102 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



June, 



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Ode to the Rose. 



Rose 1 thou art the sweetest flower 

 That ever drank the amber shower; 

 Kose ! thou art the fondest child 

 Of dimpled Spring, the wood-nj-mph wild ! 

 Then bring me showers of Roses, bring, 

 And shed them round me while 1 sing. 



— i^-ojH Anacreon. 



A Dispute In the Garden. 



The Pansy and Wild Violet here, 



As seeming to ascend 

 Both from one root^a very pair— 



For sweetness do contend: 

 And pointing to a Pink to tell 



Which bears it, it is loth 

 To judge between; but says for smell 



It does excel them both. 

 Wherewith displeased they hang their heads. 



So angry soon they grow. 

 And from their odoriferous buds 



Their sweets at it they throw. 



— Drayton. 



Who says Roses are dear? 

 Wild flowers are popular tor wearing. 

 Greenhouse Rose buds are getting flabby. 

 The monthly Rose signifies beauty, ever new. 

 Lettering on floral designs should never be 

 crowded. 



The florists "comer" on Lily of the Valley has 

 of late been completely broken. 



It seems paradoxical that florists have more 

 trouble to get the choicer kinds of flowers during 

 the summer season than in the winter, but such is 

 the fact. 



A loose vase bouquet composed of two common 

 June flowers, the Day-lily of the gardens and clus- 

 tered Solomon's Seal of the Wood, is matchless for 

 simple beauty. 



Enjoy the gorgeous Jacqueminot (" Jack") buds 

 while you may. The florists will sell you a dozen 

 plump fellows now, for the price they asked tor a 

 single one in January. 



A golden floral ring was made last week for a 

 golden wedding The flowers were Marechal Niel 

 buds, and these were bound into a ring with gilt 

 wire, using a metallic circle enwrapt in gold-colored 

 satin ribbon for giving it a perfect shape. 



A Floral Cent. A floral design recently prepared 

 in New York as a memorial, represented a Wash- 

 ington cent of 1783 and was placed on an easel. It 

 was a charming bit of work and excited the great- 

 est applause. Attached to it was a silk -plush book, 

 inside of which were the face of a typical American 

 girl and a fac-simile of the Wa.shington cent of 1783. 

 Do those who use the elegant crescent as a 

 funeral design always bear in mind the significance 

 of the way it is laid down? Fu-st of all, it should 

 only be considered suitable for young persons and 

 old persons, not the middle aged. In case of the 

 former, the points should turn to the left, like those 

 of the new moon ; in the latter, to the right, as in 

 the old moon. 



The eating of flowers is a nineteenth century 

 reality. CrystaUized Violets at $tj a pound are the 

 very latest things in confectionery. Candied Rose- 

 leaves are also very popular. Girls like to eat flowers 

 and will pay as high as $10 a pound for some of 

 the more expensive kinds. They are all brought 

 from France; but, with the growth of favor tor 

 things American, we shall doubtless soon see a 

 beginning of the flower-candying industry in this 

 country and the girls will begin to munch crys- 

 tallized Pumpkin Blossoms and Johnny -jump-ups. 

 — Boston Record. 



A Bridal Dinner was recently given in this city 

 which presented some unique features. The table 

 was a harmony in white and was, perhaps, the most 

 poetic and complete in its appointments of any ever 

 known in our dinner-giving society. The center- 

 piece, crowning the snowy damask, which was 

 sprinkled with diamond dust, was a mass of the 

 bride's favorite flowers— Lihes of the Vall»y. Over 

 this parterre^ pendant from the smilax-wreathed 

 chandeliers, was a marriage bell of Maiden Hah- 

 Ferns, with a white clapper of Marguerites. A bell- 

 rope of blood satin ribbon was swung from it across 

 to the bride's place. Soft white tapers burned in 



the silver candelabras, which flanked the center- 

 piece and rested on mats of white satin, fringed 

 with Smilax. Each guest's place was indicated by 

 a white satin ribbon bearing the initials of the bride 

 and bridegroom and a card on which was inscribed 

 an appropriate motto. Corsage bouquets and 

 boutonnieres of Lilies of the Valley were also at 

 each place. Everyone read aloud the motto on his 

 card at the beginning of the dinner. Over the mirror 

 behind the hostess was the legend: 



Let those love now 



Who never loved before : 

 Let those who always loved 



Now love the more. 



