POPULAR GARDENING 



AND FRUIT GROWING. 



'•ACCUSE NOT NATURE, SHE HATH DONE HER PART; DO THOU BUT THINE."— Mivtoif. 



Vol. II. 



^^^A-ir, 18 87. 



No. 8. 



Orchard Bloom. 



Sweeter to me than rarer flowers, 

 These sprays of pinky Apple-bloom, 



That shed throughout these morning hours 

 Their delicate perfume. 



Beneath me, like a foaming sea. 

 The Pear-tree blossoms toss their snow ; 



A robin sings exultantly 

 Upon his perch below. 



From them I glean a prophecy 

 (^f joy for summer's golden day. 



When there fulfillment fair shall be 

 Of all the hopes of May. 



— Bost<m Transcript, 



It is wise not to trust a warm May too far, 

 for both chilly weather and killing frosts are 

 liable to occur during its last half, which the 

 more tender plants would do well to escape. 



Asparagus, as it accumulates from pickings 

 too scant for the table or for marketing, may be 

 had for four or five days to look as fresh as 

 when cut by placing it in pure water in a 

 covered vessel. 



TotTNG Oleanders that are well established 

 wiU come on much faster during the summer, 

 if taken from the pots and set into a rich bed 

 of earth for the next five months, there to be 

 well tilled. Then about September they should 

 be lifted and again potted. 



Extracts relating to the Michigan Fruit 

 Exchange, Benton Harbor, Mich., are printed 

 on page 1 :36 of the present n umber. These should 

 prove very interesting reading to commercial 

 fruit growers everywhere. They embody a 

 remedy, already weU worked out, for that 

 great source of dissatisfaction and loss in fruit 

 growing, namely the management between the 

 time the fruit leaves the grower's hands until 

 it reaches those of the consumer. They show 

 the application of good principles through or- 

 ganization to an important branch which now 

 is in the main at extremely loose ends. Here 

 is offered a model that must in one* form or 

 another soon be widely adopted by the intelli- 

 gent fruit growers of the country. 



It must not be overlooked that many kinds 

 of flowering trees and shrubs, as well as of fruit 

 trees, are propagated by budding or grafting 

 on a free-growing stock of some allied sort. 

 Among these are Flowering Plums, about all 

 purple-leaved, and weeping trees, the finer 

 Maples, "budded" Roses, and others. The 

 mere fact that such stocks are free-growing 

 naturally tends to cause the buds on them to 

 start more readily than in the more delicate, 

 improved portion of the growth. This must 

 be promptly prevented by rubbing off every 

 shoot below the point of union as soon as it 

 appears. Because this many times is neglected, 

 things that were planted as being rare and 

 perhaps costly, have had their superior parts 

 choked out, leaving but a coarse, weedy, un- 

 satisfactory growth instead. 



Professor Matnard, of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, calls attention to the fact 

 that really considerable time is required to 

 thoroughly test most kinds of fruit. " Our ex- 

 periments in many cases only extend over a 

 few years; and it must be borne in mind that 



many conditions — such as proper or improper 

 soil (which can only be determined after many 

 years' trial), the peculiarities of the seasons 

 during the term of trial, etc., etc. ,— must affect 

 the results materially. We think it is safe to 

 say that, under ordinary circumstances, the 

 value of a new variety of Apples cannot be de- 

 termined in less than twenty years ; thePear and 

 Cherry, not less than fifteen years; the Peach, 

 Plum and Quince, not less than ten years ; the 

 Gra])e, Blackberry and Currant, not less than 

 eight; and the Strawberry not less than five 

 years. Varieties largely advertised and of 

 great promise become well known in less time. " 



Decoration Day is looked upon naturally 

 with widely different feelings by different 

 members of the community. Those who only 

 know from heresay of the war are apt to 

 think of this day merely as a holiday. The old 

 soldiers reverence the day by paj-ing homage to 

 the memory of those who marched, faced death, 

 endured the hardships of war in common with 

 them, death coming to some but not to the 

 others. All should enter into this spirit of rev- 

 erence in honor of the men who offered their 

 lives that the nation might live, and the right 

 might triumph, by thus strewing the graves of 

 the dead with spring flowers. Nor should such 

 homage detract from the death of those who 

 gave their lives for a principle, although they 

 stood in error. It is gratifying to observe that 

 as years go on there is a growing tendency for 

 the " Gray " and the " Blue," forgetful of past 

 differences, to unite in decorating the graves 

 of each other's dead. 



