174 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



May, 



The Dandelion 



Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, 



FrlnginR the dusty road with harmless gold! 

 First pledge of blithesome May, 



Which children pluck, and full of pride uphold— 

 High-hearted buccaneers— o'erjoyed that they 

 An Eldodo In the grass have found, 

 Which not the rich earth's ample round 

 Maymatch in wealth!— thou art moredear tome 

 Than all the prouder summer blooms may be. 

 Gold such as thine ne'er drew the Spanish prow 



Through the primeval hush of Indian seas. 

 Nor wrinkled the lean brow 



Of age to rob the lover's heart of ease; 

 'Tis the spring's largest which she scatters now 

 To rich and poor alike, with lavish hand. 

 Though most hearts never understand 

 To take it at God's value, but pass by 

 The offered wealth with unrewarded eve. 

 Thou art my tropics and my Italy ; 



To look at thee unlocks a warmer clime ; 

 The eyes thou givest me 



Are in the heart and heed no space or time ; 

 Not In mid-June the golden-culrassed bee 



Feels a more summer-like, warm ravishment 

 In the white Lily's breezy tent. 

 His fragrant Sybaris, than I. when first 

 From the dark green thy yellow circles burst. 



Caraway. 



Down past the Savory bed and the Parsley, 



And close to the tunible-fiown picket fence. 

 The Caraway grew that grandma planted 



And there It has been growing ever since. 

 Though Caraway is not fair to look at. 



Though you may not fancy Its taste. Indeed, 

 Tet still it shall grow there down In the garden 



Because It was Grandma's " meetln' seed." 



— Mary E. Wilkins, in Wide Awake. 



Start the lawn mower. 



Lilies must be planted deep. 



New York Arbor Day, May 2d. 



Sharpen np the hoe : no we?dy garden can be 

 satisfactory. 



We know of no more grateful flower for halt- 

 shady situations than the Pansy. 



For pure ornament, let alone usefulness, no 

 hedge can exceed the Japan Quince in May, 



On the PoptTLAB Gahdening grounds the 

 Strawberry bed was rolled directly after rolling 

 the lawn. 



We think better of our readers than to sup- 

 pose a single one is without the hardy Panicle- 

 flowered Hydrangea on their lawns. 



Would you skip the ravages of codling worm, 

 tent caterpillar, and curculio, then you must 

 spray as directed in past issues of this journal. 



Fight the Insects, Wonders may often be 

 accomiilif lied in ridding a neighborhood of pests 

 by an early, decided and concerted action of 

 neighbors. 



For heavy, moist soils, many vegetable seeds 

 may be planted in ridges. Usually we prefer 

 sowing on the level as we prefer level to hill cult- 

 ure generally. 



Bleeding of the Grape vine, when pruned in 

 spring, can easily be stopped by passing a red- 

 hot iron slowly across the cut surface. German 

 growei-s say so. 



Okra fiber is now highly spolsen of as cheap 

 and superior material for making cloth as well 

 as rope and bagging. Okra growing may yet 

 become an important industry in Florida. 



Heliotropes make excellent bedders. They 

 bloom constantly and profusely, and their beau- 

 tifully fragrant flowers are always in demand 

 for cut flower uses. There can not be too many. 



Mistakes in horticulture are usually much 

 more serious than those in agriculture. The 

 latter can frequently be remedied in a season; the 

 former often show their ill effects for a life-time. 



Pink-Eyed Trillinm, One frequently sees 

 mention made of the White Trillium, and more 

 rarely of the dark red variety; but I have not 

 seen anything concerning the most beautiful of 

 all Trilliums to my mind, the pink-eyed one. It 

 is like the pure white in form, and delicacy of 

 coloring, e.-ceepting a crescent-shaped blotch of 



majenta pink at the base of each petal. Can 

 anyone tell the botanical name of this variety?— 

 E7(7cr',v Wife. 



Carriage Corners. One of those little practical 

 ideas so simple that we wonder why we had not 

 thought ol it long ago, is carried out at the Cor- 

 nell Experiment grounds in the use of carriage 

 corners for strengthening muslin-covered frames 

 for use over hot beds and cold frames. These 

 can be bought from the hardware store at about 

 ten cent per pound, and might be put to profit- 

 able use in strengthening many a weak and 

 faltering comer in various places.— F. TT. Card. 



