1 886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



I I 



The presence of plants in rooms, as ought to 

 be well known, serves to render the atmos- 

 phere beneficially humid to human lungs, thus 

 answering a valuable end aside fi-om the beauty 

 and cheerfulness imparted. How this peculiar 

 effect of the presence of plants on the atmos- 

 jihere, comes in to a good purpose, in a large 

 manufactory, is told as follows: The Williman- 

 tic (Conn.) Thread Company formerly em- 

 ployed a spr.aying machine and two men to se- 

 cure the needful humidity of the atmosphere 

 of their shops. For the purpose of increasing 

 the comfort aud pleasure of the operatives, the 



THE LA FRANCE ROSE. 

 proprietor commenced the cultivation of plants 

 ai'ound the factory and placed many beautiful 

 flowers in the rooms. This so changed the at- 

 mosphere that the spraying machine was no 

 longer needed. 



The LaFrance Kose, of which an engi-aving 

 is herewith given, enjoys the distinction of 

 being very valuable, both to those who ai'e in 

 the trade as florists and to amateui-s. As a 

 forcing Rose for cut flowers, it occupies a place 

 second to no other one of its color, being always 

 in large demand at a high price. It can never 

 be classed among common kinds. Its sweetness 

 is unequaled, while no Rose can sui'pass the 

 exquisitness of its coloring, which is that of a 

 peach blossom, shaded pink and silvery rose. 

 The flowers are large and full, and appear with 

 great freedom on the plants. As a garden Rose 

 it is hardier than the average monthl}', living 

 over in mild winters with slight protection. 

 It is a free grower and constant bloomer. This 

 Rose is of French origin, dating from LSO". 



A Large Rhubarb Bed. Such a oue, contain- 

 ing about 20 acres, is reported by the Prairie 

 Fannrr as being at " Rhubarbville," out from 

 Chicago. The bed was planted three .years ago; 

 the soil, which is a rich sandy loam, being first 

 put in good working condition by the plow and 

 harrow. It was then marked off each way in 

 rows four and one-half feet apart, and a man 

 went along with a spade and made a hole at 

 each of the intersecting points by thrusting it 

 down and pressing each way a moment. A boy 

 followed with the plants, dropijiug them in the 

 holes and pressing the earth over them with 

 his feet. This completed the simple operation 

 of planting. The field was frequently culti- 

 vated through the season and kept free from 

 wee<ls, The next spring after planting, the first 

 crop was gathered. 



About Pansies. Mrs. J. L. AVhite, of Knox 

 county Illinois, %vrites that formerly she had 

 no success in raising Pansies, although trying 

 hard for years to raise fine ones. She offers to 

 the family the information as to what lead her 

 from failure to success with these plants, as 

 follows: "I use all the completely rotteu 

 wood that I can get, working it into the soil 

 and around the plants. Since I have com- 

 menced this my Pansies are very fine, indeed 



I think nothing can be more beautiful than 

 these, with their varied and fanciful mai'kiugs. 

 On a bed only two feet s(iuare I recently 

 counted loO perfect flowers.'" We would like 

 to add to this note, that in a long experience in 

 raising Pansies, we have relied mainly upon a 

 very liberal allowance of old rotten manure, 

 in the soil, together with an occasional dose of 

 liquid manure over the bed before flowering 

 time. By this course we have raised some 

 Pansies marvelous for size and beauty. 



A New way of His Own. If Mr. Samuel 

 Streepey, of Slatef ord. Pa. , had been a reader of 

 Popular (Gardening, and had 

 used the effective remedies late- 

 ly printed in its columns to kill 

 Currant worms, 

 instead of his 

 own rash exper- 

 iment, he might 

 still be the pos- 

 sessor of the eye 

 and part of a 

 hand which he 

 lost in the flght. 

 The account 

 puts it that he 

 had once treated his bushes 

 to some kind of worthless 

 insect poison, under which 

 the worms seemed to thrive. 

 Then he made up his mind 

 for a new experiment that 

 should not fail. This consisted of sprink- 

 ling the bush with sulphur, over which 

 he poured some powder from a flask. A 

 touch of a match enveloped the bush with 

 sulphurous flame in an instant. At the 

 same time the flask which Streepey held in 

 his hand went off like a cannon. With it went 

 the most of Streepey's hand. The sight of one 

 eye was also destroyed. The bush was shriveled 

 up as if blighted. But the worms on that 

 particular bush were exterminated. 



Buifalo Parks. So well satisfled is our city 

 with her expenditure of upwards of a million 

 dollai-s, on securing and maintaining a park 

 system, embracing some 000 acres of land, that 

 an enlargement of the system is again being 

 considered. This time it is in the direction of 

 acquiring lands on the shore of Lake Erie, to 

 the southeast of the city, and converting them 

 into recreation grounds. The step is a very 

 popular oue. If carried out, the new park will 

 be connected with the present ones by an ex- 

 tension of the boulevard system. Recently 

 legal enactments were secured for placing all 

 of the small parks of the city under the man- 

 agement of the Park Board, of which Mr. 

