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POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



The Wish of the Leaf. 



" To be a bird— ah me : " 

 The leaf sighed on the tree; 



" What happy, happy fate, 

 To glide upon the air 

 O'er regions free and falj-, 



And chant at " Heaven's Gate I " 

 *' Oh, envj'lng Leaf, beware ! 

 Already joy's full share 



Lies in thine own true place; " 

 A laughing gale passed by— 

 " I'll teach the leaf to fly. 



And ride through distant space." 

 Then down from its brief height, 

 Down from the air and light. 



Far from its sheltering tree 

 The leaf was cast. All day 

 In feverish dust it lay. 



And torn with misery. 



— The Independent. 



Summer Not The Best. 



As for the *' golden days," why, countless flies 



And torrid heat were much their strongest features; 



And her " calm silver nights " mosquitoes brought, 



And many other wily, winged creatures. 



Besides which (and oh! poets, when I think 



Of them, at your regret again I wonder). 



Her "gentle show'rs" so often scared the world 



With lightning flashes and terrlflic thunder. 



No, no, "sweet Summer," me you do not leave 



Singing in minor key half broken-hearted; 



Let other rhymsters mourn that you are gone; 



I'm very glad, indeed, you have departed. 



—Detroit Free Press. 



December. 



Month for flre and glowing ember. 

 Is the last one, cold December. 

 Time for gay frolic and for fun. 

 Which the short days leave just begun. 



Little Bun, little bloom ! 



As to size fit the tree to the yard. 



Let cione t)e cut before it freezes hard. 



Pansies, like Wheat, need but a thin covering. 



We predict no failure in the Christmas tree 

 crop. 



Fewer fences reduce expenses and increase 

 profits. 



Winter watering for pot plants should be fore- 

 noon watering. 



Kill not the house plants with kindness, nor 

 cook them in the kitchen. 



Paris Golden Celery is a new variety reported 

 on favorably in the Boston markets. 



The good Cineraria grower guards his plants 

 from even the slightest contact with frost. 



If plants don't " catch cold " in a draught they 

 come near to it. Keep off the cold draughts. 



Is there any decaying fruit iu the cellar? It 

 must not be. It means ill health to the family. 



Unlcliing and manuring is now the order of 

 the day; mind culture the order of the long 

 evenings. 



Like a Banana, A good Apple without seed 

 or core is a thing worth striving for. We think 

 it will come. 



The Kansas State Horticnltnral Society holds 

 its annual meeting at Paola, Miami Co., Decem- 

 ber .3 to .5, IS»9. 



The Cauliflower crop seems to have been some- 

 what of a failure In its own stronghold, on Long 

 Island, this year. 



Messrs, Cnrrie Bros., of Milwaukee, Wis,, now 

 add one more " rust-proof " Bean, the " Rust 

 Proof Golden Wax," to an already long list of 

 recent introductions, 



" The weeds must go," says Dakota, and woe 

 to the man who harbors them, A noxious weed- 

 law, strictly enforced, would not hurt this State 

 and many others either. 



For the Tomato rot try sulphide of potassium 

 in solution (one ounce to the gallon of water) on 

 the diseased plants, sulphur and linseed oil on the 

 pipes, and a liry atmosphere in the house. 



Deep Tillage. I have been laughed at, if not 

 scoffed, for plowing a piece of land for a vineyard 

 a foot deep with four horses, but I And it pays 

 in more than one way.— F. H. JVeidenmUler. 



Cnt-flowers when immersed into a solution of 

 gum arable, repeating once or twice after the 

 gum coat has (Iried on them, are said to be pre- 

 served in all their beauty, and for a long time. 



White Grapes. Go slow on planting them. 

 This advice given at the meeting of the American 

 Horticultural Society at Cleveland, several years 

 ago, is again heard, and apparently in still louder 

 and more emphatic tones. 



