1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



195 



more advanced state of improvement than a 

 year hko. These prouuds, comprising: thirteen 

 acres, are conducted solely for the benefit of our 

 readers. In the past two seasons more than 

 twelve hundred dollars worth of fruit and orna- 

 raentiil trees, shniVis and plants have been set 

 out for experiments and for beauty, hence the 

 place is beeominK a grand ob,leet lesson for every 

 lover of horticulture. The time by train from 

 Niagara Falls is but eight minutes, the fare 15 

 cents. Our home and these improvements are 

 but i-) mile from the La Salle station. 



Double-flowered Chinese Plnm (Prunus tri- 

 loba). There are but few more beautiful hardy 

 Howering shrubs than this, yet one seldom meets 

 with it. For small gardens it has special value, 

 as it docs'not grow to a large size, forming, 

 when grown as a standard, a dwarf spreading 

 head. For this reason, when placed in shrubber- 

 ies where vigorous growing trees abound, it 

 should lie brought well to the front, where in 

 early spring, when crowded with blossoms, it 

 forms a conspicuous object. In the standard 

 form, indeed, it well deserves a position on the 

 grass; but it should, if possible, get some 

 shelter, for rough winds and heavy rains dam- 

 age the expanded flowers. Tt may also be 

 grown in bush form, and it is really admirable 

 for forcing under glass in winter, as it flowers 

 freely in pots in a small state, and requires but 

 little heat to induce it to open its blooms. The 

 si..ne plants may be used year after year if 

 carefull.\- hardened off, plunged or planted out, 

 anil well fed in summer, but it is better to have 

 two sets, allowing one year to recuperate.— J ('. 



Hot Water vs. Sleam. Prof. I,. K. Taft of the 

 Agricultural College of Michigan has also made 

 some comparative tests of the hot water and 

 steam sytems for beating greenhouses, which 

 corroborate Prof. Maynard's conclusions, that 

 the hot water system is less expensive, and con- 

 sequently preferable. The records kept of the 

 two test greenhouses on the college grounds 

 show that during January the hot-water house 

 averaged 15 degrees warmer than the steam- 

 heated house and to secure this it required C75 

 liounds of coal less than was used in the steam 

 heater. In February the water house averaged 

 one degree warmer than the other and the coal 

 used was ti2.'> pounds less. Altogether, Prof. 

 Taft feels justified by these results to say that 

 while the old method of piping for water heating 

 with four-inch east iron pipes was undoubtedly 

 less economical than steam heating, the present 

 system of water heating with small pipes will 

 certainly prove more satisfactory in every way 

 for houses less than 100 feet in length. 



A Use for broken Trowels and Weeders. K nock 

 out the old rivets. Then le%el off the lower end 

 of a small broom handle and rivet securely to 

 plate as shown in illustration. This makes la 

 very useful implement for digging out plants 

 from the center of cold-frames, hot-beds, etc , 

 also for lifting plants anywhere in the flower 

 garden. Could I have but one trowel, I would 

 prefer the above to one with a short handle. It 

 will stand more prying, although there is danger 

 of prying too hard. What is needed is a similar 

 tool, no larger, but of thicker steel. Would it 

 not pay the manufacturer to put such a one in 

 market? The Hazeltine hand weeder is another 

 very useful tool, but for several purposes ( such 

 as weeding, or stirring the soU among plants in 

 the center of cold frames, hot-beds etc.) it may 

 be much improved by removing the original 

 handle and substituting a small broom handle. 

 It is also of advantage to form a V shaped notch 

 in the end of blade as it will enable the operator 

 to easily catch on to the plants, and as it prevents 

 slipping when weeding or thinning out plants 

 that are growing close together. This may seem 

 a little thing, nevertheless the extra amount of 

 work accomplished will be considerable in the 

 long run.— TT. C. Jennison. 



