84 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



March, 



tree or plant is each year becoming a more 

 important element in the solution of the 

 fruit problem. Here comes in the sound 

 conclusion of Mr. Williams, that our experi- 

 ment stations should commence the work of 

 crossing the best varieties on primitive forms. 



This is an old and rich producing field in 

 Europe, and with us not wholly new. 



If Mr. Rogers had continued to plant the 

 pure seeds of the native Sage Grape of Mas- 

 sachusetts to this day he probably would 

 not have materially varied the wild form in 

 foliage or fruit. But the magic touch of 

 the pollen of the Black Hamburg and White 

 Chasselas brought him at once forty or more 

 varieties quite as hardy in wood and as per- 

 fect in foliage as the native species, ap- 

 proaching very nearly in size and quality of 

 fruit to the foreign sorts used for fertilizing. 



If gathered together the magical changes 

 which have been wrought in fruit, foliage, 

 and flower in Europe and America by prac- 

 tical cultivators would make a valuable sequel 

 to Darwin's wonderful, but yet unappre- 

 ciated, work on 

 "Cross and 

 Self-fertiliza- 

 tion in the Veg- 

 etable King- 

 dom." 



During the 

 past eight years 

 we have been 

 preparing for 

 an extended 

 work in this 

 inviting field, 

 and last spring 

 we made our 

 first successful 

 crosses of the 

 pollen of best 

 known varie- 

 ties which seem 

 perfect in foli- 

 age and ability 

 to stand our 

 trying winters. 



With a view 

 to encouraging 

 your many 

 thoughtful readers, to whom the work is 

 new, I add a few notes on pollen saving, etc. 



Pollen Gathering. This is first in 

 order. If the dry pollen is at hand we can 

 touch the stigmas at the nick of time when 

 the nectar is secreted, even if the weather be 

 quite unfavorable. Our plan of gathering 

 pollen of Apple, Pear, Plum, Peach, etc., 

 is rapid and so far has been successful. 



When the blossoms are fully expanded, 

 but before many of the anthers have matured 

 and burst, the stamens are plucked with 

 thumb and finger and dropped into a clean, 

 bright tin cup. While not attempting to 

 pluck the pistils, no special care is taken to 

 avoid it, as they do no harm. 



In a dry warm room the anthers in the 

 cup soon ripen, and when stirred with a 

 moistened pencil brush it will take on pollen 

 enough to fertilize several blossoms. 



Removing Anthees. When the blossoms 

 of the varieties to be fertilized are beginning 

 to open select one or two of the strong cen- 

 tral ones of a cluster and pinch oflE the 

 others. With small botanist's shears nip off 

 the anthers of the selected blossoms, which 

 an assistant at once covers with a small sack 

 — vridest at the lower end — made of light 

 white mu.slin. 



Applying the Pollen. In from 20 to 

 36 hours after removing the anthers, if the 

 weather is fairly warm, the stigmas have 

 secreted the nectar which causes the pollen 

 to adhere. With an assistant to take off and 

 replace the sacks, the work of touching the 

 stigmas with the pollen brush is quite rapid. 

 In practice we find the use of pins in fasten- 

 ing the sack to place is far more rapid and 

 convenient than strings. 



After Care. A label should state the 

 cross made, and a week after the sacks 

 should be taken off, and in all cases where 

 the fruit has formed it should be covered 

 loosely with musquito bar, which is kept in 

 place until fruits mature to show the success- 

 ful crosses, to protect from birds and to give 

 boys a hint that it is valuable property. 



Mailing of Pollen. The pollen of our 

 orchard fruits, and some of our small fruits, 

 is not as evanescent and perishable as is 

 usually supposed. Apple pollen, mingled 

 with dried stamens and pistils in an open 

 tin cup, was germinated last spring by Dr. 



WILD FLOWERS. A CLUMP OF THE LARGE FLOWERED WOOD LILY. 



flowers. It is a modest grower and not in 

 the least disposed to be weedy in appearance. 

 The Trilliums, Wake Robins, or Wood 

 Lilies, of which a mass of the large flower- 

 ing white variety is shown in the engraving, 

 are among the most beautiful and interesting 

 of wild flowers. In several varieties they 

 are common in the woods over a wide re- 

 gion of our country. They succeed as easily 

 in the garden as any Daffodil, and increase 

 in the size of the bloom under cultivation. 

 For naturalizing in moist places or in half- 

 open woods, they are, although American 

 plants, widely used in England. If we 

 were obliged to bring them from England or 

 Asia, instead of getting them in many places 

 so easily for the digging, no doubt they 

 would be oftener seen in American gardens. 

 The only special point to be observed in 

 the cultivation of Trilliums, is that they 

 succeed better in partial shade than in the 

 full sun. If too much exposed there is a 

 lack of leaf development, and consequently 

 a weaker growth ensues. It is the more 



vigorous plant 

 that gives the 

 finest bloom. 

 Plants of the 

 large -flowered 

 sort figured, 

 when in a good 

 state of vigoi', 

 produce flow- 

 ers alm(3st 

 equal to the 

 White Lily in 

 size, while they 

 are of fairer 

 appearance, 



Tlie native 

 varieties of the 

 Ilepatica, or 

 Liver Leaf, 

 must also be 

 classed among 

 our most valu- 

 able wild flow- 

 ers suitable for 

 cultivation. 

 The flowers 

 of the common 



Halsted fully two weeks after it was gathered, 

 and we know it can safely be sent by mail 

 long distances. In some cases this will 

 specially aid us in our work. For instance, 

 ]Mr. Peter M. Gideon (see page 68) can send 

 South for his pollen of choice winter Apples, 

 instead of sending, as he proposes, his hardy 

 seedlings South to be operated upon. 



I did not intend to say a word about the 

 minutia of the work, and now I find I have 

 not spoken of experience in pollen saving or 

 crossing of the Grape and the small fruits. 



Some Modest Wild Flowers for Gar- 

 den Cultivation. 



Among our native American plants there 

 are many which are as well entitled to 

 a place in the flower garden as are any of 

 the species so commonly found here and 

 which have been brought from great dis- 

 tances. Take for one illustration the Blood 

 Root, Sanguinaria Canadenitis, unequaled as 

 it is among early spring wild flowers, both 

 for the exquisite whiteness and beauty of 

 the bloom, and for the beautiful form of its 

 leaves. In the writer's garden a good sized 

 clump of this has been growing for years, 

 and in its season it stands for attractiveness 

 among the most highly prized of all our 



Ilepatica triloba are of a beautiful deep blue, 

 and these appear freely early in the spring. 

 They rise and expand before the foliage, 

 and they are really charming. There are 

 some double Hepaticas which in cultivation 

 are beautiful little hardy perennials. 



Among other wild flowers worthy of a 

 place in every garden may be named Native 

 Lilies, Columbines, Asclepia tuberosa, Vio- 

 lets, Anemones, Lobelias, Gentians, Dog's 

 Tooth Violet or Erythronium,Cypripediums. 

 We are glad to see that a number of Ameri- 

 can nurseries have begun to make a specialty 

 of our beautiful native flowering plants. 

 The prices at which they are sold is very 

 moderate, a reason being that their culture 

 and propagation are very simple. 



Funeral Designs of Ivy. 



Those who may have occasion to present de- 

 signs when flowers are scarce, or who tire of 

 the conventional floral arrangements, should 

 know that very fine ones may be made of the 

 leaves of the English Ivy, or of those and a 

 few flowers. We can think of no design more 

 beautiful than a sunple heavj- wreath made of 

 Ivy alone, while there are many other designs 

 of a simple character that aie very effective in 

 this material with or without flowers added. 



