132 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



March, the Beeuiler. 

 Sonny and smiling, you come to the earth, 



With promise of pleasanter days. 

 Waving the banner of blossom and m i r th 



Far out Into the golden haze ; 

 Blue-eyed and tender, you bend o'er the beds 



Where little soft buds lie a.'^leep. 

 Stirring and coaling till tiny bright heads 



From out of the brown mould quilt creep ; 

 Then, with a frown and a wrathful eye. 



You cover them up In the snows to die. 



Cruel old March : 

 Greedy and grim, with your heartless wiles — 

 Crushing the beauty you won with your smiles ! 

 Brightly you sit on the bare Peach boughs. 



And feel for the pulse of the flowers. 

 Whispering falseh(X)ds over their brows 



Of golden and bright green hours ; 

 Warming their blood with your treacherous breath. 



And swelling the soft pink bloom. 

 Then with your frost work chill them to death. 



And whistle and chant o'er their tomb : 

 Yet In the gold of the April sun. 



You sob and moan for the mischief you've done. 

 Silly old March ! 

 Fickle and false, with your cheats and arts— 

 You are type of some who have souls and hearts ! 

 New Tork World. 



Trailing Arbutus. 



Dear floweret, nestling 'ueath the mould. 



Hard won thou art. 

 But now thy blushing beauties lie 

 Unveiled beneath the azure sky. 

 And wealth of fragi-ance all untold 



Wells from thy heart ! 

 Wert heaven-born, sweet flower, and sent 



From Paradise, 

 To be of all the joys of spring 

 The rarest and the lovliest thing ? 

 And hath the light o'er thee been bent 



Of angel eyes ? 



Boston Transcri2)t. 



Kow test all seeds. 



Bonednst for thin lawns. 



More sunsliine— brighter bloom. 



HoBie Plants Jetest dust as much as you do 



Bam the rubbish, and return the ashes to the 



BOU. 



Heroic treatment in orchard surgery is seldom 

 called for. 



Woodashes from Canada buy only on guaran- 

 teed anal.vsls. 



The first Arbor day of the season was that of 

 Florida on January ITth. 



For comfort try dry paths outside the house, 

 and save dirt on the carpets. 



A Calla of mine occasionally bears a double- 

 spathed flower.— Jfuy Wassel. 



Yon want flowers every month: Then select 

 plants and seeds accordingly. 



Fmit bnds generally have started, yet the 

 prospects for a bountiful crop are favorable.— 

 W.A. Smith, Mich. 



Some of the most interesting reading matter 

 in this issue is found in our advertising pages I 

 Head them cai-efuUy. 



Pffioies are begining to receive the increased 

 attention they are deserving of. Grand flowers 

 they are indeed. Transplant as early as possible. 



The product of American Tomato canneries 

 for 1869 is estimated at 2,979,765 cases, while the 

 1888 crop was estimated at 3,34'>,137 cases. 



The Jessie Strawberry is pronounced by the 

 Ohio Experiment station best for forcing, matu- 

 ring as fine bennes under glass as in open air. 



Hlsshills and gaps among our vegetables is 

 just what we do not want. We prefer sowing 

 plenty of seed— and thinning at the proper time. 



The Wood Lily ( Trillium iirandiflorum I in 

 culture must have the partial shade of trees. 

 This fact lost sight of commonly leads to failure 

 in growing it. 



A remarkable Season. From everywhere come 

 the reports of fruit blossoms, flowers of Trailing 

 Arbutus, Jessamine, Fruit Trees, etc., picked in 

 open air in January. 



White wash. "It is strange," remarked a 

 Boston belle, as she observed the shimmering 

 Silver Birches, " that people will go and white- 

 wash trees that are almost in the wood."— Pwcfc. 



This Don't Pay. The loss to manure by ex- 

 posure especially by leaching, in tests by the 

 Cornell University, has reached as high as 42 per 

 cent. The moral is, keep manure under shelter, 

 or draw it upon the land at once. 



