iSpi. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



197 



this plan would work very well here. Notwith- 

 standini; the recorded experience of the New 

 Jersey Experiment Station, we place but little 

 contldence in nitrate of soda as a means of in- 

 creasing the fruit to any extent, although we 

 have again applied it (dry) to a part of our planta- 

 tion. By no means would we make the applica- 

 tions right along all during the season, and even 

 in the fall, as this could only tend to produce 

 foliage and make the fruit later. 



About Cucumber Salad. The complaint about 

 the indigestibilty of Cucumbers eaten as salad, 

 is not always ,1ust to this vegetable. True the 

 more or less tough specimens of well-advanced 

 Cucumbers, with a lengthened stay in the cellar 

 or the retailers stand added, can scarcely be 

 eaten without discomfort, unless one has the 

 digestion of an ostrich. But the same product, 

 cut when about three-fourths grown, and used 

 quite fresh, is an entirely different article and 

 one giving no more trouble to a delicate stomach, 

 than will any other vegetable. There is no 

 gain either, on the amount of the crop in allow- 

 ing Cucumbers to attain full size on the vine, 

 for one specimen grown to full maturity will 

 tax the vine as much as half-a-dozen cut when 

 from half to three fourths grown. An intelli- 

 gent foreigner tells me that in France and 

 Germany Cucumbers are never cut into salad. 

 Although much in favor, it is after they have 

 been simply steeped for a few days in brine.— 

 Ocii. L. Winhaii, Arlington Co., Vt. 



A National Flower. The selection of the 

 Golden Rod by the votes of school children illus- 

 trates the absurdity of selecting a national em- 

 blem in any such manner, if not the absurdity 

 of selecting one at all. This plant is known to 

 very few children in the cities, where it gets its 

 heaviest vote, except by name. It has a taking 

 name, otherwise is to children unattractive. It 

 is a rank smelling affair, and not quite -safe for 

 home bouquets. In vast masses along our creeks 

 and marshes it is bright and attractive in au- 

 tumn; and to a poet or naturalist seems beauti- 

 ful. I have never seen children prefer it to Wild 

 Asters, Gentians, Lobelias and other flowers of 

 the same season. The subject of a national 

 flower has not been as extensively discussed 

 elsewhere as in the New England Magazine in 

 which '• Indian Corn" is recommended, not only 

 for its superior beauty but for its being indi- 

 genous. The vote in New York State has fallen 

 between the Rose and Golden Rod, with a ma- 

 jority tor the latter. The children might as well 

 now be set at designing more appropriate em- 

 blems for our coins.— JE. P. PnwcU. 



Everlaating Peas Few plants are better suited 

 to the wants of amateur gardeners than the sev- 

 eral varieties of the Lathyrus family, that pass 

 under the name of the Everlasting Peas, because 

 the underground stems of roots keep alive dur- 

 ing the winter, and spring up with renewed 

 vigor the following year. They are plants of the 

 easiest culture, growing freely in any ordinary 

 soil, and I find that they flourish well in paved 

 yards, where they can be utilized for covering 

 the walls in summer, as even under flag stones, 

 or pavement of any kind, they luxuriate for 

 many years, provided a small space for the shoots 

 to spring up is kept clear and loose. Some of the 

 finest specimens I have ever seen have been 

 grown in this way, with some loose bands of 

 string to keep the main shoots near the wall; 

 but they should not be trained too stiffly, or 

 much of the beauty is lost. I Qnd some wire 

 netting fixed to the walls answers well; the Peas 

 are allowed to train themselves. There are sev- 

 eral varieties of red Everlasting Peas, but the 

 gem of the whole lot is the clear white variety 

 called Lathyrus latitoliusalbus. This is the most 

 useful as a cut flower, as it is more lasting than 

 the white varieties of the Sweet Peas, or, in fact, 

 than the majority of white flowers in season dur- 

 ing the heat of summer, and few plants bloom 

 so continuously. Do not let seed pods form, or 

 the flowering season will be shortened. So says 

 a writer in Gardening Illustrated. 



