POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



'•■ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART: DO THOU BUT THINE." -Mnjios. 



Vol. VI. 



nyC^lT, 1891. 



No. 8. 



May. 



'Tlsllke the birthday of the world. 



When earth was born In bloom; 

 The light Is made of many dyes, 



The air Is all perfume: 

 There's crimson buds, and white and blue. 



The very rainbow showers. 

 Have turned to blossoms where they fell. 



And sown the earth with flowers. 



—Rood. 



Fob delight seek the garden early in the day. 



It is wise undoubtedly to remove and destro.y 

 all interior fruit just as soon as it can be recog- 

 nized as such. 



Bio Figures. What does an inch of rainfall 

 mean? It is simply this: A gallon for every 

 two square feet, or one-hundred tons per acre. 



The feeling of despondency, so noticeable 

 among rural people recently, has not affected 

 fruit growers and gardeners to an,y great extent. 

 Notwithstanding the disaster that has overtaken 

 some of our chief fruit crops for the past two 

 seasons, growers seem to be more cheerful, more 

 hopeful and more active now than ever before. 

 We notice this in the increased attendance at 

 horticultural meetings, in more cheerful con- 

 versation and happier faces of fruit men gener- 

 ally,and in the whole tone of our correspondence. 

 It is well that we should take a hopeful view of 

 the future. At the same time, and while hoping 

 for the best, we must not neglect to prepare for 

 the worst. The same causes that have led to the 

 recent disasters may not be potent this year, but 

 it will not do to rely on possible or even probable 

 exemption. We can make sure of good crops to 

 some extent only b,v using every means in our 

 power of preventing their destruction by their 

 natural enemies, insects and fungous diseases. 

 The necessary preparations should be made 

 immediately. Many useful suggestions and 

 directions concerning the precautions to be taken 

 will be found in this issue of Popular Oaruen- 

 ING. .Soil tillers should read and act. 



Does Gardening Pay? 



Rrowing vegetables and fruits for a near 

 city market, if rightly managed, is always 

 a remunerative business. Where soil con- 

 ditions are especially favorable, as for in- 

 stance in parts of New .Jersey, with its 

 warm, clean, sandy soil, that quickly re- 

 sponds to good treatment, even a large 

 distance from market, such as would re- 

 quire the employment of railroad or steamer 

 in transportation, would not prevent the 

 profitableness of the business. 



The emphasis, of course, has to be laid on 

 skillful management, close cropping, and 

 strict attention to the wants of the particu- 

 lar market. What can be done, under such 

 circumstances, is told in the report of a 

 Monmouth County (N. .T.) gardener about 

 his operations in 1890, as published in Rural 

 New Yorker. The farm contains only 31 

 acres, and is valued at -$3,000. Returns from 

 Corn, Rye, Eggs, etc., are not included. 

 Credit: Hot-bed plants, *.%9.1!); early Toma- 

 toes, *31.3.+(l; late Tomatoes, $2.50.00; Peppers, 

 *14.5.2B; Melons, ■S43.5.1(); Strawberries, $78.Tfi; 

 Peas, ■*70.2H; Egg-plants, -^tiT.".!; Sweet Corn, 

 $3.5.00; Potatoes. *ii0.34; Pears, .*33.06; twelve 

 pigs, *30.00; Wax Beans, $13.35; Squash, 

 *39.84. Total, .$2,004.17. Expenses; Interest 

 on value of farm, 5 per cent, $1.50.00; taxes, 

 125.05; hired help, $160.00; manures $300.00. 

 Total, $535.05. Net total, $1,.559.12. 



"The above, "says the Jersey man, "was all 

 sold in Washington Market, New York city 

 (hot bed plants excepted), and all charges 

 have been deducted. The work was done 

 by one horse and one man besides myself. 

 My hot bed plants consisted of Tomatoes, 

 Egg-plants, and Peppers, in the order 

 named. I raise to order only. My orders 

 for 1891 exceed those for last year, and I 

 could get more, but I can't handle the 

 plants in time. They must all be alike 

 when they are set in the field. My custom- 

 ers all come here for their plants. I don't 

 deliver any unless I am paid extra for the 

 trouble." 



In regard to the propagation and the 

 handling of Tomato plants, some excellent 

 hints are given. Seed is sown on March 

 10th, the bed having been made several 

 days in advance, to insure a temperature 

 of from 60 to 70 degrees. The young plants 

 when about three inches high are trans- 

 planted into other beds, and these are 

 made as follows. First comes about one 

 inch of old Corn stalks or any other coarse 

 litter that may be at hand: then come four 

 inches of new, hot horse manure, and, next, 

 six inches of soil in which has been thor- 

 oughly incorporated a quarter of its bulk 

 of old fine horse manure. This gives the 

 plants a good, healthy look, and plenty of 

 vigor. After they have been transplanted 

 4x4 inches, they are covered by regular hot 

 bed sashes, 3xfi feet, and salt marsh hay or 

 straw mats at night. During the daytime 

 when the weather is good they get plenty 

 of air. After May 1, on all fine days, the 

 sashes are taken entirely ofif during the 

 daytime. This is to harden off the plants 

 preparatory to putting them in the field, 

 which is usually done from May 7 to 10. 



