1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



155 



hook to draw the bush over this and then a bat to 

 brush or jar off the berries. It is said, and we think 

 reasonably enough, that less berries fall to the 

 ground by this means than by hand picking. A 

 patent for this harvester has been apphed for. 



Two Drugs as Fertilizers. Nitrate of soda, says 

 an English gardener, is the quickest of all fertilizers, 

 but it is liable to adulteration with common salt. 

 It should be purchased under a guarantee of 5 per 

 cent, refraction, which means !)5 per cent, of pure 

 nitrate of soda. For cold wet soils sulphate of 

 ammonia, though a little less quick in action, is 

 preferable, for it is in the nature of the nitrate to 

 make such land still colder and wetter, and this ia 

 not desirable; moreover, sulphate of ammonia is 

 more lasting in its effects, containing about 5 per 

 cents, more nitrogen. It is open to adulteration 

 with sulphate of magnesia (Epsom salts), and should 

 be purchased under a guarantee that it eontams 'M 

 per cent, of ammonia. A simple method of testing 

 the purity of sulphate of ammonia is to spread 

 some on a nearly redhot shovel, and if the manure 

 entirely disappears it will not be far from genuine. 

 It is a great friend to the gardener when rightly 

 used, but incautiously applied or abused it is like 

 fire, dangerous. It has spoiled hundreds of Chrys- 

 anthemums that it might have benefited. 



" The Bee-keeper's Guide." Horticulture and 

 bee-keeping always have been closely allied, so we 

 think whatever is of wide interest to those who have 

 bees must prove widely interesting to our readers. 

 We would here call attention therefore to the book 

 named at the beginning, from the pen of that able 

 apiarian and entomologist, and our correspondent, 

 frof. A. J. Cook, Agricultural College, (I*. O.,) 

 Mich. This is a wort of 837 pages, exclusive of the 

 index, which numbers nearly eleven pages more. 

 It treats upon the subject of the honey bee and its 

 management in a manner more full and satisfac" 

 tory than any similar work of our acquaintance. 

 This may be inferred from the fact that nearly 200 

 engravings are used for rendering all matters per- 

 fectly clear. As might be expected from an author 

 who is also engaged as an instructor in his special- 

 ties, before the students of the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College, the work is one remarkably well 

 adapted to beginners in bee culture. Mr. Cook is 

 his own pubUsher; price of the work. $1.:^ post 

 paid. Orders sent to this office will be forwarded 

 to Mr. Cook with pleasure. 



What ails the Snowball Bushes. Of late years 



these old favorites have been unpleasantly affected 

 in some localities by the leaves curhng up before 

 being fully grown, with the result also of prevent- 

 ing fine bloom. To many the cause has been a 

 mystery, but any one who has examined the under- 

 side of such curled leaves carefully could have had 

 no trouble to discover innumerable plant lice in 

 possession, and thus the seat of trouble. They are 

 Aphides and closely related to, if not identical with, 

 the plant lice of a green color on ordinary house 

 plants. Tobacco in one form or another, or the 

 kerosene emulsions, described on page 129. and ap- 

 plied with a force pump, are sufficient remedies. 

 In the case of the former, if the bushes are low, by 

 scattering some tobacco (refuse stems from the 

 cigar maker's are as good as anything) among the 

 shoots, near the ground, and occasionally moisten- 

 ing it, the fumes will destroy the aphis. If the 

 growth is in the form of a tree, then some tobacco 

 stems might be bound in a sheaf and hung in the 

 top. Cheap smoking tobacco would also answer, 

 folding some into narrow strips of light cloth and 

 applying these as directed for tobacco stems. 



Beform in Karnes. In Agricultural Science, an 

 article by Professor L. H. Bailey, Jr.. gives good, 

 sound reasons why the late reform in reducing the 

 names of fruits as to length should be carried to all 

 cultural varieties. This confusion, he says, owes 

 its origin to an aping of botanical methods. There 

 is no reason why Latin adjectives should be applied 

 to cultural varieties, while there are several reasons 

 to the contrary. We need to distinguish t)etween 

 natural and artificial varieties. The former should 

 be designated by Latin adjectives, the latter by 

 English. For instance, Juniperus Sabina var. uro- 

 cumbens is a natural variety. Juniperus Sabina 

 var. variegata is a cultural form, yet the names do 

 not designate the fact. Again, we have lots of such 

 catalogue names as Petunia hybrida granditlora 

 timbriata flore pleno. This might better be ex- 

 pressed in English as the " Large"-llowered, fim- 

 briated double Petunia, which answers every pur- 

 pose of the Latin jargon, is more intelligible and 

 does not mislead. No such plants exist as Petunia 

 grandirtora and P. hybrida. These names are un- 

 true . The very trinity of excellence in the binomial 

 8j stem— accuracy, perspicuity, elegance— falls by 

 this method into confusioo and repulsiveness. 



