1889. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



237 



of very syrametrical habits. Dactilifera, Ho- 

 clinata and Sylvestris are of the same habit as 

 the above, and the varieties mostly met with. 

 Three handsome varieties seldom seen are Farin- 

 nifera, Leonensis and Fennis. The whole Phoeni.x 

 family delights in a house with a temperature 

 from 50° to 54° and rather a tighter .and more 

 sanded soil. 



Ohamirrops are less graceful in habit than the 

 others wc have mentioned. One variety, C. pal- 

 mata is found to luxuriate in several parts of 

 our most southern states. 8. Furtunii has proved 

 itself perfectly hardy in England and several 

 other parts of Europe. S. humilis, humilis 

 gazilis, e.\sela^^s and macrocarpa are among the 

 best classes for decorating lawns in this chmate, 

 on account of their hardy qualities. Coryphas I 

 consider about equal to Chamivrops. 



Seaforthia elegans, I am sorry to say is very 

 seldom found in tine large specimens, still as 

 small plants they are quite useful, 



Caryotas, commonly called the Fish-Tailed 

 Palm, from its leaves resembling the fins of 

 fishes, are very ornamental, stately and graceful, 

 still the formation of leaves is so abundant and 

 therefore too heavy for the stems, and must be 

 handled with great care, otherwise their beauty 

 would be destroyed. Wc find only three varie- 

 ties of this Palm, viz.: Cariota urcns, sabolifera 

 and furforacca. Edulis and Sylvestris I cannot 

 praise, as both Kentias and Arecas are greatly 

 superior in all respects. 



Aradnxa regina, commonly called Royal 

 Palm, is very handsome when well grown, still 

 the plants fall a prey very often to red spider or 

 trip; both insects will destroy its handsome ap- 

 ]iearance in a very short time. All of this class 

 luxiu'iate in a moist climate. Our extremely 

 dry summers injure the plants, and therefore 

 good specimens are scarce. 



Pritchardias pacifica, grandis and filmentosa 

 (also known as Brahia filamentosa) are a beauti- 

 ful class in form of Livistcna with large fan-like 

 foliage and stem, and ribs of foliage covered with 

 white down. They are ornamental, rapid in 

 growth and worthy of a place in any collecticm. 



Cycas, a branch of the Cycad family, consist of 

 C. circinalis, C. cu'cinalis glauca, C. media, in- 

 dermidia, revoluta, servensii and undulata. 

 Revoluta, no doubt, is the best known of this 

 family. Circinalis the most handsome, with 

 favors about eijually divided between the other 

 varieties named above. They as large specimens 

 are about equal to tree Ferns in beauty. Their 

 quality for outside decoration is splendid after 

 the young foliage is fully developed, and their 

 useful feathery leaves are used quite extensively 

 for funeral decorations. 



CONDENSED GLEANINGS. 



Support for Climbers Essential. A distinctive 

 fact in plant growth not generally thought of, is 

 the waste of vital force in all vines unable to 

 clasp surrounding objects by tendrils or by their 

 young shoots. By actual experiment, the yield 

 of tiowers and fruits on uncared for \ines has 

 been decreased sulHciently to prove that the little 

 time needed 10 tend these plants at the proper 

 season is a pay- 

 ing investment. 

 Vegetable gar- 

 deners have long 

 been aware of 

 this in cultivat- 

 ing Lima Beans, 

 altliough many 

 of them may 

 not know how 

 very important 

 it is to assist the Sclf-Drained Fh.icer Pot. 

