66 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



December, 



Wind-Tight Ventilator. Tlie accompanied 

 sketch gives a sectional riew of a wind-tight ven- 

 tilator designed and used by Mr. Anthony, a 

 Chicago florist. The opening in the roof is cased 

 clear around inside with a strip which projects 

 about an inch above the surface of the roof and 

 the weather strip on the outside is carried around 

 three sides of the ventilator sash. The joints on 



WIND-TIGHT VENTILATOR. 

 the outside should be well filled with paints. 

 This adds but a trifle to the first cost of the venti- 

 latoi'S and excludes much cold air that would 

 otherwise drive in when a cold wind is blowing, 

 and renders the sash less liable to be lifted by 

 the wind.- American Florist. 



Birds of Money Value. The more there is 

 known of the life habits of our common birds, 

 the more fully will the public realize the great 

 benefit which they confer upon the husband- 

 men. A bird which feeds mostly upon insects or 

 mice is worth as much to the farmer or gardener 

 as a good sheep, at the lowest estimate, and the 

 farmer or gardener who fully realizes the actual 

 value of such birds would be as willing to have 

 the sportsman come into his enclosure and shoot 

 his sheep as to come in and destroy his birds.— 

 Dr. Reynolds in Mass. Ploughman. 



Benewing the Strawberry Patch. It pays best 

 to fruit a Strawberry plantation only once. 

 Plant a plat every year. The fruit is finer, there 

 is less liability to injury from insects, and it is 

 little more work to make a new plantation than 

 to take care of an old one. For field culture 

 plant in rows three and a half feet apart each 

 way, cultivate both ways, narrowing the culti- 

 vator as the hills spread. Most profit is found in 

 late berries, holding them back in the spring by 

 keeping the mulch on as late as possible.— O. F. 



Preseiving ChettnutB. To keep Chestnuts for 

 seed or eating, mix them with an etiual bulk of 

 clean sand, and bury in a dry spot below frost- 

 Boxes with holes bored in the bottom, crocks or 

 flower pots are suitable vessels to put the Chest- 

 nuts and sand in. Before they are buried, spread 

 out thin for a week or two until the grubs are 

 hatched, then assort carefully and bury only the 

 sound nuts.— Farm Journal. 



Keep Potatoes Dark. Potatoes must be kept 

 in the dark. The whitest, choicest Potatoes will 

 be injured in a short time in any cellar where 

 one can see to walk around. They will look 

 yellowish when cooked and their fine quality is 

 gone. If you cannot make one room of your 

 cellar absolutely dark, see that your home supply 

 is kept in tight boxes or barrels and well covered. 

 —Ohio Farmer. 



Bemedy for Sings. The use of Cabbage and 

 Lettuce leaves as traps is about the simplest 

 remedy, and by irregular examination of these 

 leaves morning and evening, many of these 

 troublesome enemies of Ferns and other green- 

 house plants may be . destroyed. —Gard. & Forest. 



Babbit Mixture. Babbits won't bark the 

 young trees if they are smeared with the follow- 

 ing: Quarter bushel of lime, one-half pound of 

 copperas, and one-halt pound of glue; add the 

 glue and copperas dissolved, to the lime, after 

 slacking, and apply withabrush.— Farm Journal. 



Mulching with Tan Bark. One of m.v nelRhbors 

 uses spent tan bark for mulching his fail-set cuttings 

 of Currants, urapes, etc-. He thinks there Is nothing 

 better.- Abner Holllngaworth. 



Seeping Choice Fruit. Wrapping each .specimen of 

 valuable varieties In soft paper unquestionably tends 

 to preserve them and retain the beautiful tints.— New 

 York Tribune. 



Cheapest and Best. Vegetables and fruits save 

 meat and bread (and doctors' bills also); and they are 

 cheaper foods than wheat or pork or beef.— F's Call. 



Sweet Apples in Market. There seems to be no de- 

 mand in the N. Y. market for sweet Apples. It seems 

 more profitable to feed them to hogs.— Rural N.Yorker. 



Plant Nut Trees. There Is a lively demand for Nuts 

 In this market. The sale of native Nuts seems to In- 

 crease from year to year.— R. N. Yorker. 



Vegetables in Pits. Frost will not penetrate far 

 Into dry earth, but It will go deep Into that which Is 

 wet.— Mich. Farmer. 



