1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



11 



Fig. 1. The Common Perilla. 



quality, hardiness and prolific bearing. The fact 

 that the quality and character of 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.— Afa.isac/iu- 

 seffs E.vpcrhuent Station. 



Fruit Growing in British Columbia. Our cor- 

 respondeut. (i. W. Henry, from that far-off regio?i, 

 has great faith in 

 the future of that 

 part of the world 

 for fruit growing. 

 Excepting Califor- 

 nia, he thinks it will 

 develop into the 

 finest fniit raising 

 country on the con- 

 tinent. He says: "I 

 have seen by far the 

 finest specimens of 

 Apple, Pear, Plum, 

 Cherry, and all 

 kinds of Berries 

 and Currants, con- 

 sidering the varie- 

 ties, I ever saw in 

 any country, and 

 the way the trees and bushes grow and produce 

 is something wonderful. The fruit retains all the 

 fine flavor of our Northern climate, grows to an im- 

 mense size and is beautifully colored. I hope to give 

 you some accounts later on, after I have had more 

 experience here. Of course this country is new and 

 fruit growing is in its infancy, but nearly every per- 

 son is now turning their attention to that industry.'" 



Lily of the Valley in the House. One of our 



new subscribers, E. M. Van Aken, a photographer, 

 doing business in Elmira. N. Y., is also a successful 

 amateur gardener. He succeeds well in growing 

 the Lily of the Valley as a window plant, and has 

 favored us with his method of managing this favor- 

 ite here: ''I find it very satisfactory. I take up a 

 nice clump of roots, with strong flowering 'pips' 

 late in the fall, place them in a pot or box of soil 

 sufficiently large, and leave out-of-doors until the 

 soil is frozen. Then I remove them to the cellar, or 

 some cool jilace where they will thaw out gradually, 

 and placing them in the window about the first of 

 January, and from then on they will come into 

 bloom beautifully in about five weeks and remain 

 for nearly a month, to make every one smile who 

 looks upon them, and to fill the room with the most 

 delightful fragrance." 



Hardly to he Wondered at. One member of our 

 family living in Tippecanoe Co., Ind., advances 

 some conclusions concerning an insect on Apple 

 trees in her vicinity, with which we cannot agree. 

 On the face of things, however, it might seem as if 

 she was right. It is her opinion that the Woolly 

 Aphis, which is the insect referred to, owes its or- 

 igin to the Cottonwood and similar trees, the leaves 

 of which are covered with white down on their 

 lower surface. She says this down flies from the 

 trees in .July and settling on other trees soon de- 

 stroys them. While the substance may resemble 

 the woolly insects, there is no connection whatever 

 between them. The latter are propagated the 

 same essentially as all other insects are, and to cut 

 down all the Cottonwood trees, as our correspond- 

 ent says she should do if she had her way. would 

 not reduce them at all. One gentleman of our ac- 

 quaintance who has been much troubled by this in- 

 sect, finds a remedy for it by painting over every 

 infected part of any tree with a composition made 

 of an equal quantity of melted rosin and fish oil. 

 This is put on while warm with a paint brush. 



The Perillas are a class of easily raised, dark 

 leaved plants that are very useful for creating con- 

 trasts with Centaureas. and similar "Dusty Millers'" 

 in summer bedding. Being half-hardy annuals 

 they may be grown from seed by those wIk? do not 

 have the facilities for raising dark Coleus and the 

 like from cuttings The best known kind is the 

 Common Perilla, (P. nankiiiensis)^ shown in 

 Figure 1. This has dark vinous purple foliage. 

 A variety of it of comparatively recent introduction 

 is the Fimbriated Perilla {P. nnnkinensis fimbri- 

 ata), and this one is shown in the lower engraving. 

 The Perillas are heat lovers; with this characteris- 

 tic kept in mind there is little difficulty in raising the 

 plants. The seed may be sown as earl^- as Febru- 

 ary 15 or March 1 to raise strong plants early, pro- 

 vided one has the conveniences of a warm green- 

 house, hot-bed or window. These lacking, and the 

 sowing had better be deferred to a month or six 

 weeks later. We have seen fine results in raising the 

 plants from seed that was sown in a sheltered place 

 in the open ground about May 20, the soil here hav- 

 ing been a black sandy loam. Sometimes the Per- 

 illa may be seen used with unrefined taste, in a 



state so crowded that the plants become weak and 



straggling, and looking anything but creditable. 