Shading Glass with Faint. An English gar- 

 dener recommends the following simple mixture 

 for painting glass in greenhouses, etc., to ob- 

 scure the strong rays of the sun, viz : white lead, 

 Brunswick green, and turpentine made into a 

 thin paint, and appUed with a brush. No oil 

 should be added, or it will be difficult to wash off 

 again. If done on a fine day, this paint need be 

 applied but once in the season, and with the aid 

 of a Uttle soda in the water it can easily be 

 washed off again. 



Uanettia bifiora, a climbing vine largely ad- 

 vertised this season as a new thing, was intro- 

 duced from South America in 180ti, now nearly 

 84 years ago. On account of its tendency to 

 mildew, and the fact that it requires a very 

 moist and warm atmosphere to keep in health, it 

 has lieen abandoned as a plant for house cultiva- 

 tion long ago. This attempt at re-introduction, 

 we are afraid, will cause much disppointment, 

 and perhaps some hard words.— J. A. Marshall, 

 MahiDiing Co., O. 



The White Grub. A neighbor sometime since 

 told me that early Potatoes planted in the rows 

 with Strawljerries would receive aU the "atten- 

 tions" of grubs and allow the Strawberry 

 plants to grow in peace. He says a hill of Pota- 

 toes once every six or seven feet in every other 

 row will do. The Potatoes can be dug as soon as 

 ripe and the runners trained in the space occu- 

 pied by the Potato hills. I have never tried the 

 plan but give it for the benefit of any who would 

 like to experiment.— FraiiA' Linn. 



A Home Gymnasium, Let us turn the garden, 

 the fruit orchard and the lawn into the gymna- 

 sium for the family. Such would be far 

 more interesting and beneficial to all than the 

 more popular gymnasium of the day. Let the 

 little ones have their flower beds, and fruit trees. 

 Their rivalry for the greatest numt)er of Tulips, 

 the finest Hyacinths, and the very biggest Pan- 

 sles, will develop a healthier future than the 

 more common and exclusive cultivation of the 

 love of dress and society.— «. A. Pleas. 



Effect of Coal Ashes. On part of a piece of 

 ground, coal ashes were put on, and the rows 

 sowed lengthwise so that part of each row came 

 where the ashes were applied, and part not. Peas 

 did splendidly up to where they struck the coal 

 ashes, and from there they were yellow, sickly, 

 half-size, and no crop. Beets on the contrary 

 grew faster, were much larger, and had a health- 

 ier look where the ashes wei'e. Cucumbei's were 

 sickly and yellow. More expeiiments in this 

 line would be interesting. — XV. T. Alan. 



A Hale Appointment. Decidedly commendable 

 is the appointment of Mr. J. H. Hale as 

 special agent for work on nurseries, seed farms, 

 etc.. In the division of Agriculture of the forth- 

 coming eleventh census. The branch of horti- 

 culture is under the general charge of Mr. Morti- 

 mer Whitehead of New Jersey, and Mr. Hale's 

 work win tie in his department. It will involve 



CaTTkwc curnei-s. 



Ne Plus Ultra Sweet Corn. During last sea- 

 son we made a trial of several varieties of Sweet 

 Corn, some of old and others of a kind unknown 

 among which was one alone named received of 

 J. J. H. Gregory. The appearance of the seed 

 did not recommend the varie- 

 ty, it being small and inferior 

 looking, but upon coming up, 

 it grew well, and when fit to 

 use it was a surprise ; although 

 the ears were small or short, 

 the kernels were long, tender 

 and very sweet; for a late 

 kind we consider it as about 

 equal to Evergreen.— IT. B. Teomaw), TnUand 

 Co., Conn. 



