250 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



vention to the famous private gardens of 

 Mrs. Francis B. Hayes and of Mr. H. H. 

 Hunnewell, in the vicinity of Boston were 

 among the most attractive events of the 

 week. 



The Pre.5IDENt's Address. In the course 

 of President J. M. Jordan's address the fol- 

 lowing points of general interest were pre- 

 sented : 



The aim of this Society is to lift up and caiiy 



Plant and Fruit of the Alpine Strawberry. See Preceding Page. 



forward all that tends to advance the interest of 

 its membei's. 



Much is expected from its organized efforts, 

 not only to instruct its members in their avoca- 

 tions, but to educate the masses in horticulture, 

 by widening and deepening an interest in our 

 profession, by increasing our membership, until 

 we embrace all the leading men of the country 

 who are interested in the various callings of 

 horticulture. 



There are lew occupations more general than 

 the florist's and horticulturist's, and it is com- 

 mitted to our hands to extend our parks and bou- 

 levards far into the country until city is linked 

 to city, and the most rural districts will feel the 

 vitalizing forces of plants and flowers. And 

 this brings us to the inquiry: From whence wUl 

 come the means? Who will furnish the money? 

 It we are true to our best interests we will do all 

 we can to foster the sentiment of encouraging 

 donations to )ior(icu((Hrt'. " He who plants a 

 tree (and makes it grow) builds a monument to 

 his name; or makes two blades of grass grow 

 where but one grew before, will not lose his re- 

 ward." 



Large fortunes have been bequeathed to religi- 

 ous institutions, and to schools and while we 

 all believe that much good is accomplished thus, 

 yet we must acknowledjte those who are thus 

 benefited are very few, compared with the great 

 mass of people that frequent our parks and pub- 

 lic grounds to take object lessons, where young 

 and old, rich and poor, learned and illiterate meet 

 on one common level to drink in nature's best 

 gifts to man. 



Undoubtedly these sentiments inspired Mr. 

 Henry Shaw who died in St. Louis, August 25, 

 1889) to bequeath to the public his immense for- 

 tune, for the purpose of instructing the people 

 in the ever-increasing knowledge of horticulture. 

 He gives to the public a Botanical Gai-den which 

 shall be forever kept up and maintained for the 

 cultivation and propagation of plants, flowers, 

 fruits, trees and other productions of the vega- 

 table kingdom, a museum and library, devoted 

 to the service of botany, horticulture and allied 

 subjects. 



A school has already been established, where 

 young men are trained in the practical work of 

 horticulture. They are paid for their work, be 

 sides furnished with lodgings and tutition free. 



Mr. Shaw did not forget the social side of life, 

 and bequeathed one thousand dollars each year 

 for a banquet to men eminent as teachers of 

 science, literature and art; also four hundred 

 each year for a Uke banquet for gardeners and 

 florists; five hundred dollare each year for a 

 floral exhibition; giving the trustees unlimited 

 power to spend large sums of money in extend- 

 ing parks and pleasure grounds. And that these 

 objects may be fully carried out, he has put into 

 the hands of the trustees an estate \ alued from 

 Ave to eight million dollni-s, consisting largely of 

 prtductive really Ihatiiumut lie sold, but must 



be rented. The income now realizes hundreds 

 of thousands of dollars, and should in the near 

 future reach a million dollars a year. St. Louis 

 challenges the world to show a like donation 

 from any one individual. 



The subject of a higher education has been 

 mentioned in our former conventions. Modern 

 science reveals the operations of nature in their 

 truth and beauty, and lifts us by their contem- 

 plations out of ourselves to higher things. It 

 finds as much that is wonderful in the growth of 

 a blade of grass as in 

 the motion of the 

 planets, as much of 

 inspii'ation in the 

 process by which a 

 clod of earth gives 

 up its fertility as in 

 the forces that keep 

 the stars in their 

 places in the uni- 

 verse. 



There should be 

 established some 

 measure of qualifica- 

 tion of young men 

 entering into the em- 

 ployment of florist to 

 learn the business, 

 and with proper in- 

 fluence, we could 

 have graduated at 

 many of our institu- 

 tions of learning 

 young men suitable 

 for aprentices in our 

 profession. 

 No school of recognized ability to graduate a 

 pupil should leave out of its curriculum books 

 of that kind, and even our common schools 

 should teach the rudiments of horticulture. 



Special Fertilizers IN the Greenhouse. 

 In a well-written paper on the above sub- 

 ject. Prof. S. T. Maynard, of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Agricultural CoUege, Amherst, 

 said the conditions of plant growth are com- 

 prised under three heads namely: A proper 

 amount of water, sun and plant food. In 

 house culture the small amount of soil pos- 

 sible necessitates the use of much greater 

 quantities of chemical or concentrated man- 

 ures. Potash and other nitrogenous man- 

 ures produce good leaf growth ; for seeds 

 and other results different chemical com- 

 binations are required. 



