POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"AOOVaX NOT NATURE, SBE HATH DONE HEB PAST; DO THOV BUT THIATB. "-Milton. 



Vol. IV. 



X)Ec:E3]s^cB:E3ia, isss. 



No. 3. 



Now comes on the wintrj' bllKht; 



Ami the stilly earth is white 

 With the blowing of the Lilies of the snow; 



Once it was red 



Witli the Roses summer shed, 

 But the Roses fled with summer long ago. 



We sung a merry tune, 



In the jolly n\onth of .June, 

 And we danced adown the garden in the light; 



Now December's come. 



And our hearts are dark and dumb. 

 As we huddle o'er the embers here tonight. 



—R. R. Stoddard. 



The charming Pissards Purple Plum yields 

 fruit an inch in diameter and quite edible. 



Wateioielons to the number of over seven 

 and a half million is said to have been the 

 Georgia crop this last season, with a value of a 

 million and a half of dollars. 



Take Notice Florists. It is now well known 

 that under some conditions, wood, if contined in 

 a heat that is but little more intense than that of 

 boiling: water may ignite. Looli to the wood near 

 your hot water pijies. 



For Ton Also, HoRTictrLTCRiSTS. Congress 

 having accepted the invitation of the French 

 Republic to take part in an International E.\po- 

 sition to be held in Paris next year, has directed 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, N. J. Coleman, to 

 collect and prepare suitable specimens of the 

 agricultural productions of the several States 

 and Territories for exhibition at said Exposi- 

 tion. A special division has been organized in 

 the Department for this purpose and agents 

 have been appointed to collect specimens. Agri- 

 culture furnishes four-fifths of our exports, and 

 it Is to our interest to be creditably represented 

 at the great Exposition at Paris, which will 

 attract countless visitors from all countries of 

 the world. In view of these facts all cultivators 

 are cordially invited to co-operate by every means 

 in their power with the agents appointed. The 

 Department of Agriculture would be pleased to 

 hear from any one and to get their views as to 

 the most approiiinate products of any section. 



Fast Bcdders in Texas. Out brethren in 

 the South have become considerably worked up 

 concerning what constitutes fast budding, and 

 as t<5 who is the fastest budder in Te.xas. It seems 

 that one Ramsey, through the Texas Journal of 

 Horticulture, claimed to be the champion Texan 

 budder, but the exact claim he made is not at our 

 command. This was met in the last issue of that 

 paper by one nurseryman who biings forward a 

 young man, T. A. HilUird, as able to outdistance 

 Ramsiiy . H is daily task, between sometime after 

 sunrise and before sundown, is said to be the set- 

 ting of 2,200 to 2,4.50 buds. He cuts his own bud 

 sticks from the orchard and preiJares the buds 

 but does not tie them. He is paid $3.00 per 

 thousand for all buds that take and there is but 

 little failure. Another fast budder challenges 

 Mr. Ramsey to a trial of speed in budding, being 

 willing to put up any sum from g.50 to $300 

 against the other man. It will be seen that Mr. 

 Ramsey has his hands full in establishing 

 his claims.and the country at large not yet heard 

 from. Who knows but we shall yet have regular 

 budding matches and budding teams starting up 

 in all sections of the country. Look out, Texas ! 



On Pruning the Early Harvest 

 Blackberry. 



JAMES H. BITER, BRmoEVILLE. DEL. 



First we find them very peculiar regard- 

 ing fruit buds. Some seasons they have 

 them along the limbs to the main stalk; 



other seasons only near tlie tips of limbs. 

 In the latter case, early trimming leads to 

 cutting oflf the fruiting buds so there is 

 little or nothing left to fruit. 



To overcome this difficulty, we have 

 adopted the method of pruning after the 

 blossom buds begin to make their appear- 

 ance, just as soon as we can discern which 

 are blossoms. Under this method we have 

 not failed to have a crop, but previously had 

 two decided failures; at one time having 

 cut the fruiting buds all off, and the other 

 time left too many of them. 



To have this variety at its best care should 

 be taken not to leave too many fruit buds 

 on, as the value of the crop is reduced by so 

 doing, for they will not ripen early. When 

 too much fruit was left on one season the 

 bulk of our crop did not get ripe until the 

 la.st of August, and 1st of September. We 

 have noticed that the first year's fruiting of 

 this variety is nearest the tips, while the 

 second year it is down the stalk. 