 tender tips to clasp the support. And the same 

 rule governs growth and development of Peas, 

 especially the taller kinds. If no support is fur- 

 nished them the inconvenience of gathering the 

 crop isasmall matterin comparison with the loss 

 sustained by the plant in its efforts to climb as 

 nature intended. The same law applies to plants 

 cultivated for the flowers. Annuals, such as 

 Cobcea, Baclyana, Cypress-vine, etc., will pro- 

 duce finer and more blossoms if supplied with 

 ade<iuate support than if permitted to struggle 

 along imassisted. Perennial wood-climbers are 

 no exception. If we remove the support f romWis- 

 tarias, Tecomas, Celastrus, etc , their nature un- 

 dergoes a change, and the inclination to climb is 

 apparently lost, but if at any time some foreign 

 body is placed near by, the old tendency returns, 

 and the young shoots eagerly clasp it and at once 

 begin their normal upward growth. Gardenei-s 



have taken advantage of this peculiarity, and by 

 close pruning as well as dispensing with any sup- 

 port have metamorphosed the climber into a 

 pretty tree-like shrub. The solution of this ai)- 

 parent mystery is not difficult. The change of 

 habit is due to loss of vital force occasioned by 

 the plant's struggle for its natural condition. 

 This same principle may be exemplified in the 

 ('■rape, which, although producing a crop when 

 pruned severely and tied to a single stake, does 

 not yield so abundantly as when growing freely 

 over an adequate trelUs. — Josiah Hoopes, in 

 N. Y. Weekly Tribune. 

 Causes of Unequal 

 Rainfall. Itain is caused 

 by the cooling and con- 

 densation of the mois- 

 ture in the air. The 

 warm winds from the 

 south and the east ai"e 

 full of moisture taken 

 up from the Gulf of 

 Mexico and the ocean. 

 Coming to the cooler 

 land, they gradually be- 

 come cooled, and their 

 moisture, therefore^ 

 falls as rain, till, by the 

 time they reach western 

 Kansas and Colorado, 

 the moisture being gone 

 no more rain can fall. 



But the winds which come from the north and 

 west are colder than the land; and as they sweep 

 over it they gradually become warmer; so that 

 instead of giving up their moisture in the form 

 of rain, they are constantly taking up moisture 

 from the earth. Hence our north and west winds 

 are dry and mean fair weather; while the south 

 and east winds bring rain. For this reason, also 

 the eastern and southern States have an abund- 

 ance of rain; the central and western States are 

 often very dry. At great heights the air is cooler, 

 hence when a warm moist wind strikes a moun- 

 tain range, it rises high in the air to pass over. 

 In so doing it becomes cooled, giving up its 

 moisture, and passes over to the other side as a 

 dry wind. This shows why Calfornia receives 

 sufficient rain to make the soil fit for cultivation; 

 while Nevada is nearly rainless and barren. The 

 great extent of country known as the Great 

 Basin — which reaches from Oregon on the north 

 to Mexico on the south, and from Colorado on 

 the east to the Sierras at the west, comprising an 

 area of not less than 200,-500 square miles— receives 

 over a great part of its surface an annual rainfall 

 of not over four inches, and is for this reason a 

 desert.— St. Nicholas. 



King Budding the Walnut. One way of bud- 

 ding the Hickory, Pecan, and some species of the 

 Walnut iJiiglans) is what is called ring-budding. 

 It is done in June when the bark " runs " or peels 

 easily. Take cions from the size of a lead pencil 

 to half an inch or more in diameter, with good 

 healthy, but dormant buds. From this cion take 

 off a ring of bark from one to two inches long 

 including a strimg well-developed bud, using 

 great care to in no wise even bruise or touch its 

 inside surface. The branch or little seedling to 

 be operated upon should be as near the same 

 size of the cion as possible. Cut it back to a 

 stump, and from this take out a ring of bark of 

 exactly the same length as the one to be inserted. 

 The ring from the cion is carefully split and 

 placed on the stock, being sure that the split 

 edges and the upper and lower ends join exactly. 

 To do this and make the bark and wood fit closely, 

 it may be necessary to take off a small strip of 

 the bark from the edge of the ring. The greatest 

 care must be used to have the work done neatly 

 and (juickly, lest the tender surfaces of the cam- 

 bium are injured by rough handling or by long 

 exposure to the air. Bind the whole securely 

 with waxed cloth, leaving out the bud only. If 

 the work is not done in the best manner it will 

 not be worth while to do it at all. — Report De- 

 partment of Agriculture. 



By-Products in the Oarden. Peas are the 

 direct crop, the empty Pea vines are the by-crop. 

 Turnip tops. Radish tops, Pea pods. Bean vines. 

