52 



POPULAR GARDENING'. 



December, 



Song of Leaves. 



Red leaf, gold leaf. 

 Flutter down the wind ; 



Life Is brief, oh 1 life Is brief. 

 But mother tarth Is kind : ' 



From her dear bosora he shall spring 

 To new blossoming. 

 The red leaf, the gold leaf, 

 They have had their way : 



Love is long, if life be brief- 

 Life Is l>ut a day ; 

 And love from Grief and Death shall spring 

 To new blossoming. 



Chrysanthemums. 



of all the flowers that l^low between the snow and 

 snow— 

 The Trillium, the Lilium, the Leuoanthemum— 

 There are none In all the "-ow that make so great a show 

 As that lingering flower of autumn, the Chrysanthe- 

 mum. 

 The Violet and the Rose are sweeter, I suppose. 



And more modest is the pink Meserabryanthemum, 

 But for eyes as well as nose, and to please the maids 

 and beans. 

 There is nothing like the gorgeous, gay Chrysanthe- 

 mum. 



December Is a trying month, the frost one's hands 

 benumb.s. 



But then it is the happy month when merry Christmas 

 comes. 



There is nothing without drawbacks ; let's be thankful 

 that It's true ; 



There's no drawback you can mention but has compen- 

 sations, too. 



Keep down plant insects. 



Benew early in the month. 



The garden favors intellect. 



Uoisture hastens decay in fruit. 



Ask your friends to subscribe also. 



Avoid chilly drafts on growing plants. 



If Heliotrope gets frozen, throw out at once. 



This is the worst month for the Lettuce forcer. 



We prize the Purple Hazel as an ornamental 

 shrub. 



You missed it on Primulas if blooms are not 

 yet near. 



The Worden is so far jjreferred to the Concord 

 in our vineyard. 



Didn't your Golden Elder color weU't It won't 

 do so in the shade. 



The surface soil of pot plants had better be 

 kept loose in winter. 



Liquid manure only for plants that are in 

 actual growth or in bloom. 



In plant culture the prince and the peasant 

 stand nearly on common grounds. 



The Popular thing to do: Subscribe to Popular 

 Gabdenlno and Fruit Growing. 



The gardener who trenches deeply and ma- 

 nures heavily is sure to come off best. 



A plant like Ivy, hardy out-of-doors, may suf- 

 fer from a slight frost bite when housed. 



Get in seeds of Centaurea Candida this month 

 or it wont be worth whUe. Slow growers. 



If you have money to fool away, seed down 

 the young orchard to clover, grass or grain. 



Summer mulch must be drawn from the 

 young trees if you would save them from mice. 



Kerosene is cheap, and a single lamp will do 

 wonders in a small plant room to keep out frost. 



Onions are not of tlie things that like warmth 

 In the winter, a steadily frozen condition suits 

 them better. 



The Double White Phlox Drummondi pos- 

 sesses the additional charm of being sweetly 

 scented. 



Our aim in the greenhouse is to have a good 

 breadth of cutting bed filled with slips before this 

 month is out. 



In Lettuce culture little water when there is 

 little air must be the rule. Many mistakes are 

 made just here. 



What One Dollar secures here. More than 

 llilXI practical articles and 3.50 engravings in the 

 annual volume. 



Somin Hyacinths started in September, if now 

 fairly encouraged should give plenty of sweet 

 bloom by Christmas day. 



Our nearest approach to a Paradise on earth is 

 by way of a good garden, that abounds in flowers, 

 fruits and pleasant trees. 



A Great Camellia Plant In Birmingham, 

 England, there is a large Double White Camellia 

 tree 17 feet high and the same measure across. 



The getter up of a club to this journal is a true 

 horticultural missionary, and one who does the 

 cause of American horticulture a genuine service. 



Quinces, Large crops of the finest fruit are 

 grown on our land, which lays high and is rather 

 thin, by the course of applying a liberal coat of 

 manure every year. 



An annual subscription to this journal makes 

 a most becoming Holiday present. Bo you take 

 the hint "/ Send on subscriptions promptly and 

 we can return receipts before Christmas day. 



Parchment paper, strong, thin, almost trans- 

 parent, and that which does not lose its strength 

 when submerged in water, is being offered as a 

 substitute for glass to be used in frame making. 



What is wanted in the description of new sorts 

 is the correct time of maturity. In hundreds of 

 things the mere being off from the truth by a 

 week's time makes the whole difference between 

 profit and loss. 



Bark Louse. A practical writer says the best 

 remedy for this insect is leaf tobacco boiled in 

 lye until reduced to a pulp, and then mixing 

 enough soft soap tfi make the whole like thin 

 paint. It is not easily washed off. 



Strawberries can without any great difficulty 

 be forced to fruit in winter, only quality must 

 be left out of consideration with those coming 

 on before April 1st, as air and sunshine are im- 

 portant features in imparting fia\'or. The fruit 

 sells by its color however. 



A club of five subscribers, at one dollar each, 

 secures an extra copy to the getter up of the 

 club. We believe that ten or fifteen thousand 

 clubs of five each could easily be raised this 

 month by our readere. How we would appreciate 

 just this kind of help in December ! 



Some Pumpkins. They were of the Sugar 

 Pumpkin variety, and grown by our subscriber, 

 Curtis Babcock. One single ^-Ine outdid any- 

 thing he ever heard of, or we either, producing 39 

 specimens fit for cooking, seven of which alone 

 weighted S'.JTH pounds in the aggregate. 



