1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



237 



parts of South Americn, are B. t'»siom'.«, with 

 j>inv white lii^w<M"s niio ini'h across, ami Tt mult •'- 

 fidti. a plant of much stroiigiT larrowth, and niui-h 

 hux^T. livo-pnrti'il U'u\rs. 



Settler's 8tru»(fle8 for Fruit wht-n 1 lame 

 hcMv to the Ozark Hills, seven years ago, 1 moveii 

 on a piece of iiplanil, with a few aei-es of t^leared 

 land <>\crjfro\vn with vines, briai's, and shrubs of 

 nian.\' l\inds. There were some Inniehes of seed- 

 Iniff Apple sprouts. I cut away all hut the host 

 fitini each cluster, ami cultivated the remaining 

 ones : and they have paid ine well for my tronhle. 

 The fruit is fine tla\oivd, of good shape, color, 

 and si/e. Theri' were also seedling I*each trees 

 which we cared for. that soon jra\'e us plenty of 

 fruit, and these Apples and Peaches, with Mie 

 wild ti-uits ^>-rowinK around us, kept our table 

 reasonabl.v supplied while our "tame" fruits 

 were jjrrowinj?. I be^m early to plant fruit of 

 all kinds, larpe and small, as many each season 

 as I could afford at the time; am still planting, 

 and shall i-ontinue to do so for many years to 

 ettnie, if I li\e.— /.r. TrowhriilucDnuijlas Co., Mo. 



Hotne Experiment Stations,— Every farmers 

 tioy and every girl should be taught to tr.v ex- 

 ^KTiments in culture. The whole laud should be 

 an e.xperiment station. The reports should be 

 made brief and accurate to State Headquarters, 

 to lie summed up, edited and the valuable given 

 to the public. Among other experiments should 

 l>e the raising of seedlings. Our grafted fruits 

 are subject to constant strain by being trans- 

 ferred from one climate to another; and by the 

 tendency to graft feeble stock. Growing seed- 

 lings is our own remed.y. We have our ideal 

 fruit or vegetable in but few directions. I sus- 

 pect our Strawberry may have culminated in 

 about as good berries as we shall get. But hardy 

 Blackberries, hardy Peaches, dessert Quinces, 

 choice Persimmons, etc, etc ; what an opening ! 

 Try something boys, every mother's son of you. 

 — E. P. Powell. 



Botany fo? the Home and School. In a book 

 entitled *' Fairyland of Flowers," from the 

 Educational Publishing Co., Boston, Mass., we 

 have an excellent elementary work on Botany 

 suited to popular use. It is from the pen of 

 Mara L. Pratt, who in some previous works has 

 established strong claims as an instructive 

 author. In the present treatise her plan has 

 been to make the study of flowers, in their bo- 

 tanical aspect so simple and untechnical, that 

 with a little guidance the child can take common 

 flowers and trace out their family, genera and 

 species. Illustrations have been used in pro- 

 fusion to throw light on the text. The author 

 has tried, and very successfully we think, to re- 

 lieve her work from the dryness so often dis- 

 covered by the average student ,'n the strictly 

 botanical works. Many a young reader will be 

 led by this book to almost on concsiously know 

 something of botany, who would turn with 

 weariness from the regular text books. It is a 

 handsome cjuurto book and costs but one dollar. 



The Stndy of Botany, Weeds, flowers, shrubs 

 and trees are everywhere about us. The elemen- 

 tary facts of their structure, manner of growth 

 and classification, are so simple and easy that 

 they may be readily understood by a child. No 

 study so enlarges one's capacity for enjoyment. 

 But most important of all is the fact that our 

 intimate knowledge of plants, such as botany 

 affords, is indispensible to the farmer and gard- 

 ener. Men in other professions may get along 

 without, but the soil worker who is constantly 

 dealing with plants, cannot know too much 

 about them. Tt enables him to select his seed 

 with more care, adapting the variety to soil and 

 climate; it tells him how plants grow and what 

 food they require: it enables him to avoid losses 

 by weeds; it shows him how to prevent fungous 

 diseases; it teaches him what plants are worth- 

 less, and which are the most valuable. In brief, 

 botany in connection with chemistry and geology 

 constitutes the natural foundation ni a sound, 

 practical knowledge of plants and soil. The lead- 

 ing principles and facts of these sciences are the 

 frame-work, the very body and bones, of an 

 agricultural education.—Prof. Wm. R. Lazejiby, 

 Ohid State Univerxitji. 



