i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



.•^j) 



sheet after sheet of paper ; sometimes the less 



to say the more words used. 



Canna or Indian Shot from Seed. We hear 

 that some fail to get tliese hard sliot-like seeds 

 to grow. Here we fire a charge of directions 

 that we'll warrant will bring them along if they 

 have life : Place in a dish ; pour on boiling wa- 

 ter to cover them; keep in a warm, but not 

 a hot place (for example, on the givenliouse 

 water pipes or a shelf near the stove,) for four 

 days: then plant in a pot of earth, keeping the 

 pot in a temperature of upwards of sixty de- 

 grees. With this treatment they will come up 

 like Peas. 



A sign of improved gardening: Fifty thou' 

 sand lawn mowers are now made yearlj' in the 

 United States. In consulting files of old pa- 

 pers, we cannot find one lawn mower adver- 

 tised for sale in this country previous to thirty- 

 five years ago. Everj'body knows that each 

 law^l mower stands for one neat garden. How 

 many more of these there are to-day than 

 twenty, thirt}', or more years ago! A next 

 step forward : Every one of the hundreds of 

 thousands of present owners of this popular 

 implement, should be a taker of the populai" 

 garden helper— Popclar Gardening. They 

 are fast commg to this. 



A Good Paper. The Voiith^s (Ainijjaninn, 

 iniblished at Boston, is not far from our ideal 

 of a journal for the young. Indeed, we are 

 free to say that, in some of its main features, 

 we take pleasure in looking upon this able 

 paper of ripe experience as a model to pattern 

 after in our own paper. It is a handsome, 

 well-printed paper; it is thoroughly edited, 

 and crammed with matter of the most varied 

 and interesting character ; it abounds in short, 

 pithy articles by the ablest American and for- 

 eign wi'iters ; its illustrations are of a superior 

 quality. That it meets a popular want is sufK- 

 ciently shown bj' its having ueai-ly 3.50,000 sub- 

 scribers. It is a weekly, at .*1.T.5 a year. 



An important Sea-weed. According to Dar- 

 win, it is a fact, strange as it may seem, that 

 the fate of one nation hangs on a Sea-weed. 

 Reference is had to the giant Sea-weed Mricro- 

 cystis pi/i-ifi'i'ti, which abounds in the tropical 

 seas and near the laud of the Fugeans. Amid 

 the leaves of this plant niunerous species of fish 

 live, which nowhere else could find food and 

 shelter. Were the Sea- weed absent, these fish 

 would be lacking, in which event the many 

 cormorants and other birds, the otters, seals and 

 poipoises would soon perish also. These largely 

 afford the food supply of this cannibal people, 

 and was the source cut off, cannibalism woujd 

 increase, their numbers be diminished and they 

 would perhaps cease to exist. 



Propagating Pots. Double flower pots, made 

 expressly for propagating purposes, have long 

 been in use. But these are not always easily 

 attainaljle. In the accompanying engraving 

 we show how two common flower pots, say a 

 0-inch and a 4-inch, may be used together, in- 

 stead of the combined ones as made by the 

 potters. The space between the pots is filled 

 with sand, into which the cuttings are [ilaced ; 

 the inner pot is packed with Moss or Spagh- 

 num, which, during propagation should be 

 kept constantly saturated with water. A bell 

 glass, of a size to fit the rim of the outer pot, 

 and inverted over it, would aid to the making 

 of almost a complete propagating apjiaratus 

 for amateurs. This would be found particu- 

 larlj' successful with hard wooded cuttings, 

 which so often fail. 



A Home-made Fertilizer. One of our corres- 

 pondents, Mrs. L. D. Richardson, of Mitchell 

 County, Iowa, who has been a cultivator of 

 flowers for many yeai's, sends us her met hod of 

 making a fertilizer for pot plants, which we 

 are glad to print: " From a blackismith shop 

 I obtain the clippings of the horses hoofs, and 

 as they sweep the floor, some of the coal dust 

 and the steel or iron cinders and filings also. I 

 fill a pail about one-fourth full of this sub- 

 stance and then add boiling soft water enough 



to make the pail full. Once a week, then, I 

 give the plants a thorough bath, usually set- 

 ting the pots for a while in the liipiid. I have 

 found this treatment most excellent; it seems 

 to furnish a complete food, for the jilants at all 

 seasons have the freslmess ami greenness of 

 June, au(.l arc remarkably prolific in flowering.'' 



From Seed. Sometimes we meet the inquiry 

 as to whether Fuchsias, Geraniums, Heliotrope, 

 Lantanas, and other plants in the same line, 

 can be I'aised tVom seed. Certainly they can, 

 and quite easily, too. But whether the gains 

 are worth the pains is quite another tiling, for 

 seedlings of such plants ai'c, with very rare ex- 

 ceptions, vastly inferior to the common kinds 

 of the florists. You might raise ten thousand 

 seedlings each of Fuchsias and Geraniums 

 without getting one to equal the old Elm City 

 of the former, or General Grant of the latter, 

 a small slip of either of which may be pur- 

 chased for a dime. Still there is a fascination 

 in raising new sorts from seed, not knowing 

 what is to come forth, that many will consider 

 a sufficient reward for the trouble, even though 

 the quality of the flowers raised is , inferior. 

 How to proceed in this matter is to procure the 

 seeds to be sown, now, sow in about fom'-inch 

 pots that have been filled to withiu half an inch 

 of the rim with fine soil. Water before solving. 

 Then cover the seeds thinly with light earth or 

 sand, afterwards putting a pane of glass on the 

 pot until the young plants appear, when this 

 can be gradually removed. The pots will need 

 an occasional watering. 



