268 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September 



The Day Lily. 



Just for a day. for a day. 



I break into bloom; 

 .Ttiat for a day, for a day. 



I shed my perfume. 

 But fleotinK and brief. I give 



Tile wealth of my .'ioul 

 Just for the day that I live, 



Without stint or control. 

 What more can a life bestow 



Ere it passes away, 

 Than its all. thouph its warmth and glow 



Be but for a day ? 



— Fou(/wt' Companion. 



Mushrooms. 



Amid the pearly mists of rain, 



Last night In dashes pouring, 

 I. watching from our window-pane, 



Saw troops of fairies soaring. 

 And now across our dooryard's green. 



Its velvet turf adorning 

 With dainty dots of snowy sheen. 



Umbrellas lie this morning ; 

 Wee, wee umbrellas lined with pink. 



And still with moisture dripping. 

 They sheltered restless fays, I think. 



Who longed to be a-trlpplug. 



—Florence Scollard Brown. 



The Watermelon. 



In vernal masslveness you're seen. 



In produce stall and windowed niche 

 And tempt the palates of the green, 



LUcewise the purses of the rich; 

 Who has not felt your mighty thrall? 



Alas ! you double up us all. 



—Boston Budget, 



Save the lower pods of Limas for seed. 

 No better month for lawn sowing than this. 

 The Tamarisk is of the best sea-shore shrubs. 

 We urge September planting for hardy bulbs. 

 Parsley, plain rather than curled for best 

 flavor. 



Aaparagns tops should bo well ripened before 



cutting. 



Cleanliness for Camellia leaves is as essential 

 for health as for looks. 



Weeds with now being uncrowded shoot up to 

 a crop of seeds very quickly. 



Weight indicates the degree of flowering 

 power in a Hyacinth, as a rule. 



Seed pods, if left uncut on herbaceous plants, 

 will reduce next season's flower crop. 



Dry brown bread and ripe raw fruit eaten 

 together form my perfect meal.— f!. C. S. 



Humbug is another name for the "Jewel Goose- 

 berry Tree." Let our new subscribers beware. 



The Tomato has been grafted on the stalks of 

 its near relation, the Potato. There came no gain 

 from the union. 



Mistaken for a Butterfly. I saw a Pansy and 

 when I was going to pick it, it flied away.— I,ittl« 

 Three Year Old. 



The Jerusalem Cherry {Sdlannm) to come in 

 early with richly colored fruits needs alight soil 

 and good drainage. 



Phlox Drummondii laclniata is our old favorite 

 improved l)y being fringed. It is !»a worthy of 

 culture as is the type. 



"A little leaven," etc. Its a caution how a 

 few poor specimens of fruit in a biisket tend to 

 puU down all to their own level. 



A bunch of Artemesia on a Chinaman's door 

 serves both to keep away demons and to warn 

 callers not tfi enter. So John makes out. 



At a ripe old age. The famous Pear tree 

 planted in ]m) by Gov. Endicott at Danver 

 Miiss., having reached the age of over two hun- 

 dred and fifty years, died recently. 



To preserve Scarlet Kunner Beans, pack in an 

 earthenware jar, placing a layer of salt fli-st; 

 alternating Beans and salt, placing a layer of salt 

 on top. Steei) in water before using.— H'. H. J. 



For This we Strive. As an example of the 

 successful condensation of a vast amount of 

 horticultural information, bringing it into a 

 most pleasing and readable shape, your journal 

 certainly stands unique.— J. Chamberlain. 



What is said to be a favorite English remedy 

 (which anyone might try,) for green fly on large- 

 leaved plants is to wash the leaves with a mixture 

 of softsoap and a tablespoonful of petroleum to 

 a gallon of hot water, keeping it well stirred. 



French Market Gardeners seem to be as ener- 

 getic in selling as in growing their produce. To 

 find a market they have pushed over into Great 

 Britian, including even London, Liverpool, 

 and Glasgow. England seems not in all respects 

 to be the garden of the world. 



The new Abutilon "Eclipse" is very attractive 

 It is a cross between the variegated leaved 

 Thomsonii and vexillarium. The foliage is much 

 larger than the latter, and finely marbled, yellow 

 and green. It bears red and yellow bells all along 

 the branches; excellent for a hanging pot, or a 

 window bracket.— Jf. J>. W. 



Historian Bancroft's Rose garden at Newport, 

 11. 1, was spoken of by a local journal as a most 

 attractive place during the past season of bloom. 

 It contains many magnificent specimens of flori- 

 culture, and the aggregate number of plants cul- 

 tivated is great, being something like four 

 thousand and includes nearly all the varieties. 



Training to a Hoop etc. We often have the 

 question asked us, " How shall I train my weep- 

 ing deciduous trees to droop their limbsV" When 

 small we draw a hoop down over the limbs, and 

 when too large for this, tie a string to the end of 

 each Umb, and draw it down and tie the other end 

 of string to a fancy stone or to a little stake driven 

 into the ground. — A. M. P. 



Spinach to be sown early this month for the 

 first spring greens, although a very easy growing 

 plant always repays well for some extra attention 

 to cultivation and manuring during the fall; 

 with a spring top dressing of six or seven hun- 

 dred pounds sulphate of ammonia per acre. As 

 winter sets in a covering of hay or boughs is 

 usually placed over the crop. 



Distances for Bulbs. The annexed little chart, 

 the cross lines of which represent inches, will 

 serve to give a better idea of the depth that bulbs 

 to be set in the fall should be covered, as well as 

 their distance apart, than many words could do. 

 It is an object lesson which, if it be kept near at 

 hand for consultation when the bulbs are l)eing 

 put in, will keep the planting within iiroper 

 limits just as should be done. 



