98 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



Electric Light on FUnti. The experiments 

 made both in this country and in Europe, do not 

 indicate that the use of electric light, applied for 

 the growth of plants, can ever be of any practi- 

 cal benefit, although In some instances a much 

 more rapid growth has been produced. 8ome of 

 the lighted plants have seemed to work day and 

 night, but to run mainly to leaf, at the expense 

 of seeds. Plants grown wholly by daylight ex- 

 ceeded in the growth of seeds. But even when 

 the increased growth of leaf appeared to possess 

 advantages, the cost of the electric light would 

 prevent its use except in deciding questions in 

 vegetable physiology.— Country Gentleman. 



The Currant Stem Borer. This miserable pest 

 may be kept in subjection by, 1. Cutting and 

 burning all the infested canes that can be spared, 

 i In making cuttings watch carefully for the 

 incision on the sides where the egg was laid, and 

 the borer started his tunnel. Whittle off or split 

 the tunneled cane till you find and kill the borer. 

 A knitting needle to use in the tunnel is excel- 

 lent. 3. Various woodpeckers hunt these and 

 other borers. They should be protected and en- 

 couraged.— Practical Farmer. 



Plant ChestOTits. By all means plant Chest- 

 nuts extensively in timber soils where they have 

 proved to be a success. It is one of our most 

 valuable trees for use as timber and for bearing 

 one of the choicest nuts grown. '"Prove all 

 trees" which give reasonable promise of being 

 valuable, and "hold fast" to those which are 

 good.— Prairie Farmer. 



Apples from Nova Scotia. The arrivals at New 

 York, of Gravenstein apples from Nova Scotia 

 during one week recently, were about 2.500 bar- 

 rels, one vessel alone bringing 2000 barrels. Sales 

 were generally at J2 50 to $3.50 as to quality; 

 arrivals footed up to 87500 worth easily, most of 

 which have been disposed of.— Am. Cultivator. 



Can-Haking Union- The proprietors of the 

 two canning factories at Hoopeston, III., the one 

 at Gibson and the one in Bloomington, the com- 

 bined annual output of which is .500 car-loads of 

 canned Corn, Tomatoes and Peas, have deter- 

 mined to manufacture cans which they have 

 heretofore purchased.— Orange Judd Farmer. 



Gardeners Qse more Fertilizer, If you have 

 suffered from insects, from drought, or from 

 any cause, .iust try the one cure-all : use twice as 

 much fertilizer. It will repel insects, because 

 strong plants do; it will lessen the effects of 

 drought, because humus does.— GerraantownTel. 



Talne of Hanore. Those who wish to obtain 

 valuable practical information about manuring 

 Strawberries, may do so by omitting the manure 

 from a few rows, and they will see the contrast 

 in the diminished crop and smaller berries 

 —Country Gentleman. 

 • Good for the Catawba. Say what they will of 

 all the new and most promising varieties of 



The best plan of using manure, is to put a top 

 dressing during the winter on fall plowed land.— Far- 

 mer's Review. 



Professional pruners usually damage just as many 

 trees as they can get at.— Rural New Yorker. 



Onions, Turnips, Carrots, and Potatoes are now 

 being evaporated.— Cal. Fruit Grower. 



Neglect is the ■worst weed that grows.— Mirror and 

 Farmer. 



Hatching Lady Bugs in CaHfortiia. See Preceding Pane 



Grapes, and still the fact remains, that in this re- 

 gion, the Catawbas, in favorable seasons, and 

 when ripe, have no superiors.— The Vine.vardist. 



Female Plants Stronger than Male. My seed bear- 

 ing asparagus stalks were not only stronger, but less 

 ripe and dry than the male plants, I think a like rule 

 proves good In all created things. Give the females 

 the same chance as the males and at the same age they 

 will retain the more vitality.— Rural New Yorker. 



Le Conte Stocks for Blight. There Is another cause 

 more ratal than the blight of the unhealthy Pear trees 

 In our orchards, and that Is the premature loss of the 

 foliage. This Is corrected In a marked degree by pro- 

 pagating on LeConte stocks.— Southern Hort. Journal. 



The most fruitful Cherry tree we ever saw, was one 

 standing near a surface furrow by the back door of a 

 farm-house, Into which dally was poured the water 

 from the kitchen sink.— Am. Cultivator. 



Vegetable Products on the Table. 

