1904 



VASES 



petiolatum, known to gardeners as Gnaphahum lana- 

 titm. This is an "everlasting" plant which is not truly 

 a vine; it does not flower in vases but is valued for 

 its silvery foliage and pendulous habit. Between the 

 center piece and the rim of drooping vines are used 

 such standard plants of medium height as gerani- 

 ums, dusty millers, petunias and the common bedding 

 material, as Lobelia JErinus, coleus, achyranthes and 

 acalypha. Centaurea Cineraria and (7. gymnocarpa are 

 also useful plants for vases. 



The soil in a vase may vary from 6 to 18 inches in 

 depth. It should be a strong, solid compost, about 3 

 parts of loam to one of manure. If the bowl seems too 

 shallow and becomes filled with roots add a top-dress- 

 ing of well-rotted manure, or of moss with a little bone 

 meal added. Such a mulch will add plant-food and 

 conserve moisture. 



Considerable forethought and taste may be required 

 to keep the vases attractive during early spring, in the 

 interval after the last frost and time when the tender 

 bedding material is set out. Pansies have been sug- 

 gested for this period, and make a good effect when 

 seen from above. A better effect can be produced by 

 using conifers in pots which have been wintered in a 

 frame. These may be bordered with pansies if the gar- 

 dener thinks best and can find the time at this season. 



Rustic vases are much less expensive than stone, 

 iron or earthenware ones and in some situations are 

 very suitable. It is an excellent idea to elevate a rustic 

 vase on a cheaply constructed pedestal of tree trunk 

 or boards, which will soon be hidden by Ampelopsis 

 Veitchii. ROBERT SHORE. 



VAUX, CALVEKT (1824-1895), an American land- 

 scape gardener. Together with Frederick Law Olm- 

 sted he planned Central Park, New York, the proto- 

 type of large, accessible, nature-like city narks. The 

 following account of his life-work is taken with slight 

 changes from an obituary notice by Wm. A. Stiles 

 in Garden and Forest 8:480: Calvert Vaux was born 

 in London in 1824. He had achieved success in ar- 

 chitecture before the age of twenty - four, when he 

 came to America as business associate of Andrew Jack- 

 son Downing. At the time of Downing's untimely death 

 in 1854 the two men were designing and constructing 

 the grounds about the capitol and Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, the most important work of the kind that had yet 

 been attempted in America. Meanwhile, the gathering 

 sentiment in favor of spacious and accessible city parks 

 which had found expression in the eloquent letters of 

 Downing at last secured, through legislative action, the 

 purchase for a public pleasure-ground of the rectangu- 

 lar piece of ground now known as Central Park, New 

 York. In 1858 the city authorities selected, out of thirty- 

 three designs offered in competition for the new park, 

 the one signed "Greensward," which was the joint work 

 of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and Cen- 

 tral Park as we know it to-day is the realization of this 

 design in its essential features. This was the earliest 

 example in this country of a public park conceived and 

 treated as a consistent work of landscape art, and the 

 first attempt in any country to plan a spacious pleasure- 

 ground which should have the charm of simple natural 

 scenery while it met the requirements of complete in- 

 closure by a compactly built city. No one can read the 

 original plan as presented for competition without feel- 

 ing how thoroughly an experience of nearly half a cen- 

 tury has justified the forethought of the young artists, 

 or without a sense of gratitude to them 'that our first 

 great park, which has to such an extent furnished a 

 stimulus and a standard to other American cities for 

 similar undertakings, was a work of such simplicity, 

 dignity, refinement and strength. It may be added 

 that this "Greensward" plan, together with other re- 

 ports on Central Park, on Morningside and Riverside 

 Parks, in New York, on parks in Brooklyn, Albany 

 Chicago, San Francisco and other cities, both in this 

 country and the Dominion of Canada, by the same 

 authors, contain a consistent body of doctrine relat- 



C to public pleasure-grounds which is unique and 

 invaluable. Calvert Vaux was a member of many im- 

 portant commissions, and he acted as landscape gar- 

 dener for the Niagara Falls Reservation, but for more 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



