POPULAR GARDENING 



FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU RUT r///A'K"— Mii.ton. 



Vol. 1. 



-A.TJO-TJSa?, 1886. 



No. II. 



Summer Hymn. 



O Spring, Spi-iiiK. Spring, limv fair art thou— 



An April time of siiiilt'S ami ti-afs— 

 Till suimiuT with tlit- sunny lirnw. 



ThriL-e-welcunH' Kui'st. at length apjiears. 

 When wood ami field are orowned by June, 



Rich garlamled with leaf and tiower, 

 Then hearts of men are all in tune 



With suniniel'B )ilenitnde of power 

 The fairest scenes en^wd into view— 



The deep-blue sljy, tlie purple lulls. 

 The me.idow Jlowers of varied hue. 



The placid lakes, the sunlit rills. 

 Then joyfully, in gj-atefnl mood, 



Our hearts and voices join to praise 

 The great Creator of all k'O'kI, 



The giver of glad siuumer days. 



— The Quhvi: 



given Piins}' nilture so miicli attciifion tliat 

 nowwc iK'cil not depend on foreign .snpiilie.s. 



The Pansy— Now is the Time to Sow. 



During t h i .s 

 montli and next 

 tlie well-informed 

 plant grower who 

 d e .sire .s to have 

 Pan.sies in flower 

 next spring sows 

 the .seed. ItLssuch 

 an ea.sy feat to 

 raise these lovely 

 favorites that no 

 amateur should 

 feel eontented with 

 his or her garden- 

 ing accomplishments who does not feel 

 well ahle to grow them. Elsewhere in this 

 issue are given full directions as to the mat- 

 ter of raising fine Pansies. 



The universal esteem in wliieli the Pansy 

 is helil has more than once been referred to 

 in these columns. Were some tangible 

 proofs desired as to this we think none 

 better could be offered than the fact of its 

 beiiring so many common names, a most 

 obvious sign of popularity. It may be in- 

 teresting to here enumerate those which have 

 come under our observation: 



P'insy, Pansy Violet, 



Hearts-ease, Johnnie Jump-up, 



Pink of My John, Love in Idleness, 



Call Me to You, Three Faces under a Hood 



Jump up and Kiss Me, Kiss me at the (iate. 



Flower of Jove, Herb Trinity. 



The kinds of Pansies are now so numer- 

 ous and varied, and withal so distinct from 

 the really wild species of violets in cultiva- 

 tion, that it is ditHcult if not impossible to 

 tnice their precise origin. It would seem 

 from the brilliancy of the color and the 

 amplitude of the l)lossom that the parents 

 of the race must have been mountaineers, 

 for this much is certain, that in other fami- 

 lies we find similar strong ciualilies only in 

 species that are pecidiar to higli elevations. 



The cidtivation of the improved Pansies 

 dates only from the etirly i)art of the pres- 

 ent century, but even then it was many 

 years before anything like the present at- 

 tainments in size and beauty were reached. 

 Formerly the Eluglish, French and German 

 gardeners were looked to for supplies of the 

 finest seeds.but of late years Americans have 



Keep a Lookout for the Pear Blight. 



This appalling disease, the sign of which 

 is the blackening of the branches and foliage 

 .and the emitting of a peculiar putrefactive 

 odor, is now so widely spread that every- 

 one having Pear or other trees in charge, 

 should be on their gutird against its presence 

 and increase It is also popularly known 

 as Fire Blight and Twig Blight. 



Of the many theories that have been ad- 

 vanced to accotuit for Pear Blight we shall 

 have nothing to say here, beyond this, that 

 the very careful e.\periments conducted 

 in recent years at the New York Agri- 

 cultural E.\perimental Station at Geneva 

 would strongly indicate that it owes 

 its existence and spread to the influ- 

 ence of those minute organisms known 

 as bacteria. One lliing has been clearly 

 shown, and that is that it may be transmitted 

 from tree to tree by inoculation. It is con- 

 jectured that its ordinary means of trans- 

 mission is through the b.acteria e.scaping 

 from the tissues of the diseased parts in 

 slimy drops, during damp weather espe- 

 ciall3% and after being freed by rjiins, and 

 upon becoming dry, are taken up and carried 

 by the wind to new trees. 