 Steamed Potato Pudding. Boil six Potatoes 

 and mash through a sieve, stir in the beaten 

 whites of two eggs and a tablespoonful of scotch 

 marmalade. Steam in a pudding bag for four 

 hours. 



Parsnip Fritters. Boil two large Parsnips; 

 mash them well into a batter made of one table- 

 spoonful of rolled bread crumbs, two tablespoon- 

 fuls of milk and one egg. Season with salt and 

 pepper. Drop a tablespoonful at a time into 

 boiling lard and fry to a li,jht brown. 



Baked Mushrooms. Choose large Mushrooms. 

 Peel, cut off the stalks close to the top, place 

 them upside down in a shallow dish. Sprinkle 

 with salt and peper, and lay a little piece of but- 

 ter on each. Bake in a quick oven for fifteen 

 minutes, baste with a little melted butter. Serve 

 hot on the dish in which they were baked. 



Apple Preserves. Pare and core your Apples 

 and cut them into eight pieces, and to every 

 pound of Apple allow a half pound of sugar, and 

 one pound of raisins to every six pounds of 

 Apples. Put all together with water enough to 

 stew them. Cover and cook until they are done 

 and the syrup is quite thick. This will keep in 

 stone jars some time, if kept in a cool place.- 

 Mirror and Farmer. 



Salad Sauce. The yolks of two or three hard- 

 boiled eggs, a small tablespoon of grated Parme- 

 san cheese, a small spoonful of made mustard, a 

 spoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a little 

 ketchup. Mix these well together, and add two 

 desert-spooni uls of Lucca oil and one of elder 

 vinegar. Do not pour this mixture over the 

 salad, but under, to be mixed up with the salad 

 as wanted.— The Lady. 



Canned Orange. Peel carefully, slice length- 

 wise, remove seed and core. Allow one-half pint 

 sugar to each quart of juice and pulp, boil until 

 tender, and can as you would Tomatoes. Ex- 

 clude all air by sealing hot- A tablespoon put in 

 the jar will preserve its breaking when being 

 filled with the hot juice ; press down and fill to 

 top ; wet the rubber and brim in hot water and 

 set quickly.— Florida Agriculturist. 



Pie from Evaporated Apples. Take one and 

 one-half tea-cups of evaporated Apples, cut out 

 the hard places, knots, and cores, wash, cover 

 with water and let soak all night ; lay the Apples 

 around on the crust, sprinkle five heaping 

 tablespoonsful of white sugar and a 

 little nutmeg, cover with crust and bake 

 until the pie will shake loose from the 

 plate; you will have a pie as good as 

 from fresh Apples.— Florida Despatch. 



Baked Tomatoes. Turn a can of 

 Tomatoes into a bowl. After an hour, 

 season them with a teaspoonful of 

 sugar, half as much salt, a little pepper 

 and a tablepoonfuls of butter, cut into 

 bits, each bit rolled in flour and all dis- 

 tributed evenly throughout the toma- 

 toes. Cover with very dry bread 

 crumbs.' Bake in a pudding dish, 

 covered, about thirty minutes, then 

 brown on the upper grating of the oven 

 —Food, Home and Garden. 



Apple Custard- Pare and core eight 

 medium-sized tart apples in a deep 

 pudding-dish, with a pint of water and 

 a cupful of gninnlated sugar. Cover, 

 and bake slowly until the Apples become 

 clear, but are still whole. Carefully remove with 

 a skimmer into the dish in which they are to be 

 served. Make a soft custard of the yolks of four 

 eggstoaiiuartot richmilk, and pile on the fruit. 

 Whip the whites of the eggs and place on top, 

 and turn a small motild of Currant or Raspberry 

 jelly in the centre. 



Cooking Cabbage a (a franeaiifr. Chop cold 

 boiled white Cabbage and put in a colander to 

 drain until dry, stir in some melted butter- 

 about two tablespoons to a largespideiful; add 

 pepper, salt and four tabclspoonf uls of cream ; 

 after the Cabbage is heated through add two 

 well beaten eggs, then turn the mixture into a 

 frying pan; stir it until hot and of a delicate 

 brown on the under side. Place a hot dish over 

 it and when ready to take it to the table, turn the 



spider upside down so that the brown or crust 

 part will be on top. 



Candied Bose Leaves. Select the desired quan- 

 tity of perfect Rose leaves and spread them on 

 clean papers for one or two hours to dry slightly. 

