78 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



ated by their silvery panicles, is a striking object. 

 The EulaJia is from Japan, and hardy. It is best 

 known by two varieties, one having the leaves 

 striped with yellow while the other is barred, the 

 yellow markings being across the leaves. Seed 

 may be sown in the house or greenhouse during 

 fall and winter, and the younsf plants removed 

 to the garden in spring.— National Stockman. 



Wood Ashes for Gardens. In gardens always 

 well maured in other respects, a lack of potash 

 may make them less' productive than their con- 

 dition otherwise will warrant. Wood ashes mixed 

 with soil aid powerfully in keeping it moist. The 

 potash then becomes a solvent, and by keeping 

 soil moist it greatly increases the value of any 

 manures that have been applied. Gardens dry 

 up by an excessive application of coar.se stable 

 manure. It needs wet summers to enable crops 

 to grow without injury over so much coarse 

 manure. When it is dry it is an injury rather 

 than a help to plant growth. Wood ashes are 

 more effective, because more constant remedy 

 for drought than watering the plants can be.— 

 Journal of Horticulture. 



Oracefal Cl»mati8. Among hardy ornamental 

 vines. Traveller's Joy, of Europe, or Clematis 

 vitalba, is of great importance. In general 

 appearance it resembles our native C. Virgiv i- 

 ana, but is a more vigorous grower, more 

 abundant bloomer, and of delightful almond 

 perfume. Although less delicate and graceful 

 in foliage and bloom than the charming C. 

 fiammula, it flowers later and is more attractive. 

 It seems hard.y even in exposed situations, and 

 grows luxuriantly in any soil. In two or three 

 seasons it will cover a large building, and shut 

 out objectionable objects with a mass of foliage. 

 —New York Tribune. 



A Laree ADple Tree. The largest Apple tree 

 in New England, and probably in the world, is in 

 Cheshire, Conn. It is about 150 years old, and at 

 the present time of symmetrical shape; there are 

 eight large branches: five of them bearing fruit 

 one year and three the ne.xt. From five branches 

 110 bushels of fruit have been gathered. The 

 circumference of the trunk one foot above the 

 ground, is thirteen feet eight inches. The girth 

 of the largest single limb is six feet eight inches. 

 The height is sixty feet, and spread of the 

 branches 100 feet. The fruit is rather small. 

 sweet, and of moderate excellence.— Boston 

 Journal. 



Irrii^ation for the Garden, First secure an 

 ample supply of water near the center of the 

 garden. A drive well is best. Over the well build 

 a platform six feet square and eight feet high. 

 Place on this platform a barrel with an inch 

 nipple near the bottom. Place your pump so as 

 to have the water flow into it. A pitcher pump 

 will answer every purpose. Get a one-inch hose 

 to reach every part of the garden. I have 1.50 

 feet and can easil.v water two acres with it. 

 With the apparatus I have described, by haring 

 a lad to pump, one man can distribute 4.000 gal- 

 lons of water in 10 hours.— Florida Agriculturist. 

 Duchess Pears, One of the richest, or at least 

 most popular and easily grown, Pears is the 

 Duchess de Angouleme, now rechristened as the 

 Duchess. It is rather late in riijening, and, by 

 keeping in a cool place, may be preserved 

 through most of December. It comes early into 

 bearing as a dwarf, and is not likely to bliifht. 

 Its fruit is greatly improved by early removal 

 of all specimens that show imperfection, and if 

 this is done what remains will sell for eno\igh 

 higher prices to pay for the slight extra trouble. 

 Effect of Cultivation An experiment was re- 

 cently made to show the effect of cultivation on 

 two good-sized trees of Newtown Pippin. They 

 had borne very little fruit of late years. The 

 ground was dug early in spring around one for 

 a distance, and a wagon load of manure spread 

 on the dug surface. The second year forty 

 bushels of fine quality were gathered from one 

 tree, not cultivated and manured, had a thin 

 and worthless crop. —Country Gentleman. 



Bad for City Trnes. city trees are, as a matter 

 of course, becoming small by degrees and beau- 

 tifully less, Ix'cause time is against them, and 

 man is not tor them. Inner London yet contains 

 a few green trees, and they are probably one and 

 all doomed to speedy extinction. Witness the 

 once noble plane tree in Stationers' (^ourt. What 

 is it now? Alas poor tree: it has been subjected 

 to " pruning,"— Gardeners' Magazine. 



