10 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



OeXOBER, 



Autumn Favorites. 



The Maple Is a dainty matd. 



The pet of all the wood. 

 Who lights the dusky forest glade 



With dusky cloak and hood. 

 The Elm a lovely lady Is, 



In shimmering robes of gold. 

 They catch the sunlight when she moves, 



And glisten fold on fold. 

 The Sumach Is a Gypsy queen, 



Who flaunts In crlnisou drest, 

 .\iid wild along the roadside runs. 



Hed blossoms In her breast. 

 And towering high above the wood. 



All In his purple cloak, 

 A monarch In his slendor is 



The proud and princely Oak. 



— Youths' Companion. 



The Tomato Cure for Dyspepsia. 



Don't talk to me of colocynth or famed cerulean pill. 

 Don't mention hyoscyamus or aloes when I'm 111; 

 The very word podophyllin Is odious In mine ears. 

 The thought of all the drugs I've ta'en calls up the 



blinding tears; 

 Get fresh Tomatoes, red and ripe, and slice and eat, 



and then— 

 You'll And that you are liver-less, and not like other 



men. 

 Come ye who dire dyspepsia's pangs impatiently en 



dure. 

 It cannot hurt, and may do good, this new Tomato 



cure. 



—London Punch. 



October Flowers. 



Your gorgeous tints are only premonitions 

 Of fading force in soil and sunlit air; 



And. conscious these, with yet unspent volitions, 

 They deck the earth with beauty passing fair. 



As the la.st wave upon the beach breaks loudest. 

 As dying day puts her best bravery on: 



While yet the earth in your array is proudest- 

 Through the gray masks 1 mark the summer gone! 

 — W. C. Richards, in Brooklyn Magazine. 



Don't crowd ymir i-'allas. 

 To the woods for autumn beauty. 

 After cropping comes clearing up. 

 Bnlb planting is the order of the month. 

 It is useless to set Evergreens in Autumn. 

 Dahlia tubers will keep along with Potatoes. 

 Petunias should be included for winter bloom. 

 Chrysanthemums are opening their bright 

 eyes. 



Fresh loam and no other is wanted in repot- 

 ting. Throw the old soil away. 



An Idea For You. Commercial florists always 

 choose a cool place for keeping cut-flowers. 



Jumping powder is a name said to be given by 

 some English farmers to nitrogenous chemical 

 fertilizers. 



Are the drains and drain outlets in order'/' 

 From now until spring these will be put to a 

 severe test. 



The Lida Strawberry might be liked much bet- 

 ter were it not tor its poor dirty color.— J7. A. 

 CarncU, N. Y. 



We have had the best success in preserving 

 Canna bulbs by putting them in dry sand out of 

 reach of frost. 



There is talk of erecting a Hall of Horticulture 

 in London, England. Boston, Mass., has had one 

 for many years. 



A California fruitgrower estimates his crop of 

 Prunes to be worth the handsome amount of 

 gll.lKlO this year. 



A pure water &hower bath is good to dispose of 

 the little red insects that cause the leaves of 

 Heliotrope and other plants to turn brown, curl 

 up and die. 



The farm of the late Charles Glbb, at Abbots- 

 ford, Quebec, has been purchased by Mr. Craig. 

 There is on the place a large collection of foreign 

 fruits and nuts, many of the former in bearing 

 this season for the first time. Reports on new 

 fruits will be given through the Central Experi- 



ment Farm, at Ottawa, so that in a measure, Mr. 

 Gibb's self-imposed labor will be carried on as 

 before. So we are informed by Mr. John Craig, 

 h orticulturist at the station named. 



The Elm in Autumn, The striking effects of 

 the rising sun upon the dying leaves of the En- 

 glish Elm at dawn of morning can hardly be de- 

 scribed, and need to be seen to be fully under- 

 stood, says an English contemporary Early in 

 the morning, the glimmer of the rising sun on 

 the heavy clouds of the eastern skies cast a glare 

 of unwonted beauty on evei-ything that would 

 throw back a reflection, and the whole tops of 

 the Elms seemed a huge pile of living gold. 



An Old Offender Caught. A Michigan paper 

 reports the arrest of one L. It. Staples, made by 

 the U. S. Marshall, upon the complaint of people 

 who claim to have sent Staples sums of from one 

 to ten dollars for Wheat, Blueberries, etc., for 

 which nothing was ever received by them, and 

 no excuse for the failure of making returns 

 given. Staples has been bound over to a hearing 

 before the grand jury ne.\t October. We mis- 

 trust that this is the old Blueberry fraud Delos 

 Staples, and rejoice in his capture. 



The Growing Taste for Parks. As an indica- 

 tion of this it may be noted that where ten years 

 ago New York had 1,094 acres embraced in her 

 park system, now she has 5,000 acres devoted to 

 this purpose. New York's newer parks lie mostly 

 in the outer districts of the city, and at this date 

 have not been treated by the landscape gardener. 

 The lands contain much natural scenery of an 

 attractive nature, and this is to be improved 

 speedily. It is pleasing to note this growing ap- 

 preciation of parks in our large cities. 



An Idea for Nut Gatherers. According to 

 French authorities English Walnuts can be im- 

 proved in attractive acpearance, and at the 

 same time protected against the attacks of fungi 

 by the following treatment: The nuts, immedi- 

 ately after being gathered are freed from the 

 husks, thrown in a tub of water and thoroughly 

 washed by means of a broom . They are then 

 dried off and exposed for ten minutes to sulphur 

 fumes in a closed box. Nuts thus treated have a 

 clean white coloi', and are proof against mold. 



