1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



149 



produces double flowers. The other kind (Fig. 

 b) has u pistil, and a star formed stamen, which 

 when broken off leaves the seed heart shaped; 

 this is about sure to produce sinprle flowers. By 

 saving the seeds that have a petal attached I 

 have got the Bowel's to come so double that some 

 fail to produce seeds, and many only a few. 

 — ir. r. J.. Nativk. .V0.S.1. 



A Sparrow Trap. Remove the sash from a 

 window in the loft of a barn or other building. 

 Make a bo.Y to fit the opening with a depth of 

 eight or ten inches; make a frame to provide 

 apartments six or eight inches square to flU the 

 bo.\; nail an outside cover over the whole, and 

 bore a two and one-half inch hole thn^ugb the 

 cover into each compartment, then fl.\ a folding 

 shelf under each row of holes for the birds to 

 alight on. This may be done by using thin 

 boards three or four inches wide, fastened with 

 leather hinges and driving a ten penny nail in 

 the edge of the bo.\ under the ends of each shelf. 

 All is now ready, set the box into the window 

 frame and leave it for the birds to "move in," 

 which they will soon do. When the colony ap- 

 pears to be pretty well established and in a 

 thri^-ing condition, ascend to the loft after dark 

 close the holes with the hinged shelves and let 

 vengeance sleep until daylight. Then sink the 

 box in the river.af terwards emptying and return- 

 ing it for further vfovk.—Saitnifl L. DanweJL 



Two Garden Baskets. One day in early spring 

 I prepared " a ready basket." First a pair of 

 old kid hoots were cut into narrow strips and 

 then placed in it. Then I pro^^ded a small pa- 

 per of tacks. I wound up yards and yards of 

 string from tlie (quantities collected about the 

 house, ily hammer, a box of nails, a pruning 

 knife, a pair of scissors, and plenty of short 

 sticks to tie my strings to, were added. The 

 weather changed suddenly and I could soon 

 work in my garden, and in the few leisure mo- 

 ments of my busy house cleaning days, with my 

 basket I was ready for the Grape-vines and 

 and other plants and bushes. Dry leather strips, 

 tacks and knife were all at hand. I could not 

 have spent the time to look them up. I could 

 devote a few moments putting the strings for 

 the vines in place, for here the stakes were pre- 

 pared. All the spring ray ready basket was a 

 blessing. 1 now have a " weed basket." I carry 

 it down the garden walks and tuck in stray 

 weeds, stones or sticks that a])pear. I can then 

 dispose of them all at once, and keep my beds in 

 spic span order.— .Si.vtf/' Graciouit. 



Harvel of Peru Culture, The seed can be 

 sown earl.N' in March in a well drained pot or 

 pan filled with light, loamy soil. Sow thinly, 

 cover with a quarter of an inch of loamy soil, 

 and place in a warm, moist situation as close to 

 the glass as possible. As soon as the young 

 plants are strong enough to handle they should 

 lie potted off' into three inch pots and grown on 

 until the weather becomes warm and settled, 

 when they can be planted outside in a deep, 

 moderately enriched soil and sunny situation. 

 The young plants should not be permitted tfi be- 

 ccmie drawn w hile small, so to guard against this 

 they should Ix; removed to a cool, airy situation 

 as soon as the j>ots become well tilled with root*^. 

 If the seeds do not furnish an ample supply of 

 plants, cuttings of the t<:>ps can be put in sand, 

 and when rooted, 

 (which they will 

 iiuickly do) treated 

 preciselj' as adWsed 

 , for seedling plants. 

 (Ill [fl I 11) IB The roots can be 



taken up as soon as 

 the tops have been 

 destroyed by frost, 

 placed in barrels 

 and stored in a cool, 

 dry, frost-proof cellar for ancither season\s use. 

 —a E. PariieU. 



