POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATB DONE HER PART: DO THOU BUT THINE." -U1L.TOH. 



Vol. VI. 



A.I'iaXXj, 1891. 



No. 7. 



April. 



It i-omes again, thrllllDg each sense in turnl 

 We strain the eye to see, the ear to hear;— 

 It sickens in each sense and dies of fear, 



Yet leaves the spirit tip-toe set to learn. 



We, wandering, look on all sides to discern 

 Aught of its leaving: turning (lutck to peer 

 Into the by-ways of the soul, crying." Who goes here?" 



The pulse of newness makes the senses reel. 

 The long-loved past is as a dream, and earth. 

 Ocean, and sky are quick with mystery ! 



—Spectator, 



The Kelsey Plum has been tested in Frant^e, 

 and is there pronounced a " magniflceut " (riiit. 

 But even for that climate, with its usually mild 

 winters, the advice is given to plant itiu awarm, 

 well-protected situation, and if possil)le, along 

 the sunny side of a wall. 



Pi.iiMEn Hydkanqea. Let us all fall in line 

 in using this appropriate popular name for 

 the " Panicle-fiowered " Hydrangea! We see the 

 English .iournals are adopting this admirable 

 course. So popular a plant should have a more 

 simple name than the old one. 



It is a (Jreat Risk. To order trees, etc., from 

 unknown dealers is to entrust your future pros- 

 pects of fruit entirely to those who have no 

 further interest at stake than the length of the 

 bill they can get upon you. A safe course: Pat 

 ronize the firms that advertise in our columns. 



Natdre's Own Remedies. Fruits and vege- 

 tables are better than pills and lotions. No doubt 

 about it. But we should use some of these ton- 

 ics, the Celeries, and cooling Lettuces, and 

 Onions, and Spinach, etc , regularly and daily, 

 and not expect that established diseases can be 

 cured by two or three meals of vegetables. Vet 

 the most serious nervous disorders, says the 

 Journal of Chemistry, have been radically cured 

 by the use of blanched Celery stalks taken as a 

 salad. Other persons have Ijeen cured of palpi- 

 tation of the heart by use of it. In fact it is sug- 

 gested that everybod.v engaged in labor weak- 

 ening to the nerves should use Celery daily in 

 the season, and Onions in its stead when it is not 

 in season. 



Arbor Day and Arbor Day Planting. 



"Woodman spare that treel" To im- 

 press the sentiment herein expressed upon 

 the minds of the young, iti the reasonable 

 expectation that seed thus sown will hear 

 practical fruit, is the end and aim of Arbor 

 Day celebration. Having been dealt with 

 by generations of tree destroyers, this 

 country needs generations of tree preservers 

 and tree planters. Let our people and es- 

 pecially the children get educated to this 

 idea, and begin the work of reconstruction. 



In this connection it is pleasing to note 

 that some ot our educators and horticultu- 

 rists, are placing within reach of all who 

 are interested in the Arbor Day movement 

 excellent aids on the planting and protec- 

 ting of trees. One of these is a circtilar issued 

 by the Forestry Division of the Department 

 of Agriculture on Arbor Day Planting. It is 

 Circular No. .5, 1889, and may be had by 

 applying to the proper authorities at Wash- 

 ington. Mention should also be made of 

 the supplement of PopcL.Mi Gardening, 

 entitled " How to Plant a Place," which 

 may be had at the office of this journal. 



Undoubtedly the great work on Arbor 

 Day doings is that recently published by 

 Weed, Parsons & Co., Albany, N. Y., en- 

 titled "Arbor Day Mamial. An aid to Pre- 

 paring Programs for Arbor Day Exercises 

 by Charles R. Skinner, A. M." 



School teachers and others who have to 

 conduct Arbor Day exercises, will find it a 

 great help, and all people who are interest- 

 ed in the sub.iect, will find much pleasure 

 in the book, a copy ot which was received at 

 this office. The author is Deputy Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, State of 

 New York. His excellent work contains 

 choice selections in poetry and prose on 

 trees, forests, flowers, and kindred subjects; 

 Arbor Day music, specimen programs, etc. 

 There are 4.54 pages e.xlC, inches, beautifully 

 printed, and well illustrated. 