Lack of Pollen, which so often results in par- 

 tial or entire barrenness of many fruit and nut 

 trees, does not seem to be a fault of the Kussian 

 fruits. Abundance of pollen, and plenty of 

 fruit in consequence, is the rule with them. 



Wax Plant. I have four varieties of Hoya, 

 H. coronosa, H. imperialis, H. variegata and H. 

 globulosa, and I am anxious to add the H. bella 

 to my list. All do excellently in this cUmate, as 

 do the Oleanders.— JIfrs. F. M. Parchal, Texas. 



Grafting Wax. For a good one, neither too 

 soft nor too stiff, try the following: 4 pounds 

 rosin, 1 pound bees wax, 1 pint boiled Unseed oil. 

 Melt, and when sufBciently cool, pull like taffy 

 and form into balls or sticks. Be sure to have 

 unadulterated linseed oil. 



No Apples to be shipped from this great fruit 

 section this year. Thousands, tens, and perhaps 

 hundreds of thousands of barrels are brought 

 here from Michigan and stored. The whole crop 

 of real good fruit grown in Niagara County is 

 probably within 3,000 barrels. 



Yon visit the city occasionally, don't you ? But 

 do you ever go through the markets, carefully 

 noting what products bring the best prices, and 

 how they are handled and packed? Such exam- 

 ination may suggest reforms and changes in 

 selection of varieties and methods. 



Bosebng Eemedy. It is said that laying the 

 vines on the ground late in the fall, and then 

 again tying to trellis after mild weather begins 

 in spring, will induce early blossoming and a 

 consequent early development of the clusters 

 before the bugs make their appearance. 



Layering Jacqueminots. The only way that I 

 have succeeded in increasing Jacqueminot Roses 

 is by pegging down the lower limbs. Cut the 

 branch halt way through on the lower side .so it 

 will root more readily. Cuttings have always 

 failed with me, no matter how the season, or 

 what the condition.— ^rgi/nn is. 



Tree of Ages, A Plane tree (Cottonwood) that 

 was a vigorous tree during the Revolution is 

 reported to still stand on George Sanger's farm 

 in Canterbury, Conn. It is seventy feet high, 

 the body measuring sixteen feet in circumfer- 

 ence two feet from the groimd, and of the same 

 size around twenty-five feet above. 



The cumulative effect of the sulphate of cop- 

 per mixtures where applications are made year 

 after year for fungus disease', is the subject we 

 would like to hear about. Reports are certainly 

 now in order. WiB continued treatment year 

 after year tend to wipe out the rots and mildews? 

 There should at least be some indication to that 

 effect by this time. 



The largest tree in Florida is said to stand 

 between Long\vood and Soldiers'Creek, in Orange 

 County. It is a Cypress, which by actual meas- 

 urement is 14 feet in diameter just above the 

 ground. This is solid wood. There is none of 

 the inverted funnel shape so common in the 

 Cypress, but it comes out of the ground straight 

 as a candle, and at tiO feet from the ground the 

 diameter is estimated at 10 feet. 



Paragon Chestnut, Messrs, H. M. Engle & Son 

 of Lancaster Co., Pa., have forwarded to this office 

 some specimens of this really excellent Chestnut 

 of enormous size, one of them measuring 1% 

 inches in width, 1% inches in height, and 1 inch 

 in depth. We have before this seen burrs con- 

 taining five and even six large nuts. Messrs. 

 Engle & Son write that the nuts are unusually 

 large this season, the trees not Ijeing overloaded 

 as is usually the case. 



A new parasite of the codling moth which is 

 classed as a new species of the genus Bethylus 

 has been discovered. The larvse feed externally 

 on the codlin worm. Whether this discovery, 

 however, will be of much practical importance 

 to the fruit grower or not remains to be seen. 

 Probable it will not, unless we learn to breed and 

 distribute these insect pai'asites in a more system- 

 atic manner from what we have been able to do 

 heretofore. 



A pleasing custom that is now gaining a foot- 

 hold in many German houses is to keep a small 

 Balsam Evergreen tree growing in a tub or box. 

