IS89. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



an ciiilUss repetition iif iiiitimml Hnw er (keoia- 

 tions, whieh weiv ineiiinible of \ iii-iiitioii, siivc in 

 design '! The tlowei- of the repiiblie should l>e 

 dainty enoiitrli to ornament the mansion, ami not 

 too delieate for the gai-den of the workinjiman, so 

 that rieh ami luior, ehildrcn and aihilts, maj vie 

 with eaili other in eultivatinj; the " emblem of 

 the nation." A recent numlx'r of PopuiuiH 

 (iAHiiKNiNC. contiiined an artiele which coin- 

 cided with ray views of the subject, and named 

 the Phlox as a vilant eminently suited to lie our 

 national Hower. It is a refined plant with deli- 

 eate flowers, in many lively colm-s and 

 shades, from purest white, with which to . 

 deck the bride, or array the silent forms 

 of our deail, to the most brilliant hues, 

 suitt-d to fe.stal occasions. Another point 

 in favor of the Phlox is its season of 

 bloom, some variety of which is in its 

 trlory si.x mtmths or more of the year, 

 even in this latitude, and how much the 

 skill of the florist might prolong the 

 sea.son. I am not prepared tosa.v. Further- 

 more, it is a native Americau. I am very 

 much surprised to find that some of our 

 most noted people have voted for the 

 Golden Kod, and I can but think that 

 they must have done so. without con- 

 sidering the question as carefully as its 

 importance deserves. Some one has said 

 that it will be something to tie proud of 

 all our lives, that we helped to choose 

 the national flower: so it will, provided 

 we help t<i make a wise choice, other- 

 wise it will be a cause for regret. The 

 choice of a floral emblem for a nation 

 such as ours, is not a thing to be lightl.v 5^ 

 done, but with careful consideration 

 should the selection be made, that we 

 may not hold ourselves up to the ridicule 

 of our fellow nations, but having their 

 examples l>efore us, try at least to equal, if not 

 excel them in the wisdom of our choice. 



Water Lilies. There is no possible excuse 

 for any one whose home garden bordei-s upon 

 lake, pond or stream, if they do not have at least 

 a few of the beautiful and fragrant Pond Lilies, 

 and whether they have these natural advantages 

 or not, they still may have a very few, provided 

 they love them wisely. In childhood I read glow- 

 ing descriptions of their beauty and delicious 

 fragrance; later I saw a waxen representation 

 of one; and stilllatercaught a glimpse of a lovely 

 bunch of real live Water Lilies. All these occur- 

 rences served to increase my desire to have qne 

 for my very own, and at last I got some roots, 

 but only one made a feeble growth the first year 

 and stronger each succeeding year as I became 

 better acquainted with its requirements, and 

 gave it better advantages for developing. Last 

 year it was in a two quart stone jar, set in a water j 

 hole, the water was a little too cold and its 

 growth was smellier and later than it should have 

 been. It bloomed in September. This year I 

 transferred the root to a two gallon stone jar, 

 filling it nearly full of leaf mold and sand, and 

 set it in a dilapidated wash tub sunk into the bed 

 of a tiny rivulet that runs near the house, and 

 which nearly dries up during the heat of sum- 

 mer. Here it has done finely, and to-day, (Aug. 

 Lst.l it has upon it 20 leaves and a plump bud, 

 and all the care it has required has been when 

 the down pours of rain have come, to remove the 

 jar from the tub and set it upon the bank until 

 the foaming torrent should once more become 

 the trickling rill, and then to return it to its 

 miniature lake. During winter it only requires 

 that the jar containing the root be set in a pit or 

 cellar free from frost.— Efder's Wife. 



Spbavlng With London Purple. I have 

 been injured to the extent of a good many dollars 

 by the ad\ice published in the papers this 

 spring to spray fruit trees with a London purple 

 solution as a remedy for curculio and codling 

 moth. I followed the directions given, using the 

 London purple at the rate of one pound tti iiO 

 gallons of water, and It nearly ruined the foliage 

 and entire crop of fruit on every tree it was put 

 on, and in some instances nearly killed the trees. 

