POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



I have before referred to, that the layer is 

 cut direct from the parent stem and shipped 

 without first being nursed for a few days 

 sufficiently rooted. 



The Tariff and Horticulture. 



The florists in the Buffalo Convention 

 disposed of the question of " dtity on bulbs" 

 in short order. The knotty point was dis- 

 cussed solely from a business standpoint, 

 leaving the political aspects entirely out of 

 consideration. 



It must be said, however, that the matter 

 in this case was rather simple. It came to 

 light (1) that the duty on bulbs makes them 

 dearer and restricts their sale; (2) that bulbs, 

 according to the statement of I>ong Island 

 bulb growers, are grown in this country 

 cheaper than they can be imported. The in- 

 terests of the great body of florists, there- 

 fore, demand reduction or abolition of the 

 bulb duty, and the society decided by vote 

 to use its influence in behalf of such reduc- 

 tion or abolition. 



The question of duty on fruits is very 

 much more complicated, and it is not easily 

 determined just to what extent the impor- 

 tation of tropical fruib?, especially of Ba- 

 nanas (which recently has assumed such 

 large proportions), influences the demand 

 for and price of home grown fruits. It 

 should be approached with calmness, and 

 considered in all its phases. 



In a general way we as a nation doubtless 

 do not make use of fruits as freely as we 

 should and as would be in the interest of 

 true civilization. To what extent the free 

 importation and cheapness of Bananas is 

 antagonistic to the free consumption of 

 domestic fruits, especially Strawberries, and 

 to what extent it is merely an educationary 

 factor in gradually leading us to that de- 

 sirable condition when people cease to look 

 upon fruits as a luxury, and accept them as 

 food for daily consumption, is yet a debatable 

 question. For many persons Bananas more 

 nearly take the place of bread than of fruit, 

 and the more freely they are used, the less 

 inclined are the eaters to go without the 

 pleasant acids found in our berries. 



Some facts may be recognized as estab- 

 lished in the case of Bananas. First, they 

 are wholly unlike any fruits grown on 

 American soil; second, they cannot be grown 

 in appreciable quantities in America, hence 

 there can be no such thing as protection for 

 Banana culture; third, the people— the Ba- 

 nana eaters themselves— have learned to 

 like them greatly. Whether to raise the 

 price of Bananas again to the high figure 

 that it was 20 years ago, would simply put 

 a check to their free use, and correspond- 

 ingly increase the use of the acid small 

 fruits, is a difficult point to decide, and the 

 whole matter must be considered in a cau- 

 tious way. 



Somewhat simpler perhaps is the question 

 so far as Oranges are concerned. It seems 

 that California, Florida and Louisiana could 

 after a while furnish us with all the Oranges 

 that Americans might possibly use, and if 

 this is the case, and the home grown article 

 being as good as the imported one, un- 

 doubtedly a prohibitive tax levied on foreign 

 Oranges would be beneficial to American 

 growers. 



Notes from my Conservatory. 



W. F. LAKE. 



In these days there is hardly an excuse 

 for a lover of flowers being without a fair 

 abundance of them in winter, and besides 

 having a lot of small plants propagated as 

 his stocks affords opportunity, to set out of 

 doors in the spring. There are very few 

 families who do not keep some kind of fire, 

 in at least one room during the whole night 

 in wniter, so that the temperature is always 

 above freezing point. Though one may not 



burn coal, the plants will thrive equally as 

 well, there being no gases to escape which 

 are of more damage than the Irregular heat 

 coming from the wood fire. 



The first winter flowers I ever had were 

 grown under difficulties. It was in an old 

 stone house with the deep recess windows, 

 and the cold could be felt coming in every 

 small crack. I had plenty of flowers, the 

 plants being first prepared in the usual way 

 for winter blooming by keeping buds off' 

 in the summer, and encouraging stocky 

 growth, and every night during the coldest 

 part of winter, they came out of these win- 

 dows to be set on a table in the middle of 

 the room. 2.50 pots to handle every night 

 and morning, was quite a task; yet the 

 pleasure derived from them more than bal- 

 anced the account. On mild nights, they 

 would survive the cold with the shades being 

 drawn, and papers slipped between the pots 

 and the walls. I had Callas, Carnations, 

 Cinerarias, Heliotrope, Primroses, Hya- 

 cinths, and a number of old favorites in 

 flower all the winter. This was a beginning. 

 The next winter I had a conservatory, and 

 after this, a real greenhouse of good size. 



The conservatory was made by putting 

 sashes in the front and sides of one half of a 

 veranda extending completely across the 

 eastern front of the house, and a door open- 

 ing into it from the sitting room. The ques- 

 tion of keeping it warm first troubled me, 

 but I determined that the stove at the ex- 

 treme end of the room would be enough ex- 

 cepting in some very cold nights, and a trial 

 would soon show. In having the glass put 

 in. I had some tins bent and so puttied in 

 that the water collecting on each sash would 

 run down the middle into a saucer, thus 

 saving the fioor from becoming so unpleas- 

 ant by the water collecting, as it is sure to 

 do more or less from the windows. Strong 

 brackets were put up' for three shelves 

 which with using the floor for plants, really 

 gave me four. 



These shelves were eighteen inches wide. 

