128 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



Cat-tails. 



Clear, dark and cool a shallow pool 



Lies underneath the summer sky. 

 Low rippling in the sedgy grass 



As wayward winds go tripping by. 

 While liladed Flags bend low to greet 



The blue-veined Lilies resting there. 

 And high above their drooping heads 



The Cat-tails drink the summer air. 

 Across the pool, with filmy wings. 



The " devil's darning needles " fly ; 

 And deep among the shady Flags 



The croaking frogs securely lie; 

 A red-winged black-bird's li(iuid notes 



Soimd clear and sweet, "co-cheel co-cheel' 

 And in the breezes cradling arms 



The Cat-tails rock in airy glee. 



— Hostoil Cultivator. 



How the First Pansy was Made. 



An angel's thought flew down to earth. 



Borne on a golden beam of light ; 

 And pausing rested in the heart 



Of a sweet, blue-eyed Violet liright. 

 And finding there a flower-sonl 



Free from all taint of earthly pride. 

 The angel's thought would fain remain. 



And in the Pansy still doth hide. 

 And so these gold and purple flowers. 



The soft-eyed Pansies which we love, 

 Sprang from the Violet which received 



An angel's thought from Heaven above. 

 — Lydia Hni/t Fanner. 



Kepair thp glass houses. 



The Tiger Lily is Chinese. 



Keep the (Jlailiohis tied up. 



Seedling Verlieiias are the sweetest. 



Ladyslippers ."ire too fragile for wear. 



Swan-river Daisies resemlile Cinerarias. 



The hride'a favorite flower— Marrygold. 



This is the time to divide and reset Daisies. 



Date the packets into which the seeds are put. 



Cutting the flowers as they mature strength- 

 ens the jilant. 



Thunbergias bloom in the oiien air the year 

 round in Florida. 



There is a knack in using garden tools skill- 

 fully. Get the knack. 



What can be finer than an arbor consisting 

 of a Weepins Ash or Elm. 



August planting of evergreens is recom- 

 mended by Josiah Hoopes. 



The man who sells " blue " Roses at ■?:> a root 

 is now taking his vacation. 



The Mistletoe is patterned aft<'r by enough 

 people— it lives upon others. 



■We have a few special words, " To you, 

 Reader," a little further on. Do not skip them. 



Pillows made from the branches of Fir are 

 lieing offered in Michigan for their curative 

 proiierties. 



Gardening is the purest of human plea.sures 

 and the gi-eatest refreshment to the spirit of 

 man. — Haron. 



An Oleander with a trunk is inches in cir- 

 cumference is reported by one of our Southern 

 correspondents. 



A Monstrous Cactus over twelve feet high 

 and a foot and a half through is being exhibited 

 in the leading towns. 



For a magnificent display of bloom over a 

 long time those Clematises, of which Jackmani 

 is the type, are really wonderful. 



Ten-week Stocks ai-e among the flowers that 

 succeed well in the window. For bloom during 

 the winter the seed should now be sown. 



Starting Tuberose bulbs as late as August is 

 sometimes done for raising winter flowers, but 

 at best such late management is up-hill work. 

 " Give me a Garden " is the universal aspira- 

 tion of the English people. The same desire, 

 it is a pleasure to record, is a rapidly growing 

 one throughout America. 



A young tree set out on the site of an old 

 one that has died seldom thrives. Soil exhaus- 

 tion as to tree food is the cause. A remedy : re- 

 place the old soil with new. 



Extend the Example. Boston gives an object 

 lesson in tree knowledge to inquiring minds, by 

 affixing to every tree in the public parks its 

 name on a label in plain letters. 



Rotation of crops is as essential in gardening 

 as on the farm. In resetting hai'dy or any 

 other kinils of plants always move them to a 

 new stand, even if it be but a few feet away. 



It is a fact not to be denied that many persons 

 of both sexes find the greatest pleasures of 

 their lives coming from the raising of flowers 

 and other gai'dening. Let an occupation like 

 this be widely advanced. 



"One single item of W lines in the March 

 numlier," writes W. A. T. Stratton, concerning 

 Popular Gardeninu, "aroused a train of 

 thought that promises hundreds of dollars in 

 value to me in a short time." 



The quantity of small fruits taken from the 

 country to the cities a.s everybody knows is im- 

 mense. The quantity each season bought in 

 the cities and carried to the country for con- 

 sumption is larger than might be supposed. 



Seeding versus Sodding. We can point to a 

 score of lawns that were started by sowing the 

 seed during the past spring that are now com- 

 plete and more promising than the average 

 of sodded lawns of the same age that we recall. 

 Great Brains. A Chicago editor is struggling 

 with the question; "What ai'e insects made 

 for?" They are made for insects, to be sure. 

 Does the man think nature may possibly have 

 intended them for hirAa'.— Hi lujhaintnn Rcpub- 

 licrtn. 



