iSSy. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



115 



Orchids on the Pacific Slope. Our subscriber, 

 Mrs. Fanny E. Briggs, of Clarke County, Washing- 

 ton Territory, reports to us as follows : " Some- 

 tliing about Orchids'' in the December number 

 prompt-3 me to say that there are numerous Or- 

 chids in this Territory, most of them well-known, 

 including the pretty variegated leaved Goodyera 

 pubescens, and the lovely Calypso borealis. I 

 find one which is very curious, being as white in 

 all its parts as Monotropa uniflora, and seems to 

 be a parasitic growth on rotten wood. Mr. Mee- 



IVY-LEAVED GERANIUM IN A PENDANT VASE, 

 han has kindly given me its name, Chloraea Aus- 

 tinae, and pronounced it very rare. 



Successful Calla Culture. Formerly I seldom 

 got more than one Calla blossom per plant in a 

 season, but I have found out how to treat them for 

 blossoming freely. This is my method: I let my 

 Callas grow in summer, keeping them abundantly 

 wet. In the fall I remove half the earth and all the 

 young bulblets. Then I repot, putting in about two 

 inches of hen manure and filling up the pot with 

 fresh earth. I keep the plants quite wet and later 

 on have a succession of flowers till spring. Last 

 year with this treatment one of my Callas had five 

 blossoms in succession, and this winter the same 

 plant is doing quite as well.— Mrs. M. J. Hoyt, 

 Fairfield Co., Coiui. 



Ziuuia Culture. This annual is rather tender,and 

 the seed should not be started until about the first 

 of April. Prepare some seed pans or boxes not less 

 than 4 to inches deep. The soil should be rather 

 light, and rich, and sifted. Fill the pans within an 

 inch of the rim, and then water well the soil; sow 

 the seed thinly, and cover lightly with fine soil; 

 then place the pans in a hot-bed, warm window or 

 else in a greenhouse, at the warmest end. where in 

 either cfise they can remain until May, at which 

 time the plants should be large enough to be placed 

 in a cold frame. Plant out in a rich soil early in 

 June. Many sow the seed of Zinnias too early, 

 and so lose their plants before planting out time. 



Early planting is to be ad%^ocated; but planting 

 in the mud. never. To sow Peas, Apple seeds, etc., as 

 soon as the plow can be run on top of the frozen 

 ground may seem like a gain, through getting work 

 out of the way, but such a course is a decided loss 

 to the season's growth. The seeds at the best will 

 germinate poorly and the vitality of the plants be 

 impaired from the start. A good test as to the proper 

 time for the early planting, of the hardiest seeds, is 

 at the earliest moment when the ground will leave 

 the plow or spade in particles. With tender an- 

 nuals, Sweet Corn and other heat lovers, it is not 

 safe to plant until the soil is warm enough to in- 

 duce prompt germination— about the time that Oak 

 leaves begin to unfold. 



Why Seek to Patent Fruits^ One of the best 

 arguments against the patenting of fruits. say noth- 

 ing of the insurmountable difficulties in the way. is 

 the fact that originators of new varieties possessing 

 real merit can by good business management be 

 sure of very adequate returns for their labors in orig- 

 inating such. For instance here comes Mr. George 

 Josselyn, of Fredonia, N. Y., the disseminator of 

 Fay's Prolific Currant, with the information that 

 he has now paid to the heirs of the originator of 

 that Currant over $22,000 as their share of the sale 

 of this plant made by him. The same gentleman 

 informs us that he will give S25,iX)0 for any new Grape 

 which will take the place among Grapes which Fay's 

 Prolific has taken among Currants. 



A Lawn Edger. However neatly a lawn may be 

 kept by the use of the mower, if its edges against 

 beds, walks, drives, etc., be not properly cut down 

 about as often as the regular mowing takes place 

 the effect is not pleasing. Still such an unkept 



state of things is often met for the simple reason 

 that the edging cannot ordinarily be quickly or 

 readily done. But now a companion implement to 

 the lawn mower appears in the Caldwell Lawn 

 Edger, and this is designed expressly to shape up 

 grass margins. It is propelled like a lawn mower. 

 Our engraving (for the use of which we are indebted 

 to Parker & Woods, the seedsmen and implement 

 dealers of Boston, Mass.) shows the general form 

 of the implement and its position when at work. 

 The price of this edger is $7.00. 



