1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



207 



he allowed to settle fnlly before putting the 

 thiiil over llu' fruit. It woiilil also lie well 

 to lulii'l all sufh fruit jars "poison," for the 

 sake of safety. No u\etal must come in 

 contact with the sublimate. 



Celery Culture. 



a. J. BENEnrT. MERRIMACK CO., N. H. 



Few people, compared with the many who 

 are Olery lovers, really enjoy Celery direct 

 from their own garden. This is because 

 many fail to treat it rightly duringsummer. 

 while othere do not know how to take care 

 of it during winter. 



My ground is a sandy soil, and in ciuile a 

 dry location. Last year I grew a crop of 

 garden Peas on the land, then ha<l it 

 thoroughly forked over preparatory for 

 planting in .Tuly. 



I then had a trench dug 14 

 inches deep and IS inches wide 

 at the l)ottom. I then tilled 

 the trench for about live inches 

 with dressing from my horse 

 and towstable. Then put on the 

 dressing about three inches of 

 soil, being careful not to pack 

 down the soil. Then I put in a 

 double row, plants being set 

 four inches in the row and 

 the rows four inches apart, in 

 diamond form. 



By August 1st the plants 

 were making a rapid growth, 

 but as the weather was very 

 dry I was obliged to water the 

 plants freely. My neighbor's 

 Celery at this time was com- 

 mencing to rust, while mine 

 was continually growing. In 

 October I banked the Celery, 

 lea\ing only the tips of the 

 leaves out. In November 1 had 

 stakes driven into the ground 

 on both sides of the trench, 

 slanting inward and meeting 

 at the top, and fastened near 

 the top by a light piece nailed 

 across. The frame work was then covered 

 with boards, and further protected with 

 several cart loads of leaves. 



All winter I could take out my Celery 

 for the ta,ble. No trouble to get it; no 

 frost to hurt it, and of flue flavor, 

 tender and as crisp, as you ever find it any 

 season. 



I see no reason why I can't have Celery 

 through till spring in this way every year. 

 The Celery in the markets is often a good 

 deal rusty and generally poor, while mine 

 is strictly A No. 1. People who have even 

 a small garden can enjoy their early Peas 

 and Lettuce, and then find a space to plant 

 a fine row of Celery if treated in the way I 

 have described. 



and spoiled most of them. But of all 

 shrubs two of the finest I consider to be 

 K.xocliordia granditlora and the Fringe 

 bu.sh, or Chionanthus Virginicar. 



The Deutzias are in tine array; Gracilis is 

 just past bloom, and Crcnala and S<:abra 

 and I'ridc of Kochestcr are opening. Of 

 the mid summer shrubs there are none 

 liner than the Althaeas. When young, these 

 must be protected with care, but as they 

 become older, they grow hardier. The sin- 

 gle-llowering are quite as important as the 

 double. The variegated sort is fine only 

 for foliage as it never opens its buds. With 

 I lie Altha'as should be had a line assortment 

 of Catalpas cut back into bushes. I do 

 not know wUat can be finer then great 

 clumps of Bignonoides and of Kempferii 



The Shrubbery and What to Make 

 of it. 



E. P. POWELL, ONEIDA CO., N. Y. 



By all means have a shrubbery. By this 

 I do not mean a general flower lawn with 

 bushes, but a lawn devoted to small 

 trees and shrubs, from Magnolias down to 

 Spireas. I am ju.st now looking out on the 

 procession of flowers, and wondering at the 

 possible delight that comes from such a 

 lawn. The spring has put behind a fine 

 concourse, and June has passed others in 

 review. Daphnes, Forsythia.s, Mahonias, 

 were followed by Spiraeas, Lilacs and 

 E.\ochordia. Then came a host of Syringas 

 (Mock Oranges) and Thorns, and the later 

 Lilacs with Fringe bush and then the Rose. 

 As I write the Roses are in full bloom — not 

 less than one hundred varieties. The 

 .Tosikea Lilac is fading, and the last of the 

 Syringas still fill the air with fragrance. 

 It has been a poor season for Lilacs because 

 the open winter swelled the buds in January 



VIEW IN D. M. DUNNINGS GRAPERY, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH 



and Speciosa. There is also a dwarf sort 

 getting, I think, never above three or four 

 feet. 



Referring to some recent notes that I sent 

 to -PopuL.M! Gardening, the Rural New 

 Yorker says my experiments differ widely 

 from theirs as to cutting back trees to grow 

 them in bush form. " We much doubt 

 whether the Tulip, Magnolia or Catalpa 

 would ever bloom under this treatment." 