Water-proof paper for paclring plants, etc., 

 may be made by taking twenty-four parts of 

 blue soap, to be procured at drug stores, and four 

 parts of white soap, fifteen parts of wax, and 

 boil it with 130 parts of water. Dip the packing 

 paper into this letting it well soak, and then hang 

 it up on cords to dry. 



A New Dwarf Lupine. Messrs. Haage & Schmidt 

 of Erfurt, Prussia, offer the new variety illus- 

 trated herewith as Lupinus albo-coccineus nanus. 

 It is spoken of as being remai-kably free bloom- 

 ing, while possessing the merit of assuming a 

 handsome compact bush of about one foot in 

 height and breadth, and bearing its bloom well 

 above the foliage. 



Banana Fruiting in the Open Air. It is re- 

 liably stated that Dr. W. N. DeVille, a druggist 

 of Jefferson Cit.v, Mo., has had a plant of the 

 Banana, Mitsa paradimea, which bore fruit the 

 past season. The summer climate of most parts 

 of the United States is fairly well suited to the 

 Banana and the plant might receive more atten- 

 tion from American growers. 



" It is English." Now that we as a people find 

 so much to admire in English ways and fashions. 

 Popular Gardening would be glad to see more 

 of our wealthy ones pattern after their foreign 

 cousins in the sensible matter of possessing 

 ample country homesteads. In England landed 

 property is the highest ambition of men of 

 wealth. It is a most praiseworth.i»' ambition. 



Three "Dont's" in Strawberry Culture. Mr. 

 G. J. Kellogg, of Janes\ille, Wis., epitomizes a 

 good deal of wisdom on an imijort^tnt point, as 

 follows; Don't accept as a gift plants from a 

 neighbor's nhl bed. Don't take plants fr4jm your 

 own unless you know them t(t be pure and no 

 pistillate varieties set in that bed. Don't plant a 

 pistillate unless you have some reliable kind to 

 set along side of it. 



What do you think of the Apple? writes our 

 correspondent Samuel Miller, of Bluffton, Mo., 



concerning a handsome specimen sent to us, of 

 the crop of 1S,S6, kept by a new preserving pro- 

 cess. What we think is that such a process, if it 

 proves to be inexpensive and applicable without 

 bad effects to all varieties, would be of great 

 worth in helping to equalize the fruit crop. We 

 hope to learn more of this method. 

 Concerning future improvements Popular 

 Gardening ANi> 

 Fruitgrowing 

 seldom indulges 

 in puffs or pr(;ra- 

 ises. It prefers 

 to point simply 

 to its past rec- 

 ord, showing" the 

 i m p r o vements 

 that have from 

 month to month 

 been wrought 

 ivithout irrmtii»€^ 

 of any sort, aa an 

 pflmp^t of ^lif* 

 Tiaininu Wire for a Pot. spirit that con- 

 stantly prompts its publishers in this direction. 

 So we say, would you know of the future? 

 Then look to the past. 



" Soot water," writes "J. M." "is a cheap and 

 easily made fertilizer for pot plants. It benefits 

 all kinds. It also clears worms from the soil. I 

 prefer t« use it only after the roots have taken 

 to the SOU freely. To make it, halt fill an old bag 

 with soot, adding a brick for weight, tie up the 

 mouth and sink it in a barrel of water. Begin 

 using it in moderate doses. The strength to 

 apply it can best be determined with some prac- 

 tice by the cultivator. 



Butter and Eggs Weed, We have a threatening 

 nuisance here taking i)ossession of the streets 

 and fields, and farmei-s do not seem to be awake 

 to the danger of tolerating its presence. I mean 

 Toad Flax, known also by name of "Jacob's Lad- 

 der " and " Butter and Eggs." I find it almost 

 impossible to kill it by digging. Its slender 

 thread-like roots run deep and spreading. Heavy 

 and persistent salting seems the most effective.— 

 M. H. W., Elmira, N. Y. 



Twelve Everblooming Boses. The following- 

 Ust of desirable varieties constitutes the choice 

 of Mrs. Wade Burden, of Greene Co., Missouri, 

 an amateur of much experience: Appoline, 

 Countess de Labarthe, Bon Silene, Catherine 

 Mermet, La France, of various colors of rose and 

 pink ; Perle des Jardins, yellow; Marechal Neil, 

 yellow; Clau Carnot, buff; MaJmaison, flesh 

 color; Marie GuiUot, very white ; Madame Mar- 

 gottin, j'ellow, red centre ; General Jacqueminot. 

 " It is not a poor flower," says A. V. D., of 

 Cumberland, Md., in speaking of the Cosmos 

 hybridus, which some one has said is not worth 

 the room it occupies. Our correspondent further 

 remarks : " I have them in full bloom now (Octo- 

 ber 10th), excelling in beauty the Japan Anemone. 

 I have lovely pink and white ones, the petals 

 crimped and lovely, making a beautiful cut 



A New Dwarf Lupine. 



flower and one that keeps fresh a long while. It 

 takes up a good deal of room perhaps, but for 

 this it pays in the beauty of its blossoms." 



Clubs are easily made up for this paper. Its 

 beauty, worth and price do the business where 

 there is only some one to help the matter along 

 a little. Reader, will you not see what can be 

 done among your friends? The present month, 

 when nearly everyone is renewing or changing 

 their periodicals, is just the time to bring the 

 needed pressure t« bear. Our journal is com- 



