196 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



July, 



Elder Bloom. 

 Pinioned on these slender stalks, 

 Flowering o'er the woodland walks. 

 Reaohlug forth their leafy hands 

 Far toward the parching lauds. 

 Every summertlde they bear 

 Milky blossoms, virgin fair. 

 Scented sweet to lure the bee, 

 Vype of spotless chastity. 



—Clinton Scoltarfl, 



The Beetle. 



The shrilling locust slowly sheaths 



His dagger-voice, and creeps away 

 Beneath the brooding leaves where breathes. 



The zephyr of the dying day. 

 One naked star has waded through 

 The purple shallows of the night. 

 And faltering as falls the dew 

 It drips Its misty light. 

 O'er garden blooms. 



On the tides of musk. 

 The beetle booms adown the glooms 

 And bumps along the dusk. 

 The katydid Is rasping at 



The silence from the tangled broom; 

 On drunken wings the flitting bat 



Goes staggering athwart the gloom; 

 The toodstool bulges through the weeds, 



And lavishly to left and right 

 The flrefiles, like golden seeds. 

 Are sown about the night. 

 O'er slumbrous blooms. 



On floods of musk. 

 The beetle booms adown the gloom 

 And bumps along the dusk. 



—J. W. RHeu in Boston Trarisvript. 



The Orchard. 



Robin Redbreast, Robin Redbreast, 



Tell me truly, pray. 

 Was It you who stole my Cherries 



From the tree to-day? 

 Such a lot of glossy Blackhearts, 



Ripe and juicy, too; 

 But, alas! somebody stole them, 



Robin, was It you? 



—Farm Journal. 



Pick off the first buds from Dahlias. 



NasturtiumB increase readily from slips. 



Canada ThistleB have died out on our lawn- 



'We think better of the Weigelas every year. 



Ferns require a good deal of water in sumijier. 



As a preventive of fungous diseases of plants 

 drought seems to be in the lead. 



Several species of Water Lilies are at home 

 along the water front at Woodbanks. 



For leaf curl (caused by aphis) on Saowball 

 bush, keep moistened Tobacco stems under the 

 branches. 



Sweet Williams are effective and desirable as 

 garden flowers, but rather bunchy for cut 

 flowers. 



A manure mulch for Asters. Let the manure 

 be finely divided. Watering through this will 

 be all right. 



Some may not know that Mignonette can be 

 kept as a pot plant for years provided you allow 

 no seeds to develop. 



The Ivy-leaf Geranium especially the fine 

 double varieties, are unexcelled for the front 

 line of window boxes. 



How to make good use of the old Strawberry 

 plantation? Plow, and plant Turnips, Celery, 

 Spinach or similar crops. 



For striking cnttings of Double Petunias you 

 will find the best wood on pot plants, even if the 

 largest Ikiwers may be^grown on garden plants, 



It Will Not Boot. This in answer to a query 

 from a reader who has discovered a shoot on her 

 Happy Thought Geranium, bearing pure, waxy- 

 whit* leaves. 



Hose Truck of Iron Piping. The use of iron 

 pipes where a light and strong material is needed 

 Is getting quite common . One of the latest ideas 

 In this line is a hose truck, as illustrated on this 

 page, the original of which was gotten up by a 

 resident of Germany. The device is neat, strong, 

 serviceable and handsome. 



Therein Lies the Valne. We are sure that our 

 subscriber who signs himself " Professor," voices 

 the sentiments of thousands when he says: " I 

 bind the papers of each voliune, using the very 

 complete index. Then when I am puzzled 1 turn 

 t« the back volumes, and am almost certjiin to 

 and what I want to know." 



Snpport for Husk. Several years ago I adopted 

 the plan of setting some bushy tops of shrub- 

 trimmings into my Musk plant bed. Over these 

 twigs the plants ran freely, giving them a very 

 pleasing appearance. lam fond of seeking out 

 new ways of using all my plants, and may send 

 you other notes later.— S. C. M., Lehldh Co., Pa. 



Long-stemmed cut flowers in vases have not 

 chance enough to take up the water readily; 

 consequently do not last long. Many amateurs 

 insist that flowers last better if a bit of charcoal 

 is added to the water when the latter is changed. 

 The end of the stem should be cut off at the same 

 time to give them an opportunity for the absorp- 

 tion of water. 



Vegetable Novelties of Valne. Hundreds of 

 new things have been introduced by our enter- 

 prising seedsmen during the last four years. It 

 would be interesting to know how many of them 

 have proved of real practical value for market 

 gardeners. Will our readers who are in the 

 business, kindly give us a list of those new 

 things that have crowded out older ones in their 

 markets ? 



Everlastings. The Helichrsysum is a great 

 favorite with me; I wonder it is not more grown 

 by others. Any soil or position suits it. The 

 plants and blooms are very handsome in the 

 garden, while to cut the latter with fairly long 

 stalks on a bright dry morning when about half 

 expanded, and hung up to dry, they will last for 

 years, conveying to the winter apartments a 

 touch of tlie summer flower garden. — C.C.E., 

 Kane Co., Utah. 



Good Use of Flowers. How often a few simple 

 flowers will cast a ray of sunshine into the sick 

 room and upon the bed of the afflicted! All you 

 who have flowers in abundance can well afford 

 to be^generous with them, tor with the more con- 

 stant bloomers the more you pluck of them the 

 more will grow. There are thousands of people 

 in our ipidst to whom the ,ioys and blessings of 

 life seldom come. A few bright flowers, a cluster 

 of Grapes, a nice Apple, etc., the loss of which 

 we would not feel, may be a God-send to some 

 unfortunate being, and bring a joyous smile to 

 a sad face. 



