lOO 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



A Pine Tree. 



A hauttful of moss from the woodside, 



Dappled with gold and brown, 

 I borrowed to gladden uiy chamber 



In the heart of the dusky town; 

 And there, in the flickering shadows 



Ti'aced by my window vine. 

 It has nursed into life and freshness 



The germ of a giant Pine. 

 Ont of this feeble seedling 



What wonders the years may bring; 

 Its stem may defy the tempest. 



Its limbs in the whirlwind swing. 

 For age which to men comes laden 



With weakness and sure decline 

 Will add only growth and beauty 



And strength to this tiny Pine. 

 I will take it again to the woodside. 



That safe with its kindred there 

 Its evergreen arms may broaden 



Yearly more strong and fair; 

 And long after weeds and bramble 



Urow over this iiead of mine 

 The wild birds will build and warble 



In the boughs of my grateful Pine. 



—Philadelphia Times, 



The Rose is sweet, the Rose is red. 



The Rose hath many a lover;— 

 The Showdrop hath a wintry bed. 



And of a wintry cover. 

 But were I seeking for a flower 



To breathe sweet thoughts and hol.v, 

 I'd leave the Red Rose in her bower. 



And plnck the Snowdrop lowly. 

 White blossoms of the storm and cold! 



If thou hast not a spirit. 

 Thou dost a living faith unfold; 



And that is wondrous near iti 



—Paul Pastnor. 



The Calla is half aquatic. 



The Bean is of the tropics. 



A poor soil is e.xpensire in the end. 



Market Apples before they mellow up. 



Snbscriptions may begin with any month. 



A light soil makes better flavored Carrots. 



An old tooth-brush for scale insects on pot 

 plants. 



Young trees yield the finest, old trees the rich- 

 est fruit. 



A first step in fitting up a new home: plant an 

 Asparagus bed. 



The hot-bed is an excellent place to propagate 

 Grapes from single-eye cuttings. 



" Every namber is worth the price for a year," 

 write several enthusiastic subscribers. 



Fruits and flowers, like human nature, need 

 only opportunity to prove their quality. 



A shift into a larger pot is rarely desirable as 

 a pot plant is coming strongly into bloom. 



Many fail with the Egg Plant from not start- 

 ing the seeds early enough. March is about the 

 light time, giving them a warm place. 



Pruning. " We prune Apples, Pears and other 

 hardy fruits any time that we have leisure be- 

 tween leaf fall and April 1st." — P. Ba/iTy. 



Pry up a clump of the Bleeding Heart, Dicentra 

 speciabilis, let it thaw out slowly, then pot it 

 and you may soon have a fine window plant. 



Ihe Mursery "Agents" which Gardenino 

 AND Fruit Growing recommends are the su- 

 perb catalogues of reliable firms whose announce- 

 ments appear elsewhere in the present issue. 



Egg-shell Flower Pots. Elder's Wife suggests 

 in the Floral Gazette the tise of eggshells in place 

 of thumb pots it the latter ai'e scarce for young 

 plants. Tliey should be punctured with a darn- 

 ing needle f (tr pritviding drainage. 



Have you talked to that neighbor yet about 

 subscriV)uig ? Many of our readers we know 

 have done so by the numerous clubs that ha\'e 

 come to this office of late, but many more are 

 yet to be heard from if they mean to help this 

 paper in such a most desirable maiuier. 



Uypress Bars, etc, A recent writer cautions 

 gardeners against the use of this wood for 



sashes, etc., saying that it never becomes wholly 

 seasoned, hence it changes in dimensions with 

 changes in the weather. Will our readers who 

 have tried this material please report to us. 



The Horse-radish often atfords a good illustra- 

 tion of the old definition of a weed, namely, "a 

 plant out of place." In its place occupying a 

 limited spot in some corner of the garden, it is a 

 very desirable plant, but allowed to spread be- 

 yond this spot it becomes a decided nuisance. 