For a good, early crop, we leave three or 

 four laterals on each limb. This, we find, 

 gives us a profitable crop. Perhaps some 

 would think they had cut all the crop ofT by 

 so doing, but we get plenty of berries, and 

 pick them all within a week after commenc- 

 ing, and are about done when Wilson's 

 Early begins, or at least we stop then. This 

 past season we made all our money from 

 the Early Harvest, and did it before Wil- 

 son's came in, for Wilson's did not pay 

 much, and Early Harvest did not sell for less 

 than ten cents per quart in Philadelphia. 



disc will be impressed on the retina of the 

 eye with the color for which you are seek- 

 ing; in the above instance the impression 

 wiU be green, if the disc is painted green 

 the subjective color will appear as red. 



It is only successful as an experiment 

 with those who are not "color blind;" in 

 fact this is a test of the presence or absence 

 of the organ of "color," a physical organ of 

 the mind, which cannot be distinguished 

 outwardly. This law of "light" is written 

 upon every conceivable thing in the uni- 

 verse, both natural and spii-itual. 



The Law 



of Light in 

 Colors. 



Combining 



w, T. ALAN, MERCER CO., PA. 



There are three colors that constitute the 

 primary colors of light. They are yellow, 

 red and blue, all other colors are but shades 

 or combinations of these three; if this is 

 once understood and retained in the mind 

 it will solve all questions of combination of 

 color in floral arrangements. When you 

 have any certain color and wish to know- 

 its "subjective" color think of what the 

 other two colors would be if mixed and you 

 have the color necessary for the combination 

 to form "light." 



Suppose for instance you have a border of 

 yellow Coleus and you wish to know what 

 will be suitable next it; we mix the other 

 two colors together and it gives us purple, 

 so purple Asters or Lobelia will be the sub- 

 jective color. Suppose, however, we have 

 Orange (a combination of yellow and red) 

 then the subjective color is of course blue. 

 This law of color is stamped on the human 

 mind, is in fact a part of our very being, 

 and should the memory fail in regard to 

 this combination of colors, it may be tested 

 thus ; supposing you have red as a color 

 for which you are seeking a suitable com- 

 bination. You cut out a round piece of 

 cardboard and paint it red, then with a pin 

 stick it on a white wall in a room well 

 lighted by the sun, then seat yourself a few 

 feet from this disc and closing one eye gaze 

 with the other steadily for about one minute 

 on the red cardboard, then cover the head 

 with a dark cloth and the exact form of the 



Horticulture at the Ohio Centennial 

 Exposition. 



The praises have been loucl for the grand 

 horticultural exhibit made at the Exposi- 

 tion lately held at Cfilumbus, Ohio, to com- 

 memorate the centennial of the state. No 

 other such exhibit of fruits, vegetables and 

 flowers had ever before been brought 

 togetlier within the boundaries of that 

 commonwealth. Almost every fruit that 

 could be grown in the country, north or 

 south, was represented, and large numbers 

 of plants that were grown in greenhouses. 

 The counties vied with each other in the 

 extent and beauty of the exhibits made. Of 

 these there were seventeen, viz.: from Mont- 

 gomery, Muskingum, Stark, Belmont, 

 Wayne, Wood, Lorain, Morgan, Lake, 

 Clark, Marion, Van Wert, Lucas, Ottawa, 

 Ross, Miami, and Franklin ; each contain- 

 ing two hundred plates or more of the 

 choicest fruits. 



As may be understood, the awarding of 

 the four premiums was no easy matter, and 

 among the crowds of visitors there were not 

 a few who — with no present responsibility 

 resting upon them— felt sure they could 

 have made a better award. 



The first examination for premiums 

 (there were two others, at intervals, later) 

 resulted as follows : Best, Clark county ; 

 second best. Lake ; third best, Muskingum ; 

 fourth best, Ross. 



Owing to the unaccountable vacation of 

 tlie curculio the present season, the exhibit 

 of Plums was remarkable. Grapes were also 

 in abimdant supply, and there were more 

 Pears than might be expected, considering 

 the short crop. Peaches were also plentiftU 

 and Apples in endless disjilay. Van Wert 

 county exhibited the most very large Ap- 

 ples and had a fine show otherwise. 



The departments allotted to the Ohio 

 Agricultural College and Experiment Sta- 

 tion were extensive and well filled and gave 

 ample evidence of skilful and well-directed 

 labor. Besides improved implements of 

 different kinds they had a very attractive 

 collection of vegetables, grains, grasses, 

 mounted insects, insecticides, etc., and Po- 

 tatoes in almost endle.ss variety, including 

 many entirely new. Among the latter were 

 two, named respectively Mrs. Foraker and 

 Governor Foraker, which certainly have 

 never been surpassed in beautiful appear- 

 ance, and the quality is understood to be of 

 unusual excellence. 



Livingston Bros., the well-known seeds- 

 men and originators of new Tomatoes, had 

 a fine exhibit of Onions, Melons, and other 

 vegetables; seeds of all kinds,Tomatoes. etc. 



