1890 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



187 



out tlu- twi'lve months, while shrubs are in their 

 best iii»iH'aranee lor k^ss than lialf that time. 

 Tlien also Kverjfreens. if i)roperl>' loeat<'(i to the 

 windwart! t)f the home and ^'anlun. have mar- 

 veUiUs powerfortakingrtlie sting out of the bleak 

 winds of winter. Tlie distinct ornamental ehar- 

 acter of Kverirreens would seem alsi^ to Vie of a 

 hijrher order than that of any other kind of 

 woody {growth: the five use of these about the 

 h(mie. or in any plaee, imparts an air of refine- 

 ment, lieauty and 

 eomforl not other- 

 wise obtainable. 



IIa\'in^ had these 

 ideiu* in mind when 

 the rupri.AH (iAH- 

 DENINO (irouuds weiv 

 arranged, it tiKik but 

 little time to decide on 

 usinjr Evergreens 



lilx^^ally for adorninjr 

 the plaee. Not onl.v 

 should the number 

 used be ample, but 

 they also should 

 represent so lar^*' .i 

 variety, and hr 

 tastefully arrange'! 11^ 

 to show the beauty 

 as well as the low cost 

 of this class of trees 



to their utmost. A beginning was therefore 

 made by locating several large groups of Ever- 

 greens, besides some scattered trees, on the ample 

 lawn to the northward of the writer's dwelling. 

 This Evergreen section is in part shown by the 

 accompanying engraving The residence is 

 across the road or driveway shown in the lower 

 left-hand corner of the cut. While at present the 

 larger part of the young trees occupy a place in 

 cultivated borders cut into the sward in order to 

 foster a rapid growth while young, yet it is the 

 intention in time to allow the grass to grow up 

 and under the trees. 



As with the shrulis referred to last month, the 

 key to the arrangement of these Evergreens is 

 the group or mass, a matter tetter understood 

 by the use of our engraving. In this illustration 

 the figures indicate the respective trees and 

 groups as follows: 



1. Siberian Arbor Vitoe. 



2-3. Norway Spruce. 



4. Geo. Peabody Dwarf Arl»or Vltae. 



5. Siberian Arbor Vitaj. 



6. Dwarf Black Spruce. 

 T. Balsam Fir. 



8. Cedars. 



9. Creeping Junipers. 



10. Hemlock, Abies Canadensis. 



11. Firs In Variety. 



12. Dwarf Spruces. 



13. Pine and Weeping Hemlock . 



14. Maxwell's Dwarf Spruce. 



15. Maxwell's Dwarf Spruce. 



16. Alcock's Blue Spruce, 

 n. Conical Spruces. 



18. White Spruce. 



19. Junipers, etc. 



20. Scotch Pine. 



21. White Pine. 



22. Mountain Pine. 



23. Globe Arbor YiUe. 



24. Irish Junipers. 



25. Sabine Junipers. 



Thus is brought together within a length of 

 several hundred feet a large and interesting col- 

 lection of the more easily grown Evergreens 

 suited to the north. This list, which does not 

 even embrace all the hardy kinds now grown in 

 our grounds, should yet possess value to our 

 readers in assisting them in selecting such Ever- 

 greens as it is safe to plant in the colder latitudes 

 of our country. Pleasure is taken in present- 

 ing a list so large, because of the prevailing 

 notion that only a very few kinds outside of the 

 Norway Spruce are reliable at the north. 



The diversity of form, habit, foliage, color and 

 shades, afforded by this collection, it is easy for 

 the reader to imagine, is most charmingly varied. 

 As from five to twenty trees of a kind are for 

 the most part used— enough to set forth the in- 

 dividuality of each very markedly, the effect in 

 harmonies and contrasts, is even now, twelve 

 months from planting very pleasing, and will be 

 more so year by year. 



Something should be said of the ease and inex- 

 pensiveness of setting out masses of Evergreens, 

 With the exception of a tew comparatively rare 

 and high-priced kinds, and which could easily be 

 dispensed with, so far as general effect goes, 

 the stock was mainly procured from that Ever- 

 green specialist David Hill, Dundee, Illinois. The 

 plants averaged in height from IS to ^ inches. 



and the cost inside of $2.."i0 per dozen. Such 

 plants arrived from the nursery in excellent 

 condition, and many of them grew a foot in 

 length tile Hist year. They were planted from 

 two to three times closer thiui their ultimate 

 distances apart, with a view to lifting and trans- 

 planting elsewhere a portion of them as more 

 space is needed. 

 The Early Uadishes. We have always en - 



be easily hurt by subsequent cold weather. The 

 ground also needs airing, loosening and quicken- 

 ing. .-\t the approach of the fruiting season a 

 fresh clean mulch is to be again applied next to 

 the T>lants. and will help to keep the fruit clean 

 and the groimd moist. Weedy manure is always 

 a curse in the Strawbery field, and may even en- 

 tirely ruin the usefulness of the patch. Only by 

 considerable and persistent effort has it been pos- 



EVERGREENS IN MASSES AS PLANTED ON THE POPULAR GARDENINQ EXPERIMENT GROUNDS. 



tertained considerable respect and admiration I sible to save a strip of ground through one of the 



sections which had re- 

 ceived a dressing of 

 weedy manure previ- 

 ous to being planted 

 only last autumn, 

 from being entirely 

 overrun beyond re- 

 demption by foul 

 weeds and grasses. 