Oceans of Cucumbers. Fredericksburg, Va., 

 s'lpplied a pickle factory with :w,000,000 Cucum- 

 bers. Those engaged in producing furnished 

 from 200,000 to 1,000,000 each. The object is to 



get them an inch or an inch and a half long, and 

 this requires active picking before they increase 

 on this size. A boy will pick 3,000 in a day. Pick- 

 ing them thus early greatly increases the pro- 

 ductiveness of the vine. 



A Promisinit Early Pear. A very promising 

 early sort, of better quality than most early 

 Pears, and not subject to rot at the core, is the 

 Wilder. Professor Van Deman, United States 

 Pomologist, says of it: " Among the mid-sum- 

 mer Pears there is none that pleases me better 

 than this. Like the Seckel, what it lacks in 

 size it makes up in quality, though it is larger 

 than that variety. 



Bleached Peanuts. These bring a higher price 

 than those that are darker If Peanuts have a 

 wet harvest, the shells are much darker than if 

 otherwise, although the kernels are in no way 

 injured by the discoloration of the shells. To 

 obviate the " off " color, many of the large ship- 

 pers have resorted to bleaching, which makes 

 the nuts appear as the whitest A 1.— California 

 Fruit Grower. 



Storing Celery. A resldentof Ionia Is putting 12.1,0011 

 stalks of Celery into storage houses. The Celery is 

 packed closely with tlie roots In an inch of earth and 

 arranged in tiers.— Michigan Farmer. 



Deatruct'on to Caterpillars. Mix two parts of 

 chloride of lime with one part of lard. Mould this la 

 rolls, cover wiih cloth, and bind around the afTected 

 trees.- Garten-und-Blumenzeitung. 



Varieties of Apples. Over 3,U0U named varieties of 

 Apples are known to fruit growers, besides many un- 

 named varieties —Massachusetts Ploughman. 



Give your farm credit for furnishing you house rent 

 free, and a thousand luxuries which you would have 

 to pay for In a city.— Church Messenger. 



Keep Ferrets. The scent from a ferret kept in a 

 cage In a bam will drive away rats, even causing them 

 to abandon their nests of young. 



Wet land in spring is filled with a gas poisonous to 

 plant roots.— American Cultivator. 



Every fruit known will make elder.— Canadian Hor- 

 ticulturist. 



Vegetable Products on the Table. 



Baked Bananas. Rake large ripe Bananas in a 

 moderately warm oven. When the skin begins 

 to split at the seams they are done. Serve with 

 butter and salt. 



Cream Potatoes. Put a good sized piece of 

 butter in a saucepan ; salt, pepper, some chopped 

 parsley, a cupful of cream and teaspoonful of 

 flour. Stir well until it comes to the boil ; slice 

 boiled Potatoes, add to the sauce, and serve very 

 hot. 



Onions. Peel under cold water to save the 

 eyes. Let old Onions lie in water fifteen min- 

 utes after peeling. Then boil two hours. When 

 half done add one teaspoonful of salt to each 

 dozen Onions. Add one-hall cupful of hot thick 

 cream before serving and butter to taste. 



Sweet Potato Croquettes. Boil six large Sweet 

 Potatoes until they are tender, remove the skins 

 and mash, add a tablespoonful of butter, of salt, 

 a dash of pepper and tablespoonful of sugar. 

 Mix well, form into croquettes, dip first in egg 

 and then in bread crumbs and fry in hot tat. 



EroBted Apple Pie. Line a pie tin with puff 

 paste. Slice in Apples, sugar them and add a 

 little butter, no water, and little lemon essence 

 or juice. Bake, and when done spread a thick 

 frosting of beaten egg and sugar over it: return 

 to the oven till the frosting is warmed through. 



Bean Soup with Corn. This is excellent made 

 from cold, baked Beans. To each pint add quart 

 of boiling water, slice of Onion and halt a tea- 

 spoonful of salt, noil an hour ; rub through a 

 sieve and boil again. For two quarts of soup 

 allow a small can of Sweet Corn chopped fine. 

 Boil twenty minutes add cayenne, teaspoonful 

 of sugar and one of butter.— Good Housekeep'g. 



Have a BiU-of-Fare Book. A plain, strong, 

 blank book is what is needed. Every morning 

 write therein what you will have for the next 

 dinner, supper and breakfast. In this way a 

 pleasant variety and a better class of cooking 

 will be secured, and all needed preparations can 

 be made methodically, instead of a harum- 

 scarum, at the last moment. This is especiaUy 

 useful where a servant does the cooking. 



Orange Jelly. One-third box gelatine, one 

 and a half cupfuls sugar, three sour Oranges 

 and a scant pint of water. Put the gelatine in a 

 cup with two tablespoonfuls of cold water. 

