1 888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



'53 



for tlu- planting and laying out of lawns 

 and doDiyaifls. 



And what a piund pictnre a home will make 

 with a well cut lawn, a few fine trees, neatly kept 

 walks, shnilis and flower beds. Think of a 

 eonntry with sueh homes, i)eepinjr from their 

 groves on ripplinR streams, notencumbereil with 

 siUtish fences, with sehool-house towers and 

 Kleamini? church spires among them, nice roads 



h 



A Rntary Thermometer. 



OD either side with farm fields, vineyard.s. past- 

 ures, orchards, woodlands and bounding hills. 

 Tliese together would form a public park, which 

 all of us might ride and walk in and enjoy. Is 

 such a picture only possible in the mind of a vis- 

 ionary onthusia.st? Let us encourage Village 

 Improvement Societies, Arbor Da.v, et^'., and in 

 a short time that which the most sanguine of us 

 did not e.\pect will have been accomplished. 



Grass, trees, and flowers cost but very little 

 and give dail.v returns in food for our eyes, seven 

 montlis in the year, added with a few evergi'eens 

 here and there all the year around. If we will 

 carefully make our selection, bu.\' only good 

 plants of stanilard sorts from reputiitjle firms 

 near home, leave unheard of and high priced 

 novelties and tree agents alone, we will find out 

 that a dooryard can be made very attractive 

 at all seasons and for many years for a small sum. 



Deciduous shrubs are one class that should be 

 much employed. They transplant readily and 

 grow rapidly in effectiveness. They should 

 always be i>lauted in a fringing, irreguhir bordei-, 

 some three or four feet apart, on the boundary 

 line, so that the green sward may have an oppor- 

 tunity to display its fullest charms. 



Dotted among the shrubs may be planted 

 clum]is of Lilies and herbaceous plants. Near 

 the house or at the intersection of the walks, a 

 well idanted and well kept Coleus and (ieranium 

 bed and your dooryard is complete. 



Among shrubs the Spinea Tliunbergii, with its 

 white flt>wers and the rich, red Iilossoms of the 

 Japan Quince, will appear on the first indication 

 of the presence of spring: the Golden Bell is also 

 very early and attractive. A little later Deutzia 

 gracilis, double flowering Almond. Tartarian 

 Honeysuckle,Lilacs and Wistarias will delight us. 



Then in June there are so many hardy, thrifty 

 shrubs that we must beware of using too many 

 flowering at that season, lest we find ourselves 

 lacking tor room for late blooming varieties. I 

 will name the double flowering Deutzia crenata, 

 the Mock Oiange, White Fringe, Weigelias and 

 Viburnum as good ones, not forgetting to find a 

 place on the veranda for a Clematis .Jackmanii 

 and a Climbing Hose. 



During July Spinvas Billardi and callosa, will 

 bloom. In August and Sei>tember we have the 

 Altheas in varieties in bloom. Hydrangea pani- 

 culata grandiflora with its grand tru.^ses chang- 

 ing continually fi'om white and pink, to purple 

 and deepest crimson, will bloom till the snow 

 comes, nor should we neglect the white Clethra, 

 the yellow Hypericum and the Burning Bush. 

 Of course there are still some others equally good. 



FROM VARIOUS SOURCES. 



Cabbage Caltare. Our method is as simple as it 

 is reliable. When sowing seeds of early vegeta- 

 bles for home use, we also drill in our early Cab- 

 bage seed, and a few weeks or even months after- 

 wards that of later kinds. The plants are thinned 

 to stand the proper distance apart; and as we 

 always leave the very thriftiest and most promis- 

 ing plants in the rows, every one will form a 

 solid head if the conditions are otherwise half- 

 way favorable. The thinnings may be planted 

 elsewhere, if so desired. The Drumhead Savoy 



seed has done exceptionally well this .season, 

 every plant, whether in the original seed row or 

 transplanted, forming a head; but the largest and 

 best specimens were those grown where the .seed 

 Wiis sown and had not suffered the check of 

 transplanting. The same superiority of untrans- 

 planted Cabbages was also noticed in every other 

 instance.— Orchard and (Jarden. 



