90 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



white flowers, are the very perfection of 

 grace and neatness. 



The roots being small, require but little 

 pot room or soil, and the vines shoot up 

 rapidly, clinging to any slight support given 

 in the form of twine, wire, or trellis. Plants 

 are easily produced from seed, or they can 

 be had very cheaply of almost any florist. 



I do not think the merits of this neat little 

 climber are fully appreciated, by those who 

 take delight in cultivating window plants, 

 as it is especially adapted to this purpose. 

 WhUe many plants of a similar habit be- 

 come large, coarse and heavy when fully 

 developed, the Smilax never reaches svich a 

 stage, but is always light and graceful, no 

 matter how strong and vigorous the growth. 

 It is cultivated to considerable extent by 

 most florists, the ladies being their principal 

 customers, for Smilax is splendid for decora- 

 tions, and for giving the final touches to a 

 lady's toilet. 



Although the vine appears to be very deli- 

 cate and fragile it is quite the reverse, for 

 the stems are almost as tough as iron wire 

 and the leaves remain fresh without wilting 

 for some time after being separated from the 

 parent plant, even in a warm atmosphere. 



existence, and in order to have any of the 

 peculiar beauty that a bit of sward is capa- 

 ble of affording, this must be shelved and 

 sloped, so to speak, to save it from being 

 trodden to death. 



An indirect advantage also presents itself 

 in the use of these miniature shrub plateaus. 

 The striking difference in their appearance 

 and of that of the coping-edged shrub bor- 

 ! ders first described, is so marked as to afford 

 1 a variety in the embellishments, which 

 would, by employing solely the one or the 

 other style, be quite impossible to possess. 

 And yet we must be slow in recommending 

 the use of these elevations, except in such 



Improving the School-Yard. 



Examples of good school-yard gardening, 

 as intimated last month, are not very abun- 

 dant. This will be the only excuse needed 

 for presenting as our second illustration m 

 this series a modified form of a vei-y fine 

 school yard which the writer met a few 

 years ago in the City of London, England. 

 For although the subject of our illustration 

 was a gravel-surfaced town yard, it contains 

 one or more features which might well enter 

 into much work of this kind in town or 

 country, and that too, whether grass or 

 gravel serves to cover the surface of the yard. 



The school yard illustrated in the present 

 instance contains several striking features 

 of horticultural adornment. The most con- 

 spicuous of these perhaps are the borders of 

 flowering shrubs and plants which occupy 

 a position next to the boundary in the front 

 part of the yard, and also at one place 

 against the school building. These borders 

 are in the main about flfteen feet in width 

 and together more than two-hundred feet in 

 length. They are defined at the front by a 

 low stone or brick coping, as a protection to 

 the growths within and to divide the culti- 

 vated surface of the border from the grav- 

 elled surface without. For the sake of 

 economy a substitude might in similar work 

 be provided, by the use of sections of Cedar 

 or Chestnut wood set uprightly in the soil, 

 or even by a low wooden fence. 



The shrubs and plants occupying these 

 borders are chiefly of hardy kinds, and such 

 as yield a profusion of flowers throughout 

 the entire season with little attention. About 

 the only care a border of the kind requires 

 after once it is started is to till the soil, 

 manure it annually (the best season being 

 in the autumn), and to keep the shrubs and 

 plants healthy and within bounds by periodi- 

 cal pruning, dividing, etc. 



Next in prominence to the cultivated bor- 

 der, if indeed they do not exceed them, are 

 the narrow elevated areas with slopes, shown 

 at the termination of the borders against 

 the line on both sides of the yard, about 

 midway front and rear. The one to the 

 right is long and narrow, the other circular 

 in outline. These raised beds are sur- 

 mounted with shrubs on a grassy surface, 

 and the slopes also are grass covered. The 

 idea which called them into use is a very 

 forcible one as applying to town schools, 

 attended perhaps by near 1 ,000 pupils each, it 

 being the same also which calls for gravel 

 instead of grass throughout such yards. 

 Reference is had to the fact that the grass 

 on the general surface has no fair chance of 



A FINELY-EMBELLISHED SCHOOL YARD. 



localities as are provided with a free use of 

 hydrant water for keeping them sufficiently 

 watered in dry weather. In any other yards 

 the severe droughts to which we are so fre- 

 quently subject would be liable to prove 

 directly disastrous to their beauty. Such 

 elevations depend not only on a good color 

 of grass and shrubs for their beauty, but as 

 the slopes and angles should be very well 

 graded and defined, the frequent use of the 

 lawn mower to keep the grass surface 

 shapely is essential to the best appearance. 



