1 886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



93 



way to treat them in the spring is to remove 

 an inch in depth of the top soil from the 

 pot or box, and put some strong, thoroughly 

 decayed manure in its place. If old enough it 

 will be no more offensive than earth. Every 

 time the plant is watered some of the 

 strength of the manure will be carried rlown 

 to the roots, greatly to the help of the flowers. 

 There must be no stint in the watering of 

 these plants if the liest of results is desired. 



Keep Down the Sprouts. Many kinds of 

 flowering trees and shrubs, as well as othei's, 

 are propagated by budding or grafting upon 

 free-growing stocks of an allied sort. Among 

 these are Flowering Plums, about all weep- 

 ing trees, as Willows,Mountain Ash, Poplars, 

 etc,, the finer Maples, "budded" Roses, and 

 others. The mere fact that such stocks are free 

 gi'owing naturally leads buds to start, and 

 growth to proceed from these often earlier 

 than from the improved portion of the tree. 

 A .sharp lookout must be kept, to prevent all 

 growth below the point of union, or else in 

 time the tree or shrub will be worthless. 



Where room is abundant a bed of hardy 

 Roses, if kept in good shape, proves very 

 attractive. Roses do not stand being crowded 

 in with other shrubs, or being planted against 

 fences or buildings very well. The best ac- 

 commodation for them undoubtedly is a some- 

 what centrally located bed cut in the lawn, 

 with a good stret<:h of grass on all sides, allow- 

 ing of plenty of air and sunshine. Circular or 

 oval forms of beds are pleasing ones. The 

 plants may be set two or three feet apart each 

 way, starting near the edge, and they should 

 receive clean culture the season through. Set- 

 ting plants of other kinds in the bed or between 

 the Roses is not advisable. 



Clematis Crispa. "Blue Bell," of Wilmington, 

 N. C, in the vicinity of which town this in- 

 teresting vine grows wild, sends to us the fol- 

 lowing about it: "I had long wished to possess 

 this dainty vine, but was never so fortunate 

 until recently, for although native here, it 

 grows in almost inaccessible swampy places. 

 I will try to describe it, but my knowledge of 

 botany is somewhat limited. It has gracefully 

 drooping flowers, of a pale lavender-blue shade 

 on the outside, with the same on the margin of 

 each of the four petals, and ivory-white (like 

 the inside of a white kid glove) on the inside. 

 It is delightfully fragrant, and a profuse 

 bloomer. It has compound leaves, and is very 

 easily cultivated." 



Geraniums in the Cellar. Our subscriber, M. 

 Dippul, ^Vaterloo, Out., in answer to our in- 

 quiry concerning the successful keeping of 

 Geraniums over rt-inter, by hanging them by 

 their roots in the cellar, writes as follows : 



' ' The cellar in which the Cxeraniums were 

 thus safely kept, was not very damp, but one 

 in which ordinary vegetables wintered well. 

 Light was atlmitted through one window, on 

 the south side. For this purpose a cellar must 

 be cool else the plants will dry too much. Care 

 must also be taken in planting them out not to 

 Waterloo freely. Young plants rarely succeed 

 as well as older ones, and these are quite safe. 

 Some people leave as much soil on the roots as 

 they can, but I have not tried that plan. 



Strawberries. The illustrated article in our 

 last month's issue, entitled " Have a Plenty of 

 Strawberries," has attracted wide attention to 

 this subject. After writing the article referred 

 to, there came to our desk a handy little treat- 

 ise of fifty or more pages, entitled " How to 

 Grow Strawberries," which we think well of. 

 Mr. Geo. B. Knapp is its author, and the H. 

 D. Watson Co. its publishers, all of Greenfield, 

 Mass. The work covers the whole gi-ound of 

 structure, sexuality, propagation, soil, cultiva- 

 tion, marketing, manures, insects, varieties, 

 etc., giving much information in a small com- 

 pass. There are numerous illustrations. For 

 the convenience of our readers, the book will 

 be furnished from this office. As its price by 

 mail postpaid, is but 35c. per cojiy, there should 



be a good call for it from amateur fruit grow- 

 ers and from others. 



Treatment of Shipped Plants. The plants, if 

 in the least %vilted, should be placed with the 

 paper about them in shallow pans with water 



The Globe Mirror. As a lawn ornament it is 

 rinMhj culled "A Garden Horror," by friend 

 Robinson, of the London Garden. 



comfortably warm to the hand, where they 

 should remain twenty minutes to half an hour: 

 this restores their vigor, revives their leaves 

 and increases their vitality. If it is the season 

 when they can be planted out doors, the ground 

 should be first well dug up and pulverized; the 

 plants when set out should be first well firmed 

 about the root, copiously watered once only 

 when planted, and shaded for two or three days 

 when the sun is out. No further watering 

 should be done, but a mulch of moss, manure, 

 or leaves around the roots would be beneficial. 

 When received at a season when they cannot 

 be put out, they should be placed in a size larger 

 pot than they have been growing in. — Harry 

 ChdiijiePs h'oah- of Floin'rs. 