It Will Apply Further. The gardener-politic- 

 ian, William Cobbett, writing in 1883, says: 

 " Nothing have I ever found more difficult than, 

 behind my back, to secure an honest watering of 

 Strawberries. Watering-pots, when full, are 

 heavy; the distance may be great; and few men 

 like to carry heavy things for any long continua- 

 tion. Just turn your back, and they merely wet 

 the ground, and if you return, you will see that 

 the Strawberries have all been watered; but— 

 and mind this — 00 the next daiu it the weather 

 have continued fair, and you will then see how 

 you have been cheated." 



Suit the Feeding to the Plant. Its the strong 

 growers that wfll bear the greatest amount of 

 raanurial feeding. Take Chrysanthemums that 

 when well managed, make an immense growth 

 and top in proportion, and they will use much 

 more manure water than some weaker-growing 

 subject, say the gold and silver-leaved Gera- 

 niums. A plant, too, the growth of which is well 

 underway, will bear much more food than one 

 just breaking into growth. It is a fact that 

 many pot and other plants are injured by giving 

 them an excess of plant food, or giving it when 

 the plant is not ready. 



Verbena mildew becomes sometimes really 

 troublesome. The (.^ornell Experiment Station 

 has succeeded in keeping it in check by spraying 

 the plants with a solution of potassium sulphide 

 or liver of sulphur. The mixture is prepared 

 by adding the sulphide, which is a cheap article, 

 to the water at the rate of an ounce to a gallon 

 of water. A stock of plants badly infested with 

 the fungus was obtained early last winter, and a 

 portion was occasionally syringed, with the result 

 that the development of the disease was effectu- 

 ally checked. The remaining plants were not 

 treated, and in the course of the winter were 

 completely destroyed. 



Visitors to Woodbanks, the Popular Oakden- 

 INQ Experiment grounds, are always welcome. 

 Without boasting we can say that the place (and 

 it is here our editors live) now contains one of 

 the largest collecticms of hardy gi'owths to be 



found in the country. Our older subscribers need 

 not be told that these grounds of 13 acres are 

 located at La Salle-on-the-Niagara, five miles 

 above Niagara Falls. Man.v of our readers visit 

 the great cataract evei-y year; such can reach 

 this station by U trains daily, the time being but 

 eight minutes. The grounds lie but one-third of 

 a mile northerly from the station. Come and see 

 what practical gardeners the editors are. 



How to make a Good Paper. Cannot anyone 

 see, that tiie most interesting matter of this 

 paper is that comprising the numerous notes, 

 articles, and suggestions, received from the pens 

 of subscribers'? There is not one among our 

 tens of thousands of readers, but could send in 

 some idea about garden work, that would be 

 helpful to others. But you may say you cannot 

 write fit for print. Never mind that— wliat are 

 editors tor? Merely send on your ideas. And if 

 they are accompanied by pencil sketches or 

 photographs of some garden subjects, imple- 

 ments, etc., for engraving, we will esteem them 

 even the more. It is rare indeed, that we cannot 

 in some form or another make use of every com- 

 munication received. 



A Good Hove. The fungous diseases aflectiug 

 vines, fruit trees, and nursery stock are now 

 being made the subject of study by a special 

 agent of the Department of Agriculture, the 

 work being carried on at the New York Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station, located at Gene\'a. 

 Especial attention is to be paid to the leaf blight 

 of the various fruits. The experimenters will 

 endeavor to find out, first, if the leaf blight of 

 Pear stocks can be prevented by timely applica- 

 tions of the copper mixtures, Bordeaux mixtures 

 and ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate. 

 Second, it ;Cherr.v and Plum stocks can be pre- 

 vented from dropping their leaves prematurely 

 in the summer. Third, if Quince leaf blight can 

 bewarded of by any similar application. Fourth, 

 if the Apple [powdery mildew does not fall into 

 the category of preventable diseases. 



Trees and Vines Near Dwellings. The cutting 

 of trees is a favorite plan of all idiots to accom- 

 plish what drainage should do. I know a superb 

 street, beautiful simply because lined with fine 

 trees forty years old. But this street is abso- 

 lutely without drainage. It depends wholly on 

 the sun to drink up the rains that fall. Instead 

 of placing sewers, the trees are hacked at. In 

 one place they have been trimmed up to let the 

 sun in until they look like inverted brooms. 

 People say, why do you let the trees stand so near 

 your house? Do they not make it damp? I an- 

 swer certainly not. Trees take up vast amounts 

 of moisture and e^■aporate it abroad through 

 the foliage. They equalize temperature. Shade 



Hose Truck of Iron Piinnu. 



is an absolute necessity; but so is good drainage. 

 We want some sunshine, but we want more 

 shade. I am heartily with Mr. Meehan that vines 

 on a house keep the house dry.— A'. P. PowcU. 



Nitrate of Soda on Tomatoes. A writer in an 

 English journal states that he has extensively 

 used nitrate of soda on his Toraat(»cs, beginning 

 with a pound dissolved in Si gallons of water, 

 and as growth advances increasing the strength 

 to a pound in 20 gallons. He applies it by water- 

 ing as with pure water, when the soil is nearly 

 dry, then giving them a good soaking once 

 a week in summer, and once in two weeks in 

 spring and autumn. We greatly doubt whether 



