I lO 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



February, 



Winter Apples. 



What cheer is there that is half so good, 



Id the snowj* waste of a Winter night, 

 As a dancing tire of Hicltory wood, 



And an easy chair in its mellow light, 

 And a Pearmain Apple, ruddy and sleek. 

 Or a Jenneting with a freckled cheek? 

 A Russet Apple is fair to view. 



With a tawny tint like an Autumn leaf, 

 The warmth of a ripened Cornfield'g hue, 



Or golden tint of a harvest sheaf; 

 And the wholesome breath of the finished year 

 Is held in a Winesap's blooming sphere. 

 They bring you a thought of the orchard trees. 



In blossomy April and leafy June, 

 And the sleepy droning of bumble bees. 



In the lazy light of the afternoon, 

 And tangled Clover and Bobolinks. 

 Tiger Lilies and Garden Pinks. 



St. Nicholas. 



How. 



Where all the hills were green 



Is a brown and barren waste. 

 But earth's fresh breath, that laughs at death. 



Tells how the buds make haste. 

 Through the gray and faded grass 



The green blades rise to light. 

 And the wind that grieves in the sweet dead leaves. 



Is full of vague delight. 



Touth^s Companion. 



Poor Beedi poor crops. 



Plan the spring's planting. 



Crowding in time makes cripples. 



City florists make up floral valentines. 



Cold water with rising heat for frosted plants. 



How abont eight hours work in the greenhouse? 



Window plants seem glad for the longer days. 



A man of family who has land and wiU not 

 grow some Grape vines should be deprived of 

 citizenship. 



In a high dry heat expect now to see the red 

 spider on plants. Hemedy, moisture by syring- 

 ing or otherwise. 



Dull days cause danger of damp in the plant 

 pots. Air freely on warm days and give the 

 plants more space. 



Begonias in windows do not like to have their 

 leaves wet, especially when the room is cool. It 

 is apt to rot the foliage. 



The Enmerle Lima Bean does not seem to be 

 in stock this year. Our thanks are due Mr. A I. 

 Koot lor a few seeds for testing. 



Wild Violets found in bloom on my farm Dec. 

 Slth, 1889 ; this is wonderful for our latitude. — 

 D. F , Pecltsihm-oii-Huclson, JV. T. 



He onght to take it. will you not speak to 

 your neighbor of the value of Popular Gar- 

 DENiNGy This we would aijpreciate. 



A well -grown chrysanthemum, propagated 

 from a pure leaf, was recently e.vhibited in Eng- 

 land before the <'hrysanthemura Society. 



Export of Apples. It is estimated that two 

 and a half million barrels of Apples were shipped 

 from the United States and Canada to Eogland 

 last year. 



Kalamazoo Celery. If 1 should want seed in 

 quantity, 1 would bviy Henderson's Dwarf White 

 which is the same thing as Kalamazoo.— S 

 Rupert, Ohit) Celery Gardens. 



The Oolden-tinted California Privet (Liffus- 

 trum ovalifoUum mire^im), quite a vigorous grow- 

 er, is decidedly attractive, and contrasts very 

 prettily with green leaved shrubs. 



The good housewife may be able to make a 

 good suggestion. Let her examine your list of 

 seeds, ijlants and trees, for spring jilanting 

 before giving it to the dealer to fill. 



The Nutmeg Hickory of Arkansas and vicin- 

 ity is pronounced liy Prof. Sargent to be the 

 strongest wood in the United States, while the 

 West Indian Birch is said to be the weakest. 



America Leading England, Mrs. Alpheus 

 Hardy Chrysanthemum has long since taken a 

 place among standard sorts here ; in England it 

 has only just entered the first " test " stage. 



Tropical fruit, such as Bananas, Pineapples 

 and Cocoanuts will probably not be produced in 

 the United States in quantities large enough to 

 make their growing an important industry. 



In growings early Tomatoes for market, 1 find 

 nothing better than tin cans for potting, but it 

 will pay to out a hole into the bottom as large as 

 a silver dollar. Try and be convinced —A. M. 