To mail flower buds the Mirror and Farmer 

 suggests the cutting of a Potato into two pieces, 

 boring holes into them and inserting the stems 

 of the buds with cotton to support them. There 

 is sufficient moisture in a good sized Potato to 

 support a flower or plant sUp for two weeks in a 

 moderately cool temperature. 



Cremation for Ants. Empty a shovelful of 

 live coals on the hill, lay (m top of that a flat 

 stone, and pour over and around it a dipper of 

 hot water. The steam hisses down into ever,v 

 crack and crevice of the underground labyrinth, 

 and not an ant lives to tell the tale or an egg is 

 ever to be f ound.— Jf /'S. S. B. S., Melcalf Cii.,Tt:xa-i 



Weeds and Insects, I look for the ultimate 

 use of electricity in our terrific battle with weeds 

 and insects. Weapons are discovered in propor- 

 tion to evils developed. The discoveries of car- 

 bolic acid and kerosene have enabled us to hold 

 our own in directions where we were threatened 

 with total disaster. They are our two most im- 

 portant insecticides. — Kew E. P. Powell. 



The Peach is regarded as the most delicious 

 fruit of its latitude, and is well worthy of more 

 attention in the home garden. Nowhere does it 

 succeed so well as in America, notwithstanding 

 some discouragements that have arisen. To 

 show the appreciation of the English and French 

 gardeners for this luscious fruit, it may be said 

 that they will expend more labor on one tree 

 than most of our orchardists do on a hundred. 



Our Guarantee. With a material increase of 

 subscribers we cQuld and would make a much 

 better paper still. So you see something depends 

 on every subscriber who can help swell our sub- 

 scription list. Let all work together to such 

 an end. To be sure the subscription list is grow- 

 ing more rapidly than ever before— it could not 

 well help doing that— but let it grow yet faster, 

 that the end sought may be the sooner reached. 



Beneflts from Close Sorting. Too much cannot 

 be said for close sorting of fruits. I have just got 

 returns for a few barrels of Apples sent to a 

 reliable firm in New York, and the best Kings 

 sold there for S3.7.5 per barrel, while nearly as 

 good brought only $::M a barrel. For other vari- 

 eties the price varied according to grading, in 

 same proportion. Of course we must be parti- 

 cular to whom we sell, for a good many car loads 

 of Apples were bought here this fall for $1.1.5 per 

 barrel.— Ciflude Smith, Chenango Co., N. Y. 



Manure for Mushrooms. Referring to some 

 recent communication on sawdust manure for 

 Mushrooms, Mr. William Falconer writes: John 

 CuUen, of Bethlehem, Pa., a couple of years ago 

 had the finest crop of Mushrooms 1 ever saw, 

 and grown on mule droppings with some saw- 

 dust. Mr. Henshaw, of New Brighton, Staten 

 Island, and one of the most successful Mush- 

 room growers around New York, uses manure 

 from stables where sawdust is partly used as 

 bedding. Mushrooms will grow in it well 

 enough, but have as much of the droppings and 

 as little of the sawdust as you can. 



Extremely Hardy Trees. E. W. Merritt, of 

 Aroostook Co., Maine, has favored us with a list 

 of trees that succeed in his far-north region, 

 giving the extremes of cold in degrees helow zero 

 they will endure uninjured: Applet<. Wealthy 

 35°, Gideon 3.5°, Pewaukee 35°, Walbridge 30°. 

 Plums. Mooer's Arctic 35, Green Gage and Im- 

 perial 30°, Lombard ffi°. Chen-y. Early Rich- 

 mond and May Duke Cherry 30°. Ornamentals. 

 Maple, Birch and Poplar of different species, 

 35°, Kilmarnock Willow :jO°. A few of the hardi- 

 est Roses are grown here by laying down or 

 growing in tubs in cellar in winter. 



The Variegated Kubber Tree. How is it no 

 one has been found to say a good word for the 

 vai-iegated I'icm elastica/ We have a pair of 

 plants in ,5J^-inch pots about 4 feet high, and I 

 do not think it would be easy to surpass them in 

 iK'aut.\ . The variegation in most of the leaves is 

 almost 11 iiure white, much better than we have 

 seen it. The plants are grown in a liot-house 

 and shaded from sun, but with plenty of light. 