Half a Loaf better than None. Mr. Iloopes, in a 

 sensible comnmnicatiou to the New York Tribune, 

 would apply this adage to Apples as well. He says: 

 " Side by side in my orchard of several yeai-s stand- 

 ing are two Apple trees of about equal size and 

 health— one, the Tewksbury Winter Klush; the 

 other, Tompkins County King. From the former I 

 never expect to miss a crop and generally get a very 

 large one at that, while the latter seems to depend 

 more upon its reputation in other localities. The 

 Tewksbury is small and of little flavor, but I always 



A STRONG SENSE OF DUTY. 

 have plenty in my bins. My King rarely gets so 

 far as the cellar, as a few warm days are sufficient 

 to clear the trees in advance of the picking season, 

 where the animals help themselves. The question 

 of educating the tastes of the masses up to a high 

 standard so that they will not purchase inferior 

 fruit is very well in the abstract, but when we can- 

 not grow the King and Northern Spy, there is no 

 resource but to fall back on Apples that will pro- 

 duce freely, like Smith's Cider and Long Island 

 Russet, if even of very questionable quality and 

 size. The price is also an important factor in grow- 

 ing fruit for profit. Varieties that produce freely, 

 even at a less price, pay better in the long run." 



** A Strong Sense of Duty" was the title given 

 to the engraving herewith presented, when it 

 originally appeared in a well-known juvenile maga- 

 zine. The little florist's act in watering her pot 

 plants in a shower of rain, because told by mamma 

 that they must be watered twice a day, was meant 

 to be humorously touched off, and as if no one but 

 a child would water out-door plants when it rained. 

 Now to the popular mind undoubtedly, this idea 

 seems a fairly sensible one, but Popular Garden- 

 ing, as a public instructor, takes this oppotunity to 

 defend the childish act and to say that it was a 

 most gardener-like act. No plant grower who 

 understands his business, would stop a moment 

 in watering plants, the roots of which are confined 

 in pots, boxes, or vases, because perchance, a 

 shower came up, unless it was to save his own 

 skin from a drenching. It was one of the sound 

 principals in the art of plant culture in pots, 

 which the writer of this early was taught, namely: 

 to trust no ordinary shower for supplying the needs 

 of dry plants, of the class referred to. He learned 

 to water and to water thoroughly whenever plants 

 needed it, rain or no rain, and years of experience, 

 on a considerable scale, has fully justified the 

 wisdom of such a course. Because amateurs often 

 fail to act as well as does the child in the engraving- 

 their thirsty pot and vase plants suffer tortures 

 from drought at the root.even in the midst of a rain 

 storm. Nothing in that line short of a long-con- 

 tinued rain could adequately meet a case of this 

 kind. 



A Flea for oar Birds. I come to the sportsmen 

 and boys with a plea for our birds. The school 

 vacation season is here, and the city and some 

 country boys, released from the restraints of school, 

 delight in going a-gunning through fields and past- 

 ures. I am sorry to see boys and men think it 

 proper to kill and cripple useful birds. The cruelty 

 of leaving the latter wounded and starving on the 

 field, unable to get shade or water, is not an act to 

 boast of, and is condemned by all right thinking 

 people and in the sight of Qod. And how can any boy 



rob a useful bird's nest when its mother pleads for 

 mercy y To me it appears that of all inferior creat- 

 ures Heaven seems to have Intended birds as the 

 most cheerful associates to the human family. It 

 is an evident fact in this day that some birds are 

 wholly indispensable to the successful fruit-grower. 

 But I would not claim that all birds are useful. 

 Such kinds as the Screech <->wl. Hawks. English 

 Sparrow, Wa.x-wing Sapsucker, are the enemies of 

 the cultivator and deserve killing. The Hawk and 

 Owl. especially, will not stop with chickens, but are 

 ready to kill and destroy our useful birds and toads. 

