POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



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



Vol. VI. 



J^3srXJ.A.I2."y, 1891. 



No. 4. 



January Song:. 



The sky Is gray as gray may be, 

 There Is no bird on wing or bough. 

 There Is no leaf on vine or tree. 

 Slow creep the hours, slow creep the days. 

 The black Ink crusts upon the pen- 

 Just wait till bluebirds, wrens and jays 

 And golden orioles come again ! 



—T. B. Aldrich, in Atlantic. 



Let Us be Reasonable. When you are disposed 

 to complaia that flowers come slowly, remember 

 that more than double the time is required in 

 these short dark days to make a certain growth 

 than in the gprini?. 



No Seed Trust. The combination of leading 

 seedsmen, organized with a capital stock of 87,000- 

 000, is found to be a myth. Born in the "lively 

 imagination of a Wall street broker," it is not 

 likely to ever come into real and active life. 



The Wat of the Transgressor. It always 

 gives us unbounded satisfaction to see a horti- 

 ticultural fraud come to grief, especially when 

 he is such an old offender as Deloe A. Staples of 

 Portland, Mich., who advertised to sellBlueberry 

 busbes, as many of our friends know to their 

 regret, but neither sent any in return for cash 

 sent him, nor paid his advertising bills, and did 

 not even have any bushes to sell. A Michigan 

 local paper now reports that he was found guilty 

 in the U. S. Court at Grand Rapids, Mich., but 

 that sentence was deferred till January 6th, 

 pending a motion to appeal. 



Secretary E. Williams of the New Jersey 

 State Horticultural Society, the earnest and in- 

 defatigable worker, has been forced by ill health 

 to resign the office he has held and graced for so 

 many years. What a loss this means to that or- 

 ganization which has prospered so wonderfully 

 under his leadership, all who ever attended the 

 Trenton meetings, or read the well-edited reports 

 of the proceedings, will know how to appreciate. 

 "Well done, thou faithful servant." May rest 

 and freedom from business cares result in his 

 full recovery, and in restoring to the society 

 so useful a member, counsellor and leader! 



The Schedule in the Horticultural Depart- 

 ment of the World's Fair, as now proposed, does 

 not please the Michigan State Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, nor does it particularly satisfy us. In the 

 schedule, viticulture appears as the big end of 

 horticulture, and wine-making the big end of 

 viticulture. As suggested by the Michigan peo- 

 ple, the Department (B) of Horticulture should 

 include the following six separate groups, viz: 

 Pomology, Floriculture, Truck and Kitchen Gar- 

 dening. Arboriculture, Horticultural Appliances 

 and Miscellaneous. Steps are being taken to 

 press this view upon the Fair managers. Address 

 communications or inquiries to Prof. L. R. Taft, 

 Agricultual College P. O., Michigan. 



More Department Seeds. According to 

 Secretary Rusk's report, more seed packages 

 have been distributed in 1890 than the year be- 

 fore, although the appropriation was the same 

 in both years. It that means anything, it means 

 that cheaper seeds have been sent out. We do 

 not believe that this move is in the right direc- 

 tion of reform. What we desire to see is the 

 abolishment of the entire congressional seed 

 business. If the Secretary of Agriculture is 

 nothing more than a dispenser of cheap seeds, 

 where is the dignity of Agriculture? And why 

 not yield to popular sentiment, gentlemen of 

 Washington, and restrict the distribution to a 

 lew really promising novelties, to be put by the 

 Department (and no one else) where they will 

 do the most good for the people ? 



The Outlook for Next Year's Apple Crop. 

 Mr. A. McD. Allan, with whom we had a talk 

 about the fruit outlook while at Hamilton, and 



whose knowledge on the subject of Apples is 

 almost proverbial even far beyond the Canadian 

 line, did not appear very sanguine. We may 

 have a fair crop, he says, but not likely a very 

 large, nor a very good one. The trees which 

 had healthy foliage last season, produced at 

 least a partial crop, and consequently there was 

 no "off year" with them. The great bulk of 

 the Apple trees all through the country, how- 

 ever, were badly affected by scab. For this 

 reason they did not develop a good fruit bud; 

 and without this there can be no good fruit. 

 The pale color of the fruit blossoms last spring, 

 so Mr. Mc D. Allan thinks, was a sure indication 

 of weakness. Healthy blossoms, from well- 

 developed buds, have a rich rosy tint. He pre- 

 dicts another crop of rather pale blossoms for 

 next spring. 



Winter Pears for Market. 



OEOROE ELLW ANGER ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



[Note— In response to a request from this 

 office for information on the above subject, 

 which now is attracting increased attention in 

 many sections, Mr. Ellwanger kindly forwarded 

 the following notes ;] 



The Anjou Pear I regard as the queen 

 of winter Pears for the table. It possesses 

 all the virtues of a perfect Pear, being rich, 

 vinous and melting, with keeping qualities 

 not excelled by any Pear of its season. It 

 is large, of pleasing shape, fragrant, and 

 when fully ripe of a warm straw color. 

 Coming into market when all fall Pears are 

 gone, it may be kept from November until 

 March. As a market fruit, it is always in 

 ready demand wherever known, and brings 

 the highest price, S5.00 to *6.00 per bushel 

 for fine selected fruit. 