 I used it on Apples, Peaches and Plums. Here- 

 tofore I have used Paris green, and never had it 

 injure the foliage. I think papers should t>e very 

 careful in publishing untested remedies, as they 

 may do a vast amount of injury thereby.— £. P. 

 Cuinminy.'S. 



Berries in Central Kansas. In July num- 

 ber a correspondent states that he has found It 

 impossible to raise Raspberries successfully in 

 Central Kansas. We are further east, but during 

 the past five seasons have not entirely failed 



with HasplH^rries, cither black or red, except in 

 l.'*,'<7. We seem to be more successful than other 

 fruit growers here, as will be seen by the prices | 

 we obtained, viz.: 1.1 t<i 2"_')^ cents per quart for 

 black, from liiS;, to IHI cents for red. Wc raise 

 the Uregg for lilack. The Hi-st two sciusons 

 raised Cuthtxirt, and the last two Shaffer for red. 

 Our location and soil are rather favorable, and 

 our berries arc raised on a soil of only moderate 

 fertilit.v, sloping up from the river bottom to the 

 limestone bluff. We have been troubled here 

 with rot and mildew on our Grapes this year, 



THE BRANCHING BROCCOLI, A NtW HAC£. 



baring had 'over five Inches more rain than the 

 average of the la.st 21 yeai-s in eastern Kansas. 

 Brant, Black Defiance, El Dorado, Triumiih and 

 Centennial have rotted badly: LadyWashington, 

 Vergennes, Agawam and Hartford a little, while 

 Concord, Catawba, Delaware, Faith, Flster and 

 Pougbkeepsie, Moore's E.irly and Pocklington 

 have practically escaped so far. Moore's Early, 

 Faith and Hartford riiwned first, and were mar- 

 keted as early as Aug. .5th. Delaware, Concord 

 and Pougbkeepsie about a week behind.— .Sufi. 



Fruits for Nebraska. While I admire Mr. 

 Powell's writings, and have no doubt that he is a 

 careful obser\er, and would be a safe guide for 

 an orchardist in New York, he is certainly mis- 

 taken in recommending the varieties he does for 

 the western prairies, and any orchardist or nurse- 

 r>Tnan west of the Missouri river would say so. 

 The Fameuse Is about the only Apple in his list 

 that is endorsed for this longitude, and that is 

 not ranked first. While the varieties of the 

 European Plum and Sweet Cherries are uni- 

 formly successful, his list of Pears, Grapes and 

 small fruits are nearer right so far as they will 

 stand a winter temperature, sometimes going 

 below 34° with very little snow for protection.— 

 Cha». H. Manlcii. KanSiU. 



Spoiling Simple Operations. This calls to 

 my mind another instance of the ignorance of 

 many people concerning the simplest require- 

 ments of plants. Calling at a friend's a month ago, 

 bis wife, replying to a query of mine, said she 

 could not have success with window plants; she 

 was sure she gave them good attention, but where 

 one branch gained another lost, and she rarely 

 was rewarded with a blossom. I made an exam- 

 ination and found the soil in the pots hard and 

 cracked. Its surface had not been stirred, prob- 

 ably, since the day it was put in the pot. I asked 

 the lady how often she watered the plants and 

 she replied, " Oh, about every day; the soil seems 

 to get dry so soon." I thought it was not sur- 

 prising that the soil in such condition should soon 

 get dry. Nor was T much surprised that the soil 

 was in such condition and that it was watered so 

 often. Very many amateur growers are guilty 

 of these mistakes. I got an old table knife and 

 loosened and fined the earth in the pots to a 

 depth of an inch and a half— the pots were from 

 six to eight inches deep. It was heroic treatment, 

 but the only thing to do. I instructed my friend 

 to keep the soil to the depth of an inch loose and 

 fine, and to water only when this loose soil had 

 become quite dry— say once every three to four 

 days when the weather was dry and hot, and 

 once a week when the atmosphere was cool and 

 moist; and when she did water the plants to do 

 the work thoroughly— to saturate the sou. I met 

 her this morning and the first thing she said was. 