Arbor Day, sa,vs the author in his intro- 

 duction, is rapidly becoming one of the 

 most interesting and one ot the most e.xten- 

 sively observed of school holidays. Origin- 

 ating in Nebraska in 1873, it is now observed 

 with more or less enthusiasm in nearly 

 every state of the union, and many millions 

 of trees have been planted. It cannot be 

 expected that all that can be done on Arbor 

 Day in this direction, will counteract in a 

 great degree the waste constantly going on 

 in our forests, but it is hoped that the ob- 

 servance of the day will do something to 

 excite a reverence for Nature in the study 

 of the great works. Wanton destruction of 

 trees may be prevented or stayed, and 

 children may learn, by simple exercises, 

 some of the uses and beauties of trees, and 

 the value ot the study of tree-planting, in 

 its economic phases, and something can at 

 least be done, through such influences, to 

 beautify the school grounds of our cotmtry. 



Notes from the Popular Gardening 



Grounds at La Salle-on-the- 



Niagara. 



Mice in Hotbed. Mice have again found in- 

 gress into our frames, and begun to make them- 

 selves obnoxious by digging, and by feasting on 

 the seeds of Prizetaker 

 (Inion that were then 

 only sprouting. The 

 trap, sold at groceries 

 and hardwares under 

 the name ot "Belusion 

 Trap," was called into 

 requisition at once, and 

 it does the work almost 

 unfailingly. We bait 

 with cheese, chopped 

 Pumpkin or Squash 

 seeds; and one after 

 another, or rather one 

 pair after another, is 

 caught and disposed of 

 as fast as they make 

 their "debut" in the 

 frames. Last year our 

 Tomato and other plants 

 and early Radishes in 

 frames suffered terribly 

 from this pest. With 

 the Delusion trap kept 

 carefully baited, and 

 continuously set, we now have nothing to fear. 



Advantage of Good Stock. The illustrations 

 on this page show two specimens of Nor- 

 way Spruce, both planted in 1H89, and similarly 

 ti-eated. The one at the left when set, was large, 

 about 314 feet high; the other small, only 1 J^ feet 

 high. The lot of trees to which the former be- 

 longed, as received fiom the nursery, were 

 bulky, and suffered somewhat while being 

 packed and in transit. They were designed for 

 a neighbor's use, but on arrival did not find him 

 ready for planting Xather than see them die. 



we put them into the ground, partly for the 

 sake ot experiment. They grew, and are of 

 fairly good color, but, as the picture of the one 

 specimen shows, ill-shaped and decidedly homely. 

 The growth made in the two years is hardly 

 worth talking about. 



Now look at the specimen at the right, and 

 note the contrast ! The first year added a foot 

 to its height, and the second year a foot and a 

 halt. Then note the fln= shape, and the general 

 appearance of thriftiness. And all this differ- 

 ence is due to the difference between good stock 

 and poor. 



Onions for Profit. The new way of Onion 

 growing is to have a very thorough and some- 

 what extensive test on our grounds this season. 

 We wish to discover, verify and demonstrate 

 what can. be done on one acre of land. The soil 

 selected for this test is ordinary farm soil, and 

 by no means rich. We do not expect to get the 

 full benefit of the heavy application of compost, 

 the first season, nor to raise a crop such as might 

 be obtained on soil that has been under high 

 cultivation for some years. 



Seed has been sown in frames, at the rate of 

 two ounces to each sash (3 by 6). All during 

 March, thus far, the weather has been cool, 

 damp and dark, and very unfavorable to the 

 germination of the seed in frames without much 

 or any bottom heat. It would be preferable, no 

 doubt, to sow in an artificially warmed soil, 

 either in a good hot-bed or in a greenhouse, than 

 to start the plants in cold frames, and risk the 

 caprices of a northern March. 



Of course we have again a number of varie- 

 ties, new and old, both on the new and the old 

 plan, under trial. The Prizetaker, which has 

 given us such fine bulbs for the past three years, 

 is again our main reliance. We have planted a 

 pound of seed, and we feel quite safe in planting 

 it so largely. On the other hand, we have heard 

 complaints about this variety from some quar- 

 ters A correspondent from Oregon writes thus: 

 "I would not have planted the Prizetaker if it 

 littd not been so highly recommended in Popular 

 Gardening. Most of the plants produced only 

 scallions." 



We have never advised anybody to plant a 

 new thing for market, or on a large scale, ex- 



Nonoau Sprues, Showing Orowth of Poor Stock and Good. 



cept after it has been tried in a very small way, 

 and proved to be suited to soil, climate and 

 treatment. We can not warn often enough 

 against the mistake of allowing oneself to be led 

 by extravagant anticipations to rush into a new 

 enterprise or untried thing. 



In regard to the Prizetaker, as to most other 

 varieties, however, we are convinced that the 

 cause of scallions may be found in selection and 

 preparation of soil, much more than in climate 

 or location. Still, it is never advisable to put all 

 one's eggs in one basket. 



