1890. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



259 



enougta to settle the soil around the roots, and 

 (ri\o no more water until now, vlirorous growth 

 coniinonci'S. The soil shoul.l be liept moist all 

 thni\itrh, Imt never wet for any lenstli of time. 



Waste Lands for Fruit and Forests. Prof. 

 Ma.vnarci ealls attentiini to the faet that Apple 

 trees reraarlialile for tlieir thrift and vigor are 

 often found on land so ningh and stony that it 

 cannot be eulti\nted. The fruit prodneed upon 

 sueh land is noted for its high eolor and rieh 

 flavor, and for long-keeping qualities. There 

 are thousands upon thousands of aeres of this 

 kind of land, and much of it is almost worthless 

 for any other purpose than forestry and the 

 production of the large fruits, and if proper- 

 ly cared for, it would in a few years give a ^ 

 large income for the investment In plant- 

 ing such land particular care must lie given 

 to the preparation ot the soil directly 

 around the tree, and to saving the material - 

 often found growing upon it, sueh as Sedges, 

 brush, etc., or obtained elsewhere to be 

 used for mulch, to prevent the escape of 

 the moisture that is rapidly carried away 

 by the leaves or grasses and other plants. 

 The advantages claimed for the turf system 

 arc, that the trees mature their wood much 

 earlier in the autumn, and consequently 

 are less liable to injury from cold; the 

 roots arc protected from injury from the 

 extremes of heat and cold by the grass roots; 

 the trees begin tiearing much earlier and 

 bear more regularly, the fruit is of better 

 quality and keeps longer; the cost of land 

 and cultivation is much less, while a satisfac- 

 tory growth may be obtained by the use 

 of a small amount of fertilizer applied to 

 the surface. 



Educational Effect of Flowers. One of the 

 city paper thinks it would be interesting to 

 know just what is the educating effect upon 

 that part of the city's youth which might 

 be called the "pavement population," of 

 the sight of flowers the year through. Dur- 

 ing the winter months flowers are at least 

 always -lisible, and during the summer 

 months they fairly overflow the city— in the 

 florists' windows, in great clusters on street 

 corners, and, best of all, in living profusion 

 in the parks. It is not wholly fancy, perhaps, 

 that all this has more than a slightly refining in- 

 fluence upon these young souls into whose lives 

 comes so little that makes for the amenities of 

 life. It is a good thing for a child to learn to love 

 a flower. In learning that he has learned much 

 more. His imagination has been drawn upon, 

 his delicacy ot sentiment has been quickened, 

 and the Sender feeling for one kind of natural 

 beauty goes hand in hand with a feeling of other 

 kinds. Because a boy loves a Rose he is more 

 likely to love a bird, and when he loves a bird he 

 has begun the lesson of fencer affection for all 

 things great and small which helps in the making 

 of every grace of character. And so one should 

 be glad ot the Roses on the street corners— glad 

 both with the eye and the heart -and of the 

 Tulips in the parks in their season, and for the 

 Water Lilies when they come, and for the glow- 

 ing Geraniums, and for every unkempt little 

 fellow who stands gazing with intent eyes at 

 their beauty. He is taking in lessons, perhaps, 

 that neither teacher nor preacher could give him. 



The Freesia. Among the bulbous plants that 

 will be potted up during the coming month none 

 are more fragrant than the Kreesias. These 

 lovely bulbous flowers are native of the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and make their growth during the 

 dull months of the year, so consequently will 

 not endure the least amount of frost. A tem- 

 perature of about .56° is the best in which to grow 

 them; they delight in a light, rich loam. The 

 bulbs should be potted as soon as attainable, 

 potting about eight bulbs in a five inch pot. 

