OcTOIiER, 1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



^OXjTJ3^E3 "VI, 



with smiling, crimsoned, tearful face 

 Imperial Autumn comes apace ; 

 Her russet gown Is seen to trail 

 Along the drowsy ridge and vale. 

 Now scattering with her liberal hand 

 The treasures of the teeming land. 

 She makes the prudent squirrel laugh 

 As though she came In his behalf. 

 The warbler, vireo, thrush and wren 

 Now quit the orchard field and glen 

 And flit to southern copse or lea, 

 While here abides the bumblebee. 

 He does not fear the boreal sweep 

 When mantled fields are hushed in sleep, 

 But quickened, like a fairy thing. 

 Will rise and welcome tardy spring. 



— H. Chandler. 



To THOSE who do not feel expert in managing 

 flowers during the winter, we say try Hyacinths, 

 Tulips and Crocuses in the window. Let the in- 

 experienced choose the single varieties. 



Apples packed by a Michigan fruit grower in 

 kiln-dried sand, in October of last year, came out 

 as perfect this summer as the day they were put 

 in. We like dry Oats for packing Apples in. 



Branches of the Sea Holly (Eryngium Mari- 

 tinumi cut in October and arranged in some 

 suitable jar without water are said to retain their 

 form and nearly their natural color throughout 

 the winter. 



Among laws on our statute book that are not 

 enforced, we have those that order the destruc- 

 tion of ;injurious insects. Why the farmers of 

 New York State are more neglectful than they 

 were puzzles me. Every year the tent caterpillar 

 and the fall web worm are allowed to defoliate 

 tens of thousands of Apple trees in central and 

 western New York.— £. P. P. 



An important change in the refrigerating 

 system has recently been made in Washington 

 Market, New York. Cold air has been substituted 

 for the use of ice. The former is furnished in 

 the same way as heated air, by the Steam Air 

 Heating companies. The airisrun through large 

 street mains from cold chemical reservoirs, and 

 is furnished to consumers by a system of small 

 pipes, to which are attached regulators to inten- 

 sify or diminish the degrees of cold. 



Good fob the Cranberry. The Secretary of 

 the National Association of Cranberry Growers 

 makes the statement that the crop will be at least 

 twenty per cent larger this year than last year's 

 crop, and will bring better prices, owing to the 

 scarcity of other fruits. It is estimated that the 

 new crop, to be picked after September 15th, will 

 be 17.5,000 bushels, worth nearly $1,000,000. The 

 reports that English capitalists are after the 

 bogs, is discredited by the association. 



the original organizers of the Elmira Farmers' 

 Club, but long before that time he identified him- 

 self with the Grange movement in the state. It 

 was largely due to his efforts that the New York 

 Experiment Station was centrally located at 

 Geneva; and he was a member of the Board of 

 Control of that institution to the time of his 

 death. His age was sixty-three years. 



The Outlook for Apples. In the great 

 Apple growing sections of Western New York 

 the failure of the crop is all but complete. Re- 

 ports from Ontario, Canada, indicate a poor 

 crop with the exception of the Russian varieties 

 like Oldenburg, Alexander, etc. In Nova Scotia 

 the crop is not more than one half of the usual 

 size. The crop in Michigan is perhaps less than 

 thirty per cent of average. In some of the 

 counties of Connecticut a fair supply will be 

 secured, but on the whole the crop is much 

 smaller than usual. Missouri may help us out 

 to some extent, both as to fresh and evaporated 

 fruit. The crop there is estimated on good 

 authority to be about one half of an average. 

 There can be no doubt that Apples will be a 

 costly article next winter. The problem where 

 to get pie material promises to be a rather 

 serious one until another fruit crop is secured. 



