POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



'•ACCUSE NOT NATURE. SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT TH/JVB. "-Milton. 



Vol. II. 



IF E B U, TT Jk. E. -Sr, 1S87. 



No. 5. 



Lookinsr Ahead. 



What though we shiver in the blast, 



Hope in the heart is springing. 

 The sun is coming northward fast 



And finer weather bringing. 

 When February disappears 

 And March, the month that seldom cheers. 

 And April, month of smiles and tears. 

 Have passed away, 

 And ttowery May 

 Has come, and birds begin to sing. 

 And winter hoar. 

 The aged bore. 

 Has left the lap of smiling spring; 

 Cold weather o'er we'll think no more 

 Of storms of snow or blizzards keen. 



—Boston Courier. 



By lifting some young plants of that 

 favorite, the Pansy, during a winter thaw, or 

 when there is no thaw, and bringing them to 

 the vrindow, they will flower easily here a little 

 later on, providing that they aae kept near 

 the glass and are given plenty of air. 



Professor E. W. Hilgard's conclusions, 

 after a thorough investigation of the effects of 

 sulphur fumes on fruit in the evaporating 

 process, are against such a process. For rea- 

 sons, which he states, sulphuring is objection- 

 able in proportion to its extent, and the less of 

 it the better, down to the point of absolute 

 safety by non-use. Consumers should know 

 that the most inferior fruit may be made by 

 this process to look as white as the best ; that a 

 light brownish color indicates the absence of 

 artificial bleaching, and the full natural flavor. 



At the date of this writing the first sub- 

 stantial advance has been made toward the 

 establishing of a Department of Agriculture 

 and Labor, to be represented by a Secretary in 

 the Cabinet. This was effected by the passing 

 of the necessary bill by the Lower House, 

 on the strong vote of !33'3 as against 2(1. With 

 such favorable treatment in the House, it seems 

 not likely that the course of the measure in 

 becoming a law will be stayed either by the 

 Senate or the President. While this move is 

 not a popular one with the political press, it is 

 with the people. They are demanding, and 

 reasonably enough, that agriculture, the most 

 important of aU our industries, and labor, the 

 life of industry, shoidd have a better represen- 

 tation in the councils of thj nation. No fact is 

 more obvious than that soil cultivators have 

 too long taken a back seat or no seat at all in 

 the discussion of national affairs. There is a 

 growing sentiment in favor of a change here, 

 which indicates better things for the future. 

 To speak as some do of the difficulty of secur- 

 ing fit men among agriculturists for such a 

 new office is an insult to a noble profession. 

 There are enough men in this nation who would 

 well grace the office. 



A LACK OF trees about the home grounds 

 is bad enough, but to have so many of these, as a 

 result of a close-planting, never-thinning sys- 

 tem, as to cause excessive shade to the house and 

 lawn, is even worse. What is meant by ex- 

 cessive shade is, when gi-ass will not grow well 

 under the trees, for this may be taken as a true 

 sign that the tree tops prove to be a sufficient 

 barrier to the sun's rays, and to the circulation 

 of the air, to cause an unhealthful state of 

 things for the inmates of the home. Yet such 

 a crowd of trees about a home may often be 

 seen. Not only will there be better health 

 within the house, for a free thinning out of 

 such trees, but there may also be a beautiful 

 sward beneath them. The trees which remain 

 wiU also be the finer for the course of thinning. 



As OUR LAST FORM is being closed, word 

 comes from the Western New York Horticult- 

 ural meeting, in session at Rochester, that the 

 following important resolution has just been 

 passed: " Resolved, That it is the .^ense of 

 this convention that Congress should give sub- 

 stantial aid to the efforts now being put forth 

 in connection with the Department of Agricult- 

 ure to promote the interests of horticulture 

 in this country, and that each member of this 

 society at once forwai'd to his member of Con- 

 gress a copy of this resolution, urging his aid 

 and influence in the passage of needed meas- 

 ures." To which may be added the explanation, 

 that it is for the new and important Division 

 of Pomology and Plant Pathology (plant dis- 

 eases and cures) that an appropriation is now 

 being asked. We urge the readers of Popular 

 Gardening everywhere in this country to 

 similarly act as suggested in influencing their 

 own Representatives. 



Aim for Harmony of Color. 