A Year's subscription to Popular Garden- 

 ing makes the nicest kind of a present to a 

 friend, coming as it does by monthly visits. If 

 you choose to try this matter we will be glad 

 to notify the recipient as to who is the sender, 

 should you so desire. 



Large Latanias or Fan Palms. Speaking of 

 these, Mr. Daviil Scott, of this city, informs us 

 by a note, that some in the Kew Gardens, Lon- 

 don, are considerably more than 12 feet high, 

 but adds that they are not handsome specimens, 

 for, like many other Palms, extra size detracts 

 from rather than adds to their beauty. 



A subscriber gained for Popular G ardening 

 in hot weather is just as much appreciated at 

 this office as one secured at any other time. 

 We received a good many during the last 

 month. W^e wish our friends would help us to 

 many more during August. Keep the ball 

 rolling the year round. Subscriptions may 

 begin with any mouth. 



Goats and Gardens. So destructive have 

 goats become to the gardens in some parts of 

 Europe, by browsing shrubs and trees, that the 

 authorities are takmg steps to reduce their 

 numliers. We can easily imagine that a super- 

 fluity of goats would be vastly more intolerable 

 to a community than even the pestiferous 

 European sparrows, bad as they are. 



A Queer Freak of nature is reported by one 

 of our .<ubscril)ers, " Evangeline." of Harrison 

 Co., Texas. Two lai-ge trees, White Oaks, the 

 correspondent thinks they are, and standing 

 about twenty-five feet ajiart, approach and 

 overlap each other some distance up. At this 

 point they have united and with all the parts 

 healed over so thoroughly that no scar is visible. 

 The trembling of the loaves of the Aspen is 

 thus referred to in a welcome little note to 

 Popular Gardening from Mrs. H. E. Briggs 

 of Clark Co., Washington Territory; "Those 

 who admire the Trembling Aspen will be inter- 



ested in examining the leaves for the cause of 

 their tremulous motion. Close to the leaf the 

 stem is flattened to be no thicker than the leaf 

 itself, and responds to the lightest zephyr." 



On a street which the writer passes along 

 often, there is one flower-gi-ower who has more 

 than ordinai-y success with bedding plants. In 

 passing his grounds at planting time we saw 

 he was laying rich old manure two inches deep 

 over the entire surface before digging. He in- 

 formed us that this was his practice every year. 

 It is a chief secret of his success. To which 

 we add that now is a good time to start a ma- 

 nure heap for next year's use. 



Mulch for Roses. I find in this country where 

 droughts are common a mulch is very helpful. 

 I use for this, scrapings from the cow-yard, 

 mulching the bed thoroughly and afterwards 

 watering frequently. The ground should be 

 in such order from culture that it will readily 

 absorb water. After the first blooming I cut 

 back my Roses well, using the scissors, and new 

 growth soon starts, bearing a multitude of blos- 

 soms later. Don't neglect the mulching. — M. R. 

 AV., Scott Co., loini. 



Good Books. A library of standard woi'ks on 

 gardening should be owned by every gardener. 

 From it he will glean an amount of pleasure in 

 the nature of extended information only sec- 

 ond to that found in the garden itself. It will 

 introiluce the owner to new plants and new 

 methods, as well as to a better acquaintance 

 with older desirable ones. On another page 

 we present a select list of such books, which at 

 the prices quoted, will be furnished to our 

 readers, post-paid, from this office. 



All lovers of good gardening must be glad to 

 see that the old practice of laying out numerous 

 gravel or other walks through private grounds 

 is being discontinued largely. A most sensible 

 innovation. No walk can be more comfortable 

 to the feet when one is taking in the delights 

 of a garden than a smooth well-trimmed lawn. 

 No garden scene but it is more chai-ming by 

 having the most extended stretehes of grass 

 attainalile in the space, than if it be frittered 

 up with a lot of really needless paths. 



Mr. A. Blanc, the Cactus specialist of Phila- 

 delphia, has sent us an engraving of the remark- 

 ably attractive Cactus printed hei-ewith and 



THE SPIN-WHEEL CACTUS.— Echinucactus 

 furbinifonni.'i. 

 called Echinocactiis turbinifurmis, together 

 with this note concerning it; " A'c/ii'iiococdis 

 turliinifuriiiis is a queer little flat plant, sel- 

 dom growing larger thau four inches across 

 and one inch high, with flesh colored flowers. 

 It looks exactlj' like a spin-wheel set in motion. 

 The cut is a faithful representation." This 

 Cactus should be known as the Spin-wheel Cac- 

 tus, so far as a common name is concerned. 



What are the Circumstances 1 Popular 

 Gardening maintains that White Clover 

 should not be mixed with lawn grasses where 

 summer watering is practised. Here it soon 

 crowds out the delicate grasses and gives a 

 weedy look to the lawn. But where watering 

 the lawn freely is not practical there one may 

 always use, at the rate of five pounds of seed to 

 the acre. In such places the growth is less 