A Work on the Carnation. Mr.LeroyL.Lambom, 

 Alliance, Ohio, sends us his new book on Carnation 

 Culture. It is a work of 150 pages, and as is claimed 

 in the introduction, it is the first work on this sub- 

 ject that has ever appeared in book form. A great 

 amount of compiled and original matter that must 

 have value to all cultivators of the Carnation has 

 been brought together within the volume. In gen- 

 eral its perusal could hardly fail to prove interest- 

 ing to lovers of flowers, and the wide dissemination 

 of the book shoulii be helpful in promoting the suc- 

 cessful culture with amateurs of the Carnation. 

 Still we cannot but express regret that this,the first 

 volume devoted to such a worthy subject, should 

 have been prepared with so little regard for the 

 most ordinary rules of correct spelling and proof 

 reading, to say nothing of some other obvious im- 

 perfections. 



Henderson's new " Gardening for Profit." It 

 is twenty years or more since this eminently prac- 

 tical book from the pen of Peter Hendereon was 

 first written. It at once took its place at the head 

 of American works on vegetable gardening, and 

 since the day of its coming in it has met with a sale 

 never equaled we think by any one other book on 

 American horticultiu-e. Twelve 3-ears ago a second 

 edition was issued, and now comes forth the third 

 and greatly enlarged edition. This edition so far 

 leads those which have preceded it that it will prove 

 indispensable even to the admiring readers of the 

 former editions of the work. Besides embracing 

 accounts of new methods of culture and of new 

 varieties that have appeared in late years, it enters 

 largely into the new and profitable field of forcing 

 vegetables under glass. It also, as a new feature, 

 treats on the culture of the leading small fruits. 



Ivy-leaved Geraniums. No class of Geraniums 

 has shown such rapid strides in late years as this; 

 no class is more worthy, for as pot plants they rank 

 very highly among others, and especially for culti- 

 vation in the window by amateurs. The richness 

 of color shown in some of the newer varieties may 

 easily be imagined from the following descriptions: 

 Horace Choisel is a large double of glowing salmon 

 pink color, slightly tipped with white. M. de Les- 

 .se^s— Large, perfect formed flowers of a most 

 beautiful shade of magenta rose. La Rosiere— 

 Fine habit and very free blooming, with trusses of 

 large-formed flowers, of a rich, warm, salmon pink 

 color. Joan of .-Ire— Flowers perfectly double, 

 white as snow, and literally stud the plant when 

 in full bloom. Dense, glossy, green leaves, making 

 a most effective background for the ivory white 

 tlowers. Abel Carrie re— Fine, double flowers, of a 

 beautiful currant red, tinted with dark violet. 



"Double" Gaillardias. The so called Double 

 Gaillardias are, we incline to think, not yet very 

 generally in cultivation. They are araoi-gthe most 

 satisfactory of seed grown plants. The growth is 

 of good habit, a quality not always present in an- 

 nuals, and the flowers are remarkably attractive. 

 While in character they are, as may be seen by the 

 reduced but life like engraving herewith, whollj' 

 distinct in appearance from the old single Gaillar- 

 dias, yet the culture is identical in both cases. The 

 seeds may be sown under glass in shallow boxes 

 or in pans, and when the seedlings are about two 

 inches in height they will need ample light and air 

 daily to harden or mature them before being planted 

 out into beds and borders. It is better to allow the 

 plants to remain in the seed boxes until the spring 

 is well advanced, as the harder and firmer the 

 plants the safer will they be to transplant. When 

 from -i to 4 inches in height, and having good roots, 

 lift carefully out of the boxes, disturbing the roots 

 as little as possible, and then either dibble out or 

 transplant with a garden trowel. We advise all 

 who have never grown the Double Gaillardias to 

 try some. They come in a good variety of colors. 



News and Notes Concerning: the Use 

 of Flowers in New York. 



Some of our grower have been experimenting in 

 forcing the Double Spirea Reevesii, a pretty little 

 hardy shi-ub, with double white flowers, like the 

 familiar Bridal-WTeath. It seems to take the forcing 

 very kindly, and its purity of color and graceful 

 habit should make it as useful aa Deutzia. 



