1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



109 



LauristxnuB. I Ki'outly fciir this fa\orite of 

 old time gariiens is being too miieh crowded 

 aside by less worthy subjects of reeeat introduc- 

 tions. It is easy of culture, very liandsorae in 

 foliage and bloom, almost hardy and it preserves 

 the cjuality of permanency (that is the same 

 plant can be kept in a tractable shape for many 

 years) in a way that is not allowable with many 

 favorites. The leaves are heavy and dark 

 green, the flowers white and borne in great pro- 

 fusion in the summer. I set my plant in the open 

 ground in summer and repot or bo.v it each fall, 

 giving it about the same treatment as the (!)lean- 

 der. The Laurestinus is of the same genus as 

 the well known SnowbiUl tree of our garden. 



A Flower Support. A single Rose or other 

 long-stemmed flowershows to so much better ad- 

 \ antage in a light glass vase if it is held erect as 

 it grew ou the plant, that it is often considered 

 desirable to supply a support for the purpose. 

 Usually a wire stem or even a match stick to 

 which the flower stem is bound with thread or 

 light wire has been employed, but this leads to 

 more or less injury to the leaves. Our illustra- 

 tion shows a device for ovei-coming the last 

 named defects, and which is the best thing of the 

 kind with which we are acquainted. It is made 

 of wire and is so simple that any one can under- 

 take with a pair of pliers to shape one or more, 

 .lu.st the thing for use in exhibiting cut flowers. 



''Insects Injurious to Fruits." A second edi- 

 tion of this comi>rehensive volume, by William 

 Saunders, Director of the E.xperiment Farms 

 of Canada, and late editor of the Canadian Ento- 

 mologist, with the matter brought down to date 

 has appeared from the press of the Lippincott's. 

 In some respects, notably the manner of group- 

 ing the enemies of each fruit, the insects being 

 numbered to facilitate cross reference, together 

 with practical remedies, and in the simple lan- 

 guage of the descriptions, it is the most desirable 

 volume for the general fruit grower that has 

 come to our notice. It is illustrated with over 

 400 fine wood cuts which will assist in the identi- 

 fication of insects by other than skilled scientists. 

 The price is two dollars. 



The Tulip Tree. A fine specimen of this excel- 

 lent native tree, some :iO feet in height, is one of 

 the attractions of the editor's farm at La Salle. 

 The foliage is large, of peculiar form, smooth, 

 firm, and always pleasing to the eye. In the 

 spring it is a soft, light green which gradually 

 changes to a dark green, while in autumn it as- 

 sumes a rich golden hue. But one of the greatest 

 attractions of the tree is its profusion of verita- 

 bly Tulip-shaped flowers that appear in June. 

 These are of a yellowish color on the outside and 

 orange within and present a flne and substantial 

 appearance. The tree prefers a deep loamy soil 

 and here under fair circumstances it wiU in time 

 reach a large and handsome form excelled by no 

 other tree, (jne point of importance is to set 

 none but small trees, say such as are less than 

 four feet in height, as large sized nursery 

 trees rarely succeed. 



Shade for Greenhouses. No good plantsman 

 will sutter his Fuchsias, Palms, Callas, CamelUas 

 and other plants to be burnt during this and the 

 coming months by the action of the sun's rays. 

 Shading the glass is the preventive, doing so over 

 the parts most susceptible to injury. The 

 standard mixture now is that of white lead 

 reduced by naptha to a milk like liquid. From 

 an English source we cull the following recipe 

 for a greenhouse wash to be applied to the 

 interior: H pound each of white lead and 

 Brunswick green are stirred into a half pound of 

 boiling glue; continue boiling and stirring for 

 ten minutes then allow it to get cold, when it 

 will be like jelly and before using soften a little. 

 Then it can be very easily painted on glass as 

 thick as desired. Warm water applied with a 

 sponge or cloth is said to easily remove it in au- 

 tumn, afterwards syringing with clear water. 