"<)h, you should stv those plants. I've followed 

 your instructions and the plant* have grown 

 more during the last month than they had grown 

 during the six months before. E\ery plant is 

 thrifty." The chief ad\antagc in keeping the 

 surface soil loose ami tine is in regulating the 

 moisture supply. This stops the capillary water 

 just below the surface, henceitisnot evaporated 

 anil wasted. Hence less waterings are required; 

 and as the air is also admitted, sowing and pud- 

 dling are avoided. The soil is kept sweet and 

 lively; wholesome and generous to the plants. — 

 Jo?in M. Stahl. 



Burning Over Strawberry Beds. I 

 have seen some reference in your col- 

 umns or elsewhere to this subject. For 

 several years I have burned my .Straw- 

 berry beds over just as soon as possible 

 after berries are all picked, selecting a 

 time when the mulch of Straw is suffici- 

 ently dry, and when there is a brisk wind, 

 if possible, blowing lengthwise of the 

 matted rows. Then I go through be- 

 tween the rows two or three times with 

 a Planet Jr., cultivator, or its like, 

 loosening up the soil before it becomes dry 

 and hard; then after plants are started 

 enough to see them. I turn off a part of the 

 row on each side with a small steel turn- 

 ing plow with rolling coulter attached, 

 'earing about a foot in width of plants, 

 which can be readily cleaned out. after- 

 ward working down the back fuiTow 

 between the rows, against the row of 

 plants. Then you have loose mellow soil 

 next to the plants for them to throw out 

 runners upon and make a lot of vigor- 

 ous new ones along the edge of old 

 row. Occasionally I go through with 

 the one horse Harrow cultivator nar- 

 rowed down, to kill weeds and throw 

 runners around in place, so that by winter there 

 will be as clean and rigorous matted row as in 

 first season's setting. I have kept beds three and 

 four years in this way in good, clean, healthy 

 condition. Some in this section of the state are 

 losing acres of Strawberry beds by the new 

 "Strawberry root louse." Mine are free from 

 insects and blight, except "grub" occasionally 

 Vines green, vigorous and healthy— besides 

 have had some dishes of second crop in Septem- 

 ber, some of them as fine and large as berries in 

 June. With not too much mulch upon the 

 plants the fire does not destroy many plants, but 

 kills weeds, seeds, and insects, and has never 

 failed to be a success with me.— A . M. N. 



A New Race of Broccoli. 



Broccoli is perhaps not a very popular nor 

 generally cultivated vegetable; but we ven- 

 ture to say that nothing would tend to make 

 it more popular than to drop the foreign 

 sounding name Broccoli, and, hy common 

 consent call it Winter Cauliflower, unless it 

 be the introduction of the new branching 

 sort announced for next spring by English 

 papers. If we can grow it here to equal the 

 specimen sent by Messrs. Sutton & Sons of 

 Reading, England, to the office of Garden- 

 ing World, every gardener, we are sure, will 

 desire to have it in his garden. 



The plant, a reduced picture of which we 

 here present, consisted of a strong central 

 OF main stem, together with ten strong 

 lateral branches originating from the prim- 

 ary one near the ground. Each of these 

 stems bore a head of " Winter Cauliflower," 

 the central one being the largest, measuring 

 seven inches in diameter and as many in 

 thickness. Each of the ten laterals produced 

 a head from two to four inches in diameter; 

 but the lateral heads are later and grow 

 after the main hea<l is cut out. Smaller 

 branches, also bearing heads, start from the 

 secondary stems, and the plant if given a 

 good, rich, moist soil and plenty of space, 

 say four feet each way, may continue to 

 branch and bear heads in a truly wonderful 

 way. Cultivation and selection, it is 

 thought, will in time give the heads what is 

 somewhat wanting now — a more refined 

 appearance. Still we have a fine start here, 

 and this new race of " Winter Cauliflower," 

 provided it answers the description, will be 

 heartily welcomed. 