Dse for Surplus Tomatoes. Feed a few Tomatoes 

 to the cow if you want to see her enjoy a meal.— R.N.Y' 



Keeping Onions. Onions must be dried well before 

 being stored in bulk for wlDterkeepuig.-Farm Journal. 



Freezing Apples. A sound Apple will not freeze at 

 a temperature of 3(1°, or even 33°.— Dr. Hoskins. 



Changing Seed. The advantage of a change of seed 

 should be considered.- Farmers' Call. 



Vegetable Products on the Table. 



Fried Parsnips. Scrape them and leave them 

 in cold water for an hour, then boil with a little 

 Salt and Pepi>er, and fry in drippings. Drain 

 free of fat and serve hot.— .^m. Cult. 



Apple Custard. If you have custard left from 

 dinner, fill the bottom of the dish with Apple 

 sauce and ijouring the custard over. A very nice 

 desert. Serve nice crackers with it. Berries, 

 sliced Peaches or Pears are nice served thus. 



Hut Pudding. One cupful of sugar, one half 

 of a cupful of butter, two cuptuls of flour, one 

 half a cupful of cold water, three eggs, one and 

 one half teaspoonfuls of baldng powder, one half 

 of a cupful oE whole Walnut meats added the last 

 thmg. Bake and eat with sauce. 



Apple Crumb Pudding. Put a layer of bread 

 crumbs in the bottom of a buttered pudding dish, 

 then a layer of sliced tart Apples sprinkled with 

 sugar, then crumbs and Apples until the dish is 

 almost full. The crumbs should be last. Cover 

 and cook an hour. Eat with the sauce or sweet- 

 ened cream. 



Spiced Barberries. Pick over, and to every 

 quart add a cupful of vinegar, one cupful of 

 sugar, one-halt teaspoonful of Cloves and one 

 teaspoonf ul of Cinnamon: put the Barberries into 

 the boiling vinegar, sugar and spices, and allow 

 ten minutes for every quart in cooking. Serve 

 with roast meats. 



Potato Soup. Pare and slice thin six medium 

 sized Potatoes; stew in one quart of cold water 

 with bits of dried beef. Stir smoothly one table- 

 spoonful of flour with milk in a coffee cup; when 

 perfectly smooth fill the cup with milk and stir 

 into the soup as soon as Potatoes are done. Salt 

 and pepper to taste. 



Celery Stalks. Cut into siuall bits, and use for 

 flavoring soups, broths, etc. Put the leaves into 

 a pan or dish and place in the oven. When dry, 

 crumble them and place away in a wide-mouthed 

 bottle and keep closely covered. This will be 

 found good for flavoring soups when the Celery 

 is out of the market. 



Quince Marmalade. Wash the ripe Quinces, 

 slice and boil till soft enough to mash and strain 

 through a colander. Allow one pound of sugar 

 to one pound of the softened Quince. Boil over 

 a slow fire, stirring often ami watching carefully 

 that it does not burn, until it becomes a thick 

 mass. When partly cooled pack in jelly glasses- 

 Squash Pie. To each cuj) of Squash stewed 

 and sifted, allow a coffee cup of milk, one egg, 

 nearly halt a cup of sugar, and halt a teaspoon- 

 ful each of salt. Nutmeg and Cinnamon. Mix 

 thoroughly the Squash, sugar, salt and spices, 

 add the beaten egg, then the milk. Bake nearly 

 or quite an hour, according to size of the pie.— 

 Mich. Farmer. 



The Skins of Beans. An able chemist and 

 sanitarian sa> s of Beans that they are usually 

 difficult to digest, but are so important a food 

 that they can hardly be dispensed with. The 

 outer coat or skin is the mischief-maker, and 

 should be removed, for the same reason that we 

 peel a Potato. To do this, previous to baking, 

 after soaking the Beans as usual over night or 

 longer, rub them between the hands. A less 

 troublesome plan is to boil the Beans instead of 

 baking them, and rub them through a colander. 

 Beans should be cooked at least eight hours, and 

 preferably longer.— Prairie Farmer. 



Old-Fashioned Baked Beans. One quart of 

 dried Beans, Cranberry preferred, soaked over 

 night. In the morning pick them over carefully, 

 and put them over to boil. When the skins crack 

 a little, which will be in about an hour, they are 

 ready for baking. Put them in a deep pan or a 

 Bean pot, and cover with the water in which they 

 were boiled, adding a tablespoonful of salt, a ta- 

 blespoonful of molasses, and halt a pound of salt 

 pork, the rind of which has been deeply scored. 