The tree is hardy, vigorous, not subject 

 to blight, does not overbear and hence re- 

 quires little thinning, while few inferior 

 fruits are seen on the tree. 



Anjou does well as a standard or a dwarf. 

 It should be planted in well-prepared, rich, 

 dry ground and kept under the best culti- 

 vation, enriching it every year alternately 

 with a moderate dressing of well decom- 

 posed stable manure and hard wood ashes. 

 A thin sprinkling of salt during winter is 

 also beneficial. Pruning is very important 

 to keep up the vigor and health of dwarf 

 trees and also to prevent over-bearing. 

 Dwarf trees that have been maintained un- 

 der proper cultivation, and that have been 

 properly pruned, may be seen producing 

 excellent crops of fine fruit after a half a 

 century of existence. Most of the dwarf 

 Pear orchards throughout Western New 

 York are neglected in most, if not in all the 

 above requirements, and therefore their 

 lease of life is short and unsatisfactory. 



Winter Nelis, is one of the finest winter 

 Pears, and a great favorite in eastern 

 markets. The fruit is of medium size, 

 melting, and possesses a rich aromatic 

 flavor. For a dessert Pear in respect tosize, 

 color and quality, it has no superior among 

 winter varieties. Season December to 

 March, Winter Nelis should be grown on 

 Pear stock, or double-worked on dwarf 

 stock. White Doyenne being the best tree 

 for double working. A slender grower, in 

 order to obtain bearing trees within a few 

 years, it should be top-grafted on good-sized 

 vigorous trees. It often overbears, and 

 requires thinning, otherwise the fruits 

 prove inferior in size and quality. Indeed 

 too much stress cannot be laid upon the 



necessity of thinning, not only with Pears, 

 but with all other kinds of fruit. 



Josephine de Malines. By all who have 

 tasted the .Josephine when well grown and 

 ripened, this wilt be pronounced one of the 

 very best late winter Pears. The fruit is 

 medium to large, the pink of salmon-stained 

 white flesh, melting and of a delicious 

 rose aroma. This succeeds either as a stand- 

 ard or dwarf. Season January to April. 

 Owing to its moderate, irregular growth, 

 it is little propagated in nurseries, and on 

 this account is not much disseminated. 



Lawrence. Largely grown in some sections 

 of our state, this variety is held in high 

 esteem by those who prefer sweet Pears. 

 The fruit is medium to large, melting, and 

 of pleasant flavor. Season, December to 

 .January, Tree a moderate grower, and very 

 productive. 



Buerre Clairgeau. Beaurre Clairgeau Is 

 the largest and most attractive early winter 

 Pear in cultivation, and always commands 

 the highest price. The fruit is very large, 

 pyriform, yellow and red with its red cheek 

 usually very highly colored, nearly melting, 

 and keeps till January, the tree being a good 

 grower and an abundant bearer. A very 

 valuable Market Pear. 



I have thus briefly referred to the best 

 winter market Pears that have come under 

 my observation. Others might be added, 

 but none, all requisites considered, equal to 

 those I have specified. This is applied to 

 winter market Pears solely. 



The Pear for market and the Pear for the 

 amafeur are two different matters. And 

 yet, while the list might be increased in the 

 latter case, where quality was the main 

 consideration, it were nevertheless difficult 

 to name any finer winter Pears for the table 

 than Beurre Clairgeau, Anjou, Winter Nelis 

 and Josephine. 



Taste and Tact in Arranging: 

 Grounds.* 



3d PAPER. 



The following from a subscriber in a thriv- 

 ing town in Northern New York, sufficiently 

 introduces the leading plans of this month: 

 Dear Sir: 



Noticing your offer to assist in planning grounds 

 I apply for aid in the case of our recently pur- 

 chased home. The lot is a three-fourth acre one, 

 of light, loamy soil, has a frontage of 90 feet and 

 a depth of near360 feet. Being much longer than 

 wide, it puzzles me how to lay it out handsomely. 

 We are passionately fond of flowers, and desire 

 to set out the largest assortment of flowers, 

 shrubs and trees. The latter now on the place 

 are part of an old neglected orchard, which we 

 do not believe worth saving. Those toward the 

 street are unsightly old Cherry trees. The stable 

 on the place we would like to move further from 

 the house. We want a small vegetable and fruit 

 garden, and the balance of the place ornamental. 



The fault of narrowness of area which our 

 subscriber apprehends in laying out this 

 town lot, is to us not so apparent. If it is 



•Copyright, 1890. Popular Gardening Publishing Co. - 

 Note : It Is designed to renderthe present serial widely 

 useful through Imparting Ideas on tastefully arrang- 

 ing grounds of every kind, basing the same on actual 

 examples. To this end sketches of home plats, rtiral 

 cemeteries, town squares, school yards, etc., are cor- 

 dially Invited from readers, with a view to oiu- sub- 

 i mitting suggestions for Improving the same, In 

 future articles. Should more plans be received than 

 are needed for this purpose, such will be chosen, as In 

 our Judgment, will afford the best subjects for con- 

 veying Information to the largest number of readers. 