Do yon think that because Canna seeds are as 

 hard as shot (hence the name Indian shot) that 

 they wiU not germinate properly? They will if 

 soaked 24 hours before sowing, in water kept at 

 a temperature of from 75 to 80 degrees. 



The roots of evergreens wiU not bear exposure 

 to the air as well as deciduous trees, and the 

 latter do not bear it very well. When removing 

 Pines, Hemlock, Arbor vita?, etc-, always try to 

 retain as much soil on the roots as possible. 



More to Come, what should have been stated 

 at the end of the five page article " How to Plant 

 a Place," was that said article is to be concluded 

 next month. So we say here that nearly or quite 

 three pages of the same article wUl appear in 

 our April issue. 



For Pea Weevil Killers. Carbon bisulphide 

 which has been often mentioned, but seldom 

 used as an insecticide, simply because it evapo- 

 rates too quickly for lasting effect, is said to act 

 in a more satisfactory manner, when vasaline is 

 used as a solvent. 



Ignotnm Tomato has rotted very badly with 

 us. Grown beside the Dwarf Champion and 

 Acme, and with same treatment, the Ignotum 

 did not give us more than one sound Tomato out 

 of ten that ripened, while few of the other kinds 

 rotted.— TF. Hicknz, Ohio. 



Plant Stakes. TJmbrella-wire painted green 

 makes excellent stakes for plants in pots. Being 

 small, roimd, it is little noticed, which is an im- 

 portant factor in the arrangement of plants. 

 Tie the cord firmly on the wire to keep it In 

 place, then brin^ the ends together around the 

 limbs desired and fasten.— ir. C. Jcnnison. 



Old hedees can easily be disposed of by cutting 

 down now as close to the ground as possible, 

 leaving them in a narrow, compact row over the 

 roots. After new growth has started in spring, 

 set fire to the brush, and burn it. This will kill 

 the plants, and a year later the roots will be 

 rotted enough to be torn out easily with the 

 plow.— Gardener Jo. 



Liquid Manure. Plants that have but a small 

 area to grow upon are best treated with liquid 

 manure, because this is the most advantageous 

 method of returning the fertility. It is safer to 

 dilute the mixture very considerably, and to 

 apply not too often, but at regular intervals. 

 During the winter the washings from barnyards 

 may be secured and will prove admirable for this 

 purpose. — Boht. L. Dean. 



Oil of Eoses. The greater portion of this is 

 produced in Franco- The United States imported 

 from there nearly one quarter of a million 

 dollai-s' worth last year. It is made of the Rose 

 Geranium. Californian people begin to think, 

 that there is no country in the world where 

 Rose Geraniums can be grown to such perfec- 

 tion, and containing such a high percentage of 

 oil than their own state, 

 and perhaps they will soon 

 make the attempt to 

 secure the quarter million 

 of dollars for themselves 

 for pin money. 1 



Damp is the grt':ii 

 enemy of plants in the 

 amateur's greenhouse. As 

 a precautionary measure 

 every dead and faded 

 leaf should be picked 

 off; watering should be 

 ings of bright days only 



plants as the engraving represents. The whole 

 contrivance is easily put up, and quite attractive. 

 We know nothing of the price of these goods, 

 but should think that our enterprising seedsmen 

 would import and offer them to their customers. 



Soil Preparation. Garden plants and borders 

 should be thoroughly pulverized, but this is 

 hardly ever done properly . We ha ve adopted 

 the following method. The ground is forked 

 over and the entire surface trodden down in 

 short steps, with the feet close together. The re- 

 quired amoimt of the manure is next spread on, 

 and the soil again forked over. A thorough 

 raking over will then bring it in excellent con- 

 dition for sowing or planting. The operation of 

 treading down the soil can be performed in 

 much less time than it takes to turn it over, and 

 it pulverizes it so thoroughly, we think it a good 

 practise for any one, when preparing garden 

 beds or borders.— TT. r Jennison. 