The guests were the bridal party, maids, ushers 

 and best man ; the women, including the hostess, 

 were attired in white,the bride in her wedding robes, 

 and the young girls in their bridesmaids' gowns. 



Botanical 0)\id^et 



The Sweet-briar Rose is an European. 

 The Meadows are gilt-edged with Buttercups. 

 Mushrooms have been known to raise a paving- 

 stone from the pavement, weighing eight pounds. 



Compensation. The Roses of the North are 

 sweeter than the same kinds in warmer climates. 



Of the various Roses which grow wUd through- 

 out the United States, perhaps not more than six 

 are natives. 



Flowers Exported for Their Sugar. The Ma- 

 luva tree of Central India (Bassia latifolia) bears 

 flowers which are now being exported to Europe 

 for their sugar, of which, it is said, they contain 

 more than half their weight. The tree resembles 

 the Oak, and a single specimen sometimes bears a 

 ton of flowers.— Boston Budget. 



According to a report of the Montreal Botanic 

 Garden, there are 197 known botanic gardens. 

 Germany has 34, Italy 23, France 20, Great Britain 

 and Ireland 12, West Indies 6, United States ,5. For 

 our country to possess but five out of the entire 197 

 is not at all flattering to the American interest in 

 such matters. We hope to see a great improve- 

 ment in this some day. 



Orchids. Not all of these belong to tropical 

 countries. Throughout the woods and meadows of 

 the Noi-thern States we have numerous species, a 

 few of which rival for beauty, if not for freakish- 

 ness, many of those sent to us from the Tropics. 

 When once a young botanist discovere and care- 

 fully examines an Orchid he wUl be able ever after- 

 wards to readily class in their right order any 

 others found. A leading peculiarity of the flower 

 is the oonsohdation of the stamens, with the style. 

 A Minature Wild Garden. There is a grave in 

 Kensal Green Cemetery, London, the little garden 

 belonging to which is planted entirely with wild 

 flowers, so-called weeds. It is carefully planted 

 and tended, but there is not a single flower in it 

 which could not be got by anyone from the fields 

 and lanes in the country. It is the grave of Cap- 

 tain Mayne Reid, and on the stone are these words, 

 from one of his own books : " This is the weed 

 prairie. It is misnamed ; it is the garden of God." 

 Winter storms, says the Botanical Oazette, often 

 residt in an enormous destruction of buds. Last 

 winter, at Cambridge, Mass., during a wind storm 

 of almost unprecedented severity and of five days 

 duration, the snow was thickly covered with buds 

 switched off the elm trees by the threshing 

 branches. These fallen buds collected under the 

 lee of walls and walks in piles. The number lost 

 from each good-sized tree must have been in the 

 thousands, yet the trees seem in nowise the worse 

 as they unfold their leaves this spring. 



Valuable to Botanists. The June number of 

 that valuable journal, the Botanical Gazette, pub- 

 lished at Crawfordsville, Ind., promises to be of 

 unusual excellence, according to an announcement 

 recently made. It wiU be entirely devoted to the 

 subject of botanical collecting and collections. It 

 will contain contributions from a large number of 

 the best known specialists of the country. There 

 will also be a description of the Gray herbarium, of 

 Harvard University, of the National herbarium at 

 Washington, and of the present condition of the 

 herbaria of the early botanists of this country. 



A Good Move. Three clever young women in 

 Detroit, the Misses Farrand, Harris and Lyon, 

 school teachers, have conceived the novel idea of 

 accompanying a class of young ladies to the sea- 

 side at Annisquam for the months of July and 

 August. An opportunity for studying plants and 

 animals will be offered with no text-books, the in- 

 tention being to foUow Prof. Agassiz's methods of 

 out-door study. Mr. Harlan H. Ballard, President 

 of the St. Nicholas Agassiz Association,WLll also be a 



member of the party. This seems to us an ideal 

 way for young girls to pass a summer vacation, 

 and far more beneficial to mind and body than 

 dancing at hotel hops The importance of study- 

 ing botany and other natural sciences, is being re- 

 cognized more and more widely in educational sys- 

 tems and is gradually taking the place of some of 

 the dead subjects. 