Liquid manures have not been found on 

 tlie whole to give the best results at the ex- 

 periments at Amherst. Muriate of potash, 

 sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, sul- 

 phate of potash, bone black and ordinary 

 liquid manures have all been used in 

 separate plots. The muriate of potash and 

 bone black gave the best results in Car- 

 nation culture. Various special experiments 

 in the use of these fertilizers were then 

 given in the raising of Lettuce, Tomatoes 

 and other plants. The Tomatoes did decidedly 

 best in the plots, treated with 

 bone black, which is rich in 

 prosphoric acid. Pansies 

 were then treated with the 

 same fertilizers, in which ex- 

 periment the muriate of pot- 

 ash produced the finest 

 bloom. In treating the Calla 

 the best resxilts were got by 

 leaving the plants undis- 

 turbed through the summer, 

 and afterwards treating 

 them, when potted for bloom- 

 ing, with liquids prepared 

 from any of the standard pre- 

 pared manures. 



Dried blood, and other 

 similar animal substances 

 were not thought favorably of, as likely to 

 induce mildew in the greenhouse. 



Professor Maynard spoke of the great need 

 of further careful experiment in this direc- 

 tion, and inxited all gardeners and florists 

 to engage so far as practicable in the work 

 of recording results for mutual instruction. 

 . Succulents for the Florist. Mr. E. 

 S. Miller of Floral Park, N. Y., in his paper 



on this subject says, these are potentially 

 very valuable for the florist's purposes, es- 

 pecially for use as house plants, but need 

 some special knowledge in their culture. 



Mr. Miller gave a list of not commonly 

 known succulents which should be more 

 generally in use. The most of these are 

 easily propagated by cuttings, and can be 

 extended very rapidly. The common suc- 

 culents, such as the Cactus, House Leek, 

 Sedums of various sorts, Mesembryanthe- 

 mums and others, have been very success- 

 fully grown for a long time. 



The great number of plants of the Cactus 

 family to be found in Texas and New Mexico 

 are, however, of far greater promise. These 

 are quite subject to the attacks of insects 

 such as mealy bug, thrips, scale, etc. , the use 

 of Tobacco and sulphur being generaly suc- 

 cessful, however, in clearing them of pests. 

 In some cases a brush should be used, but 

 if the plants are very badly infested, it is 

 better to throw them away than to run the 

 risk of seriously infesting the whole house. 



New Officers; Next Meeting. The 

 election of officers for the ensuing year re- 

 sulted in the following choice: President, 

 M.H.Norton, Boston, Mass.; Vice President, 

 John Chambers, Toronto, Out.; Treasurer, 

 Myron A. Hunt, Indiana; Secretary, W. L. 

 Stewart, Boston. Toronto, Ontario, is the 

 place chosen for the meeting in 1891. 



Notes from the Popular Gardening 

 Grounds at La Salle-on-the- 

 Niagara. 

 The Stratagem Pe.\. It is not the first time 

 we mention this Pea, but it proves so good, and 

 has done so well, year after year, here and else- 

 where, that we could not resist the temptation 

 of presenting the picture of a branch taken from 

 our patch. The plant is remarkably bushy, not 

 over eighteen inches high, and entirely self-sup- 

 porting, stem stout and stocky, and leaves large 

 and healthy. The plant bears numerous pods of 

 the very largest size, usually crowded almost to 

 bursting with Peas which are also largest in size 

 and of the very best quality. It comes in mid- 

 season, perhaps midway between Bliss' Ever- 

 bearing and Champion of England. It has, in- 

 deed, so many good qualities that it deserves to 

 be grown in every home garden. We are also 

 sure that extra prices can be secured for it in 

 most markets, while the picking will require 

 but one-half the labor demanded by other vari- 

 eties for picking the same quantity. By all 

 means try the Stratagem next year. The spring 

 floods, this season, have done much damage to 

 our Pea patches, as they have to other things, 

 and about ruined a large number of varieties. 

 As a general thing, we maj' say, however, that 

 the majority of the newer mtroductions of gar- 

 den (wrinkled) Peas, among them Telephone, 

 Yorkshire Hero, and .American Champion, have 

 proved with us not only entirely' i*eliable, but 

 also of highest quality. People who only grow 





Plantliw Tulips in Clumps. See Opposite Page. 



the old smooth varieties for table use, and have 

 never tasted any of these fine wrinkled sorts, 

 can have no idea what a really good Pea is. 



A Weeding Hoe. What a difference there is 

 between hoeing and hoeing ! In employing peo- 

 ple to do garden work we have fimnd that men 

 who do good hoeing— such as will thoroughly 

 pulverize the soil, kill every weed, whether to be 

 seen or only just sprouting, and be of most and 

 lasting lieuetlt, are the exception rather than the 



