POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE BATH DONE HER PART: DO THOU BUT THINE." -yiiuioif. 



Vol. VI. 



IDDBCEIi^EBEE., 18SO. 



No. 3. 



Snow Petals. 



The starry flowers, that fly 

 From gardens In the sky 



To clothe with bloom 

 The freezing dreary earth, 

 Must fade and find new birth 



In many a tomb, 

 Before they burst the night 

 In Rose and Lily white. 



—Ariel Siegfried in Cosmopotifan. 



Attention: A New Occupation. Under "Com. 

 ments." on page 49, our subscriber, Herbert 

 Munson, in nine words, "One person gave rae one- 

 half for saving his Plums," indicates a new and 

 profltable occupation in the horticultural field. 

 It is that of specialist in the application of the 

 new and effective remedies against insects and 

 fungous diseases that effect our fruits and vege- 

 tables. At present the average cultivator hesi- 

 tates, and finally defers using these remedies, 

 hence suffers serious loss. He could afford to 

 pay liberally in cash or in a percentage of the 

 crop to the specialist who would save it. Here 

 is a chance for a good many young men and 

 women to make a good deal of money. 



The Nurseries and the Syndicate. As 

 has been announced in the newspapers, an 

 English syndicate has secured an option for the 

 purchase of a number of the largest nurseries in 

 Western New York. The matter is now pending, 

 with some indications present that would ap- 

 pear favorable to its consummation and others 

 less so. The project contemplates the absorption 

 of some of the best known nurseries of Roches- 

 ter, Geneva, and Lockport, besides others. In 

 case the sale is concluded these nurseries will be 

 run by their present owners who will have a one 

 third interest in the syndicate, after receiving 

 two-thirds of the purchase value direct in 

 money. It remains to be seen, whether the 

 American people will take kindly to patronizing 

 a vast establishment the profits of which will be 

 carried abroad. Perhaps it will help the smaller 

 concerns that are left outside. 



The Voice From the Farms. In the late 

 election the farmers spoke and were heard. The 

 Alliance movement may be " grotesque," as the 

 old party press is fond of saying, but it comes as 

 a permanent fixture in our politics from now on. 

 We venture the prediction that those districts 

 that have elected farmers to Congress and those 

 counties in Kansas that have elected soil tillers 

 as prosecuting attorneys, will be as well served 

 and possibly far better than by lawyers. The 

 lawyers have been too largely in the majority as 

 office holders in the past. Hereafter we need not 

 expect that three-fourths of all the laws made 

 will emanate from the brains of this class, and 

 lawyer-like, be devised to so well serve the ends 

 of their makers. The farmers are coming to the 

 front in running the government machine. They 

 will make mistakes, but on the whole their call 

 will be vastly for the good of the nation. 



2000 Bushels of Onions per Acre. That is 

 the quantity we shall undertake to raise from a 

 single measured acre of land on the Popular 

 Gardening grounds during the coming season. 

 And we expect to succeed if it is anything like 

 an Onion year. Our expectations are based upon 

 the results achieved on our grounds during the 

 past unfavorable season in Onion culture. The 

 system we shall work upon is that known as 

 the transplanting system, and which so far as 

 its application to raising Onions generally is 

 concerned originated we believe with one of our 

 editorial staff. This method was employed on 

 our grounds the present season and has been 

 briefly alluded to in these columns. We will 

 keep our readers fully informed in all details of 



the new experiment in subsequent issues of Pop- 

 ular Gardening. Remember this is to be a 

 full acre test, and we think the results will 

 be sufficiently striking to draw tears from 

 many eyes. 



Reform in Nomenclature. Mr. .lohn 

 Thorpe's move of publishing the names he in- 

 tends to bestow on his new Chrysanthemum 

 seedlings is a new departure of considerable 

 merit, and if more generally imitated will un- 

 doubtedly tend to avoid confusion and duplica- 

 tion of names. But it grieves us to see so good and 

 prominent a member of the Florists' Association 

 make light of the reform nomenclature, which 

 the society as a body has deemed so important 

 and so needful, and in behalf of which so many 

 honest and well-meaning men are industriously 

 laboring. This jet of cold water from an unex- 

 pected quarter, we hope, will not check the 

 ardor of the Florists' Committee on Nomen- 

 clature in its praise.wortby efforts. The con- 

 fusion resulting from the re-introduction of old 

 varieties under new names, and the selection of 

 extravagant and often absurd names had be- 

 come so glaring and crying an evil that the 

 better part of the population has long since 

 become thoroughly disgusted with it and the 

 demand for reform universal. The American 

 Pomological Society inaugui'ated the reform 

 movement years ago. The florists fell in line, 

 and there are but few dissenters among them. 

 More recently the seedsmen also joined in the 

 fight against the abuses of nomenclature. Mr. 

 Thorpe seems to be trying to stem a tidal wave 

 of reform, and fighting the inevitable. The 

 programme of the good men who are working 

 for the abolishment of recognized absurdities in 

 nomenclature will be carried out. 



