1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



109 



To have in mind, in appointing associates 

 for tlio director, their special aptitnde in 

 some line of the branches indicated above, 

 so that with each appointment the efficiency 

 of the institution toriustruction and origin- 

 al work may be broadened and increased. 



Small-Leaved Mock Orange. 



The Pliiladelplms, Syringa or Mock 

 Orange, is a genus of common native shrub 

 of many species, all of which are quite 

 hardy, and may be propagated by seeds, 

 layers, cutting, or division. They 

 are common in the mountains of 

 Virginia and southward. A few 

 years ago the subject of our illus- 

 tration, a small-leaved, dwarfish 

 variety (PliUadcli)hns microplii/l- 

 (»»■), was introduced here from New 

 Mexico, and it is a decidedly inter- 

 esting,and remarkable pretty little 

 shrub. The branches and twigs are 

 slender and erect; leaves one-half 

 to three-quarter inch long, ovate- 

 lanceolate or oblong, entire, slightly 

 obtuse. The shrub flowers just as 

 profusely as the larger kinds, and 

 the bloom has a delicate perfume, 

 somewhat intermediate between 

 the scent of Orange and of ripe 

 Quince, much pleasanter than that 

 of other species. Altogether we 

 think well of this newer introduc- 

 tion, and recommend it as worthy a 

 place among the choicest of small- 

 growing shrubs. Notwithstanding 

 its dwarfish nature, it grows mod- 

 erately fast. Our illustration is re- 

 duced from Gardener's Magazine. 



A Chrysanthemum Banquet In 

 Japan. 



The interest in the Chrysanthemum, so 

 intense in America and Kurope, nearly 

 encircles the globe. The following is a 

 translation from the Tokio Post of an ac- 

 count of the latest of the famous annual 

 Chrysanthemum shows in that city. The 

 translation was made by Garden and Forest 

 by Mr. K. Miyabe, the .Japanese botanist 

 now in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



According to the yearly practice the gar- 



Birds in the Garden. 



TT. PHELPS, ONEIDA CO., N. T. 



I am not of these who think birds 

 a nuisance in the garden. I gladly 

 give them a chance at the fruits 

 they desire between their forages 

 on insects. There are more song- 

 sters and less insects in my garden 

 I think than in any other for a longdistance 

 around. 



One thing that conduces to the presence of 

 birds is my encouragement to them to rest 

 on my grounds. I enclose a sketch of sev- 

 eral homes for birds made of sections of tree 

 trunks that I have located in my garden. 



The blocks were sawed ofl* and afterwards 

 hollowed out suflficiently for a nesting place 

 by the use of an inch augur. The section to 

 tiie right was bored out from below, after 

 which an entrance was bored in from the 



ground, and crowned with flowers of differ- 

 ent colors and shapes. 



Next, to the right, was a bed (18 by 60 feet) 

 for large flowered varieties. 



Parallel to this was a bed in which only 

 three plants were set out. The first one, 

 called the Golden Dew (Ogonno Tsuyu), was 

 decked with 338 blossoms, all golden yellow. 

 The next named, the Hanakai, has 2.53 blos- 

 soms of red color. The last, the Sanono 

 Watari, was covered with 173 white blos- 

 soms, and impressed one as the best of the 

 three. The flowers were all about 

 1 1.5 of an inch in diameter. 



The next bed contained about 450 

 plants of about 60 different varieties. 

 Each plant was allowed to bear only 

 one flower, and the diameter of the 

 flowers was only aliout 15 or 16 

 inches. This bed seemed to be the 

 crowning show of the day. The 

 banquet was held in an arbor set up 

 on the lawn just in front of this bed. 



Siiiiph Devices for Binls^ A'cste. 



side and a lighting stick provided; then 

 it was nailed to a tree to represent a stump. 

 The smaller one had an opening made from 

 the top, over which a roof was nailed, as 

 shown in the sketch. It certainly does not 

 require unusual skill or ingenuity to build 

 a number of breeding boxes of these or 

 similar designs, and fasten them into the 

 trees for the little feathered policemen, who 

 pay well by their efforts in insect destruc- 

 tion for the fruits they consume. 