 At first it would seem they are far to wide, 

 there being no glass on the top of the con- 

 servatoi-y, and a shelf directly above the 

 other, but I found by arranging the plants 

 with care, putting those requiring most 

 light outward, and the shade loving kinds 

 back of them, they got enough sunlight 

 from the sides and through the open spaces 

 to make them thrive well indeed. This con- 

 servatory cost more than would needs be in 

 most cases on account of its being in such 

 prominent place, and opening off from a 

 main room therefore had to be more elabor- 

 ate. 1 .saw one which held 1000 plants in 

 pots of different sizes, costing only ■*1.5.00 for 

 sashes, the veranda having been made at 

 the time the house was built the work on 

 the conservatory being done in the family. 

 Of course it was plain,but just as convenient, 

 and covered by plants. 



Mine has held more than 2,000 pots every 

 winter,of course including the small thtimbs 

 in which were cuttings just rooted, and the 

 number of blooms produced seemed to be a 

 marvel to most people. This was due to 

 the care in the choosing of the better varie- 

 ties, those of the freest bloom and best ha- 

 bit. I had a collection of something like 

 1.50 Geraniums culled from a large number 

 purchased each season from the florists' 

 catalogues, many of which were good for 

 nothing in the house but were remarkably 

 good bedders. Such were kept in the cellar 

 during winter and planted again in spring. 

 The majority in house were kept in four 

 and five inch pots, with about 300 in all, 

 placed next to the glass on all but the top 

 shelves, which were too hot for Geraniums, 

 causing the buds to blast. I believe it would 

 be safe to say that hardly a plant of these 

 Geraniums were out of bloom during the 

 winter, and most of them had three or more 



clusters at once. Being arranged with an 

 eye to color; allowed to grow toward the 

 glass without turning, and so prolific, a 

 good show from the street was the result. 

 At some future time perhaps I will give a 

 complete list, large enough for any amateur, 

 of the best blooming kinds for house culture. 



The top south shelf is occupied with Cacti 

 mostly. A large pot of Hoya takes up far 

 more than its share of glass room, while the 

 vine is covering the ceiling. I think it will 

 be as thrifty when moved up higher so that 

 the glass room may be used by something 

 requiring the sun. This plant which is a 

 joy during the spring and summer months, 

 sometimes fills up an occasional cluster 

 during winter, as if jealous of the free bloom 

 of its stirrounding neighbors. A few Koses 

 bloom here fairly well, but are somewhat 

 troubled with red spider, because of heat 

 and dryness. Cyclamen, Primroses, Bego- 

 nias, Bulbs and a large general collection 

 are interspersed over the rest of the space, 

 allowing those requiring most light the pre- 

 ference as to position, filling in with the less 

 particular ones. 



A half dozen Palms thrive very well on 

 the floor in spite of the brushing of peoples' 

 clothes when examining the other plants. 

 We have curtains draped between the room 

 and conservatory, which are easily let down 

 and closed in case of too much heat when 

 the sun is shining which often rai.ses the 

 temperature for a couple of hours during 

 the middle of the day to 85° or even to !W. 



Water is kept constantly on the stove, and 

 saucers of it are set around between the 

 pots, sponges filled and put between where 

 there is space. The red spider does not 

 trouble much, and when filling in the fall, 

 I never allow a plant to go in which has an 

 Insect of any kind if I know its so very 

 little trouble is experienced in this direction. 



I think if I had it to bxiild again, I would 

 have the floor taken out entirely, letting 

 the sash run to the ground with either a 

 ground or brick floor, then have steps down 

 from the main room. With this, no care 

 would have to be taken as to the amount of 

 water to be used for spraying, and still 

 more moisture be in the air. If it proved 

 too cold in the worst weather, a lamp or 

 two could be left burning at night on the 

 floor which would give a considerable heat. 

 A place like this is very much appreciated 

 in cold winter, and one often notes visitors 

 taking their book or work, and sitting down 

 where it is summer in preference to any 

 other place, for veritably here is summer in 

 in the dead of winter. 



COMMENTS BY READERS. 



A di'j3artm*'nt to which all are invited to send notes of 

 ej'perience n»rf observation concerning topics that re- 

 cenilu hai'e been treated on in this Journal. Many 

 suctl contributions monthly are tcelcome. 



Our National Flower. The questiim. which 

 shall it be, having been submitted to the people 

 for their decision, it behooves such of us as shall 

 voice our opinion to do so understandingly. 

 not from caprice nor sentiment, not in accord- 

 ance with "dame fashion's " whim, nor even to 

 give precedence to our especial favorite, unless 

 after candid consideration it is found to possess 

 the good qualities essential in our national em- 

 blem. Other nations have been guided in their 

 choice by circumstances, which caused patriotic 

 sentiment to point to some certain plant as the 

 one to be honored, but we are, or should be, 

 guided by judgment and a realizing sense of " the 

 eternal fitness of things." Let our national 

 flower be a native of our own country, if such a 

 one can be found meeting all the requirements. 

 It should lie a flower, not a weed, grain nor for- 

 age crop. Our national flower should be capable 

 of being used appropriately upon all occasions 

 when patiiotic sentiment should be e.vpresscd. 

 When we come to prepare our Nation's dead for 

 burial, or to decorate their final resting place, 

 could we with due respect employ the coarse 

 Sunflower, the iU-smelling Golden Rod or the 

 useful Indian Corn '/■ And who would not tire of 