 Nichiilx, Lhhiiig Co., O. 



Boses and Climbers when first planted near a 

 wall orbuilding.and as yet having few roots,often 

 suffer from want of root moisture. As a rule it 

 is best to set these subjects at least a foot away 

 from the wall. 



Florida Orange wine promises to become an 

 important article of commerce. The lowest dif- 

 ference in profits to the grower on 1,000 Oranges 

 sold in boxes, and manufactured into wine, is es- 

 timated at SIO.OO. 



Blue Chrysanthemums. There is good ground 

 for the belief that Chrysanthemums with small 

 blue flowers are in existence in Japan. If this 

 proves true, the blue Chrysanthemum will soon 

 be seen at our exhibitions. 



Bussian Willows and Poplars are favorably 

 mentioned by Prof. S. B Green, as promising for 

 economical purposes, ornamental planting and 

 windbreaks. Most of them strike readily from 

 hard and soft wood cuttings. 



Here is a Chance. Sprouts are said to be in 

 good demand in the city markets, usually selling 

 at two or three times the price paid for the same 

 bulk of Cauliflower. Yet their culture is simple, 

 and the yield nearly as much as Cauliflower. 



A remarkable tree is said to stand in Irwin 

 County, Ga. It is a Pine with two distinct bodies 

 but only one top. The trunks grew out of the 

 ground about five feet from each other, but at 

 forty feet united with each other to one top. 



An Ivy Ball. Recently we met a perfect globe 

 of Ivy in the window of an amateur. It pleased 

 us so much that we herewith give an idea of the 

 wire form over which the plant was trained. 

 The plant alluded to was a thing of remarkable 

 beauty. 



Grafting Wax, Here is a good recipe : 4 lbs 

 of resin, 1 lb. of beeswax, 1 pint of boiled linseed 

 oil. Melt all together, and when cool, pull as you 

 would taffy and form in balls or rolls. Be sure 

 to have the oil pure. This wax is pliable, neither 

 too soft, nor too stiff. 



Black Pepper in Florida. It is stated that a 

 Mr. Heady has started a Black Pepper orchard in 

 Florida, and that he is very sanguine of making 

 it a financial success. The trees now in bearing 

 are yielding well, and the fruit is apparently as 

 good as the imported article. 



Heliotrope, Salvias and Geraniums suffer easily 

 from excess of Tobacco smoke in fumigating. 

 By syringing the plants thoroughly before the 

 smoke in the greenhouse is started, thus tem- 

 porarily sealing the pores of the leaves, they will 

 escape injury from this cause. 



Ardisia crenulata is named as one of the finest 

 of the berry-bearing plants suited for pot 

 culture. May be grown from seed, though a 

 slower grower than the Solanums, it is much 

 more enduring, and with fair treatment will 

 keep in good condition for several years. 



The Caper of commerce is the young bud of 

 the Caper bush {Caperis spitwsa), which is culti- 

 vated in Sicily and Southern France. It forms a 

 dense mat of vines on the ground, and is of easy 

 culture. The plant also seems to thrive and pro- 

 duce well in the Southern part of California. 



Canada Wood Ashes Some our friends across 

 the border begin to think that wood ashes are to 

 valuable as a fertilizer to be much longer allowed 

 to be taken out of the country. We hope the 

 Canada people will not be so hard on us as too 

 stop the export trade in this, to us, so useful and 

 convenient article. 



Fruit in the Highway. There is plenty of 

 room along our roadsides yet for fruit bearing 

 trees. Plant tor the weary traveller, the fruit- 

 loving boy, the useful bird. Many of the high- 

 ways in Germany are straight, regular, Cherry 

 avenues— beautiful indeed, and yieldiug a con- 

 siderable annual revenue. 



Cheap Orape Baskets, An Ohio firm offers to 

 establish a basket factory in Penn Yan or Ham- 

 mondsport of this state, and deliver to vineyard- 

 ists in that section small baskets at i2o and large 

 ones at $30 per thousand. Low prices of Grapes 

 make cheap baskets very desirable, if not an ab- 

 solute necessity for the vineyardlst. 



