POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOV BUT rffUVB."— MuTOS. 



Vol. IV. 



iT.A.a5rTr.A.ieir, isss. 



No. 4. 



"And Natuie, the old Nurse, took 

 The child upon her knee, 



Saying. "Here is a story-book 

 Thy Father has written for thee.' 



'Corae, wander with nte.* she said; 



'Into regions yet untrod, 

 And read what is still unread 



In the manuscripts of God.' " 



Good pl.^xnino in January will facilitatfKood 

 planting in April. 



The Dandelion is worthy of more attention 

 as a cultivated garden crop. Raised in the frar- 

 den its salad is much tinerthan that from meadow 

 plants. 



Vegetables by Weight. The Retail Grocers' 

 Union, of New Yorlt, last week urged Mayor 

 Hewitt to sign a resolution compellingrthe sjile of 

 \'egetables by producers by weight. As the said 

 resolution did not stipulate that the dealei-s 

 should in turn retail such products b.v weight the 

 mayor promised them no encouragement until 

 this point was adjusted. The representative of 

 the growers left the meeting in high feather. 



Chrts.vnthemums are Staple. Those per- 

 sons who fancied that the Chrsanthemum "craze" 

 was about spent a year ago, should by this time 

 be able to note the failure of their predictions. 

 The shows of this llower during the recent season 

 have, both in lai'ge towns and in small, been as 

 popular as ever. Three qualities common to this 

 plant have much to do with its hold on public 

 appreciation, namely: As to the flowers, the 

 artists ideal of simple beauty: as to season, com- 

 ing at a time of extreme general scarcity of 

 blooms: as to fciardiness and culture, accomodat- 

 ing itself well to the average grower's circum- 

 stances. 



The National Meeting Kept in View. The 

 florists of Buffalo in their club organization, are 

 carefully considering and carrying out plans for 

 rendering the meeting of the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists in this city in August next as success- 

 ful as possible. The regular meetings of the 

 flub are held semi-monthly, and they are usually 

 well attended and the meetings lively. Vice- 

 President, W. J. Palmer, of the American Society 

 is President of the local association, with D. B. 

 Long, Secretary. The executive committe of 

 the National Society will meet in Buffalo, early 

 in January, to outline a plan of the Society's 

 work for ia'<9. 



On to Florida Next Month. P. J. Berk- 

 mans, President of the American Pomological 

 Society, informs us that it is now definitely 

 settled that the next Biennial Meeting of this 

 Society will be held at Ocala, (not Sanford as pre- 

 viously talked of) Florida, beginning February 

 20th, next. He assures the members and friends 

 of the association through the country, that the 

 horticulturists of the South intend to give them 

 a most cordial welcome. A programme will 

 be arranged such as will tend to give them much 

 pleasure and profit. The aim will be to pro\ide a 

 few short essays, such as will serve to draw out 

 a free discussion. The Florida Horticultural 

 Society will tender an excursion to the visiting 

 members to the places of gi'eatest interest to 

 fruit growers. It may be well to state here, that 

 Mr. E. B. Engle, Waynesboro, Pa., Secretary of 

 the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, has re- 

 cently informed us that steps are being taken 

 by this Society to organize for securing reduced 

 excursion rates for the Florida trip, and an invi- 

 tation is extended to members generally to 

 co-operate with them. The present Secretary of 

 the American Pomological Society is A. A. t'ro- 

 zier, Washington, D. C, elected in place of C. W. 

 Garfield, who resigned on account of ill health. 



Water and Other Close Covers on 

 Strawberry Beds. 



M. CRAWFORD, SUMMIT CO., O. 



At the November meeting of our County 

 Horticultural Society Prof. Claypole stated 

 that lie had seen a Strawberry bed in Eng- 

 land that was overflowed by the Thames 

 and remained under water thirteen weeks 

 without in,iury. Gooseberry and Currant 

 bushes in the same garden were killed. 



I once had a bed that overflowed twice in 

 the one winter and each time the water re- 

 mained a week or more and froze. No harm 

 was done. At other times I have seen beds 

 partly overflowed and re- 

 main under water and ice 



for several weeks without 

 in.iury except around the 

 edges where the soil was 

 full of water and had frozen 

 and thawed several times. 

