92 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



What the Crocus Said. 



Month after month, and day by day, 



Beneath sweet mother earth I lay. 



And slept and woke, and slept again. 



Lulled by the whispering winds and rain. 



I kept so still within ray plaee. 



That though I did not see a face, 



I heard each breath that passed my way, 



And knew what every heart did say. 



And all the while the rootlets grew 



About my bed— from old and new, 



1 felt the quickening pulse and breath. 



The throes of life that conquered death. 



I knew that when the months came round. 



My leaves would break the sheltering ground. 



Would leap like light from out the earth 



In all the glory of new birth. 



— Youth's Companion. 



To A Potato. 



Thou white and soft perfection of thy kind! 



Thou feathery, powdery, dainty edible. 



Thou snowy, creamy substance, gustable. 

 Delights the eye and satisfies the mind. 

 How fared the world before thy presence came? 



How set a dinner for the genial group. 



So wont around my eager board to troop. 

 Without thy laughing face and 'customed name? 

 —Good ffousekeeinng. 



Wasit the flushing, fairy May, 

 Searching heart secrets laid away? 

 Or did the bird this message bring, 

 " After the winter cometh spring? " 

 I cannot tell; I only know 

 Again we walk where Violets gro\f , 

 And life and love, come back again. 

 Seem far more sweet for knowing pain. 



~S. G. P., in Cultivator. 



Blip the Carnations. 



Flan the year's work well. 



Is that garden marker made'i' 



Lilacs are superb town shrubs. 



Why not get up a rockery this year. 



Tell us of your success in gardening. 



There is a fine Golden Verschaffeltl Coleus. 



A study of the catalogues is time well spent. 



It's time to put the sash and things in order. 



Violets as cut flowers are never out of fashion. 



Pie Plant would grow in the kitchen window. 



Money is never saved by planting poor stock. 



Plants can be both over-fed and over-watered. 



Cyclamens are finer and more lasting in a cool 

 location. 



Extremes of temperature for plants are to be 

 avoided. 



A Unshroom eight inches across is reliably 

 repoi'tcd. 



Bemember the Sick. Flowers do more to cheer 

 the sick than anything else. 



Now you are glad you started some bulbs last 

 fall in pots for the window. 



A yellow "Ostrich Plume" Chrysanthemum 

 has been raised in Montreal. 



Small green frogfs are sold by dealers in Fern 

 cases in England; for destroying insects. 



It don't speak well for American planting that 

 fully one-half of all trees set out never reach 

 maturity. 



What Flowers Cost. The New York Sun puts 

 the annual co.st of flowers at retail for New York 

 at l.'i.OOO.lKlO, and of plants at the same figure. 



Singular Orchids. Some of the South Ameri- 

 can species of Cypripediums now grown in hot- 

 houses, have ribbon-like petals reaching a length 

 of two feet. 



Glue for Plants. I stick a piece of common 

 glue in the soil of each pot of my house plants. 

 The beneficial effects have been very noticeable. 

 —L. C. h. Jurdan. 



'' Wo luck " in managing plants is only another 

 term for ignorance and neglect. Let the words 

 be done away, by cvtending the perusal of Pop- 

 tTLAR GABDEKINO. 



Beadtr. If you don't find what you want in 

 these columns ask. The Inquiry and Reply de- 

 partment is designed to make up what other 

 departments may lack as applying to your case. 

 Is it asking too much of our family of readers 

 that each individual help on the good cause of 

 horticulture, by sending in this year and every 

 year, at least one new subscriber, and one article 

 relating to their garden experience? 



There is food for thought in Mr. Dunnings apt 

 question, whether if the Wilson Strawberry 

 were sent out again as a new variety under the 

 care and culture that new varieties receive, it 

 would not take the Strawberry world by storm. 

 The root pruning of orchard trees is highly 

 esteemed in Europe as a means of promoting 

 fruitfulness. One grower says it is a good 

 system to keep the roots upward by forming an 

 impenetrable barrier with brick and mortar, etc., 

 when planting is done. 



The Cut-leaved Weeping Birch Is a handsome 

 tree for near the house, or to plant close to ever- 

 greens for contrast. Still when we see the almost 

 excessive use of this tree along certain town 

 streets, we could wish more often to see the 

 Purple Beech,Cut-leaved Maple or Mountain Ash 

 used as a substitute. 



We have seen some blooms of the new Nellie 

 Lewis Carnation. It is a pleasing, medium-sized, 

 light rose-colored flower, the petals being some- 

 what striped and dotted with carmine. We are 

 not able to judge of its prolificacy. A Carnation 

 of this color should find wide appreciation with 

 all lovers of the flower. 



To Handle Garden Wire. Cut it into sections 

 of about 16 feet in length and turn a short hook 

 at each end, Tou can put it up and take it down 

 with the greatest ease. When the season is over 

 take it down, tie it in bundles, a string at each 

 end, and lay it away. Fasten it to the end posts' 

 by a strong tarred cord, and staple it to the in- 

 tervening ones.— Bei>. J. Bayes, Essex Co., Ma«s. 

 Flowers are as handsome as diamonds, and the 

 poor can possess and enjoy them as well as the 

 rich. We the other day saw a pot of Mignonette 

 in the kitchen window of an humble home, and 

 it was so handsome and so sweet that well might 

 a queen of millions of subjects, have been proud 

 to possess it and enjoy its sweetness. The owner 

 of the plant was a poor person. 



Wise Town Improvements. The town of 

 Worcester, Mass., has for a number of years 

 annually expended the sum of $1,800 for the 

 planting of shade trees in streets. The work is 

 in the hands of a board of commissioners, and a 

 pleasing diversity in varieties is secured. It is 

 an example worthy of imitation by many other 

 cities; for it pays to enhance the attractiveness 

 of a town as well as to build up its commerce. 