 Such a style of culture for them is inexcusable. 



Beggings Cuttings. Let there be an understand- 

 ing as to this business and then no one need be 

 offended. A visitor to a plant collection under glass, 

 at this delightful season of the year, sees a fine 

 plant bearing many cuttings suitable for striking. 

 The thought occurs how easily a plant could be 

 raised from one of these, and unwittiugly the favor 

 of perhaps a single cutting is asked by the visitor. 

 To the one who asks it seems like a small thing for 

 the plant owner to grant " only a slip from so 

 many," and to be refused would be to greatly lower 

 the latter in the estimation of the former. But let 

 us look on the other side. The plant with its crop 

 of cuttings and bloom is (piite a different thing from 

 what it was in the fall or early winter. It now rep- 

 resents in its vigorous shoots such things as costly 

 growing facilities, care, coal, etc., and through 

 a number of months of time It has been brought 

 along to a stage where it may soon begin to make 

 some returns to its patient owner. He sees in these 

 cuttings hardly any less value than in the same 

 number of well rooted plants in pots, for inside of 

 a few weeks they may be such by his skillful efforts 

 in the propagating house. As well expect him to 

 give away plants in the spring to those who can 

 afford to buy as his dearly raised cuttings, which 

 so soon will yield cash value. He may give in order 

 not to offend, but he cannot do so with cheerfulness. 

 It should never be asked. The way to manage such 

 a matter is simply for the visitor to insist on paying 

 the real value of the cutting, say a few cents less 

 than a plant in the spring would be worth. Then 

 there will be no misunderstanding or undue advant- 

 age on either side and both parties to the deal may 

 part with pleasant faces and feeling happy. 



Buyers are Referred Elsewhere " Do you have 

 Box shoots suitable for hedge-making for sale and 

 if so, at what price?" asks Mr. Jas. E. Kevilof Cald- 

 well Co., Ky., along with .some other questions, 

 which appeared in our Inquiry Column. This de- 

 tached part of our respected correspondent's in- 

 quiries we set forth here as a specimen of 

 many such that reach this office and which in this 

 instance we present as a text for some remarks 

 to a multitude of our ne%ver readers. As is well 

 known to all old subscribers. Popular Garden- 

 ing is an independent journal of the straightest 

 sect. No one connected with its management 

 is interested in the sale of so much as a single seed, 

 plant or tree of any kind. No one associated with 

 this office is at liberty to even deal in horticultural 

 stock of any kind. We are publishers and not nur- 

 serymen. While it is true that among our valuable 

 contributors we have the pleasure of numbering 

 some experienced nurserymen and seedsmen, it is 

 also true that not one such has any control in the 

 affairs of the paper. Indeed we may with all due 

 respect to our excellent contributors say, that 

 it is one part of the office of the conductor of 

 Popular Gardening to see that not even such shall 

 find the opportunity of grinding any axes here. 

 The simple object in all this is to make Popular 

 Gardening a strictly reliable journal of horticul- 

 ture in which every word is designed to benefit 

 the reader, and with no words or statements fixed 

 up to help the sale of this man's or that man's 

 seeds or plants. That such a straightforward, in- 

 dependent course is giving great satisfaction to 

 our readers, and not to them alone but also to all 

 engaged in the garden supply trade, because of our 

 strict impartiality towards all such, is becoming 

 more and more evident with each month's history 

 of our successful paper. We have from the first 

 known that this was the only right and consistent 

 course for any horticultural paper to pursue, and 

 to it we shall adhere so long as we are publishers. 

 When, therefore, inquiries like the one quoted come 

 in, we have only a single thing to do, namely, to re- 

 fer them to one or another of the numerous grow- 

 ers or dealers whose cards at various times appear 

 in our advertising columns With the present 

 year we also opened a permanent Garden Supply 

 Directory, as seen elsewhere, and to this all such 

 inquirers are respectfully referred. 