Flowers for the Sick. Those very practical- 

 minded people, who talk about the uselessness 

 of flowers, could never, we are sure, have seen 

 how a sick person may find pastime and recre- 

 ation in a nosegay of bright blooms. The 

 company of fresh flowers will often cheer up a 

 despondent patient as nothing else possibly 

 could do, and no doubt may sometimes even 

 turn the tide towards recovery. One of our 

 readers from Erie County, New York, who 

 stands high as a helper in sick rooms, sends us 

 the following, concerning flowers for the sick: 

 "Send fresh, sweet flowers to the sick, but not 

 such as have a <lepressing odor. Carnations, 

 Roses, Violets, Ten-Week-Stocks, Rose Gerani- 

 ums, and the like in sweet flowers ai'e always 

 acceptable, while Jasmine, Orange, Tuberose, 

 and sometimes Heliotrope and Mignonette would 

 prove offensive. Pansies are great favorites with 

 the sick, because of their interesting faces. Gera- 

 nium flowers are bright and cheering, hence, 

 always suitable. Nasturtions usually please 

 patients. If the giver can remember some 

 favorite of the sick one, the thoughtfulness will 

 be doubly appreciated. The patient will often 

 enjoy looking at and handling them before be- 

 ing arranged in a vase. Set the flowers near 

 the bed it convenient, but always where the 

 eyes — often weary of everything else — can 

 rest upon them without turning uncomfortably. 

 Never set the vase directly between the patient 

 and the window." 



Frosts and House Plants. It is often a mat- 

 ter of great concern to bring the house plants 

 safely through a very cold night untouch d by 

 frosts. The further North we live the more 

 difficult do we naturally expect this to be. A sub- 

 scriberto Popular Gardening, Mrs. Minnie R. 

 Waggoner, living in the state of Minnesota, 

 where the thermometer sometimes indicates 'id' 

 below zero, has sent us her method of providing 

 extra protection to keep off frosts, when needed, 

 which ought to be of use to many of our readers. 

 " I use a paper shutter of my own make, which 

 I place between the outside shutter and the 

 glass. This is made of two sheets of heavy 

 manilla paper of the exact size of the window. 

 Where there are l&rge windows two of these 

 might be better. I stitch them together on 

 the machine and bind them with cotton flannel, 

 working two small eyelets at what is to be the 

 top side. Two screws are fixed over the top of 

 each window, on the outside, and I am ready 

 for the first severely-cold night, which can 

 come. On all such occasions since they have 



been put up, the shutters have been closed 

 upon them, and not a particle of frost has 

 ever gathered on th<' window panes. A year 

 ago the slats of the wooden shutters were 

 S.I loose that the wind swayed them at will, so 

 last fall I liad made frcjui matched flooring 

 three tightly-fitting bliiuls, the east and west 

 ones to fold back against the house, and the 

 middle one to lift away. I am nmch pleased 

 with these, but on intensely-cold nights the 

 papers go up, also, and then Jack Frost is com- 

 pletely outwitted. The pajiers I have described 

 wear well with care, and I like them much 

 better than any arrangement of double sash I 

 have ever seen." 



How to Grow Chrysanthemums. 



We have been much pleased at the num- 

 ber of letters lately addressed to PopfT.AK 

 Gardening, on the subject of Clirysanthc- 

 mum culture. Most of these have been in- 

 quiries from subscribers who desire to know 

 more about how this Queen of Autumn 

 flowers should be managed. In this may be 

 seen an awakening as to the worth of this 

 flower, wliich promises well for its future 

 in America. As is 

 always the case with 

 tis in dealing with our 

 readers, we are glad 

 to present practical 

 suggestions on plant 



-.._,„. „ . . management as want- 

 fig, t.— The Cutting Put In. , ' a- ., J. , 

 ^ ed, hence offer the fol- 



lowing on Chrysanthemum culture. 



Propagation. We start with this simple 

 process, by saying, that to increase the 

 Chi-ysanthemum, either by striking soft cut- 

 tings two or three inches long, as shown in 

 figure 1. from plants recently started up, 

 or by dividing the suckers of an old 

 plant, each to have a few roots, is a task 

 so easy as to need no further explanation re- 

 garding details. As to the time of propaga- 

 tion any month in the winter season will 

 answer, but it is w-ell to bear in mind that 

 the earlier it is done, the larger may be the 

 plants grown by tlie flowering season next 

 fall. Most large-sized exhibition plants are 

 struck in November or December, but great 

 tilings can be accomplished with phiiits prop- 

 agated in this month, or even in March. 



Soil. This for the 

 young plants, or for 

 plants at any time when 

 growing in pots, should 

 be a rich and substantial 

 compost. To consist of 

 one part well-rotted 

 manure, to two parts de- 

 composed sods, is aliout 

 t li e thin g. When the 

 plants are grown b_y bed- 

 ding out during the summer, moderately 

 rich soil in the beds is the best. In potting, 

 tliere must be free drainage by the use of 

 some pot-sherds in the bottom of each jiot, 

 for a pasty soil is, above all things else, det- 

 rimental to these plants. 



Shifting, Etc. At all times while in the 

 greenhouse or window, the young plants 

 should have as much air and light as possi- 

 l)le. With this treatment free growth will 

 ensue. The rule as to shifting is to not 

 over-shift or under-shift. When by ex- 

 amination, the roots begin to show some 

 dense mats on the outside of the ball, 

 then shift. The middle of June readied, and 

 the plants should be fit for eight-inch pots, or 

 else to be bedded out, if tlwit is to be the course. 



Stopping. As to how this important part 

 should be done, or whcllicr to be done at :in 



Fig. 2-A Plant After 

 Second Stopping. 