Peppers are propagated in about the same 

 way, except that seed is sovm ten days 

 later, and in a bed of somewhat higher 

 temperature. 



Other vegetables are treated in a like 

 common sense manner. It will be seen that 

 the secret of success, if secret it can be 

 called, is simply this, viz., knowing how to 

 take advantage of favorable conditions. 



The National Flower Question. 



PATRICK O'MARA, NEW YORK CITY. 



It is my belief that the question of a native 

 floral emblem cannot be settled by a ballot, 

 for the reason that only a limited number of 

 our vast population. would have enthusiasm 

 enough to take part in the canvass. Then 

 again we have so many candidates for the 

 honor that it seems a hopeless task to get a 

 clear majority for any particular one, and 

 even if it were obtained, we would still have 

 the more difficult task of getting the parti- 

 sans of the defeated candidates to accept it. 



Worse than this, in my opinion, is the 

 submitting of this question to the school 

 children for decision, because It lends an 

 air of frivolity to it, which is something 

 above all others we should avoid in our 

 efforts to make a suitable selection. To 

 have a truly " national flower," it should be 

 born as it were in connection with some 

 great event in our history. My theory has 

 been from the first that we should search 

 for an event in which a flower figures m 

 some way, so that it could be made to teach 



a lesson to future generations. The Apple 

 blossom might do, as it would recall Ap- 

 pomattox, and would be an emblem of the 

 peace and good will born anew for our 

 country under the shade of the Apple tree, 

 typifying also a re-united nation. But the 

 question arises whether it would not bring 

 with it a feeling of triumph to one section 

 and of defeat to another, hence that it might 

 not be available. 



There is another tree, however, which is 

 available, and although the story in connec- 

 tion with It is now alluded to by iconoclasts 

 as only a beautiful allegory, yet it will un- 

 doubtedly remain part of our sacred tradi- 

 tion for all time, and will be taught by 

 mothers to their children, impressing upon 

 them the principle of unswerving truth 

 which animated our beloved Washington 

 even in his earliest years. This simple yet 

 strong story has entered and will enter into 

 ihe hearts of millions, and has often perhaps 

 saved many a one from dishonor. If we 

 select this as our emblem, then we will do 

 honor to a man and a period upon whom 

 and which we can all unite, and will recall 

 in a beautiful manner the struggle which 

 gave the nation its life. 



Why not, therefore, adopt as our "national 

 emblem," a branchlet of Cherry in bloom. 



Park Superintendent Wm. McMillan 

 on the Shrubby Cinquefoil. 



.James Hunter, of Mass., in a letter ad- 

 dressed to the editor of Popular Garden- 

 ing, and handed me with the request to 

 give my experience, warns against plant- 

 ing the Shrubby Cinquefoil {PotcntiUa 

 fruticosa) for the reason that it has become, 

 as he says, one of the worst nuisances 

 known in his locality owing to its "bad 

 habit of throwing up sprouts all over." 



So far as I have observed the Shrubby 

 Cinquefoil in cultivation, it does not spread 

 or multiply by sprouts or suckers. It sends 

 up many ground shoots, but all quite close 

 to the central stems. 



In our northern states it grows naturally 

 in bogs or low meadows. In upland culti- 

 vation in dry seasons ihe foliage is liable to 

 have a rusty or smutty look. But in ordin- 

 ary seasons if in deep soil, it has a fine thrif- 

 ty habit, growing vigorously till late in 

 autumn, and sending out a flower from the 

 tip of each young branchlet. The flowering 

 season lasts over three months, owing to 

 each twig as it comes to maturity being 

 tipped with a flower. 



I consider it a valuable addition to any 

 shrubbery group, both for its compact 

 bushy habit, and its distinctive form and 

 color of leaf. The flower reminds one of a 

 butter cup in color, size and shape. It is 

 the only shrubby species in a large genus, 

 all its kindred being low herbs allied to the 

 Strawberry. 



But though the only woody plant of its 

 kind, its constitution is extremely hardy if 

 judged by its geographical range. In the 

 northern hemisphere it encircles the globe, 

 being found along our northern border from 

 Nova Scotia to Oregon, and also in northern 

 Asia and Europe, from Siberia to Ireland. 



Though partial to bogs, it can thrive on 

 the arid slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and 

 the frozen steppes[of Siberia. 