The White Tiger-flower. One of the easiest 

 cla.sses ot i»lants til culti\'ate is that embracing 

 Tiger-flowers or Tigridias These are summer 

 bulbous plants: that is the growth springs from a 

 bulb, which Ijeing not hardy in the North (al- 

 though Mexico is the home of the type), re- 

 quires to be lifted each fall and be planted the 

 following spring. The treatment is therefore 

 almost identical with that of the Gladiolus and 

 Tuberose. But our object now is to call atten- 

 tion to the compai-atively new White Tiger- 

 flower, an engraving of which is annexed. This 

 one in color differs from the prevailing colors of 

 yellow and orange peculiar to the better known 

 sorts, by having pearly-white or de^d-white in 



■ 



Zinnia .Sped.— Sec Points in 

 Zinnia Culture. 



the main parts, with a yellowish {jrroiiinl t(»wards 

 the inner half of the petals, where the brilliant 

 spots that are flistinetive of this ^fenuB are lo- 

 cated. These spotjs in the subject of our sketch 



I are of a reddish brown or chestnut color, and 

 well entitle the plant to l>e called the White 

 Tijrer-Hower. Its flowers are of (?ood size, and 

 from strong bulbs are produced in succession 



I for a long: time. Whenever this variety well 

 grown has lieen shown side of the other species 

 it has attracted marked attention. Concerning 

 the management of the bulbs, they should with 

 other Tigridias be planted about the middle of 

 May. setting them about two inches deep in any 

 rich garden soil. The bulbs and offsets require 

 to be lifted in October and dried, being careful 

 not to expose them to frost while drying or at 



The White-Flowered Tigridia. 

 any time. They are best wintered in dry sand 

 or sawdust. In storing them away one thing 

 must be specially guarded against, namely, mice 

 are very fond of the bulbs, and if they are ex- 

 posed to their ravages not many of them will 

 be left for use in spring. 



Popular Gardening and the Tree Agents. 

 Careful readers of this journal know that we do 

 not denounce all tree agents. We have, it is 

 true, often advised against dealing with agents 

 who are strangers— those who cannot gi\'e satis- 

 factory references as to their reliability, or of 

 their connections with trustworthy nurserymen. 

 But for the intelligent and honest agents, of 

 which we know there are many, we entertain 

 only the kindest of feelings. Among such are to 

 be recognized many true missionaries of horti- 

 culture, whose work in the developing of a wide 

 interest in the planting of fruit and ornamental 

 trees is worthy of all praise. Were it only the 

 case that this class was not, in many parts of 

 the country, actually far outnumbered by that 

 rascally set who live through perpetrating the 

 most outrageous swindles on the people, we 

 would feel less often called upon Ut place our 

 readers on their guard. As it is we must con- 

 tinue to say, beware of the strange agent who 

 cannot furnish references that are entirely sat- 

 isfactory. It is a chief characteristic of a swind- 

 ler that he is a stranger, for he must needs seek 

 new fields where he is unknown, with each re- 

 curring season. The agent who confines his 

 w()rk mainly to the same section year after year 

 is the man who usually may be trusted. Such 

 men hardly need a special recommendation at 

 our or anyone's hands, for with becoming well 

 known and in a sense favorably identified with 

 the planting interests of a given region, there is 

 no lack of good references at their command. 

 We have in mind one agent of this kind who. 

 although his start at the business was attende<i 

 with but moderate results tor a year or two, yet 

 by pursuing his work intelligently and honestly 

 year after year in the same section, before seven 

 seasons had passed he was meeting annually 

 with ten thousand dollars worth of nursery or- 

 ders. This, although by no means an isolated 

 case, is an excellent example of the good tree 

 agent who is worthy of any man's contidence. 

 It also affords an example for those agents to 

 pattern after who desire to attain the utmost 

 res|>ectability in their profession. The secret of 

 this agent's success lay in three things, namely. 



the giving of good advice looking to years 

 ahead, the furni.shing of only the best of stock 

 true to name, and an unlimited bucking of good 

 references. 



Floral Matters About New York City. 



The most mteresting event of late has been the 

 Orchid sh(tw at the Kden Musee, the second of its 

 kintl. The arrangement was very Uisteful, sug- 

 gesting many ideas in decoration, and the entire 

 affair reflected great credit on its managers, 8ie- 

 breeht & Wadley. The use of real ('ocoanut trees 

 from Trinidad, laden with nuts, was decidedly 

 novel, and the array of Palms, hung with epiphy- 

 tal Orchids, were rich and tropical in appearance. 