 I have seen patches in a 

 wheat field that were under 

 water and ice, and, with the 

 exception of the edges of the 

 pond, came out in better condition than 

 other parts of the field. I have seen Straw- 

 berry beds covered all winter with six 

 inches of soil and they were in perfect con- 

 dition when spring came. In an experi- 

 ence of over thirty years I have never seen 

 plants injured by too deep a eovering_when 

 uncovered early enough in the spring. 



The shafting of this device is made of 

 ordinary }^ inch gas pipe resting on brack- 

 ets, fastened to the back wall, with staples 

 to hold it in place. (They should, however, 

 be made of iron in order to make a nice ,iob, 

 in fact if the house is a double pitch they 

 would necessarily havetobe raatleof Iron). 



A Heat Governor of Simple Con- 

 struction. 



L. L. ESESHOWER. BERKS CO., PA. 



How often has a forgotten ventilator or 

 an unexpected change of temperature been 

 thecau.se of " Jack Frost's" squeezing his 

 presence into the greenhouse or conserva- 

 tory with sad consequences. The only way 

 to obviate the possibility of such an evil is 

 with the aid of a thermostat, yet as usually 

 contrived it is an expensive affair to obtain. 

 The present article is intended to afford 

 the information for surmounting this diffi- 

 culty, and with the aid of the annexed 

 illustration to enable the florist to make for 

 himself an automatic heat governor or ther- 

 mostat of real value. 



First there is a frame of wood, strongly 

 built, the boards B, B, being nailed against 

 the upright piece of scantling so as to pro- 

 ject about two inches inwardly, the dotted 

 lines indicating the edges of the scantling. 

 In the hollow thus formed are placed the 

 ends of elliptic-shaped springs made of 

 heavy zinc, {as it does not so readily oxidize 

 and its expansion and contraction is greater 

 than steel. Zinc of the ordinary thickness 

 is too light!. These springs are bent and 

 their ends after lapping at the center of the 

 under part, are riveted together. 



Now we will suppose the temperature of 

 the house to be rising; each spring expands 

 not in a lateral direction, on account of the 

 strong wooden frame, therefore it loses its 

 elliptical shape and becomes more rounded, 

 and as each spring does thus the height of 

 the column is considerably increased, 

 pushing up the pin H, which in its turn 

 pushes up the lever C, which working the 

 same on E, turns the shaft D, and conse- 

 quently by a like mechanical motion on the 

 upright arm raises the ventilating .sash. 



A II Easily Constructed Heat Qovernor for 

 Greenhouses, Oi'aperies, etc. 



Thus it will raise not only one ventilator 

 but a whole row of them. When the 

 weight of these from being numerous is 

 heavy, some resort should be had in the 

 way of balancing each sash so that it will 

 raise by a slight pressure. 



Now, with regard to the fittings; anyone 

 with some mechanical genius and handy 

 with tools would be able to make the pat- 

 terns and the castings will cost but a trifle 

 comparatively. Any machinist will bore 

 the holes and tap them for the set screws, F. 

 The other end of these levers are cast in the 

 shape of a fork, and a hole drilled through 

 for a joint; the other levers are made of 

 wrought iron. 



To set the thermostat to the requisite 

 temperature we have only to loosen any of 

 the set screws, F, F, and when that is 

 attained tighten them up with a wrench. 

 It is always in order, never needs any 

 attention. Should it be thought to be 

 unsightly it can be enclosed in wood, leav- 

 ing, however, an opening below and above 

 for the free admission of the air to the 

 springs. If at any time its range of action 

 is not great enough, removing the fulcrum, 

 I, nearer to J will increase this. 



More About the Stuartias. 



WM. FALCONER, «VUEESS CO., .S. Y. 



I am glad you are calling attention to 

 these handsome flowering shrubs. We have 

 some fine large specimens of .S. iirntiigyna 

 and they blossom gloriously every July and 

 August, large, open, frilled white flowers. 

 They bloom at a time when we have very 

 few other trees or shrubs in flower and as 

 their blossoms are so unlike the general 

 make up of those of common shrubs they at 

 once rivet attention. And they bloom for 

 so long a time, five or six weeks. 



