POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE."— Unaos. 



Vol. III. 



ZFEBieXJ.A.E.'S', 1888. 



O Winter! 



Winter! ruler of the Inverted year, 



Thy scattered hair with sleet-lllte ashes tilled. 



Thy breath congealed upon thy lips, thy cheeks 



Fringed with a beard made white with other snows 



Than those of age; thy forehead wrapped in clouds, 



A leafless branch thy sceptre, and thy throne 



A sliding car indebted to no wheels, 



But urged hy stonns along its slippery way; 



1 love thee, all iiniovely as thou seemst. 

 And dreaded as thou art. 



A PLANTATION Of Century plants has been 

 started in Orange Co., Florida, for growing fibre. 



FoH Co.MiuNiNti (irnament with utility one 

 could go much farther and do worse than to plant 

 a group of Siberian Crab Apples on a large lawn. 

 Handsope in habit, in flower and in fruit. 



Apples Abroad. Recent cable advices from 

 Liverpool and Glasgow report a demand in those 

 markets for Baldwins and Russets, and that an 

 improvement in prices may l>e looked for shortl.v. 

 Baldwins aie selling at Liverpool at 16s. 6d. to 

 17s. Kd. per barrel. 



Frozen Plant.s. Mr. Peter Henderson has made 

 the statement that in his experience with thous- 

 ands of frozen plants he has tried all manner of 

 experiments, and found no better method than 

 to get them out of the freezing atmosphere to 

 some place warm enough to be just above the 

 point of freezing; or, if there are too many to do 

 that, get up the Are as rapidly as possible, and 

 raise the temperatdre. 



Public Parks and Public PE.tcE. A Vienna 

 newspaper supports a suggestion for the per- 

 manent closing of Trafalgar Square, London, to 

 mob meetings by laj-ing it out as a public garden. 

 The propensity to convert any large flagged 

 place into a forum is irresistable, remarks this 

 journal, but flower-beds, grass plots and little 

 railings are a great hindrance to mass meetings. 

 Red-coated Geraniums would clear the square 

 more eftectuall.v than red-coated guardsmen, and 

 there would probably be less sympathy for a 

 crowd proceeding to trample down flowers than 

 for one attacking policemen. The sight of de- 

 vastated flower beds would impress the horror 

 of mob violence more forcibly on cultivated 

 minds than scores of policemen's helmets. 



Look out for Traveling Grafters. Ac- 

 cording to '/j. C. Fairbanks of Traverse Cit.v, Mich., 

 a set (jf scalawag grafters imposed on some of his 

 neighboi'S a year ago. The.v claimed to hail frf)m 

 Ohio, and carried plenty of fine samples of fruit. 

 These they showed to tarmers and had no difti- 

 culty in taking ordere for setting grafts of the 

 same varieties, s(j claimed, at a price of eight cents 

 per graft. Tliey came in the spring in full work- 

 ing capacity, and wherever the.v got a chance at 

 a tree or an orchard the.v made it count ftu- 

 themselves. In one case the}' set HO grafts in one 

 Crab Apple tree, at a total cost of S4.KU, an 

 anio\iiit that wimld have furnished the owner lit 

 good Apple trees at 2.5 cents each. And they 

 were conimim Apple grafts too, when it has long 

 since Ijeen demonstrated that such grafting is a 

 failure. At the outside three cents a graft is a 

 good price to \iuy Un- doing reliable grafting, an<l 

 2 cents is not a small laice where a fair sized job 

 is to be done. Our readei"S are cautioned to have 

 nothing to do with strange traveling grafters. 



profltable to read closely as any portion of the 

 journal. The establishments here represented 

 are the foremost of their kuid in the country, 

 and such as can, without exception, we believe, he 

 reccmunended for their reliabiUty. Let but firms 

 like these be patronized by the masses, through 

 the help of the comprehensive catalogues they 

 oft'er to buyers, instead of giving orders to the 

 strange agents that at this season walk U) and fro 

 throughout the earth, and the gains to the Horti- 

 culture of our country, and to the purses of 

 growers, would be something immense. Another 

 thought : taking, as we do, great pains to have 

 the annoiincements of only reUable dealers in 

 our columns, the reader should appreciate the 

 advantage of haring spread before his eye such a 

 concise and .vet comprehensive statement of the 

 stock held in the nurseries, seed stores, and green- 

 houses of the country, and all at his disposal for 

 fair prices. So we say, study the ad vertising pages 

 if you would conduct the horticultural affairs 

 under your charge to the best advantage. 



Stuuv the Advertising Pages. This journal 

 eompiises two main departments, the one per- 

 taining to Gardening Information, the other to 

 the no less important mattei-s of Horticultui-al 

 Materials. The latter is found in the ad\'ertising 

 pages, and to everyone interested in the culture 

 of fruits, flowers, or vegetables for pleasure or 

 for market, this department should be found as 



Celery Culture at Kalamazoo, Mich. 



JOHN VAN BOCHOVE, KALAMAZOO, MICH. 