 1 have Catalpascut back annually for twen- 

 ty years, and forming bushes from eight to 

 twelve feet high, and they are covered with 

 blossoms every year. This includes the 

 Speciosa and Bignonoides as well as those 

 superb Hybrids of E. Y. Teas, the Purple 

 and Golden-leaved. As for Beeches and 

 Lindens of course we should not look for 

 bloom but we get the most admirable 

 shrubs with foliage greatly enlarged . The 

 same authority judges that all trees thus 

 cut back would be killed in a very few 

 years. I presume if you cut an old tree back, 

 it would soon rot out at the roots. The 

 plan I .suggested— not a new one to the best 

 horticulturists— intends the cutting back of 

 young trees and keeping them moderately 

 back. (lOod judgement must be used a-s to 

 the amount and time of cutting. I have 

 I>indens twenty years old not over six feet 

 high and forming a dense mass of shoots. 

 Such bushes will last as long as a Syringa 

 can be kept into fine form and bloom, or a 

 Weeping Kilmarnock or Rosemary Willow. 

 The fact is, our shrubberies must be re- 

 newed much like our Peach and Plum 

 yards. I cut away every year something 

 that has lost its beauty and again put in a 

 fresh supply. 



A few of our shrubs only seem to be cap- 

 able of retaining their charms for a long 



time, such as the White Lilac which crowds 

 up into the form of a small tree and will 

 hold its own anywhere. Hut the Persian 

 Lilacs, the Cydonias, the Cornus varieties 

 and im.irly all our pretty lawn bushes must 

 be constantly cleaned and cut. If I vverelo 

 make a list that would come as near to en- 

 during neglect for a long time, I would 

 take Knonymus, Deutzia scabra, Exochor- 

 dia, the varieties of Hibiscus, the Weige- 

 las. Hydrangea panicul.ata, I'pright 

 Honeysuckles and Viburnums. But they 

 all need care, for any really perfect results. 

 Old wood accummulates and the bush be- 

 comes unsightly. 



The .same study of character must be 

 made in the case of shrubs as of trees. I 

 see efforts made to grow Pears thus after 

 an ideal .shape. Wiser culti- 

 vators understand that no 

 two varieties can be made to 

 conform to the same ideal 

 shape withoixt being ruined. 

 Our shrubs are possibly 

 more pliant, but it is impos- 

 sible to clip and shear them 

 arbitrarily without damage. 

 The charm of a shrubbery is 

 character. Let each plant dis- 

 play itself and its peculiar 

 tendencies, at least to such a 

 degree as to difference it from 

 all other shrubs. 



I notice a habit is growing 

 to buy very small shrubs and 

 have them shipped by mail. 

 If I were a nurseryman I 

 should like this, because ten 

 thousand bits of plants at ten 

 cents each is better to the 

 salesman than one thousand 

 at twenty five cents each. 

 But for the buyers it is a blun- 

 der. The joy of the shrubbery 

 is in profusion of bloom, the 

 abandon of nature to gayety. 

 I have a few little things 

 here and there that I have 

 waited for five years and yet they are stun- 

 ted. Buy good strong plants and trees 

 always. I never buy of an agent, no mat- 

 ter how glib his tongue, or miraculous his 

 new sorts are. It is all a huge fib, my good 

 reader. Don't be caught. When you need 

 anything, send to old established houses 

 that have a solid reputation and you will 

 not pay, I warrant you, one fourth what an 

 agent will get from you for a humbug. I 

 always buy my Grapes of one man; my 

 trees and shrubs of either one of two firms, 

 and my berries pretty sure of another. 



Some of the shrubs are almost invariably 

 grown badly. Among such are the Hy- 

 drangea paniculata, which should be train- 

 ed to a single stem and have the form of a 

 small tree. The bush Honeysuckles make 

 by all odds the finest of ornamental hedges. 

 SpiriPa aurea or Golden Spiraea is one of the 

 few shrubs that should be sheared into a 

 solid mass. It is a glorious golden ball in 

 May and June. Mahonia should be grown 

 on the north side of a house, or north east 

 angle, to protect it from winter's suns. 

 Dwarf Horse Chestnut is one of the shrubs 

 that should never be grouped, but grown as 

 a single specimen with abundance of room. 

 So also Viburnum plicatum or Snowball, 

 which is never fine iinless in full sunshine, 

 out of the drip of trees and houses. The 

 Weigelias group well as also do most of 

 the Spiraeas. 



Of our native shrubs I very much like the 

 Sumach. You can hardly misplace it, either 

 in masses or in single great specimens. It 

 likes good soil, but thrives almost every- 

 where. For late ornament by all means 

 have abundance of Enonymus and Bar- 

 berries. The rich fruit of them is the glory 

 of November and December. 



