i886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



105 



had to frequently cut it back to make it bushy. 

 Easily grown from cuttings, M. D. Welcome. 

 Grass in Walks. A sprinkling of weak brine 

 every time auj' grass appears will easily keep 

 it down. This may be applied with a common 

 watering-pot. When grass comes up in the 

 crevices of flag walks, salt in the grain, may be 

 applied to kill it. If quack grass or thistle 

 roots have protruded under walks or pave- 

 ments, one may as well treat vei'y thoroughly 

 with stroug brine or grain salt on the surface 

 to eradicate them. But, in all such cases, care 

 must be taken not to have these remedies come 

 within a foot of the grass verges, or these will 

 be hurt and turn to an ugly brown, thus 

 making bad matters decidedly worse so far 

 as looks are concerned. 



Clematises in Beds. To give an idea of 

 the way the Clematis is appreciated as a 

 beddmg plant, we give an extract from a 

 letter written by one of the lady patrons of 

 Mr. Joseph Kreft, the Clematis grower of 

 West Chester, Pa. She writes: " I just 

 wish j'ou could see my Clematis bed ; it is 

 something worth seeing, and is just setting 

 the people around here wild. You could 

 scarcely imagine anything so gorgeous, 

 scai-cely a leaf showing on the globe frame 

 of wire, and is one perfect ball of purple. 

 In fact, almost all who have seen it have 

 agreed that it stands first among fine em- 

 bellishments, and without exception, gives 

 the most satisfaction for the least trouble." 

 Tritoma. This fine old plant should be 

 seen in every garden. The Tritoma, with 

 good protection of straw and leaves, is able 

 to withstand the rigors of a New York 

 wintei', if not given too damp a situation. 

 It begins to flower in late summer or early 

 autumn, and continues until heavy frosts. 

 The Tritoma is especially adapted for large 

 groups on the lawn, the bright shades of 

 orange and scarlet racemes forming stately 

 objects. The flower stems grow to a height 

 of four or five feet, terminating in curious 

 flame-colored spikes a foot long. If not 

 convenient to give out-door protection iu 

 winter, store the plants in a cellar or pit. So 

 writes Wilbur F. Lake, of Wayne Co., N. Y. 



Bouvardia. In answer to several inquiries 

 we ofi'er the following: The cause of the foli- 

 age turning brown is in aU probability due to 

 deficient action and want of sustenance. Bou- 

 varcUas require plentj- of light and air all 

 thi'ough the summer and autumn, and they 

 never at any time like a very confined, moist- 

 ure-laden atmosphere. When they are done 

 blooming they should be pruned back rather 

 hard and be kept dry at the roots until new 

 shoots form. For winter blooming the plants 

 should, from October, be kept where the tem- 

 peratm-e ranges about fifty-five degrees, and 

 where air is admitted on fine days, or they may 

 be kept in an ordinary greenhouse, with the 

 result of giving less but very fine flowers. 



Michigan Horticultural Society. To its sec- 

 retary, Mr. Charles W. tiarfleld, Grand 

 Rapids, Mich., we are indebted for the Fif- 

 teenth Annual Report of the society. It is a 

 large volume of more than .501) pages, printed 

 on good paper, illustrated to some extent, and 

 finely bound in cloth. Besides the reports of 

 the regular meetings of the society for 1NS.5, it 

 contains the reports of au.xilliary meetings 

 thi'oughout the State, the society's fimit cata- 

 logue, and devotes nearly one hundred pages 

 to the most valuable facts and experiences 

 brought out at the meeting of the American 

 Fomological Society, held at Grand liapicLs, | 

 Mich., last September. Altogether the work 

 is one of great value, and one in every way 

 ci-editable to the society it reports, and to its 

 efficient secretary. 



Boses for Amateurs. A successful amateur 

 residing at Huron, N. Y., otters the following 

 good advice to beginners in Rose growing 

 among our readers : ' ' Select such varieties as 

 have the reputation of being free bloomers, 



fine growers, etc. Gen. Jacqueminot, Mad. 

 Chas. Wood, Paul Neyron, Anna de Diesbach, 

 Coquette de Blanches, and Baroness Rothchild 

 are good representations of the Hybrid Per- 

 petual class ; Glory of the Mosses, Countess of 

 Murinais and Perpetual White of the Mosses; 

 and Baltimore Belle, Prairie Queen, and Seven 

 Sisters are the best known of Hardy Climb- 

 ers. While those of laj-ge means, who employ 

 their skilled gardeners, find great pleasure 

 iu watching their magnificent, high-priced 

 novelties, others with less riches can enjoy the 

 less costly varieties with quite as much satis- 

 faction. Let all plant roses more or less, ac- 



SOME FINE CINERARIAS. 



cording as they can afford and have the room. " 

 Cinerarias. Few, if any pot plants, present 

 a more attractive appearance in late winter 

 and eai'ly spring than do the Cinerarias when 

 at the height of their beauty, bearing as they do 

 immense clusters of bright, handsome flowers, 

 boldly above the bright leaves. They are capi- 

 tal plants for a cool green- house, or with care, in 

 a window, and are rai.sed fi-om seeds sown an- 

 nually at any time from July to September. 

