POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NUT XATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART: DO THOU BUT THINt:." -Miuios. 



Vol. V. 



IDEC!E3S.a:BEia, ISSS. 



No. 3. 



Moan on, ye cold and winter winds, 



A^nst the frosted window-panes; 

 Ye cannot cliange the love that binds. 



With strong and fervent chains. 

 The heart that beats and never wanes. 

 Lash In your might the aged tree. 



Spare not his form, though bending low, 

 Xur let a leaf there clinging be: 



But blow, ye winds, and blow. 

 Ye cannot change the heart In me. 



—Arthur's Home Magazine. 



Orchids Misnamed. English Journals complain 

 of the practice of Orchid growers to tack the 

 word "alba" (white) to one-half of all the flow- 

 ers that show the least bit of white. It is certain- 

 ly a gross misuse of words, if not an utter ab- 

 surdity to call a flower "alba," and then describe 

 its color as " primrose." 



Seed Control Station. We see no necessity for 

 such Institutions in this country. Lively coinpe- 

 tition between live seedsmen tends to keep the 

 seeds offered by all reasonably free from injurious 

 admixtures. Each grower can protect himself 

 by patronizing only reliable dealers whose seeds 

 he finds up to the mark. We are only too apt to 

 put our reliance in the fostering care of our 

 Government in such matters. 



Prof. G. H. Cook. The loss of Prof. George H. 

 Cook, whose sudden death of heart failure oc- 

 curred on Sept. 22d of this year at New Bruns- 

 wick, N. J., wiU lie severely felt by all progress- 

 ive tillers of the soil. It leaves a blank that it 

 wUl not be easy to flU. Under his management 

 the New Jersey .Agricultural Experiment Station 

 has become one of the leaders, and accomplished 

 results of far more than average value. To his 

 untiring energy a large share of the advancement 

 of poptilar knowledge on the value and use of 

 commercial fertilizers, among other things,is due. 

 We shall miss his advice and instructions always 

 so willingly given when applied to for it. The 

 genial face of Geo. H. Cook will not easil.v fade 

 from our memory. 



HoRTicin.TURE Meetings. The meeting'season 

 is again upon us. December starts in well. The 

 Michigan and Missouri State Societies hold their 

 meetings on December 3d to .')th, the former in 

 Hart, Oceana Co., Mich., the latter in Lebanon, 

 Laclede Co., Mo. The New Jersey horticulturists 

 usually meet week before Christmas in Trenton, 

 those of Western New York last week in Jan- 

 uary in Kochester. Time and place of all State 

 meetings will be announced in our columns as 

 soon as we are informed about time and place. 

 We urge our readers to attend as many of these 

 meetings as may be convenient. They afford 

 rare chances of mind culture, and this is as 

 profitable as the culture of anything we might 

 name, fruit not excepted. As a mind stimulant 

 nothing can be better for the horticulturist than 

 to attend a live herticultural meeting. 



The Seed Division Humbug. Mr. Colman 

 in one of his last reports of the Agricultural 

 Department recommended the transfer of the 

 seed distribution feature from the Department 

 to the Experiment stations. If this suggestion 

 had been properly acted upon, it would have 

 removed the seed division from immediate Con- 

 gressional interference, and perhaps resulted in 

 its reform i. e. return to its original aims and 

 purposes. We had expected that the present 

 Secretary of Agriculture would go a step further, 

 and in the desire to rid the Department, in 

 its new dignity and elevation, of this old and 

 generally recognised abuse and stigma, recom- 

 mend to Congress the entire abolition of the 

 scandalous farce. Instead of this, Mr. Rusk has 

 made a retrograde movement, and announces in 

 his first report, just published, that he has put 

 more energies than any of his predecessors into 



this unpopular and absurd institution. We do 

 not believe that the secretary will have the sym- 

 pathy and support of the intelligent farmer in 

 any such proceeding; and are sure that the 

 efforts of the Department might be expended 

 in a much more profitable and satisfactory way. 



Breaking the Sugar Trust. A western 

 agricultural paper is trying to induce its sub- 

 scribers and all other people that may wish to 

 join in the crusade against the monopoly, to 

 abstain from the use of sugar beginning Decem- 

 ber 1st, and continue this for such a length of 

 time as will be necessary to bring the sugar 

 trust to terms. Such a course might be tried, 

 although we have not much confidence in its suc- 

 cess. What we would like to see— and this seems 

 to us eminently in the interest of horticulture- 

 is to see the American people restrict themselves 

 in the use of sugar. Not only that we as a nation 

 consume five times the (juantity of rich pastry 

 and sweet meats that is good for our stomachs 

 and teeth, but we have also got into the habit of 

 smothering the fine fruit flavors and aromas — of 

 the Strawberries and other berries. Peaches, etc. 