Barning Strawberry Beds in the Spring. The 

 most thrift.\' bed I saw was where a spark from a 

 passing train fired the mulch and burned it off in 

 March — there was not a sign of rust, not a leaf 

 perforated by insects, and the plants stood nearly 

 a foot high, with dark glossy foliage and every 

 sign of vigor. The eye could easily trace to a 

 foot where the fire ran. Many growers practice 

 and recommend burning over the beds at the 

 close of the picking season, and as there are so 

 many insect enemies to contend with, and prob- 

 ably fungi, there is little doubt but it is an ex- 

 cellent plan. I believe, however, that March 

 burning would be better, and the only objection 

 to it is that the berries are left without mulch or 

 must be mulched again, but mulch can easily be 

 supplied to a family bed. The advantage of 

 spring burning is that it disposes of the enemies 

 of the crop before they have any chance to do 

 any damage. I recommend that each grower try 

 burning a spot ne.\t spring and carefully note 

 the result.— W. J. B., in N. Y. Tribune. 



A Botary Thermometer. This ingenious in- 

 strument is described in La Nature. It is quite 

 sensitive to small changes of temperature, and, 

 if desired, registers the highest and lowest pf)ints 

 reached in a given time, or draws automatically 

 a curve on a sheet of paper, showing all the va- 

 riations. It will also sound an electric bell when 

 any desired temperature is attained. The details 

 of its very simple mechanism are shown in the 

 engraving. The main reservoir or bulb, a, bal- 

 anced on a pivot, c, is filled with alcohol; while 

 the curved tube, hh, into which it is drawn out, 

 contains mercui'y. As the temperature rises, the 

 alcohol expands, forcing the mercur.v along in 

 the tube, and so (the mercury being heavier) 

 changing the center of grartty as to cause the 

 whole to revolve on the central pivot, c, to which 

 it is attached. The metallic inde-v, h, which is 

 placed at the end of the tube, thus indicates on 

 the scale, U, every variation of temperature. 

 Two e.xtra pointei's, d and e, are pushed in either 

 direction by the index, ft, of the revohing tube, 

 dud indicate the highest and lowest points 

 reached in any given time. At k there may be an 

 electric connection (wires shown at ?), which can 

 be moved aUmg the scale and attached to any de- 

 gree mark desired. This is then acted upon by 

 the metallic pointer, /i, causing a bell to ring at 

 any temperature to which it may be set. At m 

 a piece of metal, carrying a pencil, u, is attached 

 to the tube, and if a sheet of paper, moved by 

 clockwork, is made to pass before it, a tracing 

 will be made which will show all the variations 

 of temperature during an.v gi\'en time. The sim- 

 pUcity and cheapness of this instrument are also 

 among its most important advantages. 



Dwarf PearB, What advantage is there in 

 planting Dwarf Pears instead of standards, and 

 which do we advi.se ? In answer, dwarfs begin to 

 bear soonest, and are more within reach for 

 gathering the fruit, can be more easily sprayed 

 with poison to kill insects, occupy less space 

 allowing more trees to the acre, and the fruit is 

 less liable to be blown off from the low heads. 

 The early bearing is commonly regarded as the 

 leading advantage, but a few standartLs like the 

 Bartlett, will bear early if a proper .selection is 

 made. The drawbacks are, shorter lives, as we 

 have seen standards 300 years old, but dwarfs 

 rarely over ;J0 or 40 years. Dwarfs require care- 

 ful selection, as there are but few soi-ts which 

 succeed well propagated in this way, among 

 which Augouleme is best, and nearly as good are 

 Louise Bonne of Jersey, Diel, Boussock, and a 

 few others. In some localities dwarfs have en- 

 tirely failed: they should not therefore be planted 

 to any extent, luitil a trial has been made, in any 

 region. They require good cultivation and en- 

 riching, and enough pruning to give vigorous 

 shoots at least half a foot long. In some places 

 they prove very profitable. —Country Gentleman. 