Barning over Strawberry Beds. We have for 

 five seasons tried burning over the old .Straw- 

 berry patches which we wished to have bear 

 another crop, and like the method so well that 

 we shall follow this plan exclusively in the 

 future. I think the plants begin to grow again 

 soonsr and are more vigorous and healthy for 

 the burning. The fire in some way or other 

 causes the soil to "mellow up" and hold 

 moisture much better, where it has become hard 

 from being tramped over by pickers. Weed 

 seeds and insects at the surface will be destroyed 

 and nearly every weed will succumb while only 

 here and there will a Strawberry plant be killed. 

 In '88 we had a patch which burned "spotted" 

 on account of old half-rotted straw being used 



for a mulch. Wlii'rcver the fire reached, the 

 plants grew beautifully and were free from 

 grubs. It is also claimed that burning tends to 

 cure and prevent rust or leaf-blight, but I can '■ 

 not sjx'ak from experience as to this. A valuable 

 advantage gained by burning is that the patch j 

 will not need any work— e.vcept to run between 

 the rows with the cultivator -for four or six 

 weeks after their " baptism of fire." They can 

 then be carefully hoed and the job with us has 

 never been more than half as hard as when we , 

 did not burn —B. F. Kiiylf. 



"How to make the Garden Pay." Mr. T. 

 dreiner, in this recent work, brings together 272 

 large pages of practical ideas and information 



PLANT OF BEGONIA REX. S« opposite page. 



which will be widely welcomed It is a work that 

 treats especially of the latest ideas and methods 

 now in vogue with advanced American garden- 

 ers. The author is not only an accomplished 

 tiller of the soil, but is also a keen experimentor 

 and close observer, and in the present treatise he 

 gives the results of his special attention to the 

 culinar.v vegetable branch of horticulture, al- 

 though the wants of the fruit grower are also 

 much had in mind, one chapter being devoted to 

 the Strawberry. The three chapters on the im- 

 portant subject of manures are especially inter- 

 esting. A particular charm of the book is its 

 many beautiful and clear illustrations. The 

 sensible talks on improving the home gardens of 

 .\mericans to the end of an increased vegetable 

 diet, and of converting the vegetable garden 

 into a pleasure spot instead of a place of dreadful 

 toil should be sounded from end to end of our 

 land. Yet withal the valuable information con- 

 tained in the work, it may not be improper to 

 point out a single defect. We allude to the three- 

 board drain shown on page 86 which is made to 

 appear with the widest flat side down, when it is 

 obvious that a better conductor of water, 

 and less liable to clog, would be obtained by 

 directly inverting it, to stand like the letter V- 

 This valuable work is published by Wm. H. 

 Maule, Philadelphia, Pa. 



Chat about the Use of Flowers. 



Only a few short weeks ago the ladies were 

 wearing bunches of Tulip buds at their throats; 

 arranged with their soft, grey leaves. Now I 

 hear the golden blossoms of the Dandelion are 

 imitated and worn; but then the tendency is to 

 do as in Paris where anything is worn— imita- 

 tions of frogs and toads, lizards with diamond 

 eyes, or death's heads and cross-bones of oxi- 

 dised metal. 



They have just had a great flower show near the 

 Champs Elysee, Paris, at which Orchids, Palms, 

 Azaleas, Koses, and Pfponies were beautifully 

 shown; but .\lphonse and Jeanette must have 

 something sensational, and this year the much- 

 talked-of novelty is our old friend, the green 

 Rose. It is amusing to read the remarks about 

 this depauperated old variety in the papers, 

 even some of leading journals have fallen into 

 the trap, and speak of this old botanical curiosity 

 as if it were some unheard- of wonder of which 

 horticulturists ought to be very proud ! It is 

 often sent to me to name. It was sent only 

 yesterday, and by a gentleman who lives adjacent 

 and it has been in botanical gardens where it has 

 been grown for years and years. 



As.long'as life endures we shall tind it full of 

 whims and caprice, I suppose. What flower did 

 Helen of Troy bind in her aubtirn .tresses? or 

 what, if not the buds of Pomegranate, revealed 

 the blue-black intensity of Cleopatra's hair? 

 Who shall tell us which blossom of antiquity is 

 the oldest, the Nelumbium of the east or Sun- 

 flower of the west? These secrets are safely- 

 locked in the safe of Time, and one must rest 

 satisfied with the sure and certain knowledge 

 that never since creation were flowers more 

 beautiful or so widely grown and appreciated as 

 they are to-day. 