In the front right-hand section of the yard, 

 as shown by the illustration, is another 

 feature of adornment that should be de- 

 scribed. This is the circular object near the 

 shrub border and which corresponds in its 

 outline vnth the front of the shrub border, 

 at this point laid out on a curve. This feat- 

 ure may be said to embody the idea of both 

 of the main ones heretofore described. First 

 there is a low circular coping, uniform vrtth 

 the one which defines the shrub borders, but 

 which, in this instance, is filled to the top 

 with earth and a surface of sward. Cen- 

 trally from this sward rises a second cop- 

 ing similar to the first, but somewhat higher, 

 and this serves to contain a bed of bright 

 flowers and plants, such as Geraniums, 

 Coleus, and the like, which stand out from 

 a surface of soil, rounded slightly upward 

 from the top of the coping. It is not difficult 

 to perceive that the design here as elsewhere 

 was to protect the horticultural adornments 

 from accidental or other injury at the hands 

 of the children. 



The other features of this well designed 

 school-yard, consist chiefly of half a dozen 

 shade trees and several screens of strong 

 growing shrubs, all of which are planted on 

 the common level. 



One cannot contemplate a school-yard of 

 this kind, studying its varied delightful 

 parts, without being impressed with the 

 gain that would be derived by the presence 

 of many similarly improved school-yards 

 throughout our country, on the minds and 



characters of the young. They would cost 

 some money in their construction, a few 

 hundred dollars at the outside for each per- 

 haps, and then a small annual maintenance 

 fund. But what is that for any one of our 

 school districts representing valuations in 

 real estate aggregating hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars often. 



Successful Grape Grafting. 



BY DR. G. STATMAN, LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS. 



But few Grape growers appear to fully 

 understand this subject, judging from the 

 many failures constantly reported. As al- 

 most every one who is interested in new 

 high priced Grapes wishes to realize from 

 them as soon as possible, we will give our 

 very successful method of procedure in 

 grafting such and all vines. Much of what 

 we present has never been published before, 

 the process described being the outcome of 

 more than thirty years' experience in graft- 

 ing the Grape by every known method. 



As new Grapes of promise appear we pro- 

 cure one or more vines of each, according to 

 our opinion of merit. The first cost is a 

 small matter if it proves of value, and no 

 great loss if not, it being worth something 

 to know that fact from experience. 



We plant in well prepared rich soil, give 

 them good care and cultivation, and train 

 up one good cane from each plant to a 

 stake. In the fall, after the first hard, kill- 

 ing frost, this is cut back to two buds, and 

 it is covered over when cold weather sets in. 



The wood is cut up at once before it dries 

 a particle into lengths of from nine to 

 eleven inches, according to the space be- 

 tween the buds, cutting an inch above a 

 bud at the top. These cuttings are labelled 

 and tied with a willow, or something that 

 will not rot, and are stored away in damp 

 earth or sawdust free from frost. 



We graft all species and varieties and 

 ages of vines, if vigorous and healthy, with 

 about the same success. There is nothing 

 in the adaptability of one stock over an- 

 other, except some varieties work better 

 and make more enduring vines, as Norton's 

 Virginia and Cynthiana. 



We commence in the spring after the 

 frost is out and the soil is well settled, and 

 not too wet, and all danger of hard freezing 

 is over. This occurs about a week or ten days 

 before the vines commence to bleed. This 

 period is selected because hard freezing 

 will move the grafts after they are once 

 set unless covered, a danger to be obviated. 



The first step is to cut the vines off near 

 the ground and clear them and other rub- 

 bish away. A man then digs around the 

 vines about eighteen inches in diameter 

 and ten inches or more deep, cutting off all 

 surface roots. See a in the figure. The 

 earth is taken out clean to the stems, but 

 with care to not injure the stocks where 

 they are to be grafted. A good sharp shoe- 

 maker's knife, soft tow twine, as grocers 

 use, a sharp saw, a strong pruning shears 

 and a light maUet. are also provided. 



We then assort our wood, taking all that 

 is the size of a lead pencil and over for 

 grafting in the ground ; the stronger the 

 better, for old vines. The grafts are 

 wrapped up in a damp cloth to prevent dry- 

 ing, and with the tools are put in a basket. 

 If the vines are not over three-fourths of an 

 inch in diameter, cut them off with the 

 shears about eight inches below the sur- 

 face of the ground, at a clean smooth place, 

 if any. If larger we saw them off. 



Now take the side of the stock that will 

 make the straightest edge and cut it up 

 from below, sloping on one side to the top 

 of the stock, as shown at a. This slope 

 should be cut true and about one inch and 

 a half long, like in whip-grafting, but not 

 over from one fourth to half an inch deep 

 at the top of the small stocks. Next place 