Many Rose growers are coming to the conclusion 

 that an over-fed Rose is just as unhealthy as a 

 bilious person. Too much food, in the way of top- 

 dressing and the like, seems in many cases to be 

 responsible for " bull-headed " and imperfect 

 flowers, This seems especially the case with Perles, 

 which have a decided tendency to produce many 

 ill-shaped flowers under any circumstances, parti- 

 cularly during unfavorable weather. A judicious 

 use of bone with other fertilizing matter seems to 

 produce the best results. The use of rank cow 

 manure, spread in a semi-liquid stat« seems a decid- 

 ed mistake, judging from the results it produces. 



New Roses seem to be a regular epidemic just 

 now. Of course, a good many of them will doubt- 

 less drop into horticultural obhvion after a little 

 trial; others will come to stay. The new hybrid 

 perpetual Dinsmore promises to be first class for 

 outdoor use, being thoroughly hardy, and a pro- 

 fuse flowerer. It is fragrant, and thq crimson hue 

 is very rich as grown under glass; I have not yet 

 seen it flowering outside. It is, however, so exces- 

 sively double as to be cup-shaped, like Madame Boll, 

 but it wovild doubtless loose this characteristic. 



Another striking new Rose, first shown in New 

 York at Siebrecht and Wadley's Orchid Exhibition, 

 is a hybrid Tea, as yet unnamed formally, though it 

 will probably be called " Oakmont,' after its birth- 

 place. It is a cross between Baroness Rothschild 

 and an old-fashioned Tea. " President,"' the latter 

 being the seed-bearing plant. " Oakmont." if we 

 may so call it. suggests Paul Neyron at first glance, 

 both in color and in the pecuUar rounded smooth- 

 ness of its petals. The color is very similar to 

 Neyron, but tinged with a silvery hue, like La 

 France. And it is very sweet, with the real Tea 

 fragrance, very sturdy of foliage, very durable, and 

 in fact, may be described in superlatives generally. 

 It certainly looks much more like a hybrid perpetual 

 than a tea. but the perfume is unmistakable. It is 

 a splendid keeper; the flowers on exhibition had 

 been cut nearly a week, but they were crisp and firm, 

 without the slightest suspicion of the bluish tinge 

 that so often disfigures pink Roses after they have 

 been cut for a day or two. The originator of this 

 Rose, Mr. Cumley, of Oakmont, near Boston, has 

 been testing and improving it for five years, so he 

 is able to speak confidently of its merits. 



The Orchid Exhibition was certainly worthy of 

 all praise, appealing equally to the Orchid fancier 

 and the mere unbotanical lover of beauty. The 

 splendid specimen Palms, in which Rose Hill Nur- 

 series are so rich, made a fine showing in the midst 

 of the crowned heads and other waxen notabilities 

 for which the Eden Musee is famous. The mirror- 

 lined winter garden, in which the main exhibits 

 were displayed, was most artistically arranged. 



Growers at a distance were unable to send many 

 plants, owing to the unfavorable weather, but Mr. 

 Kimball of Rochester, Mr. Coming of Albany, 

 Whittle Bros, of Albany, and many others supplied 

 fine cut flowers. There were banks of flowers, 

 beautifully ar- 



ranged, down each 

 side of the room; 

 at the end opposite 

 the door were fine 

 foliage plants ar- 

 ranged about a 

 grotto-like recess, 

 in which hung fine 

 Nepenthes. 



Superb Cycads 

 and Palms were 

 placed wherever 

 they would be most 

 effeclive.anda very 

 graceful effect was 

 produced by hang- 

 ing blossoming epi- 

 phytes upon grace- 

 ful Palms. 

 There were trees draped in Moss and hung with 

 Orchids, and there was a positive bank of Cattleyas 

 and Lycastes fringed with delicate Ferns. Lgelias. 

 Cattleyas and Odontoglots were especially fine, and 

 there were superb examples of Cypripedium Law- 

 renceanum. Some spikes of Cymbidium Lowii were 

 very strong and rich The Schomburgkias and 

 Scuticarias were attractive from their oddity: one 

 unbotanical visitor suggested that Dame Nature 

 was taking an afternoon off in a sportive mood 

 when she originated the orchid tribe, while the 

 botanists must spend weary nights in dislocating 

 the dead languages to supply them with names. 



The limits of the present article are not sufl^cient 

 for an exhaustive report of the show, but it may 

 be catalogued as an overwhelming success in every 

 way, reflecting the greatest credit upon its inde- 

 fatigable originators. 



Emily LonsE Taplin. 



Double Gaillardias. 