Fighting the Weed Naisance — Do you know 

 that the Canada Thistle is again on the increase? 

 The law is not enforced and never has been 

 thoroughly so ; yet the farmers did get alarmed 

 and fight the pest, but now they are giving it 

 license and it is spreading accordingly. I have not 

 seen an Oat field this year free from Thistles 

 while some are full. Within three miles of Utica 



I can point out dozens of open lots, pastures, 

 meadows and roadsides that are covered with 

 these as well as other weeds; and all grow to 

 seed. In five yeai-s more it will have secured the 

 same hold it had thirty or forty years ago. Now 

 will you wake up in time and enforce the law V 

 What we ncc<l is county or town Anti-weed 

 Associations, organizations to enforce laws as to 

 the cultivation of weeds and neglect to cut them 

 Who will be the first to move in this matter? It 

 needs about twenty or ten earnest men who will 







Fig. 6. Arching Pin Oaks, as practised by Wm. 

 Falconer. See page 234. 



furnish means and prosecute a half dozen of the 

 shiftless weed breeders. Then the law would en- 

 force itself. But we also need in every ttounty 

 a Road Improvement Association, pledged to the 

 enforcement of existing laws as to weeds in the 

 highway ; and ready to prosecute any path- 

 master who does not rake up stones, mow weeds 

 and otherwise obey the statutes under which he 

 acts. We have laws enough, but too little 

 obedience. Such an association should make a 

 study of the best methods of road building, 

 which so very few of our people have the least 

 idea of.— E. P. Powell. 



Climbers on Tree Trunks. In this style of em- 

 bellishment little is as yet done in this country 

 compared with the attention it receives abroad. 

 In a large garden at Brentford, England, this 

 style is now carried out in Hoses and with few 

 tacks being used, and these as small as possible, 

 no harm results while the wreaths of flowers 

 clustering round the rich-brown bar)£ give that 

 picturesque, wild, and natural appearance that 

 is inexpressibly charming. Noisette Roses are 

 the kinds used. Aged specimens of trees fast 

 decaying, and becoming in a certain sense un- 

 sightly, are generally selected for the Roses to 

 ramble over, and this they do most effectually. 

 One Cedar almost dead is embellished with Vir- 

 ginian Creeper, and a large tree of Red Cedar is 

 draped with this climber, the shoots hanging 

 gracefully down and covering what would have 

 been an unsightly stump. In another part a 

 Virginian (^reeper was fast hiding the bareness 

 of a Monkey Puzzle, or Araucaria that had lost 

 its lower limbs. The time to see the Ampelopsis 

 is the autumn. Then the rich-green leafage 

 changes gradually to brilliant-crimson tints, 

 which light up the garden with intense color. 

 A tree veiled with shoots and tendrils, as the 

 Red Cedar at Syon, looks in the autumn as if 

 encircled with Are. This kind of gardening can 

 be overdone. Only a little is wanted, and where 

 there are weather-beaten tree monarchs, whose 

 very age commands reverence, that may be 

 made picturesque and beautiful by planting 

 against their hollow trunks Roses or creepers of 

 the nature of the Ampelopsis. Breaks of white 

 Koses here and there in a large park certainly 

 have a peculiar beauty in the summer months. 



Bush Honeysuckles, Among the very best 

 of those thoroughly tested at the Iowa Experi- 

 ment Station, Prof. Budd names the following : 

 Lotiicera splendens, classed as a variety of L. 

 Tartarica, but a western Asiatic form, with 

 softer foliage and a more pendant habit than the 

 species. The typical variety has large white 

 and yellow berries. Its abundant bloom is near 

 the point of growth, hence the bloom and after 

 crop of berries are more conspicuous than with 

 the common variety.— ion icera spcci'osi also be- 

 longs to the western Asiatic form of the species, 

 and in foliage and habit it is much like L. splen- 

 dens. Flowers very large, mottled pink in color, 

 followed by light red berries in great profusion. 

 This is nearly identical with the L. riibra 

 grandiftnra of European nurseries.— I/onicera 

 rubra viryinalis, a handsome bush with pen- 

 dent habit and large pure white flowers. Loni- 

 cera ruprectiana, a strong, growing species 



from east Europe, with bold habit, soft foliage 

 and a great profusion of light, pink flowers, 

 followed by large, handsome berries. The variety 

 of the species from China has yellow flowers and 

 is far less desirable. The bees work freely on 

 this species. Loiiieera Ktilostcum.- This is a 

 near relative of the trailing variety known as 

 Lonicera IJnlleane, which is tender with us. 