 Potato tops— all these parts of our garden ))lants 

 that cannot be eaten, are by-crops worth real 

 money. You can't exactly sell them in market, 

 but you can sell them to yourself by burying 

 them as fiist as they gather. In this way they 

 become fertilizers, and save money in the manure 

 bill, and add money by increasing future crops. 

 In my own little home-lot everything, including 

 all the waste from the kitchen, is buried in the 



soil e\cry da.v. In this way, not only is the 

 troublesome " garbage question " settled, but 

 the place is kepfneat, sweet and clean at all times. 

 From a sericsof experiments I find that ordinary 

 kitchen waste disappears and turns into good soil 

 in about a week after it is buried in the ground. 

 Thus a troublesome domestic by-product is sold 

 to the garden, together with all the by-crops, 

 from Cabbage leaves to Onion tops. It pays to 

 keep a home-lot, if only to have a bank in which 

 to deposit unsalable by-products— a batik, toe, 

 that pays good dividends.- American Gaivleii- 



HYACINTH BULBS CUT FOR PROPAGATION. 



Scientific Flower Pots. Journal of Horticul- 

 ture illustrates and describes an improved plant 

 pot, invented by a Yorkshire amateur, and put 

 on the market under the above name. They are 

 found serviceable in preventing plants suffering 

 from drouth during the prolonged absence of the 

 owner. The plants derive sufficient moisture 

 from the water rising up the porous earthen- 

 ware legs of the pots by attraction, also in the 

 form of vapor. They are attached to the saucers, 

 and as the roots of the plants are above the 

 water they cannot be water-logged. They are 

 made in different sizes, and will probably be tried 

 by many amateurs who are absent from their 

 homes during the day, and their plants suffer in 

 consequence during hot weather. Moisture in 

 the form of vapor rising amongst Ferns, and, in- 

 deed, most plants in dry conservatories, is bene- 

 ficial in the summer months. Water in the sau- 

 cers also keeps snails and slugs from the plants. 



Potash Fertilizers for Fruit. Potash fertiliz- 

 ers have decidedly improved the desirable quali- 

 ties of fruits. Wherever the percentage of this 

 element has been raised, the change is accom- 

 panied by an increase of sugar and decrease of 

 acid. This is important— a matter of d' hilars and 

 cents. Other things being eriual, the fruit with 

 the largest per cent of sugar will bring the high- 

 est price. Moreover, less desirable varieties may 

 be brought up to a higher standard, thus giving 

 value to some good ciuality , as hardiness and pro- 

 lific bearing. The fact that the quality and 

 character t)f garden and orchard products can be 

 modified by the effect of special fertilizers is of 

 immense importance in its practical as well as 

 scientific bearing.— Mass. E.vperiment Station. 



Propagation of Hyacinths. Our illustration, 

 adopted from Gardener's Chronicle,shows some 

 of the better and more convenient of the various 

 devices for propagating this popular bulb. One 

 way is to scoop out the lower part of a large 

 bulb, allow it to remain in a dry shed for a few 

 weeks to calluse, and plant. The illustration 

 gives an idea how the bulblets form in large 

 numbers attaining the size of Peas by another 

 season. With good care and space these bulblets 

 make large bulbs in four years. Another raethoil 

 is to make incisions from the base of bulbui>- 

 ward, as may be seen in the figure at the right in 

 illustration. The bulblets form, and are treated 

 same as when grown by the other method. 



Coal Ashes for Fruit Trees. There can be no 

 doubt that coal ashes spread under fruit trees 

 arc very helpful, especially as a mulch. Coal 

 ashes are light, and the fact that they have not 

 much manurial value makes them all the better 

 for keeping down grass, which depletes the soil 

 of the moisture that the trees need. Three or 

 four inches deep of coal ashes spread under trees 

 keep the soil moist and cool. If they are spi-ead 

 (m the sod they kill the grass, and this with the 

 decaying sod roots make a fine feeding i>lace for 

 the rootsof the tree. It is probable also, that lui- 

 derthismulch the soil itself undergoes important 

 chemical changes, fitting its manurial elements 

 for absorption by roots.— Boston Cultivator. 



