1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



17.3 



exposed would be to render their pi'esence In 

 goodly numbers anything but desirable. 



Now in order to enjoy the greatest possible 

 share of pleasure with the least possible incon- 

 venience in growing a fair collection of Cac- 



3, is Opuntia Basilaris. It is so beautiful that 

 it might well be grown in a glass case. 



The thanks of all lovers of fine plants are 

 due to Messrs. Blanc & Co., of Philadelphia, 

 for the enterprise they have shown in placing 

 so large an assortment of this desirable 

 class before the public. In theii- cata- 

 logue they describe and in part illustrate 

 hundj-eds of different sorts, and these are 

 offered at prices which place them within 

 the reach of all growers. 



sajnng, "It is better to give than to receive." 

 The ladies of the Flowor Mission in this place 

 have availed themselves of this privilege and 

 have brought joy and gladness to many a sick 

 be<l, both in hospital and home. 



iJVflr. 1. Cactus Rockery for the Window. 



tuses, the writer has adopted for house use a 

 method which he before now has seen employed 

 in Cactus houses. It is to plant a dozen or 

 more plants in a mass in one large pot or other 

 receptacle for earth, the surface of which is 

 treated as a miniature rockery, and with the 

 center considerably higher than the edge. 



Recently in thus disposing of a fine collec- 

 tion received from Messrs. A. Blanc & Co. , the 

 Cactus specialists of Philadelphia, an ordinary 

 fernery base bought at a local seed store was 

 used for holding the earth. This was planted as 

 shown in the engraving, and up to the present 

 time it has developed into the most handsome 

 and unique parlor ornament we think we have 

 ever seen. It is the admiration of all our 

 friends, not only because of the charming effect 

 created by the various forms and colors of the 

 plants themselves, but because in one or another 

 of these it is rarely without a flower. 



The addition of the rockery feature affords 

 advantages in several ways. First by the selec- 

 tion of pleasing colors of stone as marble and 

 granite, red and gray, and other kinds as they 

 may be had in fragments from the stone cutter's 

 yard, and then of a few sea shore pebbles, 

 shells, etc. , a handsome contrast in color with 

 the Cactuses is produced. The stones also enable 

 one to bmld up the soil (this we prefer to have 

 consist of one-half sand) mound-Uke, in a way 

 that is conducive to providing the dryness of 

 soil which all Cactuses enjoy. 



But the main advantage is that but a small 

 part of the armed outlines of the plants are ex- 

 posed outwardly to come into contact with the 

 hands, clothes, etc. Indeed our present rockery 

 with its twenty plants, no two alike, and afford- 

 ing a great variety of beauty, offers far less 

 inconvenience to those about it than does one 

 large-sized Man's Hand Opuntia occupying a 

 single pot,or even as would a fair-sized Rose or 

 Camellia. The care of such a rockery amounts 

 to almost nothing. Having more Cactuses than 

 we could accommodate in the fernery base re- 

 ferred to, the remaining ones were planted in 

 a similar rock-mound, but with a seven inch 

 pot used for a base. 



Among the various genera of this interesting 

 order growing in our rockery, none are more 

 prized than the different species of Echinocac- 

 tus. Of these a handsome and free-blooming 

 sort is E. Orcutti shown in another column. 

 Another pretty sort, shown enlarged in figure 



What do we Get In Lawn Grass 

 Seed? 



L. H. BAILY. JR., AORICITLTURAL COLLEOE, MICH. 



Ox-eye Daisy, two species of Cheat 

 {Ilfomus asper and B. Mollis) in abund- 

 ance, Spurry {Spcriittlai-ia an-en.sis), May- 

 weed {Anthemis Votul<t), Awned Plantain 

 (Plantago Patagonica var. aristaUi), Hy- 

 pochii'ris radicnfn (a fall Dandelion-like 

 plant). Velvet grass ^Holcus lanatus), 

 Sweet Vei-nal Grass and Perennial Rye- 

 gra.ss. These are what the writer got on 

 a lawn sowed with one of the wonderful 

 lawn mixtures. The seed was surely a 

 " mixture," so that the writer was not 

 humbugged out of his .?.5.00 per bushel for 

 the stuff. Let it be said, moreover, that 

 he got some gras.s. The seeil was proba- 

 bly more thoroughly mixed than the above 

 list indicates, for although the ground was 

 supposed to be clean, he had a most extra- 

 ordinary gi-owth of all imaginable weeds; 

