204 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



June, 



1,803. Household Pests. Good insect powder 

 is yet the best and most convenient remedy for 

 roaches, cloth moths, etc., that has ever been 

 recommended. In one of the bulletins issued by 

 the Di\-ision of entomology. Department of Ag- 

 riculture. Prof. C. V. Hiley says: " In the lati- 

 tude of Washington and further south the croton 

 bug eats everything that contains paste, and 

 consequently wall paper, photographs, and es- 

 pecially certain kinds of cloth book-bindings, 

 suffer severely from their attacks. Without con- 

 demning other useful measures or remedies like 

 t)orax, I would repeat here that in the free and 

 persistant use of California buhach orsome other 

 tiesh and reliable brand of pyrethrum or Persian 

 insect powder we have most satisfactory means 

 of dealing with this and other roaches. Just be- 

 fore nighttall go into the infested rooms and 

 puff it into all the crevices, under baseboards, 

 into the drawei-s and cracks (if old furniture— in 

 fact, wherever there is a crack and in the morn- 

 ing the floor will be covered with dead and dymg 

 or demoralized and paralyzed roaches, which 

 may easily be swept up or otherwise collected 

 and burned. With cleanliness and persistency in 

 these methods the pest may be substantially 

 driven out of a house, and should never be 

 allowed to get full possession by immigrants 

 from without." This insect powder is also sure 

 death to bed-bugs, and if thoroughly and persist- 

 ently applied in same way as Prof. Kiley recom- 

 mends for roaches, will soon clear a house en- 

 tirely of the pest, no matter how badly infested. 

 Ants are easilv managed by poisoning or baiting. 

 Paris green is effective. Mix a little of it in thm 

 syrup or molasses and place where ants, but 

 nothing else, can get at it. Or moisten a sponge 

 with sweetened water, place where near the 

 ants' haunts, and occasionally pick up and throw 

 into boiling water. Then bait and reset the trap. 

 — W. 



1,869. Glazed Flower Pots. A correspondent 

 of one of our English exchanges speaks about 

 this subject as follows: At one time it was the 

 general opinion that pots to be suitable for plant 

 cultivation must be porous, but this opinion pre- 

 vailed apparently without any reason, or was 

 not formed from experience, and if so, the sooner 

 gardeners' minds are disabused of the notion the 

 better. In windows we often see plants in all 

 sorts of vessels, and taking into consideration 

 the adverse circumstances under which the plants 

 are placed, most of them show signs of rude 

 health. This proves that porosity is not of such 

 moment in the vessels for potting in as is gen- 

 erally supposed. Air in sufficient quantity for 

 the roots can surely find its way tnrough the 

 surface of the soil, and it cannot be required all 

 down the sides of the pots. If these were glazed 

 how very much easier it would be to keep them 

 clean, and what a time longer they would last, 

 as glazing strengthens considerably, and if the 

 posts cost a little more at first start, there would 

 be a considerable saving in the end. not only in 

 the durability, but in labor of washing, etc. 



1,7»4. Chestnuts. These are propagated by 

 cuttings in .\ugust, the young plants being 

 potted off when rooted, and re-potted as fre- 

 quently as the roots reach the sides of the pots. 

 They should be pinched back early in January 

 to cause a bushy growth.— W. 



1,S71. Cherry Stock. Budding is by far more 

 successful than grafting, and is done in Mazzard 

 or Morello stock in August, or on Mahaleb in 

 September. To get the stock, sow the seed of 

 either of the above in drills in the fall, covering 

 one inch, or put the seed of Mazzard in single 

 rows six inches apart, and then they will be fit to 

 bud the first season. Mehalebs, must be two 

 years before they.get large enough. If not suit- 

 able to sow in the fall, mix seeds with sand and 

 expose to the weather all winter, and sow or 

 plant very early in the spring. Suckers will 

 answer if no seedlings can be got, but are objec- 

 tionable, because they will be sure to sucker 

 again. Let them stand in the nursery, where 

 they grew, no putting in cellar is necessary. 

 Some root graft the Cherry same as Apple, but 

 I don't consider it practicable.— S. Miller, Jfo. 



1,841. Tariff on Seeds. The Government exacts 

 an import tax of 50 per cent ad vaiorcm on most 

 garden and flower seeds. 



1,837. Black Langshan Kggs. Write to Mrs. 

 C. M. Kelley, Newark, N. J., or P. H. Jacobs, 

 Hammonton, N. J. 



1,793. Insects on Home Eose. The pests no 

 doubt are some specimen of aphis or plant louse 

 and which would yield to free syringing with 

 water, or dusting the plants with tobacco, or 

 washing with tobacco water of the color of tea. 

 —A. H. E. 



1.804. Bose Leaf Hopper, See article on Rose 

 culture elsewhere in thLs issue. 



1.805. Shade for Oooseberries. The American, 

 like foreign sorts, will do well enough in half- 

 shady situation, but at the north they also suc- 

 ceed In full exposure to the suu. Which is more 

 than can be said of the English sorts.— (J. H. 



1,811. Cypripedium Spectabile, Site for. This 

 superb species of native Orchid Is usually found 

 growing in swamjis, hence its wants may best he 

 met byproviding a similar position for it.-A.H. E. 



1,842. Cactus Culture. Your plant is evidently 

 an Echinopsis— sometimes called Pope's Head, 

 but why, we cannot understand. They make 

 young offsets freely, and in order to induce your 

 plant to bloom these offsets should be removed 

 early in the spring. They may be put several 

 toge"ther in a pot filled with sandy soil, and will 

 grow quite rapidly. The flowers of many of the 

 Echinopsis are very beautiful. One on our table 

 now measures 13 inches in length, five inch across 

 the petals. Color delicate pink.— A. Blanc. 