 The children are sure to pet it and care for it, for 

 they know they will find it in full glory and dec- 

 orated in true Christm<as fashion upon the Christ- 

 mas table, with the rich presents spread out under 

 its branches. The same tree may thus serve this 

 purpose for a number of years. When too large 

 it is replaced by a smaller specimen. 



A veritable bush lima, and a good one, too, 

 from all accounts, is being introducjed for next 

 spring by Messrs. W. AUee Burpee & Co., of 

 Philadelphia, Pa. While the price set on this 

 novelty is meant to be in a measure prohibitory 

 on account of small stock in existence, we think 

 that 75 cents can be invested much less profitab- 

 ly in many other ways than by the purchase of 4 

 Beans, provided the novelty turns out half as 

 valuable as claimed tor it. Of course we shall 

 have it on our experiment grounds next season, 

 and in fact we are enthusiastic over it already. 



To set a post firmly and solidly, for a green- 

 house, for instance, or for a gate post, our friend 

 Pierce now thinks he has the right recipe. The 

 holes are dug 33 inches deep and 8x18 inches in 

 size (the broad way in the direction of the green- 

 house wall or the fence), the posts inserted and 

 held perpendicularly in center by means of a few 

 small stones blockeil up around it, and the holes 

 then filled two-thirds full with cheap cement 

 mortar, one part cement to six of sand. The 

 hole is now filled up with coarse gravel until the 

 mortar runs out of the hole, and when the latter 

 has become dry, the post stands firm and im- 

 movable. 



Nothing For Sale, J. W. L., of Delaware, who 

 apparently has never seen a copy of Popui.ar 

 Gardening, asks us to send him catalogue, if 

 possible with instructions on Mushroom culture. 

 While every one of our readers will consider it 

 self-evident that we issue no catalogue, since we 

 as publishers naturallj' keep our hands off any 

 commercial enterprise that might call for the 

 expedient of a catalogue, we think it may be 

 well to emphasize the latter fact by stating for 

 the benefit of the applicant, and of all whom it 

 may concern, we have absolutely nothing to sell 

 except subscriptions to and advertising space in 

 POPULAB Gardening. J. W. L. will find instruc- 

 tions on Mushroom growing in November issue. 



The Garden Fence. The crusade against fences 

 which the American Garden is so vigorously es- 

 pousing, might be very well were there no dogs, 

 no destructive boys, no drunken rowdies, no 

 occasional stray cattle and hogs, and we were go- 

 ing to sa.v, no fine gardens along our streets. Our 

 own association with good gardens in city, \-illage 

 and country has been such that we never could 

 feel easy to have our valuable tree, shrub and 

 plant pets, and our fine fruit subjected to the 

 above evils, as certainly is sure to happen at 

 times if there be no street fence. Popular 

 Gardening must still advise those who spend 

 their precious money and time in having a fine 

 garden, to erect the fence, but let it be so light 

 and unobtrusive that it will not cut off the 

 beauty back of it. 



The improved plant pot. picture, of which is 

 here shown, is an English invention. It is nothing 



IIVIPROVED PLANT POT. 



more nor less than one pot susi>ended in another, 

 and the advantages claimed for it are (1) the pro- 

 tection of the inner pot from the heat of the sun, 

 thereby preventing the roots being burnt, and 

 ensuring a more even moisture and temperature 

 about the roots; Ci) less watering required, con- 

 sequently less labor; (S) economy of manure, by 

 reason of its strength not being washed away by 

 such frequent waterings; (4) security against 

 intrusion of worms; (.5) greater base to the pot, 

 hence less risk of being blown or knocked over; 

 (B) avoidance, in a great measure, to the alternate 

 roasting and drenching which the roots experi- 

 ence in hot weather. These pots are especially 

 designed tor Chrysanthemums. 



Fitzwater Pear. Mr. Herbert A. Jones of Him- 

 rods, N. Y., has forwarded to this office a basket 