Tw() of the great attractionsto Orchid fanciers 

 wei-e cut bh>omsof Laeliabella and ('ypripedium 

 Morganiannm. from the collection of Erastus 

 < 'orning, Esq. Both are rarities, and both are of 

 unusual beauty; the Laelia, which is a garden 

 hybrid between Laelia purpurata and Cattley^ 

 labiata, is the loveliest of its family. There were 

 some plants of unusual size; one Cattleya Trianae 

 belonjiing to Siebrecht & Wadley had 25 open 

 ttowers. A plant of Coelogyne cristata exhibited 

 by Jas. Ctirnley, gardener to Mrs. F. B. Hays, 

 Lexington, Mass., filled a janliniere five feet long 

 ind two wide; it is probabl>' the largest coelogyne 

 ever exhibited. 



rattle.\a Schroederiana was another rare and 

 beautiful thing, and there were five Oncidiums; 

 in fact, everything in the <.)rchid line now in 

 flower was there. There is no doubt that Orchids 

 now hold a recognized place in the cut fiower 

 trade; they are used in all good work. Of course 

 they will ne\'er take the place of Koses, but they 

 are just as necessary, while occupying a place of 

 their own. Decorative plants are coming to the 

 front, too; the prudent florist will no longer trust 

 entirely in flowers, but will use plants largely for 

 nf)ticeable effects. Useful Palms and Ferns that 

 will stand some hard usage are decidedly salable. 



Flowering plants are being used in table decor- 

 ation with \ery happy effects, A pretty arrange- 

 ment for luncheon was of pink Primulas. A 

 piece of green crape was laid down the center of 

 the table; the Piimroses, dropped into willow 

 baskets, stood on this. Bulbs, Narcissus, Hya- 

 cinths and Tulips are used in this way. The 

 Lenten season does not seem to affect the florists 

 very much. There were some very pretty effects 

 in decoration at a recent German. Some of the 

 doorwaj's had curtains of Smilax looped up by 

 bunches of Roses. The mantels were loosely 

 strewn with flowers, instead of having a formal 

 bank. One hif,rh carved mantel piece was draped 

 with Asparagus and an elaborate arrangement 

 of Orchids. The favors were old-fashicmed 

 Quaker straw bonnets, of the style of fifty years 

 ago; they were loosely tied together, and then 

 filled with flowers of one color, Tulips, Hyacinths, 

 Narcissus, etc. About the time of the Orchid 

 show a good many fashionable dames were to be 

 seen on the promenade wearinga single Cattleya, 

 or a spray of Dcndrobium. But as a rule the 

 street bouquet is a single American Beauty, a 

 few Violets, or half a dozen yellow Jonquils. 

 The wild southern Smilax— Cape Smilax. as it is 

 called— which at first sight rather suggests Cat- 

 briar, is indisi>ensable in large decorations, where 

 ordinary Smilax or Asparagus would hardly 

 show. With it dried Palm leaves and Southern 

 Pine are used. Any very formal effect is avoided 

 in every decoration. 



No special novelty has appeared since the holi- 

 days, unless we describe as such the dj'ed flowei-s 

 which have been vexing the souls of the artistic. 

 Since the ingenious originaU)r first sent out the 

 " Emerald " Carnation the experiment has been 

 tried on many flowers with many colore; some of 

 the florists go in for it very extensively. Of 

 course it is only a passing craze, and not a very 

 commendable one, but we are growing used to 

 blue Tulips, green Carnations and pink Violets. 

 So long as people will buy them they will cer- 

 tainly be produced. 



Though pink and yellow are still the orthodox 

 coloi-s for a table decoration, some very dainty 

 arrangements are being made in green and white, 

 or green alone. 



In decorating a room flat baskets of flowering 

 plants are placed on etageresor tables. Fine Cy- 

 clamens show off well, as their foliage is so hand- 

 some. Primulas answer the same purpose, both 

 pink and white. For yellow effects, (jlenista and 

 Acacia are combined with Joncpiils, or Acacia 

 and Neil Roses. Mignonette is much liked with 

 yellow flowers, or with pink. Mrae. Cusin and 

 Papa Gontier are the favorite pink Roses. 



Emily Louise Taplin. 



