1 886. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



'4' 



preoiate Hollvliocks. A lady speaking to her 

 tleelares she will uot have such common look- 

 ing things in her garden. Now what is the 

 trouble in the case ? It is that thoy are too ottf n 

 planted singly, or in a stiff row by the fence. 

 Try grouping them instead. With taste in the 

 selection of colors, one may have a very satis- 

 factory return for very small labor, Bj' ox- 

 changing seed every conceivable shade, from 

 almost black to white, may be secured. Could 

 not one have a rainbow bed of Hollyhocks? 



It has come to our knowledge that in some 

 instances both subscribers and advertisers have 

 been frightened away from PuruLAR Garden- 

 ing b}' its low price of (io cents a year. They 

 reasoned that such a price had a suspicious 

 look — either the paper was run to advertise 

 some one's business, in which case they didn't 

 want it, or else it couldn't last long, in which 

 case they wouldn't get it. Well then to all sucii : 

 Here it is at a dollar a year, to be l>oth enlarge 1 

 and improved. We think such a figure docs 

 have a more stable appearance to say the least. 

 Now for the subscribers and other patronage. 



Not quantity but quality should lie the first 

 aim in wimlow gardening. There will now be 

 the temptation to lift moi'e plants than can be 

 well cared for, because we love them so. But 

 it is better to bring one's mind, to control as to 

 immbei's just so closely, that all plants retained 

 can be well accommodated, than to practice 

 undue crowding. It certainly is more satisfac- 

 tory to grow thi-ee or six plants to become the 

 finest possible specimens than to have three 

 times this number huddled together in a man- 

 ner that forbids both healthfulness and beauty. 

 Now is the time to choose between the better 

 and the worse plan so far as affects the window 

 display of the next eight months. 



To drown out a fruit thief in a tree by turning 

 the garden hose on him would seem not so 

 bad a plan, but we should be sure the thief 

 does not clear out while the preparation for the 

 work is going on. The Bostini Tniiiscrijit re- 

 lates that this very thing happened in one case 

 in the suburbs of that city a short time ago. 

 A woman returning home after dark heard a 

 rustle in her Chei'ry tree and realized that 

 somebody was stealing fruit. As she entered 

 the house a man dropped from the tree and 

 disappeared. A moment later the woman ap- 

 peared with a line of garden hose and pro- 

 ceeded to drench the tree. For ten minutes 

 she directed a shower upon it, probably con- 

 gratulating herself all the while on her shrewd- 

 ness in punishing the intruder. It was too dark 

 to see that he had gone. 



Something new in the line of vegetables is 

 being brought forward by the well-known 

 French seedsmen, Vilmorin, Antb-ieux & Co., 

 of Paris, which is exciting some interest. It is 

 called Cht)ro-gi and is a native of Northern 

 Africa. It belongs to the Mint family (botan- 

 ical name Stiivhi/s affinis). Its fleshy roots or 

 tubei's only are eaten, dressed like string beans 

 or fried like fritters, and ai'e said also to make 

 an excellent pickle. Whether it will ever ad- 

 vance to a place among really useful vegetables 

 remains to be determined by trial. Speaking 

 of new vegetables coming into use, it is a 

 singular fact that the Tomato, such a great 

 favorite in our day, was gi-own only as an orna- 

 mental fruit for ages, before its real value 

 seems to have been discovered. 



From Iowa's Buffalo. It is not claimed that 

 Buffalo, N. Y., is the only place of the name, 

 from which emanates horticultural wisdom. 

 F'or instance, here is a welcome little note 

 signed " Mrs. M. R. W." that contains some 

 excellent information, not to say pleasant 

 words: "I find mulching Gladiolus heavily 

 with old leaves a most excellent plan. It the 

 weather is dry, water copiously in addition. 

 But the mulching must be preceded by a thor- 

 ough cultivation with the hoe. The most in- 

 teresting work I've been at lately is the culti- 

 vation of seedling Gladiolus and the tiny bulb- 

 lets. Let us heai- from some of the Gladiolus 



cultivators. Many beautiful spikes of flowers 

 are now out from bulbs set in April. Long 

 live Popular GARnENiN(!: It is splendid." 

 The Title Page and Index to the Annual 

 \'ohune, wliich we furnish as a gi'atuity with 

 each copy of this months' paper, should serve 

 a good purpose: To those who have \'oIumc 

 1 in full, for completing the volume for bind- 



Gluri/ of the 



(Ski/ Blue and WhiU-.) 



ing; to the former subscribers of the Fruit 

 h'cniiilcr, in giving them an idea of what a 

 st<jrling paper this Popular Gardening to 

 which they come as readers, is and has been. 

 We trust thjit the careful work and no small 

 expense incurred in getting out this extra may 

 therefore be appreciated. But this we will say 

 additional : Whoever lives to see the index of the 

 coming year's enlai'ged volume will see a gi'eat 

 increase in contents and size over the present 

 one. The annual index would be an excellent 

 aid to our friends in their work of securing 

 subscribei's for oui" next volume. 



Glory of the Snow. This flower, known bo- 

 tanically as Cliiumjiloxa Liirilio', and shown 

 in the engraving is one of the lovliest of hardy 

 flowers. But it is not yet well known, having 

 only been introduced to cultivation in 1877, less 

 than ten years ago. It deserves to be rapidly 

 disseminated. Its time of bloom is among the 

 very earliest — keeping company with the first 

 Crocuses. The color is a beautiful clear blue 

 tint on the outside, gradually merging into 

 pure white in the center much as in Npnntphila 

 iiisiijnis^ but even brighter. The blossoms, 

 from five to ten in number on each stem, are 

 poised on gracefuUj' arching stalks (not sufli- 

 <'iently shown in the engraving) from four to 

 eight inches high. The blooms ai'e star-shaped 

 and nearly an inch across. The plants succeed 

 well in any ordinary boixler that is under- 

 drained, and of which the soil is not too heavy. 