Horticulturist's Bule Book, It atfords us 

 much pleasure to speak of Prof. L. H. Bailey's 

 newest work, pubUshed under the above title, 

 for it is certainly " a good thing," and should be 

 in every landtillers' hands. In the large lot of 

 interesting and valable material which is here 

 collected, we find most excellent summaries of 

 remedies for insects and plant diseases, recipes 

 for gi-afting waxes, paints, etc., tables of ana- 

 lyses, and many other things of daily use and 

 value to the horticulturist. Price 81.00. Pub- 

 lished by the Garden Pub. Co., New York City. 



Why not dig the Dandelion from the lawn, to 

 use the tops for spring greens, and the roots 

 for root beer? Steep these and some Burdock 

 root, and Swamp Alder bark, a little Wild Cherry 

 bark. Sassafras, and perhaps other roots and 

 herbs in sufficient water, sweeten with molasses, 

 add a piece of yeast cake, and let ferment just 

 enough to get the liquid clear and sparkling, and 

 you will have a beverage that might take the 

 place of tea and coffee at your meals during 

 spring, without their objectionable effects, and 

 far superior as a tonic and appetizer to anything 

 that the doctor or druggist could furnish you. 



Prize for Spraying. Mr. P. C. Lewis, manu- 

 facturer of the Lewis Combination Force Pumps, 

 offers a prize worth $72 " to the party who can 

 show the best results from spraying their trees 

 the coming season, provided the spraying is done 

 with one of his spraying outfits. The pump is 

 now well-known all over the States and Canada, 

 and used by many fruit growers. It costs SS.50. 

 Anyone having a dozen trees can enter the con- 

 test. We only anticipate it will be a most diffi- 

 cult matter to make the award in fairness to the 

 contestants. Who will be able to judge of the 

 exact character and amount of the beneflts de- 

 rived from the spraying ? 



A Curculio Swing. Modern methods of fight- 

 ing the Plum curculio come and sometimes go, 

 but the old reliable jarring process remains in 

 deserved fa^•or with many very good and 

 thorough fruit growers. Of course, they must 

 be good and thoro^igh, otherwise they could not 

 be entirely successful with this method. As 

 proof that thorough jarring is a reliable curculio 

 remedj', a fruitgrower at a recent horticulture 

 meeting in Michigan told that his children had 

 put a swing between two of his Plum trees, and 

 used it freely in the spring. The result was aU 

 sound Plums on the two trees, and plenty of 

 curculio on all the rest. The jarring is all right, 

 if only repeated often enough We would also 

 prefer poultry about to pick up the fallen wee\ils. 



Rubber Bands for Asparagus. Don't over- 

 look the advantages of the use of rubtier bands 

 in bunching Asparagus fttr market. Prof. W. J. 

 Green of the Ohio Experiment Station is the in- 



PUSSY OF SERVICE IN PROTECTING THE STRAWBERRY PLAT. 



a stud}' of nui-series, fruits, flowers, etc., through 

 the United States. We congratulate Mr. Hale, 

 but we congratulate the cause of horticulture 



still more. 



Lima Bean Planter. Such is said to be invent- 

 ed in California it consists of a cast wheel con- 

 taining pods or fingers, which grasi) the Beans as 

 the wheel revolves, each picking up one or two 

 Beans and holding them firmly until deposited 

 in the mouth of the tube from which they are 

 conveyed to the ground. The wheel can be so 

 adjusted as to plant the Beans at any desired 

 distance apart We will have to double our 

 Lima Beans area on the Popni..\R Gardening 

 grounds several times, however, before we shall 

 feel the necessity of investing in this tool. 



ventor of this plan; and a favoite way with him, 

 last season, was to slip a rubber band over an 

 ordinary teacup, holding it near the top of the 

 cup. Then the cup is filled with the Asparagus 

 to be bunched, thrusting the heads of the shoots 

 downward into the cup. When the cup is full 

 the rubber band is pulled over the top of the 

 cup upon the Asparagus, the bunch removed 

 from the cup and another band slipped over the 

 bunch near the toiis. This makes a bunch of 

 about the right size and leaves the top of the 

 bunch nicely rounded. All that remains to be 

 done is to square the buts with a sharp knife. 



Forest Influence, An authority on forest cul- 

 ture, W. H. H. Murray, finds that in June the tip 

 of a Maple bough having two or three leaves. 



