52 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



The Apple is King. 



I sing not the fruitage of old Yucatan. 



The Citrus of Spain, or the Plums of Japan; 



The Florida Orange may grow in the South, 



The Peach of New Jersey may melt In your mouth; 



The broail-breasted (Quince has a heavenly smell. 



And I love California Apricots well; 



Bananas of Nassau and Malaga Grapes, 



In clustering richness and lavishing shapes,— 



They're beautiful all. but bepralse them who will, 



A ruddy old monarch outranks them all stUl; 



A fruit universal, coeval with man: 



'Tis the blessed old Apple; gainsay it who can. 



—Good Bousekeeping. 



Barberries. 



In scarlet clusters o'er the gray-stone-wall 

 The Barberries lean In the thin gray air; 

 Just when the fields and garden-plots are bare. 

 And ere the green leaf takes the tint of fall. 

 They come to make the eye a festival! 

 Along the road, for miles, their torches flare 

 Ah, If .vour deep-sea coral were but rare 

 (The Damask Rose might envy it withal,) 

 What bards had sung the praises long ago. 

 Called you fine names in honey- worded books— 

 The Rosy tramps of turupilie and of lane 

 September's blushes, Ceres' red lips aglow. 

 Little Red-Rlding-hoods, for your sweet looks!— 

 But your pleblan beauty Is in vain. 



—Thomas B. Aldrich. 



Chrysanthemum. 



When nuts are dropping from the trees, and Corn is 



gathering in. 

 When purple Grapes are on the vine and Apples in the 



bin. 

 When far across the level fields and is borne the crow's 



harsh call. 

 Then in the garden lifts its head this bravest flower 



of all- 

 Ohl bright and strong and undismayed, this brightest 



flower of all. 



Now for the subscription crop. 



It is a good time to fight plant lice. 



Write for your favorite garden Jouvnal. 



If there is a gloomy season in the plant house 

 it is now. 



Is there no remedy for damping off of Chrys- 

 anthemums y 



When you make those evening calls why not 

 mention this journal. 



The flowers of the Eulalias add much to 

 autumn garden beauty. 



We are stron? advocates of protection— for all 

 delicate plants and shrubs. 



Eemember one thing. Ferns will not stand 

 with impunity, dryness at the root. 



A good many Gladiolus bulbs are in.iured by 

 storing them where it is damp, thus inviting 

 unseasonable growth. 



Potting sunshine for winter is how the Boston 

 Transcript, with as much truth as poetry, speaks 

 of potting Hyacinths. 



One hundred and fifty kinds and varieties of 

 hardy plants were ordered and set out in our 

 grounds during October. 



Popular Gardening maintains that the presence 

 of even u single tine tree or shrub adds dignity 

 to the house and dollars to its value. 



How to extend good gardeningy Invite some 

 friend to become a subscriber to a good garden- 

 ing journal ne.xt year. You know its name. 



The Land of Gardens. England, Scotland and 

 Wales have 44r),(X).5 gardens of less than an acre, 

 being nearly double the number of the same size 

 17 years ago. 



Nineteen named varieties of Cocanuts have 

 been introduced from the Phillipiue Islands by 

 the Bureau of Pomology. They have been 

 planted at Lake Worth, Florida. 



Have you tried Salt? It might be interesting 

 to learn how large a proportion of those who 

 delight in Melons, Uananas and nuts, have been 

 converted to the idea that salt is more palatable 

 than sugar as a relish with these. 



By putting in cuttings of Begonia Hex and 

 other Begonias now in the greenhouse, very fine 

 plants can be grown by ne.\t April. 



The Experiment Station people sometimes for- 

 get that we are after new truths in horticulture 

 and agriculture, not after literature. Solid in- 

 formation on a smaller number of printed pages, 

 is what we would often like to see. 



When Will They Learn Wisdoml It's the 

 person who can't afford to spend a dollar for a 

 live gardening journal that contributes so liber- 

 ally to support the fraudulent tree agents. Our 

 readers distinguish between the bad and the good. 