 but as these weeds grow in adjoining 

 fields he gave the mixture the benefit of 

 the doubt and charged them over to his neigh- 

 bors. Some mixers of mixtures contend that 

 the Rye Grass has value. Its seed certainly 

 fills up fast in the measure. The writer now 

 buys June grass seed for J: 1.00 and $1.2.5 per 

 bushel and has little ti-ouble. 



The Pink Lily of the Valley. 



Isn't there a mistake aliout that I'ink Lily 

 of the Valley shown in New York being arti- 

 ficially colored* The old books on gardening 

 speak of various colors of this Lily. A flora, 

 London, 1823, says: "There are several varieties 

 of this species; one with red flowers." And I 

 think more than one of the latest English 

 writers on flowers mention the rose-colored 

 sort. WhDe all will perhaps prefer the stand- 

 ai'd variety sung by the poets from Eeats, 



" Valley Lilies whiter still than Leda's love." 

 and Leigh Hunt's 



''Nice-leaved lesser Lilies, 

 Shading like detected light 

 Their little ^een-tip'd lamps of white." 

 It is possible the saine taste could find noth- 

 ing to detract from the pink blossoms. It were 

 as much as to say all Roses and all Lilies must 

 be one color. S. D. P. 



Woman's Mission In Horticulture. 



MRS. WADK BURDEN, GREENE CO., MISSOURI. 



Has woman a special mission in horticulture? 

 The first woman imagined she had, but came to 

 grief in her earliest experience. 

 The question for to-day is. Can 

 woman do anything in horticul- 

 ture that man cannot do equally 

 well ; There are not many 

 women's names on the roll of 

 horticultural fame, but perhaps 

 if justice were done we should 

 find them there. 



Many of the beautiful houses 

 of our lovely city with their well 

 kept grounds, emerald lawns 

 dotted with fruit and shade trees, 

 and brightened and adorned with 

 borders and beds of choice flowers 

 are the result of woman's labor. 



One such instituted on East 

 Walnut street, where women 

 have tilled the soil, set out the 

 trees and shrubs, and personally 

 superintended all the work that 

 they did not actually do with their 

 own hands. There are many 

 such instances as you are doubt- 

 less aware. In the Rose gardens 

 of France it is just possible that 

 some of the choice varieties pro- 

 duced there and made famous 

 throughout the world, for which 

 monsieur le proprietaire has the 

 credit, may have been the result 

 of the experiments of madame. 



But there is a mission for 

 woman in which she can give and 

 receive the greatest pleasure and 

 satisfaction. It is in distributing 

 her fruits and flowers where they 

 will be appreciated, giving of 

 her abundance if she be successful in horti- 

 culture to those who are not so highly favored, 

 and esjiecially to the sick and artlicted. In 

 this way she will reahze the truth of that 



Campanulas (Bell Flowers) In Pots. 



These plant, a writer in the Garden remarks, 

 are of very easy culture, very beautiful among 

 other plants, and available when there are not 

 many others in bloom. The earliest to flower 

 is the Calycanthema medium varieties, of 

 which there are white, blue, and rose, the first 

 being the most valuable. Campanula pyra- 

 midalis in two colors, white and blue, is cjuite 

 distinct from the foregoing, being later, taller, 

 and more profuse flowering. Both well repay 

 good culture. We usually sow the seed early 

 in April, but have been quite as successful in 

 the case of C. Calycanthema with plants ob- 

 tained by sowing early in May. The seed is 

 rather small, but it rarely fails to germinate if 

 sown on the surface of a previously moistened 

 pan of flue sandy soil, and only a httle sand on 

 top. A small pocket of seeds makes many 



Fig. i. 



Cactus— {Echniocactus Orcutti.) 



plants. For the summer they are bedded out. 

 Late in September as many as are needed should 

 be lifted and potted, keeping them over winter 

 in a cold pit, to flower the next season. 