Pacific Coast News. We are surprised that our 

 excellent contemporary, the California Fruit 

 Grower, should allow itself in earnest to circu- 

 late such an absurd horticultaral item as the 

 following. "Among the remarkable novelties 

 announced in California for the season are Roses 

 grafted on Grape vines, which are growing and 

 blooming in Santa Cruz County." Don't you, 

 distant friend, fear that such statements may 

 cast doubt over the many other wonderful 

 reports from your land of horticultural wonders, 

 in the minds of discerning readers? 



Black Beauty. Those of our readers who have 

 not met this interesting story of horse-talk, 

 which already has sold to the extent of a quarter 

 of a million copies in Europe and America, would 

 find delight and profit in reading it. The horse, 

 who is supposed to tell the story, relates in a 

 simple style about masters, kind, brutal and 

 otherwise; a tale which is deservedly called the 

 Uncle Tom's Cabin of the Horse. It is just the 

 thing to present to teamsters and horsemen of 

 every kind. George T. Angell, Boston, Mass., is 

 the American publisher. Price20 cents, post paid. 

 Some Good House Plants. Achania malvavis- 

 cus and Impatiens sultana are good plants for 

 in-doors for amateurs. They make rapid and 

 healthy growth, and if given plenty of sunlight 

 begin to flower in November, a time when other 

 flowers are scarce, and continue through the 

 season. But these plants will wilt if the 

 temperature of the room gets much below 500. 

 As they grow rapidly and flower freely, consid- 

 ei'able water is necessary. The winter Morning 

 Glories, advertised this season, are also to be rec- 

 ommended.— Z/. r. L. Jordan, Asst. Secretary, 

 Cdopcr Uninn, New Torh. 



Oh, Chicago! One of the greatest difficulties 

 experienced in the management of a recent 



flower show in Chicago, according to a local 

 newspaper report, was pilfering of the blossoms. 

 The same source assumes that of course no lady 

 would do such a thing, but confesses that the 

 fair sex seemed quite unable to prevent their 

 flngers from plucking the beautiful blooms. As 

 for the men, intimates the same paper, perhaps 

 they were controlled by fear of the policeman's 

 club. One of the delightful things to report is 

 that the cut blooms, and all other similar displays 

 of the same show, were later sent to the hos- 

 pitals and the Waifs' Mission. 



Yellow-throated Petunias. A firm in England, 

 the Sharpes, of Sleaford, have paid much atten- 

 rion to producing a distinct race of Yellow- 

 throated Petunias. The flowers, one of which, 

 produced from the Journal of Horticulture, is 

 shown on the opposite page, are of large size, the 

 petals smooth and regular, or with a few folds 

 that enhance the effect of the general sym- 

 metry. The throat is broad, showing a rich 

 center of rayed color on a yellow ground in the 

 fashion of a Salpiglossis. For bedding and gen- 

 eral usefulness this race of Petunias will prove 

 of importance, and those who grow such flowers 

 from seed will do well to give them a trial, for 

 wherever they obtain a place they are likely to 

 keep it. 



The New Onion Culture. This is a book written 

 by our associate, Mr. T. Greiner, in which is set 

 forth the latest phases of this subject, in a way 

 not so readily treated in newspaper columns. 

 Some of the information in one form or another 

 has already appeared in our columns; other 

 matter will be given latter, but in this book it is 

 all brought together in an original, pleasing 

 manner, entirely distinct from its appearance 

 elsewhere. While the bulk of the work relates 

 to explaining the way of culture, which for two 

 seasons has given such fine bulbs on the Popttlar 

 Gardening Grounds, it also treats of the ordin- 

 ary way of growing Onions for market, for pick- 

 ling and for sets, thus making it a comprehensive 

 and handy guide to Onion culture. 



A subscriber writes, that the only fault he 

 finds with this journal, is that we omit the post 

 office address of those who contribute to its col- 

 umns. This we are forced to do or soon be 

 without contributors. The fact is, that with our 

 large list of readers, there are always some who 

 desire to write to each contributor if they have 

 his address, about some little point, with the re- 

 sult, were they so to do, that such contributors 

 would be overrun with correspondence, a tax 

 upon their time, money and patience. So we 

 print the county and state as a clue to location, 

 but omit the post office. To those who would 

 make inquiries of our contributors, we would 

 suggest: Address your requests to this office, 

 and we will try to obtain answers from them, 

 and print the same in our Inquiry and Reply 

 department for the benefit of thousands. 



The Aloes are singular plants of succulent 

 character that are remarkably well adapted to 

 culture in rooms and greenhouses. The general 

 appearance of the class is shown by the accom- 

 panying engraving. While the growth is slow 

 it is satisfactory being in certain respects not 

 unlike that of many of the Cactuses, but there is 

 an entire absence of prickles. The flowers are 

 tube-shaped and produced on a spike. The 



AN ALOE PLANT. 



plants succeed best in a light, sandy soil and this 

 for the best results both in growth and bloom 

 should not be rich. The Aloe of the drug stores, 

 is made principally from the pulp of the fleshy 

 leaves of a number of the species. The Oasterias 

 are closely allied to the .\loes requiring the same 

 cultural treatment. 



Bank in Culinary Vegetables. Our garden 

 vegetables ad vance or decline in popularity some 

 as do cities in population. Certain kinds may 

 occupj' this or that rank in one epoch and quite 

 another rank at another time. If for instance 

 we may assert that the Tomato and stalk Celery 