 Grape rot has been moving on doing much 

 damage in parts of the country where not known 

 before. A brighter side is that some of the earlier 

 enemies, such as Rose beetle. Potato bug. Pear 

 blight. Cabbage worm, etc., are losing their 

 hold in many localities. 



We Thank Ton. This to the thousands of 

 readers who send words of high praise for Popn- 

 L.iR Gardening every year. Did we make a 

 practice of printing these, it would fill columns 

 of space each issue. Of course space in this 

 journal is much too valuable for even so pleasent 

 a task. 



Flowrs by the acre, is the report of a visitor 

 at Mr. Burpee's Fordhook farm near Philadel- 

 phia. There were plats of t)2 varieties of Aster, 

 66 of Balsam, 22 of Dianthus, 20 of Godetia, 36 of 

 Ipomea, 20 of Lobelia, 74 of Pans.v, M of Phlox, 

 24 of Poppy, 57 of Sweet Peas, 14 of Verbenas, 25 

 of Zinnias, besides many others. 



A Big Dollar's Worth. The simple fact stands 

 that no other dollar journal in the worUJ prints 

 so many costly engravings in a year as does the 

 present one. The full index might also be men- 

 tioned. Will you introduce such a "dollar's 

 worth " to your friends? With the small profits 

 that ensue, we need many more subscribers. 



The Tulio-tree, with its peculiar fiddle-shaped 

 leaves and beautiful fiowers, makes a noble orna- 

 ment as it reaches some size. It should be trans- 

 planted when small. By the way, have you 

 noticed that the leaves, unlike those of all other 

 trees and shrubs, are not pointed at the ex- 

 tremity, but truncate, that is, as if cut squarely 

 off.~C. C. Gay, Merrimack Co., N. H. 



For a hcdee in a wind-exposed location a mix- 

 ture of Myrobolan Plum and Privet, two of the 

 former to one of the latter is recommended. It 

 is said to make a hedge sufficiently strong to re- 

 sist cattle in a short time. If something of a 

 more ornamental character is required, use the 

 American Arbor vita?, selecting only single- 

 stemmed varieties. 



Flowers sweeten the air rejoice the eye link 

 you with nature and innocence, and are some- 

 thing to love. If they cannot love you in return, 

 they cannot hate you; cannot utter hateful 

 words even if neglected; for, though they are all 

 beauty, they possessno vanity, and living as they | 

 do, to do you good, and afford you pleasure, how 

 can you neglect them'/— Leigh Bunt. 



Rapid Bate of Buddine. Walter C. Black, one 

 of the junior members of theflrm, while budding 

 in Mr. M. Pullen's nursery, succeeded in setting 

 3,7no Peach buds in 0% hours, while Chas. .1. Hus- 

 sell, one of our men, set 3 3.i0 during the same 

 time. They think they can beat even this under j 

 more favorable circumstances. Has this record ' 

 ever been beaten? It so, by whom?— /oscpTi H. 

 Black, Son A Co.. Mercer Co., Del. 



Did the white grubs trouble your garden or 

 Strawberry plants this year? They often do by 

 eating the roots, and thus weakening or killing 

 the plants. A complete remedy against them 

 may be summed up as follows: Turn over the 

 garden soil just before winter, leaving it lay 

 roughly; turn over the pile of old manure if any 

 is on hand. Cftos. G, Hand Dauphin Co., Pa. 



A Great Bouquet. Six hundred and seventy 

 flowers— florists we mean, are a good many to 

 appear photographed in one group. And yet 

 this number appear in the fine photograph re- 

 ceived at this oftice from the Herendon Mfg. Co. 

 of Geneva. The view is that of the visiting 

 florists of the American Society to the Hunue- 

 well place, in the suburbs of Boston in August. 



Propagatine Hydrangea Faniculata. .\ new 



way of increasing this superior hardy shrub is 

 announced by the Bulletin d' .Vrboriculture. It 

 consists of using the flower buds as cuttings. 

 The buds root readily, provided they are taken 

 off with a heel. If grown in small pots and 

 forced, these small plants can be made very 

 effective for decorative purposes, as they flower 

 almost immediately. 