 During winter they stood in a cool Orchid house. 

 I do not think it would be safe to keep them so 

 cool as the green form. Though dilhcult to re- 



produce, I believe by rooting the tops of strong 

 plants, shoots are formed at the a.xil of the leaves, 

 which when larger strike well.— OW Gardener. 



Myrtle for the Window. It is not to the Vinca 

 or Periwinkle, often wrongly called Myrtle, to 

 which we here allude, but to the true Myrtle, 

 Myrtn.'i comm}tnii<. This is a beautiful httle tree 

 with small, dark-green, exquisitely shaped and 

 smooth foliage of an agreeable fragrance, said 

 tree bearing small white flowers in its season. 

 It makes a most capital window plant when 

 grown in a small pot, and kept fresh and clean 

 by frequent sprinkling. Two plants that we 

 know of have grown in a north window these 

 last ten years, and have repeatedly been frosted, 

 but they suffered no harm on that account, and 

 they are now a fine pair, two feet high and nearly 

 as much through, notwithstanding their being 

 repeatedly robbed of cuttings and branches for 

 friends who admire them. The plants may be 

 had of almost any florist.— ^1. H. E. 



To Winter Celery Cheaply. If you ha\e an 

 excavation used for hot-bed clean out the ma- 

 nure except about two inches at the bottom. 

 Then take up the Celery with as much dirt on 

 the roots as possible; pack it in this pit closely 

 in an upright position, working the manure at 

 bottom around the roots, wetting the roots soak- 

 ing wet after it is placed in. Now make a light 

 cover over top of hot-bed frame of matched 

 flooring, ha\'ing one end of the cover as a lid to 

 raise when wishing to get in for Celery, and also 

 to air on mUd days; and as severe weather ad- 

 vances put a good covei-ing of straw on top of 

 the cover and ai'ound the sides. If frost should 

 appear to be getting in too much, place in the 

 pit at one end a kettle of live coals occasionally. 

 Celery put up this way blanches nicely, grows 

 all winter, and can be had at any time.— 4. M. N. 



A Cheap and Effective Tree Guard. After all 

 to be said in favor of setting out young trees in- 

 stead of older ones for quick results, the fact re- 

 mains that small trees are far more susceptible 

 to injury from browsing animals or from fouling 

 by dogs, etc., than are larger ones, unless some 

 special protection is provided. We herewith 

 present an engraving of a cheap and very effect- 

 ive tree guard for a tree of any size, located 

 where there is danger of Injury from animals. 

 No explanation of its construction is necessary 

 in addition to the cut. It would be of particular 

 value in the case of yoimg evergi'eens. A guard 

 similar to this might be made for street shade 

 trees, but having less stakes, and these brought 

 much neaier to the tree at the base, and spread- 

 ing slightly at their tops for admitting air and 

 light to the trunks. 



An Amateur's Fire Hot-Bed. As there is some 

 trouble attending the making of hot-beds I pre- 

 fer a frame bed, heated by a small kerosene 



'^W^-^. 



A Cheap and Effective Tree Guard. 



lamp, constructed after the following method: 

 The frame which we have used for several years, 

 and large enough for ordinary use, is sixteen by 

 thirty inches, fifteen inches high in front and 

 eighteen at the back. About half way from the 

 top are nailed cleats to receive common roofing 

 slates to form the bottom of the bed. on which 

 are put two or three inches of wet sand. Bore a 

 few small holes below the slate to supply air to 

 the lamp, which may be very small. Fasten a 

 piece of sheet iron just above the lamp chimney 

 to distribute the heat. Cover the bed with a 

 sash and set in a shady place. The first cost of 

 this may be a little more than a manure bed, but 

 it has the advantage of l>eing ready when once 

 made.— i. M. Pope. 



Word from a Californian. Our subscriber, 

 J. A. Clayton, of Santa Clara Co., California, 