Protecting Vineyards from Spring Frosts. In 

 the spring of 1MK7 many \'ineyards in Xorthern 

 California were seriously injured by late frosts, 

 and the Rural Califomian i)ublished a remedy 

 for such a calamity in the future, which has lieen 

 tried for se\'eral .sea.sons on a vineyard of 100 acres 

 with greatsucce.ss. Thesystem briefly is to prune, 

 leaving as many long canes as there are spurs 



desired, instead of cutting to form the spurs. 

 The long canes reach out and o\'erhang theWne, 

 protecting it until all clanger of fro.st is past. 

 The lower buds will not swell if the canes are left, 

 for the growth will Ix'from the ends of the canes. 

 When the danger ()f frost is past, the canes that 

 wen' left at the pruning are cut away and then 

 the growth in that direction being chei'ked, the 

 lower spur buds will swell aiul sprout. Wewould 

 like to see this i)lan tried in this section of the 

 country on vineyards that have heretofore been 

 .subject to more or less injury from late spring 

 frosts, and results rcjiorted later.— Vineyardist. 



Easy Asparagas. Soil, sandy loam: manured 

 very hea\-ily, then iiloughed,turningthe manure • 

 under: ploughed H to 10 inches deep. Furrows 3 

 feet apart and about inches deep, in no case 

 more than 7 inches: plants either one or two years 

 from the seed, were placed in bottom of these 

 fm-rows about Uy to IS inches apari, taking care 

 to spread the roots in their natural positions: this 

 is ver.v eas.v to do. Aftei* the plants were so 

 placed the earth was drawn back into the furrows 

 and ju-essed down with the feet, and the bed was 

 finished. Since that time it has been kept free of 

 weeds and grass, and every spring the tops have 

 been cut ofl' and burned, a good coat of manure 

 put on and dug under, using the common six- 

 fined manure fork for the puipose, being care- 

 ful not to disturb the roots of the plants. The 

 result has been that since it came to its best, about 

 three years after .setting, it has never once failed 

 to yield a magnificent crop. We cut some from 

 it the second year, lait not much. In cutting 

 care should be taken to cut it clean as long as it 

 is cut at all. As a market crop it is a profitable 

 one until there is a surplus, and then I found it 

 to be as near worthless as any crop we gi"ow. To 

 my own family and vtsiting friends, it is one of 

 the most delicious dishes that come from the gar- 

 den, and it is rare that a large dish of it does not 

 find its way to our table at least once each day 

 from its first appearance in early spring until the 

 season is nearly over, or until our second sowing 

 of Peas are at their best. One thing more. The 

 reason for leaving the tops on the beds without 

 cutting until spring is, when the snow falls the 

 tops catch and hold it. It remains there until it 

 melts and is the best midch for the beds that we 

 can have. It always leaves the ground in the 

 best of order for early working, and the plants 

 can be started some da.vs earlier in this way than 

 by any other open ground method that I have 

 ever fried.— J. M. Smith, in Farmers' Review. 



Draining Around the " Pot Holes." I have had 

 .some experience in draining land, and can get 

 around "pot holes" (sharp depressions in the 

 midst of areas more or less even) without the use 

 of an engine and i)nmp. I ne\'er go through 

 these but go around them with the tile so that 

 no water gets into the pond.oidy that which comes 

 from the clouds. I send diagram. To persons 

 that have no knowledge of using tiles I would 

 say for this use large tiles. I never use 3-inch 



Mandiiiim Pot Holeii in Underdraiiiiiiy. 



nothing smaller than f-inch. An 8-inch tile with 

 proper fall and well put in wiU carry all the 

 water that falls on 40 acres. You can put in as 

 many branches as you i)lea.se and the S-inch will 

 carr.v off the water. 1 never made any money 

 until I drained m.v land.— Corr. Ohio Farmer. 



Care of Window Plants. We have noticed 

 that a lady friend of ours always has a charming 

 lot of wind(>w plants, and is mf»re than usually 

 successful in getting her plants to flower well. 

 Her CaUas are sure to be boldly in flower early 

 in the new year; her Hyacinths and other Dutch 

 bulbs almost as soon as the grcenhouseman's 