 Make a syrup from a half pound of granulated 

 sugar and a half pint of water. Boil until the 

 syrup spins a thread, take it from the fire, stand 

 the saucepan in a pan of cold water, and when 

 cool beat rapidly until the syrup has a grayish 

 look and is partly crystalized- Drop in your Rose 

 leaves a few at a time, and with a pair of wire 

 tongs place them on oiled paper to harden. 



HOUSE PLANTS. 



Airing. More attention to this must be paid as the 

 advancing season gives us longer and clearer days. 



Annuals. This month seeds of Pansy, Verbena, 

 Salvia spleudens, Petimla, stock, Sweet Alyssum, 

 Mimulus, Maurandla, Ice Plant, Sensitive Plant, Del- 

 phinium, DIanthus, Antirrhinum, etc., may be sown to 

 secure strong plants for spring and summer flowering. 

 Cover small seeds lightly, not forgetting to firm the 

 soil well. 



Begonias. Guard the free bloomers against over- 

 watering at this season. 



Bulbs of all sorts, such as Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, 

 Narcissus, Snowdrop, Jonquil, etc., are now doing their 

 best. Bring them in regularly for succession. 



Camellias. Plants In bloom, give a day temperature 

 of 55 to 60 degrees, with 45 degrees at night. After 

 blooming they may be kept slightly warmer. Provide 

 a moist atmosphere and free airing In all suitable 

 weather, guarding, however, against cold draughts. 



Chrysanthemums to be propagated, may now l>e 

 started into new growth. 



Cuttings of nearl.v all kinds of soft-wooded plants 

 now strike very readily. Encourage the growth of new 

 wood, make cuttings as fast as such Is obtained. 



Fuchsias. Plants that have been repotted and 

 started up, may be worked for cuttings. The latter 

 root In about two weeks and should then be potted off, 

 after which growth is quite rapid. If given the four 

 essential elements, viz., light, air, heat and water. If 

 large showy plants are desired, yoimg plants require 

 frequent repotting, and should never he allowed to 

 become pot bound. The leading shoot may be trained 

 up and tied to a straight stick, thus Inducing the plant 

 to throw out side shoots In the perfect order reqtdred 

 for a graceful symmetrical outline. A plant thus care 

 fully grown win till a twelve inch pot in July, and If 

 placed in a shady position and liberally watered with 

 liquid manure, may reach a height of six feet by au- 

 tumn, and produce a wealth of bloom all summer. 



Fernery to be aired a little daily. Remove decayed 

 leaves, etc - , and if water is needed apply it moderately. 



Geraniums not wanted for present bloom, may be 

 severely cut back to bring out new growth for propa- 

 gation. Tho young plants will come on all right for 

 bedding, and use the old ones as summer bloomers. 



Heliotropes. Old plants to be guarded against be- 

 coming pot-bound- Strike cuttings now to insure fine 

 plants for summer- 

 Insects to be carefully guarded against. If a plant 

 becomes Infested, remove at once from among the 

 clean ones. Apply Tobacco tea with syringe, and wash- 

 ings with soapy water as needed. 



Oleanders for very early flowering to be started up 

 now. Water freely at first; later on applications of 

 IlciuUl manure will be foimd beneficial. 



Pitted plants, and those wintered In cellars, to be 

 hardened ofi" by admitting a little air occasionally. 

 Give water when roots are getting dry. 



Poinsettias to be given rest after flowering. See 

 also Plant Culture Under Glass. 



Pruning Is absolutely necessary to keep soft-wooded 

 plants in compact and symmetrical shape, and may 

 be done freely with this object In velw. Long-legged, 

 bare-stemmed plants are seldom attractive. 



Requisites- Provide clean pots and soil for newly- 

 started plants. See that climbers have suitable sup- 

 ports, and that Implements, vases, etc., for summer use 

 are In repair- 

 Roses showing growth and bloom will require a 

 sunny, but not too warm situation- Guard against 

 insects- Hybrid Perpetuals when forced Into bud and 

 bloom, should be oecaslouaily stimulated by weak 

 manure water. 



Sweet Alyssum and other anuuals may be sown In 

 heat latter part of month. See also Annuals. 



Watering requires close attention. As the season 

 advances plants need more water, each kind according 

 to Its nature and situation. None shoidd be allowed 

 to suflfer from dryness nor from over-wat«rlng. 



