell you that Roses are gross feeders, we 

 tell half the secret of their successful culture. 



Late Salvias in pots should now contribute a 

 large share to the gaiety of the window or con- 

 servatory. 



All who aspire to gardening honors should at 

 some time get in the way of raising many of their 

 own seeds. 



The Worst of the Century. This has been the 

 most disastrous year for fruits for at least one 

 hundred years.— Creo. J. KclUigg. 



Against Hasty Judgment. I think one should 

 take notes for five years before getting his opin- 

 ions fixed concerning any Grape.— E. P. Powell. 



" Lady" Flowers. All plants which have 

 "Lady '' in their names— Lady's Smock, Lady's 

 Slipper, and the like, were by early Christians 

 consecrated to the Virgin Mary.— Jlfrs. V. H. 

 Campbell. 



This Idea Will Keep. That scraps of tin tied 

 geveral pieces one above the other, and hung^ in 



the Grape-vines, to constantly sway, will pre- 

 vent the bu'ds from spoiling the ripe grapes I 

 have proved to my satisfaction.— E. W. L. 



Variegated Smilax. A gentleman near Bos- 

 ton, Mass., has a seedling that is beautifully va- 

 riegated, and it seems to be growing that way 

 from the root. If it can be propagated and is 

 permanent it will be useful in connection with 

 the green variety. — E. E. S. 



At this season, when readers everywhere are 

 canvassing the idea of what papers to take next 

 year, it is just the time for the friends of this 

 journal to in\'ite the attention of their friends to 

 the merits of the paper. Specimen copies for 

 such a use will be furnished gratis. 



California Fruit AVhere all this comes from 

 may be easily understood by the fact reported in 

 the Pacific Rural Press, that there are at present 

 in that State 3,700,000 Apple trees, while those of 

 Peach number 1,200,000; Pear, 500,000; PUmi and 

 Prune, 600,000; Cherry, 400,000; Apricot, 500,000; 

 Orange, 1,600,000; Lime and Lemon. 500,000, be- 

 sides 70,000 acres of Grape \ines now in bearing. 



The Valley Lily Bed. Would you improve the 

 old bed of these ? Then take up one-half the plat 

 in square blocks like a checker board and a foot 

 deep, filling the openings with garden loam, 

 trampled down firmly. Over the bed thus treated 

 scatter two inches in depth of rich, partly decayed 

 manure. Next spring you will see LUy of the 

 Valley spikes greatly superior to the ordinary 

 run, and a year later they will be still better. 



Double Pointed Tacks for Glazing. We learn 

 that Mr. E. D. Kaulbach, of Maiden, Mass., in 

 his glazing uses a double pointed steel tack with 

 much satisfaction, realizing especially a sa^'ing 

 in time and a gain in the way of keeping the 

 glass tight, as the sun does not seem to draw 

 these out, as is the case with the zinc points. The 

 cost is five cents per hundred; two are used for 

 each light of glass, and they can be obtained of 

 almost any hardware dealer. 



Crowding in Novemher. There is now a great 

 temptation to overcrowd the plants newly 

 housed, through the desire to carry along all 

 recently propagated ones as well as those lifted 

 from the summer beds. It is always better 

 to destroy surplus stock, sifting such out with 

 a free hand, than to damage a whole collec- 

 tion by cramming too many plants into any 

 given space. And there should be no stint of 

 air all during this month for rendering the stock 

 strong and hardy, preparatory to the depressing 

 season ahead. 



A Winter Peach. Referring to the Salway 

 Peach, in a recent letter to us, accompanying 

 some specimens of the Peach, Mr. Henry Lutts 

 of the Youngstown, N. Y., nurseries, said that 

 the fruit, if kept in a dry, cool room, will last 

 until December, or longer, he having had fine 

 specimens until February 20th. This is what he 

 says about managing them: '* But few seem to 

 know how to handle this Peach. Pick it as green 

 as the samples sent, and when you want it to 

 ripen, put it in a warm place and they will soon 

 color and ripen." 



Many have renewed and also sent in clubs to 

 this journal during October in a way that would 

 rejoice the heart of any publisher. As Popular 

 GARnENiNG AND Frctf GROWING may be deserv- 

 ing it looks to the horticulturists of the country 

 to give it support, both by their own subscriptions 

 and in recommending it to others. Very many 

 have done remarkably well in these respects; it 

 would be a pleasure to hear favorably from very 

 many others who have not. Does this hit you, 

 reader? If so, ^vill you not come to our help? And 

 this we can say further, the more subscribers 

 the better paper. Progress and improvement are 

 the watt'hwords of this journal. 



Lettuce on Bidges. For several years I have 

 kept fall-sown Lettuce plants over winter, pro- 

 ducing an early crop in the spring, by a simple 

 coui-se, which I am not aware is genei-ally in use. 