A Worthy Ezamnle. Mr. George Palmer, head 

 of a well-known firm of Reading, England, re- 

 cently presented to the town 31 acres of land In 

 the eastern suburb to be used as a public recrea- 

 tion ground. Mr. Palmer has also promised 

 $1500 towards laying out the ground. It is pro- 

 posed to designate the site Palmer's Park. 



The best way to treat a plant or tree, which 

 for some reason is to be kept in a rather small 

 pot, and in danger of becoming pot-bound, is to 

 remove part of the soil, from time to time, and 

 replace it with fresh soil that has had a small 

 quantity of " prepared flower food," or any high- 

 grade complete fertilizer thoroughly mixed in. 



Bartlett Seedling, Mr P.C.Dempsey of Ontario, 

 Canada, states that he has a seedling of the 

 Bartlett Pear fertilized with Dutchess, the 

 fruit of which has every characteristic of the 

 Bartlett, both in appearance and quality, but 

 ripens at the season of its male parent, the 

 Dutchess, or about two months later than the 

 Bartlett does. 



Evergreen Fences. Anything that adds the 

 feature of ornament and beauty to a place, also 

 adds to its cash value. An evergreen hedge or 

 two, rightly placed to hide unsightly objects, and 

 to add to the general air of comfort and beauty, 

 although costing but a few dollars for plants and 

 care, may add hundreds of dollars to the value 

 of the property. 



Now the Lima Bean is threatened by a fungus 

 disease. This appears as a sort of white mold 

 that extends over and through the pod in an 

 early stage of development, and destroys its vi- 

 tality. Dr. Thaxter, mycologist of the Coven- 

 try station, is responsible for its discovery, and 

 we hope he will even do better, and give us a 

 remedy or preventive. 



A good recipe for protecting trees against 

 rabbits and mice is this : One peck lime, one- 

 half pound copperas,one pound cheap glue. Dis- 

 solve glue and copperas, slack the lime, mix and 

 apply with brush. I have found this effective 

 and durable. The Ume besides being otherwise 

 useful, shows you where you have applied the 

 mixture.— r. W , Mwcotah, Kan. 



Sand for Insects. Clear dry sand or road dust 

 put thickly around Squash, Cucumber and Melon 

 vines has often been used with good effect for 

 the yellow -striped Cucumber bug. Now a San 

 Diego (Cal.) man, by means of some contrivance, 

 so it is said, sends a blast of sand, hot or cold, 

 against his trees to kiU scale insects, and this 

 without the least injury to the trees. 



Galvanized Staging, A gentleman who has 

 tried this staging in his greenhouses speaks of it 

 as having the following merits : It is practically 

 imperishable. In case it is put up with bolts and 

 nuts it is readily taken down and put in place 

 again. With heating pipes and flues beneath the 

 staging the temperature at the roots is five de- 

 grees higher than with old wooden stages. 



The Scarlet Oak iQuercitx coceinea) has many 

 features that recommend it for ornamental plant- 

 ing, among them 

 hardiness, and 

 distinct striking 

 appearance of 

 foliage. To be 

 seen at its best, 

 it should be 

 planted clear of 

 other trees, per- 

 haps with Pine 

 woods in the 

 backgrou nd . 

 The contrast 

 then is particu- 

 larly pleasing. 

 It is a favorite 

 with cultivators 

 both here and in 

 Gliilir Frame far Iry England. 



Early Training, An example of what this 

 will do, is told by a visitor at the grounds of Mr. 

 McD Allan, e.x-president of the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' .\ssociation. He was shown around by 

 the children, and everyone of them seemed to be 

 an enthusiast in fruit and flower culture. Little 

 chaps of Ave and seven years old could tell every 

 varief.v of Pear and Apple among the many in 

 the well-jilanted, neatly arranged home fruit 

 garden of two acres. 



Ink for Zinc Labels. The following is used by 

 some skillful gardeners: two parts of verdigris, 

 two parts sal-ammoniac, one part lampblack and 

 twenty parts of water. Mix well, and keep in a 