1,848. Blood Manure for Boses. The item given 

 in Philadelphia Record is as foUews: English 

 Rose growers are using blood manure for their 

 Tines with great success. They take sixteen 

 pounds of blood, and as soon as it begins to putrify 

 pour on it four ounces of muriatic acid and four 

 ounces of proto-sulphate of iron, previously 

 mixed, which turns the blood into a dark, dry 

 powder that will keep for a long time. We have 

 no practical experience with this preparation but 

 undoubtedly it will be a good manure, rich in 

 nitrogen for Roses and other flowiring plants. 

 We would be glad to have the o]iinion of station 

 chemists. We would apply a light sprinkling of 

 it to the surface of the soil around the plants, or 

 use in weak solution. 



Orchids are not now very expensive. It 

 is true some species ot great rarity and ex- 

 traordinary beauty command very high 

 prices. But the average amateur may form 

 a beautiful and intensely interesting collec- 

 tion for a very moderate outlay. A knowl- 

 edge of the cultural requirements of these 



A Rack for Carrying Plants. 

 Our correspondent L. B. Pierce, of Sum- 

 mit County, Ohio, is a practical horticultur- 

 ist who believes in employing conveniences 

 in his work wherever he can. The annexed 

 sketch is a rack for carrying plants; the rack 

 to be placed on the box of a spring wagon, is 

 one such which he, as a florist, has had in 

 use, and which mil commend itself to all 

 who have occasion to carry pot plants to 

 market. Unfortunately the articles which 

 accompanies the sketch became mislaid and 

 cannot appear in the present issue. But the 

 matter is so timely at this, the planting sea- 

 son, and our engraving so easily to be 

 understood, that we present the cuts with 

 thLs explanation. 



It will be seen by the cross bectional view 

 that the rack consists first : of two iron sup- 

 ports or crosspieces bent to the form shown 

 by the heavy black line a. I. and which rest 

 tipon and clasp the top of the wagon bos, c ; 

 second, the wooden slats d. d. which are 

 riveted to the iron creepers with spaces 

 between. These slats are then ratched at 

 intervals with concave ratches as shown in 

 upper drawing and into which the parts fit 

 snugly, as shown beneath. 



The iron crosspieces may be made of old 

 wagon tires, the slats of ash or pine wood. 



Orchids for Amateurs— First Paper 



FELIX MASTRON. 



A great number of those amateur garden- 

 ers who possess a small greenhouse, and 

 many of those who do not, are quite enthus- 

 iastic in their admiration of Orchids. They 

 like the curious forms and brilliant 'colors 

 displayed in the flowers produced by plants 

 of this most interesting family. Numerous 

 heroic attempts at their cult tire by this class 

 of people have come under my notice. 



The principal source of trouble in such 

 cases appears to be simply and solely a lack 

 of knowledge on the part of those who at- 

 tempt the experiment. Some few obtain 

 the requisite knowledge from their experi- 

 ences and are sticcessful, while the greater 

 number fail and give up in despair. 



The conditions at disposal are usually 

 quite favorable to the successful culture of 

 many beautiful and interesting species, but 

 the majority of beginners too frequently 

 commence operations with kinds that are 

 wholly unsuited to the means at their dis- 

 posal. Being once set right in this particu- 

 lar, however, the lover of Orchids, however 

 primitive his structures and appliances, 

 usually finds the road to success smooth 

 and straight. 



Costly structures, great wealth and skill 

 are by no means so necessary as one might 

 infer from the above-mentioned article. 

 There are numerotts instances on record of 

 some Orchids that are really diffictilt to 

 manage being grown very sticcessfully 

 under disadvantageous circumstances. 



A Rach ftir carming Plants. 

 plants is decidedly beneficial to the begin- 

 ner. These, happily, are in most cases of 

 the simplest order. Many valuable collec- 

 tions of Orchids have been ruined by the 

 elaborate care bestowed upon the plants. 

 Of course this was to some extent an evil 

 necessity, because an exact knowledge of 

 their requirements could only be gained in 

 many cases by experiment. 



With the amount of attention ordinarily 

 bestowed upon the commonest hotise plants, 

 most Orchids will thrive admirably. Many 

 of our most beautiful species wUl easily sur- 

 vive the ill-treatmentand neglect that would 

 kill the most ordinary Geranium, Fuchsia 

 and Coleus. This is easily understood. 

 Under their natural conditions they are often 

 subjected to great extremes of heat and cold , 

 draught and moisture. When one is ac- 

 quainted with the natural conditions under 

 which a plant floitrishes, it is In many cases 

 an easy matter to devise artificial conditions 

 that will be productive of better results 

 (horticulturally) than are met in nature. 

 Many of the plants now grown in gardens 

 would not be recognized in a natural state 

 by an ordinary observer. Truly may it be 

 said that we " mend nature." And thus it 

 is that by observing uniformity rather than 

 fluctuating extremes in our treatment of the 

 plants we are of ten enabled to dispense with 

 conditions that appear unnecessary, and 

 still be sticcessful. 



Ijet the amateur orchidist take courage. 

 The daily experiences of Orchid growers are 

 most decidedly in his favor, and it is the 

 writer's firm opinion, as it is his fondest 

 hope, that the greenhouses and windows 

 will in a very few years be as well filled 

 with luxuriant plants of beautiftil Orchids 

 as they are now filled with common plants. 

 A series of hints on selection and treat 

 ment suitable to the wants of the beginner 

 in Orchid culture will follow. 



Marecha) NIel Roses In Pots. 

 One gets so accustomed to the orthodox 

 method of training the lovely Marechal 

 Niel Rose to the roofs of greenhouses that 

 any other mode of culture comes as a wel- 

 come relief. From what I have seen of 

 others and have done myself, I have come 



