POPULAR GARDENING 



FOR TOWN AND COUNTRY. 



"ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT r/f/JV£."— Milton. 



Vol. II. 



35ro"VE:M:BEie, lese. 



No. 2^ 



Autumn Days. 



Out in the sunny opens 



The Gentiaus are in blow. 

 And 'Death the silver Aspens 



The royal Sunflowers glow. 

 But shrill the wind is piping 



Out of the north for snow, 

 And all the loitering Blue-birds 



Chirp softly, *' We must go." 



— Elizitbeth Ctimmmgs. 



Make the Horticultural Shows 

 Educational. 



The shows called forth at this season by 

 the blooming of that queen of autumn 

 flowers, the Chrysanthemum, are usually the 

 most popular if not the only horticultural 

 exhibitions occurring in the year in many 

 places. Being as a rule well patronized by 

 visitors, we desire to state some suggestions 

 bearing upon their being made as educational 

 as possible. Nothing can go farther in pro- 

 moting a popular interest in horticulture 

 than these displays of the best fruits of the 

 art, and this chance at hand for advancing 

 popular knowledge here should be made 

 the most of. 



Correct and readable labels for all flowers, 

 plants, fruits, etc., are of the first import- 

 ance. To exhibitors who may be as familiar 

 with every name of the kinds shown as 

 with their own names this is apt not to seem 

 of much moment. But to the visitor de- 

 siring to enlarge on his or her knowledge of 

 plants, as thousands of people in this day 

 happily are, it is very different. The pres- 

 ence or absence of a plain label may just 

 make the difference between such a one soon 

 losing sight of a subject, or of tixing the 

 name in the mind or note-book, to learn more 

 about it by future study. 



The label or card used should be large 

 enough to contain the common name the 

 botanical name, and the variety name — all 

 three are important, — a line for each. Then 

 there should be a line to state if the subject 

 is hardy, greenhouse or stove, and one giving 

 its native place. People are often brought 

 to an interest in a plant, through knowing 

 its home, when otherwise they would give 

 it no further notice. Here is how the card 

 may be arranged: 



Class 



NAME :— Common 



Botanical . . 



Variety... 

 AS TO HABDINESS 



NATIVE PLACE 



EXHIBITOB 



No 



By a systematic use of such labels a horti- 

 cultural show would become a horticultural 

 school, where ' ' he who runs may read." The 

 work of labeling should be in the hands of 

 a competent committee, to be aided by the 

 exhibitors. A round, plain style of writing 

 should be employed for the inscriptions 



Another desirable aid to public instruction 

 at such shows is a committee on information. 



This is to be composed of competent persons 

 whose duty it is to meet the wants of any 

 visitors seeking special knowledge about 

 flowers, fruits, etc. Each member of this 

 committee should wear a distinguishing 

 badge, which should be plainly described in 

 the schedule of exhibit, so that there need 

 be no hesitation between an inquirer and a 

 member of the committee coming together. 

 The course here suggested will of course 

 impose some trifling additional labor upon 

 the societies giving shows; but it would meet 

 a real need of the times, and would go far- 

 ther towards promoting a genuine taste for 

 horticulture than any one other thing else 

 costing so little. In most cases suflicient 

 appreciation for this would be shown by the 

 public to largely swell the door receipts. 



What of the English Sparrows. 



These lively little fellows were invited over 

 from Europe a score or so of years ago to help 

 us rid our trees of insects. As with foreign- 

 ers generally they at once found things fav- 

 orable to their stopping for good in this land 

 of the free, and with the result, by this 

 time, of spreading out so numerously that 

 now no end of persons can be found who 

 rue the day the birds first came to our shores. 



But the sparrows are here and what are 

 we going to do about it. To wholly exter- 

 minate them, were this desirable, seems out 

 of the question, taking in view their rapid 

 increase. One brood of young quickly 

 follows another and the breeding season is 

 prolonged over the whole summer. With 

 the hold they now have we can expect 

 nothing else than to see them remain here as 

 fixed as the white man himself. 



Having brought the sparrows from 

 Europe, we may turn to Europe for some 

 lessons on dealing with them. In the first 

 place let us consider that, with all the faults 

 belonging to this bold, saucy little fellow, it 

 is not yet proved that we would be better off 

 without than with him. Some years ago 

 when thickly settled France undertook to 

 carry out their destruction it was discovered 

 that the decrease of the sparrows wsis 

 followed by an increase of caterpillars that 

 did vastly more injury to the crops than the 

 birds themselves. 



It is true that while many investigations 

 recently m^de as to the food of sparrows 

 show that in the case of adults a large share 

 of the food is seeds and vegetable matter, 

 but some insects also, on the other hand it 

 is proved that the young, as in the case with 

 robins, are fed almost wholly on insect- 

 ivorous food. If therefore we could succeed 

 early each season in working off any excess 

 of adult birds, beyond what would be needed 

 for raising the young broods as insect con- 

 sumers, this would be very desirable. 



In England they have found sparrow 

 clubs an efficient means for thinning down 

 these birds. To such an end prizes are 

 offered by these clubs, not only for the 



destruction of the greatest number of birds, 

 but also of their eggs. Every member of 

 one such club that has been reported to me 

 is expected to produce 12 sparrows every 

 month or forfeit one penn}' for every one 

 deficient. Last year this one club succeeded 

 in destroying more than 7,000 sparrows and 

 eggs. The first prize was |15, the second 

 $10 and the third $6.' 



In connection with this idea of .slaughter- 

 ing a surplus of the sparrows the fact 

 should not be overlooked that they are good 



Advancing the Season of Rhubarb. 



to eat, the sole objection to them being their 

 small size. Those who speak from experi- 

 ence as to this say that a more savory dish 

 than sparrow pie or dumpling can scarcely 

 be found. Now that our National Thanks- 

 giving day is near, we would suggest that 

 the working of a great many of these into 

 the feast would give additional cause for 

 thankfulness. Runns. 



Advancing the Season. 



We start hot-beds early in the year and 

 give them close care in order to gain some 

 weeks in the coming in of the first vege- 

 tables. This is well, but there are some 

 other and even more simple means of gaining 

 similar ends that are rarely seen in u.se. 



One of these relates to the advancing of 

 the Rhubarb and Asparagus season by some 

 weeks. The course is a simple one and con- 

 sists of first driving a line of stakes obliquely 

 into the soil, as shown in the engraving, 

 along a row of these vegetables any time 

 now before the ground freezes. There may 

 be as many stakes on each side of the line 

 of plants as there are plantsor clumps, hav- 

 ing them come alternate. 



Then, before winter sets in, the row should 

 be covered with straw, evergreen branches 

 or similar coarse material, and on top of 

 this some boards to shed wetness, tlie object 

 being to prevent deep freezing of the soil. 

 In February or March this cover should be 

 taken off, and the forcing be begun. To do 

 this, first nail two narrow strijis of board 

 lengthwise against the stakes, the ends of 

 such being shown in the figure. Then 

 against this sort of railing, on each side of 

 the row, a bank of fresh manure should be 

 piled to the very top, tramping it somewhat 

 as in hot-bed making. The larger the bulk 

 of maiuire used the speedier will the crop 

 come on. The winter cover of straw, jis 