SMALL-LEAVED MOCK ORANGE.— {Philadelphia microphyllus.) 



deners in Tokio and Saikio raised many 

 rare and beautiful varieties of Chrysanthe- 

 mums forthe Imperial Garden by the special 

 order. On November 8 the members of the 

 cabinet, the foreign ministers and a few 

 others, were invited by the court to the 

 "Chrysanthemum Banquet." The follow- 

 ing accounts are written from what we have 

 heard from one who enjoyed this privilege: 



The first bed, 18 by 120 feet, was placed 

 just behind the arbor. The entire bed was 

 roofed with screea mats made of reeds, in 

 order to protect the flowers from frost and 

 sun. From post to post on three sides of the 

 bed a curtain or screen, made of purple silk, 

 with the imperial badge, the Chi-ysanthe- 

 mum, relieved in white, was tied rotind with 

 crimson-tasseled ribbon. The flowers were 

 at their prime. They were of different 

 colors, and their diameters seemed to be 

 about three or four inches. Several hundred 

 of these plants were arranged without any 

 regular order in the bed. Among them, one 

 called the Sugawara, with petals red inside 

 and yellow on the outer sides, and the Kag- 

 aribi, with its crimson flowers, attracted a 

 great deal of attention. 



The next bed to the left was roofed with 

 oiled paper screens, the rest of the surround- 

 ing structures being just the same as the 

 first. In this bed all those varieties having 

 the filiform petals were arranged. A white 

 flower called the " Aunobiki " is worthy of 

 note; the petals were fine as threads, droop- 

 ing down in tassels like a water-fall. One 

 variety with crimson petals tipped with 

 yellow was very conspicuous. 



To the right there was one bed 12 by 60 

 feet, planted with 13 different root stocks, ; 

 each supporting numerous grafted branches, ! 

 rising from the stem a little above the 



Pansies from Seed. 



PETER HENDERSON. 



The seeds of Pansies maybe sown 

 in the sitting-room, greenhouse or 

 hot-bed where the temperature will 

 run from 65 to 75 degrees, any time 

 from middle of January to middle 

 of April, but the earlier in the sea- 

 son they ai'e sown, the stronger the 

 plants will be. The best way to 

 start Pansies, or in fact, any kind 

 of flower seeds, is in shallow boxes 

 rather than in pots. Use ordinary, 

 rich soil, make the surface perfectly 

 smooth and level, then press the 

 seeds gently down with a smooth 

 board, so as to merely sink it into 

 the soil; over the seed sift just 

 enough fine soil to hide the seed, 

 say about 1-16 part of an inch in 

 depth ; again press gently down 

 with a smooth board, and the sow- 

 ing is complete. Place your box in 

 the light, and water gently with 

 tepid water, so as not to disturb the soil. In 

 about five or si.x weeks from the time of 

 sowing transplant the seedlings into another 

 box, and when they Ijegin to crowd one 

 another, place in fiower pots, or boxes, to 

 be grown inside or in the open ground, as 

 may be desired. 



When it is not convenient to give Pansies 

 the house culture just described, the seeds 

 can be sown in the open ground as soon as 

 it is dry enough to work in spring. They 

 should be sown exactly as described — in the 

 boxes — pressing down the seeds, then slight- 

 ly covering up, and pressing down again, 

 but they had better always be sown in rows, 

 and when they come up and are about an 

 inch or so in height, they can be transplant- 

 ed at a distance of one foot apart, and if the 

 soil is rich and the season at all favorable, 

 you may expect continuous bloom through- 

 out the entire season. 



1,631. Bust on Verbenas. Keep only strong, 

 thrifty-growing plants and try to keep them 

 making healthy gi'owth. Watch the plants care- 

 fully, and throw out all infected ones as soon as 

 noticed.— P. G. 



1,634. Wood and Coal Ashes. The former 

 contain a considerable per centagc of mineral 

 elements of plantfood, making a ton of it worth 

 from $8 to $1.5; the latter has no plant food what- 

 ever. Yet coal ashes possess some value as a 

 mulch for tree and small fruits, also in opening 

 up, mellowing and generally improving stiff clay 

 soils. Still there are prol)ably but few cases 

 when it would pay to hire team and wagon for 

 hauling coal ashes tour miles- 



1636. Volunteer Tomato, This has been highly 

 praised as an early prolific and reliable sort by 

 growers at the North. It ripens its crop during 

 a comparatively short time, while Dwarf Cham- 

 pion, which gives a few ripe specimens earlier 

 than any other good sort we know; matures its 

 fruit slowly and steadily all through the season. 

 See also our "Notes of the Popular Gardening 

 Grounds," elsewhere in this issue. 



