POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



"AOOUaX NOT NATURE, SHE HATE DONE HEB PAST; DO THOV BUT THINE."— nnJIOII. 



Vol. IV. 



j^:e>:rxil., ises. 



No. 7. 



April. 



A little skittish and Irresolute— 



And yet I like her. I like the mixture 



Of her cloud and sunshine ; her tricks fantastic. 



Boxing the compass of Old Probs to thwart 



And muddle him. Her sigh will wake the bud; 



Her tears, the Apple bloom will drink and throw 



In perfume, out on the dellg:hted air ; 



The pampered Pansy and the shy Violet 



Are thirsty, too, and long have covet«d 



Her honeyed weeping. So then, sweet April, 



Welcome ! Thy blue eyes and thy tears 



Are the twin artisans of Nature— Earth's 



Apt upholsterers, whom she calls to lay 



Her carpet for the dainty foot of May. 



—Joseph Whitton, in Table Talk. 



Some Gladiolus should be planted early. 



Peas and Fertilizers. A large yield of Peas 

 is one of the easiest things to produce with com- 

 mercial fertilizers only. On entirely worn out 

 sandy soil we have grown immense crops by 

 scattering some good complete fertilizer along 

 the rows, at the rate of 1,200 to 1,500 lbs per acre. 



About Crosses. A good deal of seeming light 

 talk is indulged in by disseminators of new fruits 

 about this or that one being a cross between 

 such and such varieties. It is a delicate matter 

 to claim absolute results in such cases, and we 

 recommend caution against making or accept- 

 ing such claims on the plane of certainty. 



Flower Centennials. Why should not the 

 centennial of a flower that has given pleasure to 

 untold millions be celebrated as well as that of a 

 great battle or other event? Both of those old 

 favorities with all flower lovers the Dahlia and 

 the Chrysanthemum were introduced to the 

 world just one hundred years ago. In England 

 this fact will be appropriately recognized in 

 numerous exhibitions of the year, and Americans 

 should not be behind in similar observances. 



That Insect Supplement. Refer- 

 ence is made elsewhere to a 12 page 

 I Insect Supplement which will be 

 / sent out with the May issue of this 

 journal. Here we desire to say that 

 should any regular reader see this 

 supplement advertised in other periodicals pre- 

 vious to May, they wUl do us the favor of not 

 sending for it as a copy will certainly reach them 

 with the May issue. Undoubtedly a supplement 

 of BO much value will be in large demand with 

 cultivators generally. 



Prizes for Gardens. The Mass. Horticultural 

 Society offers the following prizes for 1889: For 

 an estate of not less than three acres laid out 

 with the most taste, planted most judiciously 

 and kept in best order for three consecutive 

 years S160, second prize $80. For best arranged 

 and best kept flower garden, hardy perennial 

 and biennial plants permissible $50, second prize 

 $30. For best Strawberry garden f .50, second 

 prize $30. For best vineyard of one acre $50, 

 second prize $30. Applications should be made 

 to the chairman of committee, John J. Parker, 

 Forest Hill Cemetery, Jamaica Plain. 



The New Secretary of Agriculture. 

 From the great respect in which his acquaint- 

 ances of all political shades speak of the new 

 Secretary of Agriculture, the Hon. Jeremiah M. 

 Rusk of Wisconsin, it seems that American rural 

 people have the very best of reason to congratu- 

 late themselves about President Harrison's 

 apparently good selection. Mr. Rusk is emphatic- 

 ally a man of the people, who has had consider- 

 able experience as a practical farmer, and has 

 always shown himself to be the farmers' friend. 



In his new position he will have abundant oppor- 

 tunity to prove the sincerity of his affections. 

 The whole tone of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, under Mr. Colman, lias been greatly and 

 generally improved, and since, consequent upon 

 its enlarged scope and increased resources, still 

 more is expected of a ' secretary," Mr. Rusk will 

 not be bedded altogether on roses. The progress 

 once begun must go on, and it will take the best 

 and most willing efforts of an able man to satisfy 

 the farming public. At the same time we hope 

 that the change will result in cleaning out for 

 ever some of the old-established, disgraceful, 

 practices. Turnip seed distribution, etc., but on 

 the other hand leave the unpartisan character 

 which Mr. Colman has given the Deparimeut, as 

 near as possible intact. 



Personal: Mr. T. Grelner, formerly 



of Orchard and Garden, joins 



our Staff. 



Within the past three years, as is well known, 

 this journal has been strengthened by one horti- 

 cultural periodical after another, seven alto- 

 gether merging into it b.v purchase until it 

 possesses a subscription list in extent never before 

 equalled in the history of American Horticultural 

 journalism. Along with the increased circulation 

 there has been also from. time to time an enlarge- 

 ment of the paper and an improvement of its 

 matter and engravings, all with greatly increa.sed 

 labor in the editorial and art departments. 