The Chrysanthemum Shows of 1 890. 



That the Chrysanthemum stands without 

 an equal among flowers, in the interest it 

 commands from cultivators and the public, 

 is clear from the innumerable shows of this 

 Autumn Queen, which during the past 

 month have occurred throughout America. 

 And these shows have without exception, 

 we think, been very successful, many of 

 them certainly have been extraordinarily 

 so. A few years ago the question was fre- 

 quently put regarding the so-called Chrys- 

 anthemum "craze." Will it soon pass 

 away ? To-day every careful observer in 

 this field is ready to answer the question 

 emphatically in the negative. 



The fact is there is no Chrysanthemum 

 craze. The homage which is paid to this re- 

 markable Asiatic flower, is only that which is 

 due to real merit. There are substantial 

 grounds for all the enthusiasm, bestowed, 

 both by amateur and commercial florists on 

 the flower. In its ease of cultivation.wonder- 

 ful diversity of forms, richness of coloring, 

 exuberance of blossom, freedom from 

 disease and insects, and most striking of 

 all in its susceptibility to improvement 

 under the hand of expert cultivators, it 

 together distances every other flower. But 

 perhaps its supreme merit after all is, that 

 it comes in last of the year's flowers, bestow- 

 ing its riches lavishly at a season when 

 otherwise a great dearth of blooms prevails. 



To attempt anything like a report of the 

 many large and successful Chrysanthemum 

 shows that have been held throughout the 

 country, would be impossible in our space. 

 It may be enough to mention, in a general 

 way, that every leading city of the country 

 has had its great exhibition, while a multi- 



tude of smaller towTis and villages have 

 fallen into line this year, with very credit- 

 able shows. Nor has the interest been at 

 all confined to our own land. In England 

 it has received nearly the same attention 

 as here, while throughout all civilization, 

 and including .Japan and China its home, 

 the flower has been a subject of remarkable 

 interest, during the past month. 



Of the show in Buffalo it may be said, to 

 have eclipsed everything of the kind in the 

 past. The display both of pot plants and 

 cut flowers was larger than ever before, 

 while the perfection that has been reached 

 in growing the magnificent new varieties, 

 by several of our large local growers, was a » 

 surprise to every visitor. The attendance too 

 was all that could be desired and contri- 

 buted materially to the enthusiasm. What 

 is thus stated of the Buffalo show might be 

 said of all the shows of the country, judg- 

 ing from the reports of visitors to them. 



The things that have impressed growers 

 and visitors alike, is the wonderful advance 

 that is being achieved in the improvement 

 of varieties year by year. In the matter of 

 size, color, form and texture there is hardly 

 any comparison between those of a dozen 

 years ago and the present ones. 



Of Chrysanthemums that have attracted 

 special attention for their fine qualities, at 

 the Buffalo and some other fairs, we may 

 mention the following, all of which have 

 been included among prizetakers in one 

 class or another. 



Bohemia, deep red. 



Cythere, brilliant deep magenta, large. 



Cullingfordii, deep globular red, very showy. 



Domination, large pure white. 



Moonstone, large white, conspicuous center. 



E. W. Clark, deep crimson. 



Esperanza, pink and white, unique. 



Fred Dormer, rich creamj' white,twisted petals. 



Field Daisy, very appropriately named. 



George Wm. Cbilds, Jacqueminot crimson, re- 

 flexed, large 



Gloriosum, valuable for cutting. 



George Pratt, pure red, large, incurved. 



Ivory, new pearl white. 



Jno Betterman, sulphury white, reflexed. 



J. Delaux, deep crimson, large, fine. 



Jas. R. Pitcher, rosy white, incurved, large. 



L. Canning, white, valuable. 



Louis Boehmer, deep Rose, in style of Md. 

 Alpbeus Hardy. 



Lilian B. Bird, light pink .flat, numerous tubu- 

 lar rays. 



Molly Bawn, large white, of fantastic form. 



Mathilda Townsend, creamy white, large. 



Md. Alpheus Hardy, "Ostrich Plum" varietj'. 



Mrs. S. Humphreys, white, snowball like. 



Mrs. Fottler, globular white, suffused with 

 rose in center. 



Md. Jessie Barr, snow-white, globular. 



Mrs. W. K. Harris, golden, with deeper cast in 

 center, large, globular. 



Mohawk, large, semi-double crimson. 



Mrs. Frank Thompson, flowers 9 inches across. 



Neeseema, golden yellow. 



Nellie A. Tong, crushed strawberry, large. 



Rohallion, golden, globular, medium size. 



Shasta, pure white, large, long fringe-like rays. 



Thos. H. Spaulding, nearly a perfect scarlet. 



Thistle, creamy, the rays as fine as a Thistle. 



Thora Strong, pale primrose yellow, straight 

 petals, large. 



Tommy Adams, rich deep orange. 



Vale Andorre, orange red, large. 



Walter N. Coles, very large red. 



Wm. Heale, bright rose, medium, very regular. 



Yeddo, sulphur-yellow. 