A Vote on Plants for Living Booms. The May 

 number of a Belgian paper publishes the results 

 of a vote for the best 20 house plants as follows; 

 Aspidistra elatior, and the variegated form, Cli- 

 via miniata, etc., Pourretia mexicana, Arau- 

 caria excelsa, etc., Ophiopogon jaburan, Kentia 

 Fosteriana, Rhodea japonica, Chamaerops hu- 

 milis, Relneckia japonica, Phrenix canariensis, 

 Dracivna congesta and var. discolor, Ortgiesia 

 tillandsoides, Phormium tenax, fully exposed to 

 light, Bambusa Metake, Phienix reclinata, Cocos 

 Weddelliana, Cocos Bonnetti, Pteris argenta or 

 tremula, Pteris serrulata, etc., Ficus elastica. A 



second list comprises: A.'^pidistra elatior, Farfu- 

 gium giande, Cliviamiuiata, Kentia Belmoriana, 

 K. Fosteriana, Begonia rex. and vars.. Begonia 

 metallica. Begonia manicata, Aralia Sieboldi, 

 Fatsia japonica, Aralia argentea, Phalangium 

 lineare, Tradescantia zebrina, Pourretia mexi- 

 cana, Tradescantia, with green leaves, Mesem- 

 bryanthemum granditiorum. Mesembryanthe- 

 mum violaceum, etc., Ornitliogalum longibrac- 

 teatum. Aloe angulata. Aloe variegata. Aloe 

 margaritacea, Pteris serrulata, Pteris cretica, 

 Pteris Ouviardi. Other plants mentioned are 

 Acacia lophantha, Hoya carnosa, Draciena indi- 

 visa. Asparagus plumosus. Fuchsia Sunray, 

 Adiantum formosum, Cyrtomium falcatum, 

 Woodwardia radicans, Myrtus communis. The 

 following plants may be propagated in domestic 



Mnnument to Lintueus, in Lincoln Park, Chicago. 



rooms by seeds, cuttings or divisions; the Chinese 

 Primrose, Mignonette, Epiphyllum truncatum. 

 Begonia carminata, Anthemis frutescens, Eehe- 

 verla retusa, Habrothamnus Newalii, Begonia 

 semperflorens, O.xalis, Bengal Roses, perpetual 

 Carnations and Geraniums. 



Chicago Honors the Father of Botany. The 

 memory of Karl Von Linne, generally known as 

 Linnaeus the father of systematic botany, and 

 one of the greatest naturalists the world has pro- 

 duced, is receiving appropriate honor in Lincoln 

 Park, Chicago. This in the form of a magnifi- 

 cent monument in bronze, which was on May 

 2-4 unveiled In the park, in the presence of all the 

 people that could be packed in the space around 

 the site of the statue for a long distance. The 

 Linne monument is an e.\act model of the one 

 erected in Stockholm, Sweden, from designs by 

 C. J. Dufveman. It is designed to have four 

 allegorical figures of the sciences to be completed 

 by 181)1, and when finished wUl cost about S33,000. 

 The granite base and statue proper just dedi- 

 cated cost $15,000, all of which has been raised by 

 the Swedish-Americans and their friends and 

 presented to the Lincoln Park commission. The 

 statue exhibits the world-famous Swede in the 

 flowing cloak of the nobles of the period, book 

 in arm, and a representation of the modest but 

 beautiful little Alpine plant in hand, named 

 Linn.e borealis, that he requested be named after 

 him, rather than showy exotic flowers, and one 

 that is common in the northern mountains of his 

 native home. It is very much like our lovely 

 little Mayflower, or Trailing Arbutus of New 

 England, a little creeping evergreen plant be- 

 longing to the Honeysuckle family, and as each 

 slender, upright stalk bears two flowers it is 

 commonly called the Twin Flower. The flowers 

 are white, often tinged with pink or purple, 

 delicately fragrant, and droop with a modest 

 air that is very charming and well typifies the 

 immortal Linnieus, whose struggles during early 

 life are an interesting part of history. The 

 great botanist was born in 1707 and died in 1778. 