 William McMillen is the very efficient superin- 

 tendent of works. Included among contem- 

 plated improvements, is the converting of the 

 so-called Terrace " parks " into beauty spots by 

 the help of gi'ass, trees and flowers. Next we 

 hope to announce the pro.iect under way for 

 connecting our beautiful Buffalo Parks by a 

 broad boulevard with the new State Park at 

 Niagara Falls, twenty-two miles away. It will 

 come in time. 



The Oleander. In its native state this is a 

 riverside plant, and as such likes good living, 

 being born to mud, water and warmth. As the 

 shoots made in one .season flower the next, it 

 well ripened, it is always desirable to get a 

 strong growth on the plants as earl}' in the 

 season as is practicable. Therefore, they should 

 from the early spring be given a warm, light 

 place in which to grow, and receive liberal 

 supplies of weak liquid manure. An excellent 

 way to summer small-sized plants, is to set 

 them in a rich flower-bed or border until 

 about October 1st, when they must be potted 

 again. After the blooming season of plants in 

 pots or boxes is over, some of the old soil 

 should be removed from the roots and the.v be 

 reset into a receptacle a little larger than the 

 old one, using a rich loam to fill in around the 

 roots. It should be well known that this hand- 

 some shrub possesses some poisonous principles, 



for if the hand is cut while pruning it, a dan- 

 gerous wound may result. Pruning as a nile 

 is not necessary to the plant, but it may be well 

 once in some years apart to luit it back with a 

 view to improving its general shape. 



The Nurserymen's Convention af 

 Washington. 



The meeting took ])lace, according to pro- 

 gramme, on June liith and t«'o ilays following. 

 It was well attended, members to the mmiber 

 of nearly 400 being present from all parts of 

 the Union. The Province of Canada was also 

 represented. We never saw so large an at- 

 tendance of ladies at any of our conventions as 

 was here present. The nurserymen, appreciat- 

 ing the valuable service done to the cause of 

 tree planting by the women of our land, gladly 

 encourage their presence at these meetings. 

 All such are by the by-laws of the association 

 honorary members. 



That less actual business was done at this 

 convention than some of its predecessoi"s, will 

 not be laid up against it seriously. Washing- 

 ton is not a place conducive to much solid work 

 of deliberate bodies, in a few days' time. How 

 little Congress, even in its longest sessions, often 

 manages to do. With the most delightful of 

 weather, and with the sights and interests of 

 the beautiful capitol city before them, the hard- 

 worked nurserymen could for once well afford 

 to dip deep into recreation. The social feat- 

 ures of these conventions, arising from pereonal 

 intercourse between members is of the greatest 

 value ; no one can complain that this had not its 

 full sway at the Washington meeting. 



Of work done and papers read, the (|uality 

 generally was that of marked excellence. Take 

 for instance the opening address, on Wednes- 

 day, of the president of the association. Com- 

 missioner of Agriculture Coleman. It was an 

 able paper, received with gi'eat enthusiasm by 

 its hearers. We here give some of the leading 

 thoughts it contained: 



The last ceusus places gardeners, nurserymen and 

 vinedressers together, as of the same class, and 

 gives their number as ,51,4H2. 



The uurser.vman is engaged in the primitive call- 

 ing of man In the account of creation given us in 

 the Bible trees are the first thing spoken of after 

 the eartli took its present shape. They preceded 

 man. as the necessary means of preparing tiie earth 

 to be inhabited by him. Tliey were necessary in 

 onler to make its atmosphere respirable by absorb- 

 ing its superabundance of carbonic acid. Destroy 

 tlie trees and you make the world desolate. 



The work of the development of trees, is still to go 

 on No one is competent to set a linut to it No one 

 is competent to say what finiits may be gathered 

 fl-om our trees in years and centiu'ies to come. We 

 may go as far beyond the present as the present is 

 in advance of Kden. There, is every encourage- 

 ment to the nurseryman in this direction. 



When we look at it ariglit, tlie calling of the nurs- 

 eryman should be regarded as that <ir a high aud 

 licjnorable trusteeship. He stands between his fello\\- 

 inen and the great tree-world, of which they are ig- 

 norant aud of which he iias a knowledge, by show- 

 ing them how to attain the utmost comfort and 

 pleasure from the growths of field aud forest. 



The rapid extension of this nursery production in 

 the United States indicates a development of taste, 

 increase of wealth and a t>etter knowdedge of .sani- 

 tary laws It attests the demand for landscape 

 adornment, for woodcraft supplies, for local cli- 

 matic moditications in aid of fruit culture and for 

 enlargement of fruit production generall.v. It illus- 

 trates the growth of esthetic cultui'e among the 

 people, tlie tiisposition toexi>ei)d money in the grati- 

 fication of tastes so pure and wholesome. 



Regarding ornamental planting, no country in the 

 world is better sui)plied in this respect than ours. 

 We have sno species at least of woody plants. Three 

 hundred of these attain a height of thirt.v feet. Two 

 hundred and fifty of these are tolerably abundant 

 in one portion of the country or another 



We have this large number from which to make 

 our selection, while Germany has but about si.xty 

 native species of trees, and France and England 

 only about half that number. That eminent author- 

 I ity, I^indley, declares that " by far the finest orna- 

 mental trees and shrubs (of Kngland) are those 

 1 wdnch have come from North America." 