 Press it into the Beans, and bake them very slow- 

 ly not less than five hours. It may be necessary 

 to add a little more water. They must bo moist 



but iifit slopjiy and each Bean should be distinct. 

 For those who object to pork, two^tablespoonfuls 

 of sweet beef-driv>inng can be used, or the same 

 amount of butter. Double the amount of salt if 

 no pork is used.— Good Housekeeping. 



Potato Cheese. A quantity of white Potatoes 

 of good quality are boiled in a caldron, and when 

 cool reduced to a pulp, either by means of a 

 grater or mortar. To five pounds of this pulp, 

 which ought to be equal as possible, is added one 

 pound of sour milk and the necessary quantity 

 of salt. The whole is kneaded together and the 

 mixture covered up and allowed to remain for 

 three or four days, according to the season. At 

 the end of this time it is kneeded anew, and the 

 cheeses are placed in little baskets, when the 

 superfluous moisture escapes. They are then al- 

 lowed to dry in the shade, and placed in layers in 

 large vessels, where they must remain for fifteen 

 days. The older these cheeses are the more their 

 quality improves. Three kinds are made. The 

 first and most common is made as detailed above; 

 the second with four parts of Potatoes and two 

 of curdled milk; the third with two parts of Pota- 

 toes and four parts milk. 



HOUSE PLANTS. 



Abntilons. Give occasional doses of liquid manure 

 to plants in bloom. .Shift young plants as required. 

 Pinch back when needed to improve the form of plants. 

 Propagate as desired. 



Ageratums. Turn the plants from time to time. 

 Nip back leading shoots. Maniu-e water may be given 

 occasionally to advantage. 



Air should be given to the plants whenever the 

 weather will permit. Never allow the temperature to 

 be higher at night than would be suitable for the day. 



Aspidistras and Azaleas need a copious supply of 

 water at the roots. Sponge the leaves off occasionally. 



Begonias of the flowering kinds do best In a suimy 

 situation with 55*^ to (JO' F. When out of bloom they 

 will stand partial shade. 



Bulbs. Those for earliest flowering should now be 

 well rooted and may be brought Into light and given 

 water. 



Callas. From now on give an abundance of water, 

 and sponge off the leaves occasionally. Repot yoimg 

 plants promptly a-s required. 



Coboea scandens may be stImiUated by occasional 

 applications of manure water. Look out for green fly. 



Cyclamens need plenty of water while In bud and 

 bloom. Keep close to the glass and sponge off the 

 leaves from time time. 



Evergreens. A weekly showering given on the 

 plants while standing In a bath tub, greatly improve.s 

 their health. 



Fernery. Air a little dally. Remove decayed leaves 

 or flowers. Apply water moderately. 



General Directions. Upon anticipation of a very 

 cold night plants may be removed to the middle of the 

 room, or an arrangement may be made for hanging 

 over the plants. A screen of light cloth or paper to be 

 put over the plants while the room Is being swept will 

 aid greatly in keeping them free from dust. Keep the 

 earth mellow In pots and the pots clean. Should the 

 soli become hard, remove the top and replace with 

 fresh earth. Never subject plants of any kind to strong 

 draughts of air. 



Geraniums. Plants to be wintered over should be 

 kept cool and dry to prevent damp. Plants in bloom 

 need plenty of water at the roots. 



Ivy and other suspended plants, or those too heavy 

 to move should have their leaves washed simply with 

 a soft cloth and warm water. 



Insects. It is seldom convenient to smoke house 

 plants, and tobacco water may be used for Insects in- 

 stead, standing the pots In a bath tub or spacious sink. 

 Pour boiling water upon cheap Tobacco, dilute It to 

 the color of weak tea. Lay the pots upon their sides In 

 order that the under surface of the leaves may be 

 reached. Frequent drenching with water only wlU 

 keep red spiders In subjection. 



Lantanas. Give a light place In about 55^ F. Look 

 out for red spider. 



Mahernias In bloom to be given a sunny situation 

 from now on. 



Peristrophe. Oive occasional rations of manure? 

 water to pots filled with roots. Keep in rather small 

 pots and in a sunny situation if variegation Isdesired. 



Pilea muscosa should be watered carefully to avoid 

 Injury from damp. Light, rich soil and a temperature 

 of 50° F. Is best. 