 Like the latter its flowers are white, turning as 

 they get old to a creamy yellow, and the leaves 

 are soft and pubescent on both sides But it is 

 bush-like in form, with pendant shoots, and the 

 flowers are followed bj' very large, purple ber- 

 ries decidedly oramental. The bees gather honey 

 and pollen from this variety to such extent that 

 it is grown in hedges as a bee plant in east 

 Europe. Lonicera Albcrti.- This is a peculiar 

 representative of the Bush Honeysuckle from 

 central Asia. At first it appears to be a delicate 

 small leaved trailer, highest in the center, with 

 its points of growth resting on the ground. But 

 the cone ascends each year until it becomes a 

 handsome weeping bush four or more feet in 

 height. It is the most giaceful member of the 

 family in habit and foliage, and a profuse 

 bloomer with handsome after fruit. Flowers 

 dark pink, making a fine contrast with the very 

 small light green foliage. All the varieties and 

 species noted grow readil.v from cuttings of the 

 young wood put in in the fall, and they should 

 become common in our western nurseries. 



Chat About Flowers and Their Uses. 



As charming a bouquet as one could desire to 

 see, was recently carried to town by a gentleman 

 from his suburban residence. It consisted of 

 flowering branches of the Tulip Tree, with 

 plenty of the handsome leaves to back the bloom 

 a bunch of the purple Bowers of Salsify, and 

 some sprays of Reeve's Spiraea. It discounted 

 the florist's bouquets wholly. 



A most beautiful bouquet of hardy flowers is 

 that of yellow Day Lilies and blue Irises, with a 

 free intermingling of the foliage of both. 



Recently Mrs. Grover Oeveland had charge of 

 a flower booth at a charity fair in New York, 

 and the customers for her Roses, which were 

 held at from five to ten dollars apiece were so 

 numerous that they were obliged to form Into 

 line to be waited on. 



To those who grow flowers in profusion, we 

 would say, study simple effects in arranging 

 those cut for the table or other purpose. To 

 mass a great assortment of bloom into a close 

 solid bunch will be found far less satisfactory 

 than to take some leading kind of flower for the 

 main display and then employ other kinds in 

 smaller quantities. A bouquet composed of 

 three or four kinds.will usually be more effective 

 than when ten times as many kinds are used. 

 On this principle in part, first class florists make 

 bouquets or baskets of Hoses, or of Carnations, 

 or of Orchids perhaps, depending on the various 

 colors of the same kind for a diversified effect. 



While you are studying effective arrangement, 

 give attention also to having the flowers loosely 

 instead of compactly disposed of. Make one 

 bouquet with flowers, a good proportion of 

 which have stems from long to very long, and 

 another of the same kind of blooms, but with 

 short stems, and note how inferior is the effect 

 of the latter. It scarcely requires to be repeated 

 that with hardly any exception, flowers appear 

 to the best advantage when surrounded by their 

 own foliage. 



At a recent swell wedding at Washington, taU, 

 graceful Palms filled the nooks and corners and 

 clustered about the bottom of the stairway. In 

 all the rooms there were masses of spring flowers, 

 pots of sweet Honeysuckles, jars of Snowballs 

 and Wistaria, low dishes of Violets and Pansies, 

 and mingled with them all were graceful Ferns. 

 A white satin ribbon stretched across the draw- 

 ing room, dividing it midway, on the other side 

 of this ribbon, and in the library beyond, was 

 the space reserved for the guests. 



On the second floor in the long drawing room 

 extending across the front of the house, a bower 

 of nodding Palms and blossoming Rose plants had 

 been arranged with the oval mirror for a back 

 ground. The mirror was framed in a thick 

 fringe of Maidenhair Ferns and masses of Mar- 

 guerites. The mantel was banked with growing 

 Ferns,and from it drooped a pendulous fringe of 

 Asparagus vme. On eitlier side stood brass tables 

 on which were huge jars of La France Koses. In 

 the corners of the drawing room were clumps of 

 Palms, and on all the tables and brackets were 

 bowls of Snowballs and Syringes.— Observer. 