 When all have been potted they should receive a 

 good watering, and then be placed in cold frame 

 and covered a few inches deep with some material 

 that will keep them moist and thus dispense with 

 the necessity of again watering. If too much 

 water is given before they begin to grow they 

 will rot, but when they have started, liberal 

 amounts may be given. Before the weather be- 

 comes severe the pots should be removed to the 

 greenhouse and stood on a shelf where they may 

 obtain plenty of light. The flowers are white, 

 and borne on a moderately long stalk; they are 

 beU-shaped but not pendant. The stalk takes a 

 graceful curve, and on the upper part of this 

 curve the flowers stand erect. They are de- 

 liciously fragrant, and pots of blooming plants 

 stood in the drawing room have a very pleasant 



effect. The flowers are very useful for making 

 up into bouquets, as they last a long time when 

 out. If these llowera were raised in ciuantities 

 in the south they would And a ready sale during 

 the winter montlis in northern towns.— H. W. 

 Smith, Lonixiatia. 



The Uimulus or Monkey flower, is reported by 

 llortcuse Share as being a most satisfactory 

 plant tor the windowlgarden, summer or winter. 

 When once grown, one wonders how it escaped 

 notice so long. The flowers are showy and bril- 

 liant in color; bright yellow spotted with crimson 

 and brown. Some varieties are as distinctly 



THE RUE ANEMONE. (See opposite page.) 



marked as a spotted Calceolaria; some too are 

 duplex in form— one flower growing out of the 

 other- just as in the long ago when we played 

 among the flowere we stuck Kour-o-clooks 

 together, and made chains and wreaths of Lark- 

 spurs. The leaves of one variety have a strong, 

 musky odor; many of the new French varieties 

 are far ahead ot the old sorts. A packet of mixed 

 seed can be had of most florists for 10 cents— and 

 out of this small sum you will get more real en- 

 joyment than'Jrom a dollar's worth of some other 

 plants that are hard to rear. The seeds are very 

 small and should be sown very thinly on the 

 surface in pots of damp sifted soil. Do not cover, 

 only press the seed down gently with the back 

 ot a spoon. Dip a flannel cloth in tepid water 

 and cover the earth with it; set in a sunny 

 window and in a few days the tiny plants show 

 like a green fuzz. Then remove the cloth. After 

 the plants get a little size, bunches of them are 

 taken up with a spoon and set in pots or boxes 

 of rich light soil— half leaf mould, half good 

 garden earth, with enough sand to make it light. 

 They must have good drainage and plenty of 

 water, for they are thirsty plants. Some varieties 

 have a drooping habit, and are fine for hanging 

 baskets. After blooming all summer some of the 

 plants can be trimmed closely, repotted in fresh 

 soil and make flne window plants tor winter; or 

 a few seeds can be sown in early autumn for the 

 same purpose. 



Chat on Maklng-Up Flowers, 

 The average bouquet culled from the garden 

 consists of too many flowers, it is a crowded 

 mass of bloom instead of a charming nosegay, 

 in which the individual flowers show to the 

 best advantage. 



That the crowding of the material in any flower 

 arrangement is a mistake is easily susceptible of 

 proof. Let the reader take a liberal quantity of 

 bloom and arrange it in a single large bunch; 

 then take an exactly similar lot and divide it 

 into two or three bouquets spreading the flowers 

 somewhat so as to have the outlines of each 

 about equal in size to the first one made, and note 

 the superior results from an equal quantity of 

 flowers. This test, however, presupposes the 

 use of ordinary garden blooms cut with long 

 stems, some of them to be very long, say 18 inches 



or two feet in length. This is a point in it!»elf 

 not sufhciently appreciated. For to arranging 

 advantageously one should employ an abun- 

 dance of long stems. Indeed it such stems are 

 naturally lacking it may be well to follow the 

 florists and provide suital>lc artificial stems. 



In the making of every kind ot bouquets we 

 may take some most useful lessons from the 

 commercial florist. Where flowers have a money 

 value it of course increases the profits to be 

 able to make any given quantity go as far as 

 possible. And yet the spreading out of blooms 

 may be caricd far with no disadvantage 

 to the buyer. The ideal bouquet has every 

 flower uncrowded. 