 On the rockery or any kind of elevation it is 

 perfectly at home, being a mountain plant. It 

 is sold at the hardy plant nurseries. 



Honeysuckles. Why will people, in the 

 country especiallj', tolerate bare walls when 

 there are so many beautiful plants that may 

 be grown with little trouble to clothe them 

 with a wealth of foliage and blossom .' One of 

 the most beautiful sights we have seen for some 

 time was the south side of a cottage covered 

 with a profusion of bloom of the Yellow Halls' 

 Japan Honeysuckle. Planted in ordinary gai'den 

 soil, which was slightly enriched each year 

 with stable manure, it grew luxuriantly, and 

 for some tin^e now it has been ^jne mass of 

 bright Howei's. The growth had not been tied 

 in cai'efuUy ; and though this — the want of trim- 

 ness — ma)', in the opinion of some, l)e a fault, 

 it was impossible not to admire the brilliant 

 festoons of bloom which drooped over the dooi-- 

 way and windows. We noticed while in at tend- 

 ance on the Nurserymen's Convention at Wash- 



ingt()n, in June, a simple but fine way of using 

 the Honeysuckles in the grounds of the Agri- 

 cultural Department. This consisted of plant- 

 ing a nui.ssof difl'erent varieties in a clump, the 

 plants at say three feet apart, and then allow- 

 ing them (o grow in a tangle as they would. 



The Jewell Strawberry. This new variety is 

 one of so much promise that the eyes of all 

 progi-essive cultivators are turned towards it. 

 The size of the fruit is very large (see opposite 

 page), its color a bright red, inclining towards 

 crimson when fully ripe, and the (juality ex- 

 cellent. The plants possess great vigor and are 

 enormous bearers, provided the one great es- 

 sential always to large crops, generous feeding, 

 is duly furnished. As to productiveness the 

 originators of this berry, Messrs. P. M. Augiu- 

 & Sons, Middlefleld, Conn, (and to whose 

 kindness we are indebted for the use of the en- 

 graving opposite), make the following compar- 

 ative report on pickings at two different dates 

 the past season, of the varieties named below, 

 the i-ows in the testing grounds being in each 

 instance 14 rods long: 



June MOth, picking July Itth, picking 

 Jewell, 43 to 50 quarts. 27 quarts. 



Sharpless, 12 to lo " a to 4 " 



Jersey Queen, 11 to 12 " 



But it nmst be added that in this, like in 

 many others of our greatest bearers, the flowei-s 

 are imperfect, being devoid of stamens; hence 

 it becomes necessary to plant some other vari- 

 ety (the Wilson for example) having perfect 

 Howeis near by, say in the proportion of 1 to .5, 

 that the flowers may lie properly fertilizeil. To 

 the I'areful and enthusiastic cultivator there is 

 little objection to this, in view of the .superior 

 product. It implies the mere aijplication of 

 intelligence and art in the wa)' of improved 

 culture, to which no amateur should feel averse. 



The Philadelphia Meeting of Florists, 

 August 1 Sth to 21st. 



It was a lai'ge ami enthusiastic meeting, with 

 fully 700 participants. Florists from all sec- 

 tions of the country were there, the younger 

 men of the craft having been in marked proni- 

 ineni'e, while the women florists, as we note 

 with real pleasure, turned out in remarkably 

 good numbers. From first to last everything 

 connected with the convention moved off with 

 vigor and harmony, showing that the manage- 

 ment was in the best of hands. < )ne has but to 

 recall that this important convention was but 

 the secoiul one in the life of the Society of 

 American Florists ever held, for arriving at a 

 fair estimate of what a live, influential and 

 progressive class of people the florists of 

 America are. In very many ways it was an 

 occasion of which to be very proud. 



President John Thorpe, than whom no nuin 

 has contributed more to the success of the 

 young society, opened the meeting proper' on 

 Wednesday the IJSth with the annual address. 

 It was an able ett'ort, kindling a flame of en- 

 thusiasm, which grew and extended all through 

 the meeting. We offer a few salient parts 



FROM president THORPE'S ADDRESS; 



The two-.vear-old seedling is developing finely 

 and ivlread}- is bearing good fruit. I can see in tlie 

 near future the Society of American Florists taking 

 a position equal to any organization in the country. 



When the society gets more deeply rooted I hope 

 to see one of its branches sliaped into an experi- 

 mental gnrden; there should be also a good library. 



Another branch should be the establishment of 

 local exliiltitions controlled by oomnuttees ajjpuiiited 

 by the society, thus giving encouragement to mem- 

 bers debarred from taking part in comi>ctitions 

 where distance is too far from the large cities. 



I hope to see established a nnitunl lH'ne\-olent 

 association, which shall t»e so trainetl astontTnrd 

 shelter for any memljers overtaken by misfortune. 



Mr. Thorjie called attention to the fact that 

 exhibitions of flowers are a chief cause of de- 

 veloping the florist busincs.s. 



Don't lie afraid to exhiljit. Make exhibitions, 

 join yoiu* local societies and bring something. Never 

 mind if you do not happen to secm-e the first prize. 