 The seeds are fine and require careful treat- 

 ment in sowing to begin with. As soon as the 

 young seedlings can be handled they should be 

 potted into small pots and given a place near 

 the glass. In a low sash frame that is covered 

 with shaded glass is a good place for them un- 

 til October first. Always shift the plants into 

 larger pots before the roots mat around the ball 

 of earth, as their growth is liable to be checked 

 most unfavorably if they become pot bound. 

 The plants like a rich soil abounding in sand 

 and vegetable fibre. 



Ants, To several inquirers we would say, 

 that Ants are very hard to efl^ectually cleai- out 

 of a place, and therefore it is desirable in all 

 attempts to persist in the remedies applied. 

 When found away from the roots and stems of 

 the plants the best remedy is to flood them out, 

 or scald them, with the free use of boiling 

 water. Under less favorable circumstances for 

 killing them, perhaps the best remedy that can 

 be applied is to lay a quantity of fresh meat 

 bones, that are almost clean, about where they 

 are, and they will quickly be covered with 

 them. As soon as this occurs throw the bones 

 into hot water, which will put an end to one 

 batch. Take out the bones immecUately, drain 

 them ofT and lay down to trap another lot. ■ 

 This is a cheap remedy, and if pereisted in is 

 elTectual. It is said that if one part of calo- 

 mel be carefully incorporated with ten of pul- 



verized sugar and placed in little heaps near 

 their runs the Ants will eat it and die. 



From five to ten million catalogues of seeds 

 and plants are published in this comitry every 

 year. It is a stupendous number, and the fact 

 indicates how prevalent has the interest in 

 gai-dening matters in America become to date. 

 It does seem from this that the .lO.lXlO subscribers 

 Popular Gardening needs sliould easily come 

 along by the end of the present year. We 

 know that they will, if l)ut those who have 

 gardens, fine lawns, greenhouses and so on, can 

 learn how much of a paper it is and its pres- 

 ent low price. This leads us to again suggest 

 to our readers that they can do a work for 

 the paper which no one else can do as well. 

 They can bring it to the attention of those 

 who are strangers to it, but who ought to 

 find great satisfaction in taking the paper. 

 The price of Popular Gardening is kept 

 purposely low to aid its rapid introduction . 

 May we not expect our readers, one and all, 

 to take an active interest in this matter ! 

 Is not the paper deserving of .some such 

 good treatment at their hands ! 



Periwinkle for Graves. Our correspondent 

 who, frequently, furnishes us notes from 

 L3'ndale, in a late issue spoke of a mound 

 on his grounds covered with Periwinkle or 

 Vinca (wrongly called Myrtle sometimes). 

 His statement reminds us that this plant 

 is admirably adapted for use iu burying 

 grounds, as a covering for graves. We 

 have noticed it thus employed in the Spring 

 Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio, and also 

 in the Boston, Mass., cemeteries. Thedai'k- 

 green, glossj' leaves in a mass, have a singu- 

 larly rich appearance, as contrasted with the 

 lawn. Then when the bloom comes, be it 

 either blue or white or both, there is a new 

 charm added. As to color of flowers for 

 the purpose, our choice would be to plant 

 the white-flowering sort mainly, with an 

 ample touch of blue, say at one end. The 

 grave to be planted may be either rounded 

 in the more ordinary form or be perfectlj' 

 flat, the Periwinkle to be limiteil by well 

 defined lines at the sides and ends. In plant- 

 ing, the surface must first be cleared of grass 

 and fitted with good earth, into which the 

 roots should be set at a distance of a few inches 

 apait each way. 



Koses. Following is a select list of hai'dy 

 Roses, recommended sometime ago by a Com- 

 mittee of the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety as the best for general cultivation. 

 Alfred C'olomb.* Marie Baumaiin,* 



Anna de Diesbach, Marquise de Castellane, 



Annie Wood,* Maurice Beruardin. 



Baron de Bonstetten, Mme. Gabriel Luizet. 



Baroness Rothschild, Mme. Hippolyte Jamain. 



Charles Lefebvre, Mme. Victor Verdier, 



Duke of Edinburgh, Mons Boncenne, 



Etienne Levet, Mons. E. Y. Teas,* 



Fisher Holmes,* Paul Neyron, 



Francois Michelon,* Rev. J. B. II. Camm.* 



Gen Jacqueminot,* Thomas Mills, 



John Hopper, I^ouis Van Houtte, t 



Jules Margottiu, Mile. Marie Rady,t 



La Rosiere, *PieiTe Notting,t 



Those marked * are also recommended as 

 continuous bloomers. The last three marked + 

 are somewhat tender or uncertain, but the 

 committee added them on account of their ex- 

 cellence in other respects. 



Chrysanthemums South. Our esteemed cor- 

 respondent at the South, Mrs. J. S. R. Thom- 

 som, Spartansburg, S. C, has this in answer to 

 one of our previous coriespondents, who fails 

 in growing the Chrysanthemums in ;he South. 

 "It must be that she as a cultivator, and not 

 the plant, is at fault, for with us, this is our 

 most reliable plant. All my life, I have seen 

 them in abundance. Four years ago, one of 

 the severest ch-oughts we ever had (not a drop 

 of rain from May 'J:iil until Septemtjer luth), 

 was a test of their reliability if any could be. 

 I purchased one dozen fine varieties from the 

 North. They were planted in drouth; they 

 suffered and weie parched from the drouth. 