 —in an overabundance of sugar. We have thus 

 not only increased the consumption of sugar to 

 an unprecedented amount per capita, but also 

 deprive ourselves of the real enjoyment, and the 

 best sanitary effects of some of our choicests 

 horticultural products. Where people would 

 eat and enjoy two quarts of Strawberries with- 

 out sugar, and thus get all the beneficial medical 

 effects from them, they get tired of the excessive 

 sweetness of the Strawberry and sugar mixture, 

 and perhaps may not be induced to eat a pint of 

 the fruit. We do wish that trust-struck sugar 

 were much less in demand and use. 



Change the Rose Soil. 



The secret of success in Rose culture, in 

 the main, is this: A frequent renewal of the 

 soU. Among the best Rose growers the 

 faith in merely a rich garden earth, how- 

 ever highly tilled and augmented with 

 special manures, for this favorite flower is 

 on the wane, while faith in new soils, fresh 

 sites and farm-yard manure grows stronger 

 day by day. 



Could the Rose bed be moved to a new 

 location periodically as in effect is done by 

 those who force Roses for cut flowers, the 

 course would be simple enough. This being 

 impracticable in the ordinary out-door cul- 

 ture of private gardens, we may, instead, 

 resort to the very effective substitute of 

 applying heavy dressings of fresh soil peri- 

 odically to the Rose beds. To do this read- 

 ily it is best to remove part of the surface 

 soil of the bed in the autumn, and forking 

 in the fresh earth as deeply among the roots 

 as practicable, with as little destruction of 

 the roots as possible. 



As to the nature of the freshening earth, 

 nothing better could be used than the upper 

 layer, say six inches deep, from the turf of a 

 pasture lot or of the road side. This earth 

 could be applied directly after being some- 

 what divided by handling. Rather a better 

 course would be to prepare it a year in 

 advance by adding to it one-sixth of the 

 bulk of good stable manure, piling the two 

 substances up in alternate layers. 



But what of insects on Roses some one will 

 say? Fortify the plants with the vigor that 

 comes from right feeding at the roots, and 

 you will know much less of the attacks of 

 these pests. 



Debilitated plants are the first choice of 

 insects. 



Pruning Thorny Bushes. 



ERWIN HALTMAN, MAHONING CO., OHIO. 



As to the time of cutting out the old wood 

 from Raspberry and Blackberry bushes I 

 have now pretty much 

 settled on fall. I always 

 like to "slick up" my 

 small fruit patches be- 

 fore winter, and have 

 every plant in good 

 shape, pruned and sup- 

 ported by a stake. The 

 question with me has 

 always been how to cut 

 out and remove the 

 tough prickly canes of 

 Blackberries. At last 

 I had the blacksmith 

 transform an old file 

 in a hook, weld an iron 

 rod to it, and fix a han- 

 dle on other end, giving 

 me a tool as shown in 

 accompanying sketch. 

 Of course the edge of 

 the hook is kept sharp, 

 and it works to my entire satisfaction. With 

 such a firm and comfortable hold on the 

 tool one can work for days without the least 

 fatique, and if the hand is gloved with per- 

 fect comfort. The old wood after being cut 

 out of the hills is simply left to decay. 

 There will be little of it left next season. 



Pruner for Tlwrny 

 Bushes. 



The Private Grounds of C. A. Dana. 



PETER HE.VDERSON. JERSEY CITY, N. J. 



About three miles from the Glen Cove 

 station on the Long Island railroad are the 

 residence and grounds of Chas. A. Dana, 

 Esq., the proprietor of the Xew York Sun. 

 In company with a number of gentlemen 

 eminent in horticulture, six hours of un- 

 flagging interest was most delightfully 

 spent in the examination of the horticul- 

 tural wonders of this charming place, 

 which in variety and beauty of individual 

 specimens of its trees and shrubs has cer- 

 tainly no equal in the United States, if in 

 Europe. Although the specimens of trees 

 and shrubs form the prominent feature, yet 

 everything necessary to complete a gentle- 

 man's private grounds is to be found here, 

 whether it be in fruits, flowers, or vegetables. 

 Everything new and rare, as soon as it is 

 heard of, is ordered and is subjected to a 

 comparative test. 



Mr. Dana's manager is your correspon- 

 dent, William Falconer. Mr. Falconer is 

 not only an enthusiastic botanist, but every 

 operation of his immense charge indicates 

 a thorough knowledge of horticulture, in 

 every department, showing him to be 

 thoroughly up in the most commonplace 

 work of the garden as well as in its most 

 scientific branches. Mr. Dana's grounds 

 are in some respects a private experiment 

 garden, and the results as given to the 

 public so freely and fearlessly by Mr. Fal- 

 coner, I venture to say are of more value to 

 horticulture than that of any experimental 

 station in the country. His field is far more 

 varied, and the versatility of his knowledge 

 derived from the practical study of horti- 

 culture for twenty-five years in the best 

 working schools of Europe and America, 

 makes him perhaps without a peer in his ' 