 Halve the Oranges, remove the seeds and press 

 out the juice. Put the gelatine in a porcelain 

 saucepan ; pour the Orange juice into a pint 

 measure and fill it with boiling water, add to the 



gelatine, and when it is dissolved, boil quickly. 

 Put in the Orange peel, after washing, and in 

 five minutes stir m the sugar, and when dis- 

 solved, strain, stand in a cool place ten or twelve 

 hours.~Fla. Agriculturist. 



Plum Pudding. Chop and rub to a cream one- 

 half pound of suet. Add a scant half pound of 

 sugar. Mix well. Add three well-beaten eggs, 

 one nutmeg grated, one-half teaspoonful of 

 cl<)ve, one-half teaspoonful of mace, one-half 

 teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth cup of brandy or 

 one cup of milk, one-half pound of flour, one- 

 half pound of Raisins, one-halt pound Currants 

 and three-eights of a pound of Citron Steam 

 from seven to eight hours. The raisins should 

 be chopped. When the mixture is ready for 

 steaming it should be quite thin. The longer 

 it is steamed the better.— Mass. Ploughman. 



HOUSE PLANTS. 



Annnals. Latter part of month seeds of Sweet 

 Alyssum, Petunia. Stocks, Antirrhinum and other an- 

 nuals may be sown for early spring and summer flower- 

 ing. Firm the soil and keep just moist, not soaked all 

 the time. Excess of water kills many seeds. 



Begonias. Plants that have done blooming should 

 have the older wood trimmed out, and not be given 

 much water at the root. When new growth has 

 started, shake out of the pots, removing all soil, and 

 repot in fresh soil In pots of same size. 



Bulbs. As they pass out of flower cut away the 

 flower stalks. 



Callas need very rich soil, good drainage and plenty 

 of water. Do not crowd them. Although somewhat 

 of an aquatic nature, and not easily hurt by overwat- 

 erlng. Callas will not thrive well in the sour mud so 

 often found in undrained pots or crocks. 



Fernery. Water must not be given in excessive 

 quantities, or too frequently, especially during dark 

 weather, lest the soil will become sour. Always keep 

 the case somewhat open for some time, even days, 

 after watering. Airing, by tilting the glass, should be 

 attended to daily. Guard against dust. 



Fuchsias. For a succession of bloom, plants may be 

 brought from the cellar, pruned to proper shape, and 

 repotted as soon as new growth has started. Into light, 

 rich soil, using pots rather smaller than they were 

 taken from. 



General Management. Pay sti-lct attention to air- 

 ing in mild weather. Apply water as needed; never 

 in excess, however. Give plants an extra protection 

 during very cold nights. Paper is a poor conductor of 

 heat. For the better protection of plants near the 

 window In severe nights, make alight wooden frame 

 to fit the window case, then cover with paper on both 

 sides, and set between window and nlants to keep out 

 cold. A burning lamp set near the plants during a 

 cold night may do good service in many cases. Tf all 

 these precautious are not deemed sufBcIent, or for 

 some reason not favorably looked upon, the plants 

 may be taken from the window, placed upon a table in 

 center of room, and covered with paper. The leaves 

 of all large-leaved plants should be thoroughly sponged 

 off at least once a week with tepid water. This tends 

 to keep the plants in health and free of dust, which 

 otherwise soon accumulates. Be sure to give all plants 

 In the window the space they require. Crowding Is 

 In no case desirable. 



Hydrangeas. Only if wanted especially early, should 

 these be started now. A month or more later will do 

 very well for general use. 



Insects. Red spider shows its presence by a reddish 

 discoloration on the underside of leaves. This pest is 

 best kept in check by free syringing or washing with a 

 wet sponge. Be on the look-out for aphis, scale and 

 mealy bug. Where but a few plants are kept, these 

 may be picked off by hand. 



Lemon Verbena may now be brought from the 

 cellar and started In the same way as recommended 

 for Fuchsias. 



Propagation. Cuttings of most kinds of plants in 

 window may be started In a box of sand placed in a 

 warm sunny place. They will soon root, and make 

 fine plants for early spring use. Old plants thus used 

 for propagation should be kept rather pot-bound. 

 Pelargoniums to be kept near the light. 

 Roses now in flower to be encouraged by occasional 

 applications of lliiuid manure. 



LAWN AND FLOWER GARDEN. 



Evergreen and deciduous shrubs are liable to be 

 seriously Injured by snow If left on after a heavy snow 

 fall. A light board shelter will be found very beneficial, 

 but if no such protection is given, the limbs should 