The grower and user of flowers, plants, 

 fruits and trees, finds himself much in con- 

 junction witli the most beautiful forms and 

 colors this world affords. It is no wonder, 

 therefore, on this account alone, that horticult- 

 ure is classed among the fine arts. 



But while it is true that gardeners as a 

 rule have a keen appreciation of the beauties 

 of Nature, it is also true that many of them 

 have never made the harmonj' of Nature's 

 colors anything of a study, not so much 

 indeed as their constant use of these would 

 suggest as being desirable. If auy one in 

 this world should by right give this subject 

 close attention, it is the grower and arranger 

 of flowers, fruits, trees, etc. 



By harmony of colors, a well-known 

 authority tells us, we understand colors 

 placed side by side in such a manner that 

 they do not injure the effect of each other; 

 rather, on the contrary, complete each other, 

 i. e., they gain in intensity. To be familiar 

 with the harmony of colors one can, with 

 tlie greatest simplicity, produce a more favor- 

 able effect than is possible without this. 



In the arrangement of flowers in bouquets 

 or designs, plants in beds, conservatories, or 

 wherever else fine effects with these are 

 desired, fruits on the table or fruit trees in 

 the border, and especially in the display of 

 all sucli richl}' colored products in the mar- 

 kets or shops for sale, this matter of harmony 

 of colors becomes one of moment, and even 

 , of dollars and cents. Take it in the latter case, 

 for instance, namely, sellinggarden products. 

 Very often, owing to a lack of taste here, it 

 will be found that the fruits.plants or flowers 

 of one stand will appear less fresh and 

 briglit than in another, the one being 

 arranged so that the colors are in harmony, 

 while in the other no attention was given to 

 1 the matter. In the one instance the pro- 



ducts gain, while in the other they lose in in- 

 tensity of color and beauty. 



Harmony in color let us, however, under- 

 stand, does not depend on the caprice or per- 

 sonal taste of an individual, but it is based 

 on the unchangeable laws of Nature, which 

 we sliall now discu.ss. 



Sed and Green. — A red body reflects green 

 rays, while on the other hand a green body 

 reflects red rays, Tlierefore green is the 

 color which completes red, and similarly red 

 is the color which completes green. Both 

 colors, therefore, gain in intensity. 



Blue and Orange. — A blue body often re- 

 flects orange rays, and inversely an orange 

 body will frequently reflect the blue rays. 

 Orange is, therefore, the complementary 

 color of blue, and rice versa; therefore each 

 color intensifies the other. 



Violet and Greenish Yellow. — A violet 

 body reflects greenish yellow, and inversely 

 a greenish yellow body reflects violet. Both 

 colors, therefore, complete each other, and 

 intensify each other. 



Indigo and Yellow. — Indigo reflects yellow, 

 and yellow indigo rays, hence they are com- 

 plementary and intensify each other. 



It would carry us too far to describe all 

 the other colors which are complementary. 

 In general, we may say that all spectral 

 colors are complementary, that is, the two 

 colors lying opposite each other; for instance 

 the upper carmine and intermediate green. 



Pedigree In Fruits. 



BY SECRETARY E. WILLIAMS OF NEW JERSEY. 



In the newspaper reports of the recent 

 Horticultural meeting at Grand Rapids, 

 Mich., I notice the stress laid on the impor- 

 tance of looking well to the ancestral founda- 

 tions of our fruits. This is all very nice and 

 correct in theory, and in support of the pro- 

 verb that "like tends to produce like, " and 

 fully accords with the oft- reiterated advice 

 of our beloved President Wilder, " to grow 

 seedlings from our best fruits." In doing 

 so we can know with absolute certainty the 

 immediate maternal parentage of our pro- 

 ducts, but when we enter the mysterious 

 and hidden domain of Nature's creations we 

 are not so certain of our knowledge. Those 

 who attempt to step in and perform Nature's 

 work artificially may think and believe 

 they have succeeded in their designs, but 

 when their products, both in fruit and 

 foliage, tell in unmistakable terms the ex- 

 istence of foreign blood, it shows the ab- 

 surdity and folly of persistent adherance to 

 the contrary. 



Take the Grape, for instance, 



which the introducer claims to have been 

 produced from Concord parentage for two 

 generations, and on the paternal side two 

 pure native varieties were used, thus leaving 

 him in doubt as to which one was the real 

 parent. The fruit and foliage both tell as 

 positively as possible the existence of foreign 

 blood somewhere in its ancestry, so we may 