Notes on the Use of Flowers In 

 New York. 



There was a much brisker wholesale flower trade 

 during New Year's week than at Christmastide, and 

 this in spite of the fact that a majority of the smart 

 people were at Tuxedo. Pelham and Cedarhurst. 



One society woman made use of an entirely novel 

 floral decoration at the opera. She has attracted 

 much attention through selecting a turtle as the 

 friend of her bosom, and she takes this engaging 

 reptile into her box at the opera, where he lies on a 



bed of Hyacinths, and takes his dose of Wagner 



with well-bred indifference. 



Orchid flowers brought good prices around the 

 holidays, but as far as actual use was concerned, 

 Violets came flrst on the list, with Lily of the Valley 

 and Roses closely following. Orchid bridal bouquets 

 are rare, partly, perhaps, from their costliness, and 

 partly from the still prevailing opinion that Roses, 

 Lilies and Orange blossoms are more appropriate 

 to youthful brides than the heavy richness of the 

 Tropical flowers. 



One society reporter recounts a harrowing in- 

 stance at a notable social gathering, where the 

 decorations were very meagre, and, what more 

 strongly affected some of the guests, there was a 

 decided scarcity of champagne, its want being sup- 

 plied by plebeian bottled beer. This innovation was 

 explained on the ground that many preferred the 

 humbler fluid ; any suggestion of economy would 

 be in decidedly bad form. 



It is a melancholy fact, but the prevailing fashion 

 in flowers with a good many really smart people 

 this winter is economy. Whether Wall street has 

 been unpropitious. or real estate fluctuating, or 

 whether our mondaines_ are reducing expenditure 

 in imitation of impoverished nobility, no one knows. 

 But society has tightened its purse strings this 

 winter, and in many instances floral decorations are 

 less elaborate in consequence. 



The wheel of fortune displayed at the Philadel- 

 phia Convention has acquired a large amount of 

 popularity this winter. It consists of a large 

 winged wheel, on a bed of plants and flowers, with 

 a horn of plenty resting on the top. Some of the 

 florists make much use of the finer varieties of 

 dried flowers, in combination with the fresh ones, 

 in this design; in fact. Cape Flowers are very often 

 used for filling or backing in many designs. 



Another luncheon arrangement showed adifferent 

 combination of color. A broad strip of old gold 

 plush was laid down the center of the table. In the 

 center was an oval of growing Ferns, surrounded 

 by massed bunches of Marechai Neil and Perle 

 Roses, which were afterwards distributed among 

 the guests. Radiating from the center of the table 

 were satin ribbons, olive and gold; one end, bearing 

 the name, lay across the plate of each guest. 



Some of the daintiest table decorations this win- 

 ter have been for luncheons. One artistic arrange- 

 ment had for its centre piece a strip of blush-pink 

 plush, outlined against the white damask by a 

 border of Smilax. Within this was a round gilt 

 basket closely filled with growing IMaiden-hair 

 Ferns At each end were arranged in wheel shape 

 pink satin bags, tied with dull-green bows, out of 

 which arose bunches of Violets. These bags were 

 the favors. At one end was a cut-glass globe, filled 

 with pink Carnations, standing on a mirror. 



.XV-- 



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Fig. 2. Tlie Fimbriated PeHUa. 



One design, originated by a clever florist, has 

 attracted attention by its oddity, and also by the 

 fact that no one, on first sight, could grapple with 

 its intricacies sufficiently to feel sure what it repre- 

 sented. It had an irregular base, from which 

 radiated a series of angular arms, somewhat sug- 

 gestive of a cuttle fish trying to crook his elbows 

 after the style of Bunthorue. But a little explana- 

 tion soon enables one to understand the designer's 

 idea; it represents one of those branching ''China 

 monsters " last century dames loved to collect. We 

 can see this shape in any collection of Chinese 

 curios, in both bronze and porcelain, and the de- 

 signer shows much ingenuity in thus adapting it to 

 the needs of the florist. 



Emily Louise Taplin. 