 This I do by ridging the ground to have varia- 

 tions of about six inches, these extending east 

 and west. Then on the northern slope of the 

 ridges I set the plants as shown by the inclosed 

 pencil sketch. I take some pains to firm the 

 soil when planting. All the winter care given 

 by this method is to scatter some straw o^'er the 

 plat in late fall, and the jjlants manage to come 

 through remarkably well, gi\ing early head Let- 

 tuce in the spring.— J. E. Welch, Berhi Co., Pa. 



The Northern Light Grape. Mr. P. E. Bucke, 

 of Ottawa, writes to the Canadian Horticulturist 

 in glowing terms about this new white Grape, 

 which originated on the banks of the Ottawa, 

 Canada. He says it is the best white Grape in 



cultivation— indeed, a perfect gem. The color 

 is gi'eenish-white, with pink fruit stem. The 

 leaf resembles the Concord both in size and tex- 

 ture, but is more leathery; there is no foxiness 

 about the fruit, either in smell or taste, and it is 

 very sweet when fully ripe, with a slight sub- 

 acid. It ripens %vith the Moore's Early. The 

 ^ine is a tremendous grower, and hardy. It has 

 borne fruit four years; the first year, two 

 bunches; second yeai\ 20 pounds; third year, 25 

 pounds; and this year, about 20 pounds. 



Clean Advertisements. Belie\-ing as Populah 

 Gardeni.'^G does in dean journalism, even to the 

 advertising department, its good friends can 

 hai'dly have any idea of the thousanda of dollars 

 worth of cash advertising that is constantly 

 turned right from our columns, simply because 

 we will not, even for cash, admit the cards 

 of those in whom we can have no confidence. 

 And yet we see these objectionable advertise- 

 ments right along in many other papers, even the 

 religious journals, and we know that some one 

 suffers, as a consequence, for unscupulous adver- 

 tising can only be paid for at the expense of vic- 

 tims. This fact we hold up as another reason 

 why lovers of clean journalism should find pleas- 

 ure in heartily supporting the present periodical. 

 Garden Neatness in Winter. Popular Gar- 

 dening takes no pleasure in that kind of garden- 

 ing which is over scrupulous for neatness in the 

 summer, and then utterly disregarding this 

 quality through the .winter. We like to see a 

 snug and clean lawn the year around, and with 

 some attention to leaf raking after the main fail 

 of leaves it may be easily so rendered. Then 

 the cultivated surface of the flower beds and 

 bordei-s, and of the vegetable plot, wiU look in- 

 comparably better for an ordei-ly facing over of 

 the top \\ith the digging fork, instead of its be- 

 ing left rough from plant lifting, or from taking 

 in the crops of the latter. To neatly tie up the 

 ornamental shrubs and climbers to stakes or 

 trellise, protecting such as are the better for win- 

 ter cover with straight straw, neatly bound on 

 with twine and the top of the coat squarely cut 

 off, will also help wonderfully in gi\'ing a pleas- 

 ing winter finish to a place. 



Chrysanthemums will hold a supreme place 

 among ornamental plants for a month or two to 

 come, bestowing rich rewards for the patient 

 labor and skill called forth in raising the plants. 

 If now liquid manure be given liberally to the 

 plants, and these be never allowed to suffer from 

 lack of moisture at the roots, a finer develop- 

 ment of bloom may be expected. To nip out the 

 smaller buds, enabling the plant to bestow all its 

 vigor, on the larger ones, will also be found a 

 more satisfacto- 

 ry course than to 

 permit all to re- 

 main. Speaking 

 of watering the 

 plants, let it be 

 remembered 

 that in case of 

 moving from the 

 moist atmos- 

 phere of the 

 f i-ame or green- 

 house, to the 

 show room or 

 Gluzing with Doxiitle Pointed Tacks, window, the air 

 of which is almost cei'tain to be dry and oppres- 

 sive, and any slight shown them in the matter of 

 extra watering, here required, will soon tell 

 against beauty. 



A Parlor Landscape. The pretty idea shown 

 forth on the next page was conceived by a Mr. 

 Bruen, and is bi'ought to the attention of nov- 

 elty lovers by J. U. DeVeer, 19 Broadway, New 

 York, t<:) whom we are indebted for the use of 

 the engraving. The main feature of the plaque 

 is a water pocket on the reverse side, corres- 

 ponding with the lower part of the scene illus- 

 trated in the engraving, and which on this side 

 is sown with Grass seed that soon springs into 

 growth, the upper pai-t being painted with some 

 appropriate figure. These plaques are made to 

 be about 8 inches across, and if desired the entire 

 surface can be sown. The maker also suggests 

 the use of small bulbs. Pansy plants, etc., in the 

 Grass of the foreground. To sow the plaque it 

 is soaked in water for 24 hours, after which the 

 seed is sprinkled on where wanted, and the pock- 

 et at the back is filled with water. These little 

 affaii-s are not at all expensive, Mr. DeVeer fur- 

 nishing the plain ones at seventy-five cents 

 apiece, and from that upwards. 



The Compost Heap is Bame Nature's sugges- 

 tion. She teaches that in order to keep up soil 