Growing the Cabbage from Slips. "Were it 

 possible," says Emmett S. Goff, in the last report 

 of the New York Experimental Station, " to readUy 

 propagate the Cabbage from sections of the leaf as 

 florists propagate Begonia, many advantages 

 would appear. During the past two seasons we 

 have been experimenting in this direction. We have 

 succeeded in growing several plants, and in one 

 instance a fine head of Cabbage, by slipping a sec- 

 tion of a leaf from a Cabbage head, in the propa- 

 gating bed We have thus demonstrated the possi- 

 bility of this method of propagation. Thus far, 

 however, so great a length of time has intervened 

 between the rooting of the slip and the formation 

 of the bud as to render the method impracticable 

 for economic purposes Whether we shall be able 

 to shorten this time by selecting the plants that 

 start soonest, through a numbers of generations, is 

 the important question. 



ABOUT THE PLACE. 



Bee-hives require summer shade. 

 Keep the cellar clean by all means . 

 Whatever you build, build substantially. 

 A sagging gate tells something about character. 

 Thirty dollars spent on underdraining an acre, 

 has w-rought an increase of fourfold in the crop. 



A well for household use nearer than 100 feet 

 from the stable or stable yard is really dangerous. 

 Mark this fact, it is an important one I 



No crop pays better for thorough weeding than 

 the potato crop, yet there is none that is oftener 

 slighted . Be thorough from the start. 



Now, at the beginning of the season when seeds 

 of all kinds of crops mature, decide upon one 

 thing, and that is, to select of the very best for 

 seed. The principle of the survival of the fittest, 

 should find a very practical application wherever 

 vegetables and grains are grown, and it will pay. 



Manure From a Cow. Every cow well fed and 

 fairly bedded will make a load of manure every two 

 weeks, worth at least on the farm $1 per load. But 

 this manure will not be worth this unless the cow 

 has abundance of nourishing food. On the farm at 

 least half the exi^ense of keeping a cow may be 

 charged to the manure heap, and with this help it 

 must be a poor cow that does not give a profit to 

 her owner. — Ajn. Cultivator. 



Durable 'Whitewash. To keep the fences and 

 out buildings painted is quite exjiensive, although 

 no one questions the desirability of its being done, 

 both for looks and the preservation of the wood. 

 A good whitewash is a cheap and effective sub- 

 stitute for paint, lasting a long time, if rightly 

 made. Our simple recipe for making a wash that 

 will not rub off, and which is alike suitable for in- 

 side or outside work, is to slake the lime in salt 

 water, and then thin with skim milk until fit to ap- 

 ply. The addition of some cheap mineral paint 

 may be employed to produce pleasing variations. 



Swarming. For those who keep bees for honey, 

 it is best to let them swarm natm'ally, leaving arti- 

 ficial swarming to experts. A watch must be 

 kept on bright days for swarming, and hives be in 

 readiness. A cloth, hke a sheet or table-spread, 

 should be at hand, on which to set the hive to be 

 used for any new swarm. Most likely the swarm 

 will cluster on a bush or the limb of a tree near by. 

 If this should be of a size that can be sawed off 

 readily without damage, it should be done, with 

 great care, and the load be shaken off the limb 

 gently, in front of the hive entrance, on the cloth. 

 They will soon find the way into the hive, running 

 in as fast as they can go. Never shake them into 

 the top of the hive, as this is unnatural and con- 

 fusing to the bees. Should the bees light on a large 

 branch, fence post, or the like, that cannot be 

 moved, then b]-ing the hive near; jar or brush the 

 bees into a basket and quickly empty in front of 

 the hive, on the cloth. Some will get back to the 

 place of alighting, and these must be returned as 

 described ; should any further persist in doing so, 

 by smoking them they will soon leave and find the 

 swarm. It is well always to smoke the s*arm 

 somewhat before hiving. Convey the new swarm 

 to its permanent place at once when all the bees 

 have entered the hive. Be sure to shade the hive; 

 if not done the sun heat may drive them out. To 

 give the new swarm some found.ation or comb, is to 

 make them better satisfied and leads to early work. 