To bi Weighed in the Balance. Among fruit 

 novelties of the season we have the "Lady Rusk'" 

 Strawberry, introduced by Wm. Stahl of Quiney, 

 Ills, and the " Progress " Raspberry, introduced 

 by J. T. Lovett Co., Little SUver, N. J. The 

 chief merit claimed for the " Lady Rusk " is 

 superior shipping and keeping qualities, while 

 the " Progress" is claimed to be much more 

 prolific than Souhegan (the introducer says twice 

 as much); a day or two earlier and its equal in 

 every other respect, so much so, indeed, that it 

 may be difficult to tell the difference. Great 

 things are also claimed for the Palmer Rasp- 

 berry, a supposed cross between Souhegan and 

 Gregg, and introduced by F. R. Palmer & Son, 

 Mansfield, O 



Trees from Eoot Cuttings. On the authority 

 of Prof. J. L Budd we state that Elm, Black 

 Locust, Poplar, Cherry. Plum, and all other 

 trees that naturally throw up sprouts, or which 

 sprout when roots are wounded by plow or 

 spade, may be profitably grown from root 

 cuttings. Sections of the surface roots two 

 inches in length kept in sand or Moss over Winter 

 in the cellar will make fine iilants the next season. 

 In moist regions such cuttings may be dropped 

 in a light furrow, and covered like Corn or Peas. 

 But in dry sections they are safer to stick diagon- 

 ally with the upper part about two inches below 

 the surface. Populus alba argentea, grown from 

 short root cuttings put out last spring has made 

 plants over five feet in height the same season. 



Smilaz, of all vines, is my favorite, and any- 

 where and in any form I think it is lovel.v. One 

 window at least, in every sitting-room, should 

 be decorated with it. Take a shallow box the 

 width of your window and paint it white ; place 

 it on a level with the window sill and fill it with 

 leaf mold from the woods. In September start 

 slips of Smilax. When old enough to commence 

 running, guide them upward by small linen or 

 cotton threads attached to the box and fastened 

 to top ot the window. In a short time they will 

 run up to where you have secured the strings, 

 and turn back as if surveying the distance they 

 have come. I have seen small boxes of Smilax 

 hung by a strong cord on door knobs: the vine 

 would cover the cord so that none of it could be 

 seen, and it puzzles the beholder to know by 

 what power the box is held in its place. It is an 



PLANT PROTECTOR OF GLASS AND IRON. 



done in the morn- 

 In damp dark days, 

 even if the temperature is not low, keep the fire 

 going briskly, allowing the heat to escape 

 through the opened ventilators and raised sashes. 

 The new life that comes with the progress of the 

 sea.son, the strong vigorous growth favored by 

 the brighter and balmier days of early spring, 

 will soon put a stop to the dangers from damp. 

 Plant Protector. Osman & Co., of London, 

 England, have kindly forwarded to us for inspec- 

 tion and trial among other things some of the 

 cast iron frames, specimen of which is shown in 

 engraving. The tines pressed down into the soil 

 give the frame a firm foothold. Two, three or 

 more such frames are set in a straight line, and 

 glass fitted into them to make a protector of 



odd but pretty way to suspend floral ornaments, 

 while the more careless you ari-ange them, the 

 better the effect. Mrs. L. B. Gale. 



A fine German Iris— Madam Cherfau. The 

 group of Iris (Jennanica includes all the broad- 

 leaved Iris, which generally pass under the above 

 name, but are in fact varieties of pallida, neg- 

 letta, KiiualenK, amiTiia, rariegata, aphylla, and 

 germanica.all resembling each other in foliage 

 and habit but totally distinct in flower; when 

 taken as a whole, they form a group unpar- 

 alleled in beauty, nothing in creation can vie 

 with them, unless it is the Orchids from the 

 Tropics. Every shade of color may be found 

 among them, that of the beautiful new subject 

 illustrated being white-edged and feathered with 

 violet. They wUl thrive in almost any soil or 