The Maiden Hair or Ginkgo Tree. This re- 

 markable and elegant tr€* is not so often met 

 with in cultivation as it deserves to be. Its most 

 striking peculiarity is the form of the leaves, 

 which as our engra\'ing shows, resemble in shape 

 the fronds of the Maiden-hair Fern but are about 

 three inches broad. Another remarkable fact 

 is that botanically it belongs to the Conifers or 

 Gymnosperms, embracing the e\"ergreens like 

 Pine, Spruce, Fir, < 'yprcss, etc., although singu- 

 larly enough this one is strictly a deciduous 

 tree, that is, it sheds its leaves in the fall. The 

 gi'owth is naturally rapid and upright, but it cau 

 if one chooses, bt; trained against a house or over 

 a trellis like a climber and in this way be made 



to yiresent a moat singular appearance. This 

 interesting tree is a native of Japan but like the 

 Weigelia, Deutzia and many other Japanese 

 plants, is entirely hardy. Botanically It is known 

 as CUnhoii atUanttfnlia. The genus has been 

 called SallibvvUi, a name which must give 

 way to the older (Jinkgo. 



A Subscriber on Sending Orders. As the season 

 is at hand whcTi dealers send their catalogues of 

 seeds and idants to their customers and those 

 whom they desire as such, a few hints to those 

 sending orders for seeds or plants may aid them 

 to make out their orders so as to be a comfort to 

 the one that fills them and a benefit to themselves. 

 As I ha\e filled some nicely made out (uders and 



Tmig of the Makl&n Hair or Ginkgo Tree. 



also many that were otherwise, I know of the 

 pleasure of filling the former and the vexation 

 of the latter. First use the order sheet, if there 

 is one in the catjilogue, and make each successive 

 order somewhat like it in form. Have your order 

 for seeds plainly written; first naming the flower 

 seeds, then the vegetable, then the greenhouse 

 and bedding plants, hardy plants and shrubs, and 

 so on. As these things are in different depart- 

 ments, it will be plain to see what a time one 

 would have in filling an order where every thing 

 was mixed up. It would necessitate the running 

 from one department to the other, or else re- 

 arranging the order, which does not make one feel 

 very good about it, seeing there is so much to do. 

 Make out your orders plain and you will be bet- 

 ter served, get nicer stock, and likely some 

 extras. Put down your seeds in alphabetical 

 order, write kindly, and don't blow up your 

 florist every time you write, for sometimes you 

 yourself are to blame, not he.— G. BastinMj Dieiner, 



In Suspense. Messrs. Putney and Woodward, 

 nurserymen in Suffolk Co., N. Y , enclose to us a 

 letter lately received by them and which they 

 think might be made a text for some i-emarks on 

 the carelessness of correspondents. This letter 

 was from a reader of Popular Gardening, as 

 Its contents state, and ten cents were inclosed to 

 pay for the little work on Strawberry culture 

 issued by the firm named, but no clue is given as 

 to who the writer was, both the name and post- 

 office having been omitted. To our correspond- 

 ent we would say that every advertiser and 

 dealer doing a large mail business is sure to fre- 

 ijuently meet with cases similar to this. In our 

 own oflice we have a drawer labeled "suspense 

 matter" to which communications of this 

 kind are often committed. Usually the writers 

 are heard from again and by this means the way 

 is opened for properly attending to their orders, 

 a thing that never could be done but for such 

 subsequent letter in which the name and address 

 are given. Not infrequently when a second 

 letter comes it shows great impatience on the 

 part of the writer if it does not prove satisfactor- 

 ily to himself that we are swindlers. Cases have 

 occurred in which we never again have heard 

 from the writei-s. While on the face it would 

 seem as if the public could be instructed against 

 such a habit, the trouble is that the very pei-sons 

 who send such lettere would think it impossible 

 that they could be the ones to make such 

 blunders. All know enough to sign their names 

 and addresses to the lettere they write and 

 obviously when this is not done it may usually 

 be attributed to pure oversight. Let us however 

 strive to be more careful in such mattei's. 



Floral Notes From New York. 

 A dull season, say the wholesale men, and the 

 same cry is echoed by the retailei'S. A great 

 many growers complain that their crops are 



poor, but the increase in glass prevents any de- 

 crease in pr<)duction. 



Tulips seem to be out of date. Comparatively 

 few were sent in at the holidays, but they were 

 hardly salable. The market was glutted with them 

 last year— they were forced by the hundreds of 

 thousands, and consequently they formed all the 

 cheap and showy decorations. The natural re- 

 sult followed, people tired of them, and the de- 

 mand is now limitc<l. Freesia is another flower 

 in less demand. It is more than likely that these 

 bulbs would still bring paying prices if the mar- 

 ket hail not been s*) greatly overstocked. 