At the present time it affords the managment 

 much pleasure to announce a step for Popular 

 Gardening and Fruit Growing distinct from 

 any in the past. It is that of having secured as 

 a regular editorial associate on the paper the 

 services of Mr. T. Greiner, formerly of New 

 Jersey, and so long and favorably know as the 

 editor in chief of Orchard and Gardcti, pub- 

 lished in that state. Hereafter Mr. Greiner will 

 reside at La Salle, N. Y., where the experiment 

 grounds and editorial department of this journal 

 are located and be directly associated therewith. 

 In the past our new associate has made for him- 

 self an excellent record as a practical and intelli- 

 gent experimenter in the line of fruits and veg- 

 etables, as well as a close observer and vigorous 

 writer. Hereafter all results arising through his 

 enlarged opportunities will be reflected in the 

 columns of this journal. 



With such an accession to our editorial staff 

 and with the various opportunities that are 

 broadly opening the present spring for conduct- 

 ing our experiment grounds of 13 acres in the 

 interest of our readers, the future usefulness 

 and value of Popular Gardening and Fruit 

 Growing are assured more clearly than at an.v 

 one time in the past. 



Arbor Day and What to Make of it. 



Arbor clay Is an outgrowth of the popular 

 conviction that the days of wanton forest 

 destruction will soon be past, and that 

 forest planting has become a pressing need. 

 This condition of popular sentiment ex- 

 plains the rapidity with which Arbor day 

 observance from a feeble start has developed 

 into all but a National celebration. 



The warnings of the press concerning the 

 evil results of the denudation of hills and 

 hillsides upon our climatic and atmos- 

 pheric conditions are given additional force 

 by the grooving scarcity of timber, and they 

 have begun to bear fruit, so that we may 

 look with entire confidence into the future 

 of American forestry. Arbor day is a sort 

 of celebration of this progress. 



But Arbor day means still more. It 

 comes as a timely reminder of the fact that 

 a rural home of the present day can hardly i 



be considered a home without that air of 

 refinement, good taste and home comfort 

 which shrubs, and trees, and well-kept 

 lawns impart to it, a reminder that home 

 ornamentation means home enjoyment and 

 love of home-life. 



This is not all. Arbor day means opening 

 a way for acquainting the young with the 

 laws relating to tree growth, their care and 

 value. From this view have sprung the 

 worthy efforts made to engage the pupils 

 of puljlic schools in Arbor day observance, 

 and tlie practical outcome of which may 

 often he observed in the improved appear- 

 ance of school grounds. Sometimes Arbor 

 day celebration may have the effect of put- 

 ting a wholesome moral restriction upon 

 the young lover of mischief who makes too 

 free with his pocket knife, transforming the 

 reckless tree destroyer into a considerate 

 tree protector. 



At the present stage of our country's de- 

 velopment we cannot afford to disregard 

 the educational advantages of Arbor day; 

 but the impression that can be made upon 

 the young, should work in an intensified 

 degree upon the minds of older people. 

 Tree planting has now become as necessary 

 as tree cutting was a hundred years ago. 



American Pomological Society. 

 Florida Meeting. 



It was a field day for Florida when the 

 members of this influential society gath- 

 ered among the beautiful Orange groves, 

 which have brought fame and prosperity to 

 the State during the last 20 years. The 

 sturdy Orange growers fully realized the 

 importance of the occasion and resolved 

 upon making the most of the northerners' 

 visit. They found no difficulty in enlisting 

 the sympa hies of the State railway mana- 

 gers who have a keen scent for northern 

 capital. Free transportation to any point 

 in the state was freely offered, and altogether 

 a grand sub-tropical ovation was accorded 

 the visitors. But the weather was some- 

 what contrary, the sun, usually so reliable 

 in the South, wouldn't shine, and it rained 

 or threatened to during the whole session of 

 the convention. Later, however, it became 

 delightful, and the members greatly en- 

 joyed their many excursions to leading 

 points of interest throughout the State. 



The Meeting. The opening session of 

 the Society was held in the new and spacious 

 building just erected for the Semi-tropical 

 exposition at Ocala, and there the members 

 assembled amid the most complete and at- 

 tractive display of sub-tropical fruits and 

 other products of the South ever brought 

 together, on the morning of February '20. 

 About half the States were represented in 

 the convention, and more arrived during 

 the day. President Berckmans was in the 

 chair. D. W. Adams, president of the Flor- 

 ida Horticultural Society welcomed the 

 stalwart association to the domain of the 

 Queen of fruits, the Orange, in a felicitous 

 address. Mayor Garvey of Ocala and Pres- 

 ident Wilson of the Exposition also joined 

 in the welcome in fitting remarks, to all of 

 which vice-president W. C. Strong of Mass- 

 achusetts responded for the visiting society 

 in a pleasing manner. The noon recess was 