Can there be a sweeter or more. beautiful wall 

 shrub than the Chinese Wistaria in a warm and 

 sheltered garden? I saw several garden walls 

 (juite wreathed with masses of its (irape-like 

 clusters a few weeks ago, but here it is only 

 just now expanding its soft mauve flowers. 

 Near Paris this rambling shrub is planted quite 

 abundantly, and especially is it used for the 

 draping of iron railings,. thus .forming a sort 

 of floral wreath or frieze, and fretjuently ex- 

 tending for a length of very. many, yards. 

 When grown in side, garden walls near the 

 public roads a shoot is often trained a foot or 

 So above the wall coping on a strained wire, 

 thus forming in spring a wreath of olive-green 

 leaflets and drooping blossoms beautiful. to see. 

 There are two or three varieties. Perhaps 

 the finest form is a white one, having elegant 

 'ong spikes of bloom, and then there is the 

 double-blossomed form, which, like most other 

 double Pea flowers, is a wretched thing. The 

 main drawback to the more frequent planting 

 of Wistarias is their slowness of growth for 

 the first year or two, and some little difficulty 

 is often experienced in propagating them. 

 Layering is slow, but sure. On the other hand, 

 once well planted, a Wistaria will cover a 

 hundred feet of wall and live for a centur.v or 

 more— a thing of beauty. And there is this 

 in its favor it does well even in the heart of 

 large trees, where so many other things fail. 

 Soft and white as swan's-down, sweet as spices 

 from Eastern seas is the white-blossomed Pink, 

 opening out fresh and fair early in rosy June. 

 It is one of the veiy best of all our real old 

 garden flowers, and with deep, full-scented Cab- 

 bage Koses and a deep fringe of this old Pink 

 yon may make a posy not easily surpassed in 

 freshness and in subtle perfume. I remember 

 some old villages in the midlands of England the 

 streets of which were nightly perfumed with 

 these flowers, so that strangers in passing used to 

 ask the source of the fragrance with which the 

 air was overladen. No garden could well be too 

 full of this flower, which is, as I think, prefer- 

 able to the new white called Snowball— smaller, 

 it is true, but a much more shapely blossom. 

 The faults of Jlrs. Sinkins are fatal to a good 

 Pink— it is too heavy and lumpy in shape, and so 

 full of petals, that, as a rule, the tube becomes 

 split, and the petals fall out in a helpless, disor- 

 ganized-looking way. 



In France, market growers often make quite a 

 S])eciality of these white Pinks; grown in pots 

 they bloom early in April, and are highly appre- 

 ciated ere the general supply comes in. All the 

 Pinks are so readily increased by pipings or slips, 

 that there is no difliculty in obtaining a good 

 stock of these soft and fragrant flowers of June 

 and July. 



In this da.v when the tendency is to overdo the 

 use of flowers and floral designs at funerals, to 

 an extent indeed, that leads many mourners to 

 refuse flowers altogether, it is a relief to meet a 

 really tasteful and flt use of blooms about the 

 casket of the dead. Such the writer recently 

 came across at the funeral of an acquaintance. 

 While flowers were used freely, there was an 

 entire absence of stiff unnatural designs. On the 

 casket reposed a large wreath consisting chiefly 

 of long-stemmed-Roses, and spring flowers. On 

 the extreme end of the top lay a loosely tied 

 bunch of Lilacs and white Roses, some of which 

 hung down a little into the casket near the face 

 of the dead. Around the outside from handle to 

 handle, there was looped a string of Smilax, 

 with a bunch of Roses either white pink or 

 yellow, caught in each of these and together 

 serving to relieve the outlines of the case and 

 take the glare off from the silver holders. 

 Throughout the rooms there was here and there 

 a vase of flowers, with a single large basket of 

 blooms placed near the head of the casket. It 

 was a beautiful illustration of bringing flowers 

 in profusion, but with good taste to the last sad 

 rites of the beloved departed. 



Observer. 