 Of course they do some good, but not enough to 

 balance against them, so these may be treated as 

 foes. That some useful birds eat and destroy some 

 fruit and grain I freely admit, but not near enough 

 to balance for the insects they kill. I am willing to 

 give them what fruit they eat, and especially Rus- 

 sian Mulberries. I am a friend to the weak in this 

 unequal warfare.— Jacob Faith, Fruit Ormver, 

 Verno7i Co., Mo. 



Notes by our New York Corre- 

 spondent. 



The late spring show of the New York Horticul- 

 tural Society has been the most noticeable affair 

 among plantsmen lately, though It was not by any 

 means a great exhibition. The competition for the 

 beautiful silver cup offered by President Spaulding 

 for the best floral design was decidedly meagre, 

 which was rather a surprise to all concerned. 



The successful winner was Mr. LeMoult, whose 

 design was most original, like all his work. It con- 

 sisted of a table, the top being about six feet 

 square. The cloth was made of Pansies, dark pur- 

 pie and cream colored, arranged in bands. This 

 cover hung in handsome folds at the corners, and 

 was arranged with exquisite smoothness. Lying 

 on the top of the table at each corner was a trail- 

 ing bouquet of roses, Catherine Mermet and Pink 

 Moss, at two opposite corners, and Marechal Neil 

 at the other two. In the center of the table was a 

 gracefully formed vase; its base of Violets rested on 

 a mat of white flowers. Jasmine and Passiflora, 

 from which sprang sprays of Lily-of-the-Valley. 

 The body of the vase was made of Mignonette, 

 Forget-me-nots and pale yellow Pansies. The han- 

 dle was of Bon Silene buds. The vase was filled 

 with a large bunch of Roses. The workmanship of 

 the design was most excellent, and the whole con- 

 ception was so original and so well carried out that 

 there was no doubt of its success, from the first. 

 Another design was a large oval basket, filled with 

 Roses and Lily-of-the-Valley. The handle was 

 wreathed with buds and fohage of the old-fashioned 

 hardy rose Mme. Plantier, which had a very pretty 

 effect. But the aesthetic harmony of the design 

 was completely wrecked by the addition of two toy 

 bears, clasping paws, and surmounted by the 

 motto *' Bear and Forbear." They were cloth bears 

 with shoe-button eyes, and the effect was truly 

 saddening. The fascinating Mrs. Langtry was one 

 of the judges of the designs; she shed the light of 

 her presence on the show several times, with the 

 gratifying result of inducing a lot of the horticul- 

 turists to go and see her play "Lady Clancarty." 



The display of plants at this exhibition was ex- 

 tremely poor, positively shabby, in fact, and this 

 gave the hall rather a forlorn aspect. One can 

 never produce a showy effect without big foliage 

 plants, and plenty of them. 



All the new roses were there, of course. Mr. 

 Peter Henderson showed his new Hybrid Perpetual, 

 Dinsmore; it is a good, showy crimson, and I 

 should think will prove effective for outdoor bloom- 

 ing. We are told that it flowers very profusely, 

 and is certainly very hardy. Mr. Evans of Phila- 

 delphia showed two of his Roses, Mrs. John Laing 

 and Meteor. The first is a rose-pink hybrid, very 

 pretty in shape; Meteor is a Hybrid Tea. dark 

 velvety crimson in hue and very full petalled. It 

 has handsome clean-looking foliage, and is certainly 

 a very handsome flower. 



Mr. John Henderson showed two new teas: Mme. 

 de Watteville, a shell pink shading to a deeper pink 

 at the edge of the petals, a beautiful thing; and 

 (iabrielle Drevet, buff shading to pink at the edges, 

 something after the style of Capucine. 



Mr. May showed his new yellow tea, Comtesse de 

 Frigneuse. The flower is larger than I expected 

 from the habit of the plabt, which is rather like 

 Niphetos; it is a clear golden yellow, and very 

 shapely. Mr. May also showed Her Majesty— the 

 finest flower we have been favored with so far. 



Mr. Kimball of Rochester sent some superb Or- 

 chids, so the show was not without interesting feat- 

 ures, though much below the mark in many res- 

 pects; rather a discouraging reflection for the busy 

 workers who got it up. 



Ehilt Lodtse Taplin. 