Ornamental Horticnltore in America. The 

 returns from the census bureau show a most 

 extraordinary growth in the taste and apprecia- 

 tion of flowers and plants in this country during 



the present century. An enquiry of every 

 florist in the country indicates that the United 

 States had one florist establishment in 1800, four 

 in 1830, 37 in 1840, 178 in 18B0, 1,479 in 1880, 4,659 in 

 1H90. Eighty per cent of the whole business has 

 been developed during the past 35 years. Of the 

 4,659 establishments in the census year, 313 were 

 owned and conducted by women. The total 

 feet of glass in use in all these establishments 

 was .38,823,347, and the establishments, including 

 fixtures and heating apparatus, were valued at 

 $38,,355,733.43. The value of tools and implements 

 used was $1.. 587,693.93. There were employed 

 16,847 men and 1,958 women, the combined annual 

 wages amounting to $8,483,657. F\iel cost was 

 $1,160,152.66. 3.425,600 wholesale and 17,630,094 

 retail catalogues are annually issued, while 

 $767,438.21 was paid for postage, Jl,161,168.31 for 

 advertising, $.524,221.86 tor freight, and $554,390.55 

 for express bills. The total products were $49,- 

 a56,253 Roses, 38,380,872 hardy plants and shrubs, 

 and 152,835,292 of all other plants, the value of 

 which was $13,036,477.76, and cut flowers to the 

 amount of $14,175,328.01 were reported as sold. 

 The greatest area of glass in any one establish- 

 ment reported was 1.50,000 square feet and the 

 smallest 60 square feet, the latter a cozy attach- 

 ment to the sitting room of a New England farm 

 house, from which the lady of the house sells 

 annually $35 to $.50 worth of plants and flowers. 

 There are in the United States 965 state and local 

 floral societies and clubs, besides the Society of 

 American Florists, and to these and the more 

 than 358 horticultural societies, combined with 

 the educational influences of the horticultural 

 press, is largely due the rapidly growing taste 

 for flowers and theirculture, so plainly indicated 

 by the flgures of this report. 



About Poisonous Plants. A gardener should 

 know not only the vegetables in the garden that 

 are poisonous, but what remedy to give in case 

 such vegetable poisons are taken into the sys- 

 tem. Happily the list of cultivated plants that 

 possess poisonous properties are few. Foxglove.— 

 The leaves are a fatal poison, producing great 

 debility. An emetic should be given, and brandy 

 and sal-volatile in doses of half a teaspoonful 

 of each in water. In all cases of internal plant 

 poisoning an emetic is theproper first treatment. 

 A dessert-spoonful of salt or mustard in a tum- 

 bler of water and tickle the throat with a feather^ 

 is an excellent one. Monkshood — A common 

 garden flower, is quite poisonous, a small portion 

 of the leaves proving fatal. Its roots have a)so 

 been mistaken for Horse Radish, and proved 

 fatal. Oif oiuif r.— This handsome shrub is one of 

 the most poisonous of its class, and therefore 

 should be handled with care, for if the hand is 

 cut when pruning it, a dangerous wound may b,e 

 the result. In Dr. Hogg's Vegetable Kingdoq) 

 occurs the following respecting it: It is one of 

 the most beaiitiful window plants when covered 

 with its large, Rose-like blossoms; but in thesjS 

 blossoms the weapon of death resides. During 

 the Peninsular war a number of French soldiers 

 who went out foraging near Madrid returnecj 

 laden with the fruits of their search. One of the 

 number, with the view of securing some woocj 

 to make skewers for the meat, cut a quantity of 

 Oleander boughs, and having stripped them of 

 the bark, used the wood in the meat. The result 

 was that out of twelve who ate of the roast seveij 

 died, and the rest were dangerously ill. The 

 poisonous principle is so subtle that its exhala,- 

 tions alone are sulficient to cause serious accident 

 and even death, to those who recline or sleep for 

 any time under their influence. The stories we 

 have in all modern botanical works about Azalea 

 and Rhododendron of modern b«tany yielding 

 poisonous honey is purely ficticious. The Olean- 

 der was the Rhododendron of the ancients, and 

 when the name was transferred to our present 

 plattts, the poisonous reputation went with the 

 name. Of kind s less common, the seeds of Labur- 

 num are exceedingly poisonous. The leaves and 

 berries of the Vommnn Laurel are also poisonous. 

 The leaves and berries of the English Few are 

 poisonous, and have proved fatal. The berries 

 should never be eaten, as the poison is found in 

 the seed. Arum maculatum or Lorda and Ladies 

 is an Irritating poison, and its leaves have proved 

 fatal. The BcllOAlonna or Deadly Nightshade of 

 Europe, sometimes met in this country, is a fatal 

 poisonous plant: its round, large, smooth, deep 

 purple-colored berries, with sweetish, violet- 

 colored juice, should never tempt any one to 

 taste them. Nightshade, Oiiium, etc. In case of 

 poisoning with these, give mustard emetic, and 

 as long as the patient is drowsy he must be kept 

 walking about. After the emetic has full acted, 

 lemon juice or vinegar and water may be given. 