What our readers will be most interested 

 in is to know the best means of controlling 

 the disease. There can be nothing .stiggested 

 that promises so well as the prompt removal 

 with the knife of every trace of the ailment. 

 As the blackened leaves (usually the first 

 sign of its presence to ordinary observation) 

 do not develop until the disea.se has been in 

 progress for two, three or more weeks, one 

 should observe the caution not to cut to 

 scantily. Any part that is alTected shoidd 

 be removed some inches below the lowest 

 part of leaf or bark discoloration, and it 

 may be unnecessary to add, such parts 

 should be promiitly burned. 



In cutting out Pear Blight care should be 

 taken never to allow the knife to enter any 

 diseased part, as this woidd open the way 

 to spreading the disea.se to any new place 

 where the knife was later used. An orchard 

 where the di.SM.se has appeared should be 

 rcgidarly gone over about once every two 

 weeks, removing every disea.sed porlion. 

 In this way it may, under ordinary condi- 

 tions, be kept in check .so well that no seri- 

 ous loss shotdd ever follow, unless, as it 

 might happen, that the di.sea.se had found 

 access to the trunk of the tree. 



favorable weather, the attention it may re- 

 ceive: not that it is to be classed among 

 shrubs that are dillieult to grow, for none is 

 easier, but we desire to say to the many 

 who may lie growing it as a new shrub, that 

 a little treatment may often help it very 

 much during the blooming period. 



To have the flowers at their best there 

 should be plenty of moisture at the root 

 during bloom, and the soil in which it is 

 growing must not be poor. If the florifer- 

 ous habit of this i)lant be projierly sustained 

 in these simple respects the blooms will be 

 very large and handsome, l)ut otherwise 

 they will look flabby. 



In case the soil is lacking in fertility this 

 may now be supplied by free applications 

 of weak manure water, or a midch of well 

 decayed manure over the roots, with liberal 

 watering at intervals to carry down its 

 strength, would help to the same end. 



As to the supply of moisture, ordinarily it 

 will not lie enough to depend on an occa- 

 sional shower— the lio.se nozzle should be 

 sometimes turned upon it, unless the sca.son 

 happens to be positively wet 



When well grown it is no strange thing 

 to .see on the shrubs of the Panicle- 

 flowered Hydrangea, which have reached a 

 height of six or eight feet, several hundred 

 of the immense rose .and white panicles at 

 one time. These properly sustained, and 

 for a long time they present n fine appear- 

 ance, bard to be ei|ualed among shrubs. 



The fact that this Il3(lraiigea is in bloom 

 at a time when nearly all other shrubs have 

 passed out of bloom renders it all the more 

 important to now bestow upon it a little atten- 

 tion, with a view to increasing its attractive- 

 ness when the blooming time arrives. 



The Panicle-Flowered Hydrangea. 



ThrouglioMt .Septeml)er and even later 

 this fine shrub of comparatively recent intro- 

 duction will be in its attractive season. 



Still the beauty of the shrub will depend 

 much upon the weather, or in absence of 



A Garden of Hardy Plants and Bulbs. 



Mrs. M. A. Bucknell, of Madison Co., 

 Illinois, can well afford to talk with enthu- 

 siasm of her garden, for no doubt it is a fine 

 one. One peculiarity about it, which we 

 heartily commend, is that it is largely made 

 up of handsome plants which are gathered 

 in wild places and elsewhere, many of which 

 take care of themsel ves year after year. Here 

 is her interesting letter about them ; 



I am much surprised to see s<i many home 

 grounds in summer and fall a blaze of glory 

 with annuals, but which in the spring are 

 nearly or quite bare of bloom, Uightly 

 managed and one should be able to gather 

 from the garden a bouquet, small it may be 

 at first, all through the season from April 

 until November. 



In some years the first day of March has 

 found Snowdrops out in ni^- garden. In a 

 few days later the Crocus came along, lift- 

 ing up their happy faces— yellow, purjile, 

 white and striped. Then soon after appear the 

 Violets of diflfercnt colors— blue, white and 

 yellow, the latter brought from the woods, 

 the "Dutchman's Breeches," a miniature 