The Wumher of the Foe. In warfare it is always 

 an advantrge to know the strength ofihe enemy. 

 Dr. Packard, well known from his extensive 

 I writings as a leading entomologist, has estimated 

 that there are within the limits of the United 

 States .50,000 species of insects. Of these there 

 are at least 25,000 described species. But there 

 are some friends among these. 



Can scale insects in large numbers be cleaned 

 from an Ivy, asked a neighbor recently. Tes, I 

 answered, it can be done with sponge and soft 

 soap, or whale-oil soap and warm water. But it 

 1 is a big job, so big in fact on a plant of good size, 

 1 that I recommended to my friends another sure 

 remedy, namely, to burn the plant, and then to 

 start with a new clean one, on which never 

 allow an insect to appear.— 3f. E. L., Newport 

 Co., R. I. 



I Feed thn Bnsh Fruits. How can you expect 

 I even the Currant row to feed you if it is not fed. 

 In thousands of gardens the Currant is seldom 

 treated to fertilizers. Yet it is one of our most 

 useful culinary fruits. Popular Gardening 

 advises every reader who raises Currants, to 

 apply a top dressing of manure around each 

 bush at this season. The same treatment is what 

 the Gooseberries and Raspberries also need. In 

 the spring the manure may be dug into the soil. 



Tried and Fonnd Wantine. A neighbor hav- 

 ing some Apples to dispose of, forwarded a 

 quantity to a commission merchant in the city, 

 and received an answer to the effect that they 

 were worth $1.12 to $1.25 per bushel. Not being 

 satisfied, he Journeyed to the city, and actually 

 bought his own Apples from the salesman at 

 $2.25 per bushel. In an hour or two he returned, 

 undisguised, and on inquiring the state of the 

 market, was informed that good Apples realized 

 $1 00 and 81.25. very prime as much as $1..50.— 

 WiHiam Wade, Buchanan Co., Mo. 



Wall tile for Fern«, such as illustrated below, 

 are now being manufactured and kept on sale in 

 England. They are made of common clay in the 

 simplest style, and are adapted to form boxes 

 and baskets attached to walls, chiefly for the 

 growth of Ferns. The upper figure in illustra- 

 tion represents a close box or trough, and the 

 lower one a slip open at one end. These tiles can 

 be firmly nailed to board or brick walls, as the 

 under part, which sets against the wall, is per- 

 forated for that purpose. The Ferns being 

 planted in them, a periodical watering, as cir- 

 cumstances require, is pretty much all the care 

 necessary for them. 



Better Gardens. Never in a similar period has 

 there been so much advance made in the gardens 

 of the people, both in countrj- and in town, as 

 during the past five years. All nurserymen tell 

 of the increased demand, not only for garden 

 fruit trees and plants, but especially for orna- 

 mental stock. People in humble circumstances, 

 and those of wealth, are more and more appre- 

 ciating how much joy and comfort and good 

 living may come from the garden. That this 

 journal as an advocate of popular gardening, 

 has been in no slight part instrumental in effect- 

 ing this improved state of things, is the expressed 

 belief of thousands of readers. That it has a far 

 greater work to perform, is equally certain. 



Name your Home- Is it not worth naming ? 

 The editor thinks more of his own home for 

 having given it the appropriate name of " Wood- 



Wall Tile for Ferns. 



banks. He traveled in Europe in 1.S8I and was 

 impressed by the beautiful custom so much in 

 vogue in England of naming the home however 

 small it may be. I^sually the names he met 

 were engi-aved on the gates or gate posts. Here 

 are some pleasing ones jolted down in his note- 

 book at the time. "Hope Cottage," "Lynewood," 

 " Gipsy Lodge," "Oak Craft," "Ettrick Cottage," 

 " Napier Villa," " The ( )aks," " Caledon Villa," 

 " Clifton Lodge," " Felixstowe House," " Lands- 

 downe," " Darleydale," " Glanywerre," "Her- 

 mit's Lodge," " Newton House," " Thornhill 

 House," " Hasting's Lodge," " Larksheath." 