Early Outdoor Flowers. No class of flowers 

 aflfords greater pleasure than the hardy ones 

 that come forth of their own accord in the first 

 warm days of spring. The Crocus and Snow- 

 drop are conspicuous among these, but there 

 are a number of others no less charming. Of 

 these the Winter Aconite, with beautiful star- 

 shaped yellow flowers, coming even earlier 

 than the Crocus; the blue-floweriug Pulmona- 

 rias,with handsome spotted foliage; the Spring 

 Adonis, with bright, yellow flowers and finely 

 fringed leaves, and the fragrant English Vio- 

 let, may be named as being among the very 

 earliest outdoor bloomers, and first-class in 

 every respect. Among pretty native flowers 

 that early appear, the Sanguinai-ia and the 

 Anemone nemorosa, both of which may be 

 found in the woods and meadows of many 

 parts of our country, are very attractive. 



Rose Slugs— Wisconsin Heard From. "What 

 matters it," says Sister O. A. Sheldon, of 

 Racine, who was a former subscriber of the 

 Floral World, "if we were transferred to 

 'pastures new," does not that suggest better 

 herbage possibly, and with it stronger develop- 

 ment in the fields of gardening knowledge T' 

 And then she further contributes this share to 

 the general Knowledge Box, to which all our 

 readers may give, and from which all may 

 take. "Are the ladies troubled with slugs on 

 their Roses in summer >. Just use flour three 

 parts, hellebore one part, and apply with a 

 whisk broom in the early morning, a-s soon as 

 the foliage is developed. Don't wait for the 

 slugs to appear, but it they do, repeat if 

 necessary. One apiilication may be sufficient. 

 This remedy is also good for currant worms, 

 but expensive, if you have a large plantation." 



Mow the Lawn Frequently. During grow- 

 ing weather once a week is none to often. 

 Then the mower will run very lightly, not ap- 

 pearing to take one-half the work to propel it 



as when twice as much time elaiiscs between 



the cuttings. Besides this, tlie clippings will 



be short enough to readily dry, sink into the 



turf and in time decay, serving thus as a por- 



l)etual fertilizer to the roots. While if they 



arc long, as a result of lengthy intervals in 



mowing, raking is necessary, or el.se they 



will remain on the surface, to turn an ugly 



color and clog the sward. Another jioint 



that bears .strongly on the case is Ihat a good 



lawn should consist of grass plants (hat are 



very thick together, and while the individual 



plants may thus be kejit in good condition, if 



cut back frequently, some will surely receive 



ii\jury from their closeness, whenever the 



general growth is allowed to shoot up high. 



In this respect a lawn is not unlike a hedge, 



thriving best with close clipping but soon 



showing bare spots if poorly attended. 



Kock-work. A bit of rock gardening is 

 always interesting, if judiciously made and 

 stocked, and affords the means for growing 

 certain kinds of plants, that would not do as 

 well in any other place. If thei-e are no 

 natural rocks to work with in getting up the 

 mound, certain kinds of artificial material 

 may be used with good effect. Some clinkers 

 from furnaces dipped in hot lime water are 

 useful, as ai-e also the fused and distorted 

 masses of bricks that are part of the rubbish 

 about a brick-yard. With either these, or 

 rocks, and an abiuidauce of good loamy soil, 

 the "rock work" is formed, placing the for- 

 mer in such a position over the mound that 

 spaces or cavities from two to ten inches wide 

 are left all over the mound in which to set the 

 plants. In these, all kind of hardy and creep- 

 ing plants may be planted, besides the hardy 

 Sedums, Campanulas, Lychnis, Cerastiums, 

 Lysimachias, Phloxes, Saxifragas, and the en- 

 tire list of plants classed as Alpines in the cat- 

 alogues. Some bright-flowering greenhouse 

 plants are also in place, to add richness to the 

 effect. A well-made rockery is sure to prove 

 an attractive object on well-kept lawns. 



Not Readers of Popular Gardening we are 

 Sure. Some time since the ladies of Spring- 

 ville, N. Y., were invited by two traveling 

 agents to pay $i> a dozen for " Roman Lily" 

 bulbs, which were offered as being something 

 very rare and beautiful. Quite a number of 

 them invested in the bulbs only to find, when 

 they came in flower, that they had been badly 

 swindled. The strangers represented them- 

 selves as agents of a foreign house engaged in 

 the importation of the rare bulb— a variegated 

 lily of remarkable beauty. The3' canvassed the 

 village and sold many of the bulbs from house 

 to house. The gentlemen who introduced the 

 goods seemed anxious that the plants should 

 thrive. They insisted on setting the bulbs out 

 with their own hands in pots prepareil for the 

 purpose. The Roman Lily was too tender a 

 treasure, they maintained, to be handled save 

 by the deft hand of a skillful florist! But the 

 bulb business waned, and the two strangers 

 departed. Tenderly did the buyei's care for 

 their Roman Lilies, and vie with each other to 

 possess the first blossoming plant. The open- 

 ing of the first flower was heralded through 

 the oolumns of the local papers, and the home 

 of its owner was thronged with visitors all the 

 next day. But what did they behold f Simply 

 a common yellow Daffodil! Since that day all 

 interest in Roman Lilies has departed forever. 

 It now transpires that these men were seen 

 digging up Daffodil roots in a vacant lot on 

 one of the back streets of the town referred to ; 

 and it is rumoied that one good lady at the 

 West End is minus a certain board bill. 



"Lilies," said Mrs. T. L. Nelson ui a recent 

 admirable aildress, "are among the most reli- 

 able bulbs after the bloom of spring flowere is 

 past. L. randidi'in (the common white lily) is 

 one of the hardiest, but one of the most parti- 

 cular about the time of planting. This nuist be 

 done w^hen the bulbs ai'e in a dormant state, 

 about the last of August or fii-st of Si'jrtember. 

 After that time they start again, the leaves 