 A little more care in 

 the selection of 

 manure would have 

 resulted in quite a 

 saving of labor. 



The Bush Fruits. 

 Our multitudinous 

 varieties of Black- 

 berries, Kaspberi-ies, 

 Currants and (ioose- 

 berries look well at 

 this writing, and will 

 give us an opportunity to judge of their com- 

 parative merits for this soil and section when the 

 fruiting season arrives. 



A Living Insect Trap. Not a single creeping, 

 crawling or hopping thing is to be seen in our 

 Tomato hotbed of four sashes, except one toad, 

 which in reality is nothing else than a wandering 

 (hf)pping) insect trap, and gobbles up every hap- 

 les? small creature that gets into it. Of course 

 we make a pet of our living insecticide, and have 

 almost learned to admire its handsome color, 

 and its intelligent eye. Sometimes we give it an 

 especially dainty morsel, such as a large May 

 beetle, or even a Potato beetle, a centipede, etc. 

 Our guest takes them all with equal gratitude 

 and appetite. There can be no doubt that toads 

 may be colonized and put to good use in Cucum- 

 ber, Melon and Squash patches. At any rate we in- 

 tend to assign to them the duty and responsibility 

 of keeping the vines free from bugs this year, and 

 believe that it will be safer to trust to their watch- 

 fulnessthan to depend on poisonous applications. 

 The Season. Rain, rain, rain, with only short 

 intervals of a sort of of "alt and 'alt weather, 

 more or less cloudy and little clear sky— that is 

 the record of the season up to this writing. The 

 ground has been soaking pretty much all the 

 time, and planting, consequently, has progressed 

 somewhat slowly. This is especially the case 

 with the vegetable department. We do not be- 

 lieve in sowing seed, or setting plants, unless the 

 ground is in proper condition for the work. At 

 the same time, we do not worry. Everything 

 will come out all right in the end. 



This, also, is a season where all the great advan- 

 tages of thorough drainage are making them- 



for the early or forcing Radishes, not alone be- 

 cause almost ever.vbody likes them, but because 

 they are grown both in frame and open ground 

 with less trouble, and become fit for use in less 

 time than any other crop. Our this season's ex- 

 perience with a number of the new earliest forc- 

 ing Itadishes, sown in frame March 31st, only 

 confirmed the conclusion previously arrived at, 

 that a further noteworthy improvement of these 

 Radishes, so far as earliness is concerned, can 

 hardly be hoped for, and that it is hardly espec- 

 ially needed. When Radishes can Ik- grown for 

 the table in from 16 to 2.5 days from the time of 

 sowing, we have achieved pretty much all that 

 can be done. Our critical comparison was made 

 and notes taken on April 2oth, or i5 days after 

 sowing the seed. 



Some of the new sorts have again been sent out 

 under the claim of being earlier than any of the 

 older sorts. We find that the older Early Erfurt 

 is yet as early as any sort now offered by seeds- 

 men. The new Dark Red Ball, and Earliest 

 Scarlet Forcing are of the Erfurt type, and do not 

 differ in earliness from the older variety. The 

 White-tipped Scarlet Ball differs from the others 

 slightly in color, and has the eharacteristie white 

 tail-end. Otherwise we think they are all nearly 

 of equal value as forcing Radishes for both home 

 use and market. 



"The Dark Red Ball is simply perfection in form, 

 truly round as a ball, and of bright red color. 

 Rapid Forcing and White-tipped Scarlet resemble 

 each other very closely. 



El Dorado and Early Yellow Ball, which closely 

 resemble each other, have pleased us very much, 

 although a trifle later than the red sorts 

 mentioned. They are round, 

 somewhat russet, handsome ^tlTiT""*"^' 



and tender. The market value 

 depends on the fancy of the 

 market for color. Some 

 markets have developed quite 

 a partiality for the tender 

 Yellow Radishes. 



Strawberries. Our Straw- 

 berry beds come out in better 

 shape than we had expected 

 some weeks ago, when the 

 effects of the constant changes 

 from cold to warm and warm 

 to cold could be seen in the 

 large number of plants that 

 were heaved right out of the 

 ground. Thickly matted rows 

 suffered little injury. Of the 

 Crawford, Crimson Cluster, Cohanzick, Captain 

 Jack, Covell, and a few others, almost every 

 plant succumbed. Haverland, Ivanhoe, Jessie, 

 Warfleld, Wilson, Bubach— all make a fine show- 

 ing at this time (middle of May). 



The mulch iswale hay) had been entirely re- 

 moved from all the beds in April, and the ground 

 between the rows given a thorough loosening by 

 means of the cultivator as soon as it was in good 

 working order, early in May. This treatment is 

 far preferable to leaving the mulch on the bed 

 until the fruiting season, as so often practised. 

 If plants are forced through any covering, they 

 are apt to come up blanched and tender, and to 



A LAND-LEVELLING FLOAT. Sec next page. 



selves plainly visible. The undrained lands here 

 abouts are turned into swamps, with water 

 standing on the su rf ace in every depression . The 

 drains put in on the Popular Gardening 

 grounds take care very nicely of all this excess 

 of moisture, and leave the surface in good shape 

 for work in a little while after it has stopped to 

 rain. The difference in this respect between this 

 and former seasons is most striking. 



The Fruit Outlook. This continues to be 

 the most flattering. Almost ever.v tree and bush 

 is loaded with sound blossoms or buds. The fruit 

 crop in this section, barring accidents, will be a 

 most bountiful one. 