The bonanza of the City of Kalamazoo is 

 undoubtedly found in Celery culture. The 

 magnificent growth and perfection of this 

 crop here has attracted widespread atten- 

 tion, aud in the opinion of many cannot be 

 surpassed elsewhere. 



About fourteen years ago a few Holland 

 gardeners raised some small patches on 

 what they called moss land, having more 

 than enough to supply the home market. 

 As its superior quality and flavor became 

 known, a sudden demand for it caused this 

 infantile industry to spring at once into a 

 most flourishing condition. Now, about 

 two thousand hard-working people devote 

 their entire time the year around to this 

 work, placing upon the market the choicest 

 product. While at first a few acres were 

 planted, with misgivings as to the effect 

 upon the market, now many hundreds are. 

 \rith no misgivings as to the result. These 

 facts show that the Celery grown here must 

 be of an excellent quality, and as cheap 

 as other markets, otherwise the demand 

 would not continue. It is estimated that a 

 total of S.'iOO people get their living either 

 directly or indirectly from Celery, 



Our best (!elery soil here is muck, formed 

 of decayed vegetable matter, that being 

 preferred which has a subsoil of turf, the 

 muck being from one to ten feet in depth— 

 the deeper the better. This muck is very 

 black and much lighter than upland. In 

 hilling and all other work it requires much 

 less than ordinary soil labor. 



Unlike the Americiii. the Hollanders, who 

 grow most of the Celery here, delight in 

 working this low, wet land. Each man, .is 

 a rule, grows from one to three acres, or as 

 much as he and his family can tend and no 

 more. A few enterprising Arms have from 

 ten to twenty and thirty acres growing in 

 one solid body, the rows unbroken for one- 

 quarter of a mile, and beautifully straight. 

 The land is all drained by ditches, and it is 

 of the utmost importance to be drained 

 thoroughly, lor if the land is not relieved of 

 the sourness the Celery will not grow. 



For early Celery seed is sown in our green- 

 houses and hot-beds, and transplanted to 

 the garden from May 1 to .June 1, which is 

 as early as we care to risk the plants out- 

 side, experience having proved nothing to 



be gained by setting out sooner. Hot-bed 

 plants grown on upland will nearly all run 

 to seed, but in this soil, so well adapted to 

 the plant, verj- few seeders are produced. 



Seed is sown outside as soon as the 

 ground can be worked in spring, the 

 plants being transplanted as soon as large 

 enough, which is usually in about six 

 weeks from time of sowing. The plants 

 are not a little trouble to raise, requiring 

 care and skill, and if only a few thousand 

 are wanted it is cheaper to buy them. The 

 Celery is cultivated once a week through 

 the season. To grow Celery to perfection 

 requires an abundance of manure, stable 

 manure being preferred to anything else. 



By the method of blanching Celery as 

 practiced here we are enabled to place it on 

 the market by July 1, and during the hot- 

 test weather free from rust and in as fine 

 condition as in October. Not infrequently 

 I have had a crop of Celery blanched and 

 dug in nine weeks from time of transplant- 

 ing. The rapid growth on this land enables 

 us in most seasons to grow three crops of 

 this vegetable on the same land in one sea- 

 son. It takes from ten to fourteen days to 

 blanch the product, according to how hot the 

 weather is. The warmer the weather the 

 faster it blanches. In storing it is put away 

 in trenches and removed from there to 

 coops as wanted for market. The last crop 

 is all in by Noveinber 1, when cold weather 

 may be expected. 



The varieties raised are few, the Golden 

 Dwarf being mostly grown. The object 

 here being quality, not quantity, no giant 

 varieties are grown. 



The shipping of Celery commences July 

 1, and continues until the Celery .is all dis- 

 posed of, which is usually before January 

 1. Twenty and thirty, and 'not infre- 

 quently ttfty tons are shipped dally during 

 the shipping season. 



Some of the heaviest producers ship 

 directly to their customers, and in the busi- 

 est part of the season are unable to keep up 

 with their orders. The Celery is all tied in 

 " dozen " bunches, twelve stalks to the 

 bunch. It sold last season for twenty cents 

 per dozen by the shipper, the grower receiv- 

 ing fifteen cents. It is shipped in new, light, 

 strong boxes, holding from six up to thirty 

 dozen. It is dug and shipped the same day, 

 thus insuring its freshness. Going mostly 

 by express to all parts of the union, some 

 to Canada. It is shipped to some extent by 

 refrigerator cars. The express companies 

 make a very low rate, and provide special 

 cars to transport it. 



Another branch of this industry, which 

 has sprung up within the last few years, is 

 the shipping of plants. One firm of this city 

 shipped last season six hundred thousand 

 plants, besides employing as many more for 

 their own planting. 



Smilax as a Window Plant. 



MR.S. L. H. GALE, BARTON CO., MO. 



This plant, botanically known as Myrxl- 

 lihyUuni nupiinKjoides, is one of the prettiest 

 climbing plants with which I am acquainted. 

 There are no large leaves, or gaudy colored 

 flowers to attract attention, but ever>-thing 

 about the plant from its long, slender, grass- 

 like stem to its small, delicate, fragrant, 