There are weeds and weeds. Some kinds 

 exhaust the strength of the soil much faster 

 than othei-s. Certain kinds will grow on land 

 too poor to raise a more valuable crop, and 

 these can hardly be classed among the worst of 

 weeds. But there are others that only thrive 

 on the fat of the land, taking of that kind 

 of plant food v hich is most needed for crops, 

 and which is none too abundant at the best. 

 Chickweed, that pest of every garden and 

 greenhouse, is one of these. The Shepherd's 

 Purse, common to all localities, is another. 

 Pigweed and Vervain, if less rare than the 

 preceeding, are, when in possession, all the 

 worse, because so much stronger in growth, 

 and possessed of far-reaching roots. A good 

 quality of these — allowing such language to ap- 

 ply — is that they abound in nitrogenous mat- 

 ter, hence ai'e excellent food for either pigs, 

 fowls or mOch cows. It needs hardly to be 

 said, however, that this point should not be 

 unduly magnified ; obviously the proper cotu'se 

 with all weeds is to " nip them in the bud." 



Japanese Chrysanthemum Culture 

 Not Difficult. 



I desire to earnestly protest against the 

 impression lately conveyed by one writer, 

 that it requires great and constant trouble to 

 grow .Japanese Chrysanthemums. If one 

 grows for exhibition this may be true. I 

 speak from experience when I say that very 

 fine ]ilant.s may be grown by amateurs with 

 ordinary care. I know no plant that repays 

 better the necessary attention. 



The easiest way is to grow them in pots 

 throughout, and these sunken in the border 

 for the summer, and then lifed and brought 



to the porch, and finally into the parlor as 

 the frosts grow severe. If the amateur will 

 but remember the following rules he can 

 hardly fail in having fine plants at the end 

 of the season; 



1. Never keep them indoors when they 

 can possibly be in the open air. 



2. Never let them become pot-bound un- 

 til they have bvidded to bloom. 



3. Never shift immediately after nipping. 



4. Never let them stay dry. 



5. Never let them want food. Bone 

 dust in the earth every lime they are repotted 

 is excellent, and then liquid manure occas- 

 ionally till the buds show color. 



6. Give plenty of sun. not too much wind. 



7. Pinch freely, according to the shape 

 you wish them to grow. 



8. If fine flowers are wanted remove 

 three out of five buds as soon as they are 

 large enough to rub off, and toward fall 

 all that may appear. 



All this is but little trouble to one who is 

 about his garden often attending to the other 

 plants; the reward is worth more treuble. 



There is one other possible bother — the 

 Black Aphis. Tobacco dust, which any 

 tobacconist gladly gives away, rubbed fine 

 between the finger and applied dry, is better 

 than pyrethrum and does not so disfigure the 

 plant. But these will not appear in any great 

 numbers if the plants are strong and healthy, 

 and especiilly if they are sometimes show- 

 ered with a garden syringe. 



1 do not bother to grow cuttings, but use 

 the same roots from year to year. I find 

 burying them very deep in the garden is the 

 best protection. To cover them like Roses 

 with the earth answers for most varieties 

 perfectly. I never have had in years of cul- 

 ture a touch of mildew on my plants by the 

 course of culture outlined. 



I do not think the excessively pinched out 

 plants, to grow which requires such constant 

 care, as handsome or as healthy as those that 

 are allowed to grow somewhat as nature in- 

 tended, but of course they must be kept in 

 good shape, or may be grown as trees. 



I have grown bushes well worth sending 

 to exhibition without excessive care, and I 

 think this plant repays so magnificently any 

 time and care given to it, and is so little 

 likely to do badly, unless excessively neg- 

 lected, that it seems to me especially a flower 

 for all amateurs to grow, and I regret to 

 see in print any words that will help to 

 discourage growers. We have had so 

 much success and delight with our plants 

 for years, and have delighted so many friends 

 with our great bushes, all a mass of bloom, 

 and some also fragrant, that I want every 

 amateur flower lover to try them and to suc- 

 ceed as we have done. 



Above all I hope no one will be dis- 

 couraged by unfavorable statements con- 

 cerning the culture of these Chrysanthemums 

 but all will go ahead and try and learn for 

 themselves how slight the trouble, and how 

 glorious the reward. Amateur. 