The National Weed. The children of New 

 York have spoken on the subject of the " State 

 Flower," and have decided it shall be the Golden 

 Rod. It is said that out of 318,079 votes cast, 

 this flower received 81,.S08, while the Rose, 

 the poor Rose 1 stood second with 79,(566. 

 This may he very creditable child play— for what 

 are children supposed to know about weeds'? 

 The wonder is that so many of their elders in 

 similar voting should have made the same child- 

 ish choice. 



Coal Ashes and Tomatoes. I have for two 

 seasons grown Tomatoes in ground formerly 

 occupied by a coal ash heap a large amount of 

 which was unavoidably mixed with the soil -a 

 black earth becoming very hard in dry seasons- 

 much to my regret at the time. This year I 

 planted Acme Tomatoes about the first of June 

 and had large ripe fruit July l-lth, about two 

 weeks earlier than any of my neighbors. Vines 

 very strong and well filled with large fruit of 

 fine texture and flavor.— H. J. Sau'e, Dii Page 

 Co., Co., 111. 



The American Benchera, on account of its as- 

 tringent root, is called Alum root. Heuchera 

 sanguinea. illustrated in our columns some time 

 ago, is highly commended as a garden plant, but 

 with this exception, H. glabra and mierantha, 

 are the only good useful species of the genus. 

 The small inconspicuous flowers are borne on 

 the loose stalks in such ipiantities as to make 

 them objects of great beauty. H. hispida (Rich- 

 ardson!), of which the flowers arc dirty greenish, 

 has very beautiful satiny leaves, and may be 

 grown as a foliage plant for the rockery. 



Take Care of the Apples. What few we have 

 are so precious that we should use every pre- 

 caution against the smallest loss All that can 

 be spared for sale will command a good price. 

 Apples to be stored for winter should at first be 

 put in a cool, dry place— a shed or barn— assorted 

 and packed in clean barrels, and kept out of cel- 

 lar as long as possible without danger of their 

 freezing. When in barrels, and in a protected 

 place, they can stand considerable cold without 

 injury. Never put Apples into a warm cellar 

 before real cold weater sets in. 



A Pointer from Japan. No one will dispute 

 that the Japanese arc a knowing set in matters 

 pertaining to Chrysanthemum culture and im- 

 provement. One of their proverbs runs thus: 

 " It is easy to grow the flowers of the Kiku 



(Chrysanthemum) but difBcult to grow its 

 leaves." All growers should note this point, and 

 bend their efforts to the development of not only 

 a good mass of large vigorous leaves, but to re- 

 tain them in such condition up to and through 

 flowering. Plenty of space and air, with never a 

 moments neglect of ample and judicious water- 

 ing are conditions that count here. 



The Whortleberry or Huckleberry may be the 

 coming berry of our gardens. At least it has 

 been coming for a long time, and we hope it may 

 get here after a while. It would seem that there 

 is a good foundation to work on, and that with 

 a little effort on the part of our propagators 

 something very valuable in the shape of domes- 

 ticated fruit could be developed. It can be done, 

 and no doubt it will be done. Tasks of far greater 

 difSculty in this line have been accomplished. 

 The man who will first give us a Whortleberry 

 of the size of even the smallest Cherry— one that 

 can be grown in everybody's garden, will have a 

 fortune in his hands. It is a stake worth aiming 

 for. There is a fortune to be won. 



Mushrooms Manufactured from Turnips, 



Nothing seems to be impossible for the adultera- 

 tor of food articles. A Frenchman has conceived 

 the idea of fabricating Mushrooms. He cut 

 Turnips into rounds, dried them, and disposed of 

 them to unsuspecting customers as the real 

 article. The trick was at last exposed by a con- 

 naisseur, who brought an action against the 

 manufacturer. The latter pleaded that he had 

 enabled his fellow citizens to regale themselves 

 on a vegetable, which they regarded as a good 

 specimen of the Mushroom, at a cost far below 

 that commanded by the real article, and that his 

 goods compared favorably with the others in 

 safety from poisoning. The court has just 

 allowed him two months leisure to meditate on 

 the error of substituting dried Turnips for hon- 

 est Mushrooms. 



The Hydrangea as a Tree. In adorning not 

 only the lawn and shrubbery bed but also the 

 greenhouse, the Hydrangea paniculata can be 

 put to excellent uses. As a bush, none other 

 possesses more beauty, but few are aware that 

 it is unexcelled when grown as a standard. If 

 all growth from the start is by projter pruning 

 confined to one of the strongest stems, and this 

 be encouraged to grow straight up, it may then 

 after reaching a desirable heightl)e lead to throw 

 out branches and form a head. Thus a standard 

 will result well fitted to break the monotony of 

 low plants. In late summer and fall its delight- 

 ful pink blossoms give surprising life to the 

 sombre appearance of the ordinary shrub tied. 

 One feature in favor of this bush above the Rose 



Stunted Pine, orown by Japanese. Pig. 1. 



as a standard is that growing always on its own 

 roots, it is more natural than the tree Rose, which 

 in its best form has some wild species for the 

 stock on which it is budded, a thing often lead- 

 ing to trouble through sproutsspringing up from 

 such wild root. 



Cause of Hollow Trees. Mr. Galen Wilson ex- 

 plains the cause of hollowness by the theory that 

 certain roots of a tree support certain branches 

 of the same, and also a certain poition of its 

 trunk. Among other evidences given to show 

 this as a fact, he tells the following: " When a 

 lad 1 ijlanted two Pine trees in my father's lawn, 

 trimming the root growth flat, so they would 

 stand alone while setting them. About thirty 