The t^hristmas trade was fairly g(jod— New 

 Year's very poor. Most of the large decorations 

 around the holidays were chiefly composed of 

 Christmas greens, and called for few flowers, 

 thus giving showy effectiveness at small cost. 

 The small Holly trees imported for this purpose 

 were yery pretty— in tact the Holly generally 

 was good, lait the Mistletoe was very poor, hav- 

 ing lost most of its berries. Palmetto leaves and 

 a handsome Southern Pine were used with the 

 Holly and Mistletoe. 



A very pretty conceit was carried out at one 

 New Year's dinner, where the meal, entertaining 

 over one hundred guests, was ser\-ed on small 

 round tables. Over each table swung a gay Jap- 

 anese umbrella. These umbrellas were covered 

 with loose flowers. Just as the clock struck 

 twelve, and the guests began to offer New Year's 

 wishes, all the umbrellas were closed simultane- 

 ously by a clever mechanical contrivance, send- 

 ing a shower of flowers over the people seated 

 below. At this entertainment the walls and 

 ceilings were completely covered with Holly, 

 Pine, Palmetto and other greens, turning the 

 room into an absolute bower. 



The Patriarch balls have shown no new features 

 in decorations this winter— in fact, to tell the 

 truth, the display has been rather meagre. Some 

 flne effects in Palms andlai-ge foliage plants have 

 been seen at i.irivate houses. 



There has been a decided eftort on the part of 

 some fashionable men to make the Camellia the 

 correct thing for a boutonniere. It is truly 

 British, and also cheap, but Violets take first rank 

 for this purpose, or for women's street wear. 



A beautiful funeral wreath seen lately had at 

 one side a large loose bunch of Violets. On the 

 opposite side were two delicate mauve Cattleyas, 

 resting on a bed of Roman Hyacinths; the re- 

 mainder was filled with small Callas, backed by 

 Hyacinths and Narcissus. The whole arrange- 

 ment was extremely loose, but very graceful. 



A handsome basket was one of the French fish 

 basket shape with rather a high square handle. 

 One half of it was loosely filled « ith Papa Gen- 

 tler Roses, the other with Cypripedium insigne, 

 mingled with light Fern. The effect of the 

 flowers was charming, but the basket was marred 

 by an unsightly sash of scarlet satin ribbon tied 

 on the handle. The scarlet absolutely swore at 

 the color of the Gontiers, and it was surprising 

 to see such a combination made by a good florist. 



Some very pretty baskets are made of Lilacs 

 and Beauty Roses. Lilacs are much used in bou- 

 quets: white Lilac, Lily of the Valley, and Bride 

 Ro.ses make a favorite arrangement for fashion- 

 able wedding bouquets. 



There was some rumor of forced wild flowers 

 for the holidays, but they did not appear; it is 

 bkely that there will be something of this sort at 

 Ea.ster. Some of the forced shrubs were in for 

 Christmas, notably, the Japan (,>uince, both red 

 and white, which met with much fav(a'. A lot 

 of good Cyclamens are in now, many varieties 

 with extra flne foliage. These are used for table 

 decoration, and also in banks and clustera about 

 the room. To be salable they have to be well 

 covered with flowers; in many cases the white 

 ones sell the best. 



As for Orchid blooms, quite a lot were sent in 

 before the holidays, and at that time they did 

 not bring large prices, though a good many 

 doubtless paid fairly well. The commission men 

 complain that they can scarcely sell the darker 

 colored Cy pripediums; insigne is the only member 

 of the family in regular demand. 



Cattleyas and ('alanthes are fairly in demand, 

 but these flowers, while gradually growing in 

 favor, have not yet caused the revolution pre- 

 dicted. They form a beautiful finish Ut any bas- 

 ket or design, but of course they cannot take the 

 lilace of other flowers. 



Madame de Watteville Rose is being used with 

 favor; some predict that it will supplant Cusin, 

 but the latter, in addition t«> its beauty, keeps so 

 well t hat it will alwa.\s be a favorite. 



Emii.y Louise Taplin. 