By the death of W. A. Armstrong, editor of 

 the Husbandman, Elmira. N. Y., which occurred 

 on Aug. 31st, agriculture has lost another staunch 

 friend and indefatigable worker. He was one of 



Land Tillers and Politics. The land tillers 

 of America are beginning to ask themselves as 

 never before why should they not have better 

 representation in running the government ma- 

 chine. Laud tillers constitute between one-third 

 and one-half of all those engaged in trades and 

 professions, yet our legislative bodies are com- 

 posed almost wholly of persons outside of agri- 

 culture. Is it any wonder, therefore, that with 

 the voice and votes of this conservative, common 

 sense class so largely lacking in our halls of leg- 

 islation, that our statute books should be full of 

 enactments which directly or indirectly are ad- 

 verse to the interests of the rural population? 

 But the farmers are rousing to the situation, 

 and through various alliances and leagues are 

 beginning to make themselves felt in a degree 

 somewhat commensurate with their numbers, 

 and to make the regular politicians of the old 

 parties tremble for results. It is more likely than 

 not that some.mistakes will be made by this " new 

 power " in politics, and the more so from the 

 fact that those who compose it are mostly un- 

 trained in this field, but the country may feel 

 assured that in the long run the good Judgment 

 and wisdom of the farmei-s will have a most 

 wholesome effect in directing public affairs. It 

 seems safe now to predict that the next Congress 

 will contain about twenty-five soil tillers, enough 

 to give them the balance of power. Here lies 

 their strong hold: Not to form a new political 

 party, but to come in as a balance of power be- 

 tween the old parties. The farmers seem to be 

 very generally agreed in demanding government 

 regulation and supervision of railrf)ads, and the 

 suppression of commercial and manufacturing 

 trusts or combines. On some other points, such 

 as the " Sub-Treasury Bill," the abolition of the 

 national bauks and the regulation of the tariff, 

 less unanimity pre\ ails. 



A Detroit Amateur Talks of Various 

 Matters. 



Plants and Good Nature. Said a 

 tired-looking agent to me after I had 

 given him a chair on the front porch, 

 " I am not afraid they will set the dog on 

 me when I see flowers in the window. There 

 is something in the care of plants that makes 

 people kind-hearted. They may not buy 

 my books, but they always give me a kind 

 word." A lady also says, I always have 

 something to talk about if I have plants, 

 and when you are fortunate enough to get 

 hold of a real plant lover, don't we make 

 the words fly! Exchange seeds and cut- 

 tings over the back fence and there will be 

 no law suits. My neighbor has a lovely 

 little girl that is always taught to give a 

 flower to the callers at the house. Going in- 

 to the dining room one day she saw a strange 

 man close to the closet where the silver was 

 kept. In her innocenee she did not think 

 any harm, but held up a small bouquet of 

 Mignonette and Sweet Peas and said, 

 "Please take these and wear them," The 

 thief (he was afterwards arrested for burg- 

 lary) smiled, took the flowers, pinned them 

 in his coat, and departed without the spoons. 



Sweet Herb Bed. Between the Petunias 

 and Geraniums, both of them a mass of 

 bloom and bright colors, I have a bed of 

 Sweet Herbs. The bright green sets off 

 their more brilliant neighbors, and my 

 friends will stop, pluck a sweet scented leaf 

 or two, and pass by the gay flowers. My 

 Herb bed is useful as well as ornamental. 

 The Lavender when dried will go into the 

 sheet and pillow case drawers. The summer 

 Savory and Marjoram flavors the gravies, 

 and when dried in the sun will make the 

 stuffings of next winter's turkeys and chick- 

 ens toothsome. The Mint is good dipped in 

 water and eaten with bread and butter; or 

 with roast lamb makes a nice seasoner, with 

 the leaves torn into small pieces, put into a 

 cup with a spoonful of vinegar and a little 

 sugar. Tansy in the center of the Herb bed 

 is ornamental, and also makes a good tonic. 

 In the Detroit flower market these Herbs 

 are for sale in the spring well rooted, at ten 

 cents a dozen, and you can make up the 

 dozen by different kinds. It is better to 

 buy the few of each kind than to plant seeds. 



Ferns About the House. We in America 

 are just beginning to appreciate Ferns. 

 They ought to be called accomodation 

 plants, for they will bloom and make beau- 

 tiful the most out of the way corners about 

 the house. I know one Fern enthusiast 

 that has a bed of them under the back porch , 

 a place generally given up to cats and old 