A Cactus Hedge. A correspondent in Texas 

 says on this prickly subject: "For a hedge, our 

 Hedge Cactus is quite a superior plant. It is 

 easily and quickly grown from cuttings set 

 directly in the hedge line. The plants do not 

 cause shade to the damage of crops, as it grows 

 no more than eight feet high. It does not spiout, 

 requires no pruning, and becomes so thick that 

 a rabbit cannot get through it." 



Sweet Potatoes. These can be kept in bulk 

 without difficulty by providing a room in which 

 the temperature has no greater range than 50° 

 to tiU°. Where there is more variation they 

 should be packed in some such material as leaves, 

 chaff, sand, etc. The Sweet Potato is so easily 

 grown and is so nutritive that no one having 

 land ought to be without them at 

 least from September to January, 

 being easily kept that long. I keep 

 them the .year around.— E.A.Riehl. 



A Frost Back. I enclose a rough 

 sketch of a little home-made affair 

 of mine which is used in the way 

 of protecting tender plants from 

 early frosts. It is a light rack 

 made of several four foot cleats 

 either planed or unplaned, and 

 connected by a cross piece which 

 passes through holes as I try to 

 show in the drawing. This rack 

 serves simply as a support for a 

 cloth sheet that is to encompass 

 the plants for protection. To keep the rack 

 from siireading the feet may be settled into the 

 ground slightly.— Jnuics Witsoii. 



Pineapples in the Window Garden. A Mem- 

 phis, Tcnnesee amateur claims to have had this 

 successful experience in raising a Pineapple 

 plant for the window: She cut the tuft of leaves 

 on an Apple at its juncture with the fleshy part, 

 pulled off some lower leaves and inserted it in a 

 jar of water. In time roots appeared, then the 

 plant was potted in rich sandy soil with good 



drainage and placed in the lightest place at the 

 window, with plenty of water, given warm. This 

 plant after awhile formed a fine specimen. 



Carnation Pinks from Seed, Our correspon- 

 dent from Oneida Co., 111., in an article contain- 

 ing directions for growing what she calls " Car- 

 nation Pinks" but which, being a perennial and 

 hardy, we infer is confused with Dianthus hor- 

 tensis, quite similar in appearance, but biennial 

 and entirely hardy says: "I sowed the seed in a 

 hot-bed where they germinate quickly and when 

 large enough they were transplanted right in a 

 garden bed. Though without protection last 

 winter they this season bloomed freely, double 

 and single, with great variety of color," 



A Plague of Worms. We are being tormented 

 by an army of worms having a horn at each end; 

 of various colors and one and a half to two 

 inches long. They move to the westward 

 eating many things varaciously and especially 

 Grapes, of which they devour vine and all. 

 They also trouble the Yellow Transparent Apple 

 much but other varieties seem to escape, Toma- 

 toes are exempt. With sheep shears we kill them 

 by thousands and by going over the rtnes and 

 trees two or three times a day besides washing 

 them off, we hope to save a little fruit from their 

 ravages, as these worms have been here nearly a 

 week.— J. E. White, Reno Co., Kansas. 



A Steam Dose. A method out of the ordinary 

 for kilUng that universal plant-pest, the green fly, 

 is told about by correspondent, G. W. McClure, 

 Champaign Co., III.; "In a pail place fresh To- 

 bacco stems or leaves and cover with water, let- 

 ting it stand until the water has become dark 

 colored. Then by means of a gasoline or other 

 stove boil the clear liquid entirely away. The 

 fumes seem to be as effective as smoke with no 

 danger of injuring the foliage nor stopping work 

 in the house where used, and the odor does not 

 remain on the flowers as from smoke. The ex- 

 pense however is a little more than smoke fumi- 

 gation, being better for use in dwellings." 



Flowers and Consumption- It is stated on the 

 authority of Dr. J. Anders that floriculture un- 

 doubtedly tends to the prevention of consump- 

 tion and that in many cases it bad better take 

 the place of tra\el to another climate, with its 

 attendant fatigue, often far from beneficial. But 

 the patient must attend to the plants personally 

 so as to get the full benefit of the exhalation aris- 

 ing from them. The doctor further comments 

 on the well known fact of the general health and 

 longe\1ty of florists and gardenei's, and finds 

 that although among this class there is a slight 

 tendency to rheumatism, there is evidence to 

 show that floriculture arrests consumption. 



Hardy Soses for the West. In view of Prof. 

 Budd's (Iowa) remark that the West must have 

 a class of Roses combining in hardiness the 

 qualities of Rosa rugosa and the beauty of east- 

 ern Roses, the experiments in this line carried 

 on at the Rural New Yorker Farm have resulted 

 encouragingly. Mr. Carman reports that he at 

 present has sixty hybrids; the first that bloomed 

 (parents pink and yellow) was almost the color 

 of Gen. Jacqueminot. It appears hardy, has fine 

 foliage, semi-double, and resembles a Tea Rose 

 in form and fragrance. It was named Mme. 

 George Bruant, and perhaps is the first of a new 

 class of Roses destined to flourish on the prairie*. 

 — B. E. S. 



A Convenient Bulb Planting Chart. 



Violets in France. Napoleon, when First Con- 

 sul, asked Josephine what present he should 

 bring on her name-day. "Only a boquet of Vio- 

 lets," she had replied. From that day Napoleon 

 loved the flower, and Josephine always had Vio- 

 lets about her. While at Holand Napolean 

 planted Violets.and when the Emperor's remains 

 were restored to France, the coffiu was covered 

 with boquets of Violets. In the early days of 

 the Second Empire, on the 15th of November, it 

 being the Empress' name-day, there was an ova- 