than thirty years his best work and thought were stead 

 ily given to the parks of New York city. He had the 

 genuine creative faculty which gave the stamp of origi- 

 nality to all his work, and a severity of taste which pre- 

 served it from anything like eccentricity or extrava- 

 gance. As a city official he was a model of intelligent 

 zeal and sturdy integrity. Several times he resigned 

 his lucrative position rather than see his art degraded, 

 but he was always quickly reinstated by a demand of 

 the people. To Calvert Vaux, more than to any other 

 one man, New York owes a debt of gratitude for the 

 fact that Central Park, in spite of attacks on every side, 

 has been held so secure against harmful invasion and 

 h;is been developed so strictly on the lines of its origi- 

 nal conception. 



In private life Calvert Vaux was a man of singular 

 modesty, gentleness and sincerity. He lacked the graces 

 of manner and magnetism of social intercourse which 

 carry many men in various walks of life to a brilliant 

 position that much exceeds their real merits. Never- 

 theless, he had many accomplishments and culture of 

 the best type. It is a sad and singular coincidence that 

 both Downing and Vaux met their death by accidental 

 drowning. The career of Calvert Vaux is an inspiring 

 one for all struggling young artists and for all public- 

 spirited citizens in America who are laboring in the 

 work of civic and village improvement. Amid the 

 changing policies of municipal governments, the life- 

 work of Calvert Vaux is a shining example. ^r jj_ 



VEGETABLE FIRE-CRACKER. See Brevoortia Ida- 

 Mnin. V. Hair. See Tillandsia usneoides. V. Horse- 

 hair. Fiber of Chamcerops humilis. V. Ivory. Nuts of 

 Phytelephas, 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. In horticultural usage 

 a vegetable is an edible herbaceous plant or part thereof 

 that is commonly used for culinary purposes. The pro- 

 duct may or may not be directly associated, in its de- 

 velopment, with the flower. This definition does not 

 clearly include all the products which ordinarily are con- 

 sidered to be vegetables. Some vegetables, as melons, 

 are properly dessert articles. Only usage can delimit 

 the term. What are considered to be vegetables in one 

 country may be regarded as fruits in another country. 

 However, the use of the term is so well understood 

 that there is no difficulty in making proper application 

 of it in common speech. 



All the art and science that has to do with the grow- 

 ing of these plants is popularly known as vegetable- 

 gardening. Recently a Latin-made term, olericulture, 

 has been invented to designate the industry, the word 

 being coordinate with pomology and floriculture. It 

 is not likely, however, that this term will ever come 

 into general use, although it may be useful in formal 

 writings. Vegetable-gardening is ordinarily considered 

 to be a branch of horticulture rather than of agri- 

 culture. However, a number of crops may be either 

 horticultural or agricultural subjects, depending on the 

 extent to which they are grown. When grown in estab- 

 lishments that are devoted primarily to a horticultural 

 business, squashes, pumpkins, potatoes and tomatoes 

 are usually regarded as horticultural commodities; but 

 when they are grown on farms where mixed husbandry 

 is practiced and are made a part of the general farm 

 system in rotation, with equal propriety they may be 

 called agricultural crops. There are certain vegetable- 

 gardening crops that are practically always associated 

 with a horticultural rather than an agricultural busi- 

 ness. They are such as demand intensive culture and 

 are used for special markets. Of such are lettuce, par- 

 sley, cauliflower and radish. Some of the crops may be 

 classified as horticultural or agricultural, depending 

 upon the uses for which they are to be employed. For 

 instance, beans that are grown for the green pods are 

 horticultural subjects, but if the same varieties were to 

 be grown for the mature seed for selling in the general 

 market, they would be known as agricultural products. 

 In like manner turnips may be horticultural subjects 

 when grown in small areas for home use, but agricul- 

 tural subjects when grown on large areas for stock- 

 feeding, 