Where the stems of flowers are short, or 

 the ob.1ect is to tie aflat or rounded hand boti- 

 quet, how is one to proceed in spreading the 

 bloomsV Let us watch the commercial florist 

 tie up a nosegay. In the first place if any 

 flowers ai-e too slender to be stiffly supported 

 by their own stems, or the stems of which are 

 very short he supplies a wire to make up 

 the deficiency of nature. Then he commen- 

 ces his bouquet by selecting a good bold 

 fiower such as a Rose, Lily or Camellia for 

 the center which he winds with strong thread 

 on to a thin stiff twig. Around this centre 

 flower he then places a few leaves and out- 

 .^- \ side of these to be an inch or two below the 

 1^ flower he binds suificent moss so that when 

 a circle of flowers is added, they will not un- 

 duly crowd or overlap the Brst flower. It is 

 usual to start with smaller individuals or 

 tresses of flowers in this front line outward 

 and place a few light sprays of bloom between 

 them to stand out boldly above the regular 

 surface, next another ring of moss is bound 

 on the centre stem after which more green 

 is applied and another circle of flowers and 

 of projecting sprays. In this manner the 

 bouquet is proceeded with until a suitable 

 size is reached, when it may be finished by 

 the addition ot an edging of pleasing foliage 

 as Smilax, Fern, Rose, or Camellia leaves. 



In the making of a bouquet thus the use of a 

 variety of flowers is assumed. But the style 

 now very much and very sensibly in vogue is 

 the use of but a single kind of flowers in a 

 bouquet; it may be of Roses, Sweet Peas, Mig- 

 nonette. Violets, Pansies, Tulips, Lilies, or other 

 kinds. In this case the course to employ for pre- 

 venting crowding is not disimilar from that we 

 quoted. But to avoid a stiff and monotonous 

 appearance in the bouquet pains must be taken 

 to have some flowers stand out considerably be- 

 yond the others and yet not be crowded, a 

 matter easily effected, by the use of plenty of 

 Moss back of the inner line of flowers, for keep- 

 ing the arrangement open. 



In all large arrangements of flowers Roses 

 may be used with their own buds and foliage 

 to stand boldly beyond the general mass of 

 blooms, be they Roses or other flowers; this at 

 once breaks up the formal and heavy appear- 

 ance which otherwise would prevail. 



Simpl.city should be aimed at in every arrange- 

 ment of flowexs. To employ for instance more 

 than two or three shades of flowers in the same 

 bunch one is sure to clash and kill the others. 

 In two shades of the same color we may effect a 

 lovely combination. Take for instance, a pink 

 shade and a deep crimson or maroon as found 

 in Roses, Carnations, Hollyhocks, Asters, etc. 



For a brides bouquet it follows without saying 

 that white flowers, the choicest kinds and the 

 purest in color are the proper thmg. Still it is 

 no strange occurence now-a-days for fiorists to 

 receive ordeis for such bouquets made of deli- 

 cate tints just off from white. 



A very handsome style of bouquet is one in 

 which several shades of the same fiower are 

 used arranging them uniformly in lines cross- 

 wise. We allude to the use of the darkest 

 shade on one side of the bouquet and then 

 grading in line of next darkest and so on in 

 succession to the lightest on the further or op- 

 posite side. A similar style may be employed in 

 making an upright anchor, cross or other floral 

 design suitable for a funeral. For instance it 

 may be the desire to make a harp of Pansies 

 alone. After gathering the flowers grade them 

 according to color and shade. Then in their use 

 j begin with the lightest ones at the bottom and 

 proceeding with the various successive shades 

 ■ in regular order to complete the entire piece, 

 ending with the darkest even it it be black 

 Pansies at the top. Whatever the nature of any 

 piece of flowers it should have some kind of 

 edging.or setting of green.— Observer. 



