194 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



August, 



The Summer Rain. 



Drip, drip, drip, 



On the petals of the Rose, 



Id the Harebell's tiny cup 



Till its hollow is lilled up. 



And its purple liui o'ertlowa. 



Oh the auuiuier rain ! 



Drip, drip, drip, 

 Tin the grass is heavy-bowed. 



Glittering with globes oi light : 

 And the robin lor delight. 

 Though wet his feathers, pliies aloud. 

 Oh the suniiner rain! 



The Falling of the Pears. 



One by one through the solemn nicht. 

 While the stars ingather the failing light. 



Drop on the shingles and loll to the eaves 

 The old. sweet Pears that, the gatherer leaves "■ 



Yellow as gold in the gras.H they lie, 



For the stranger to find as he passes by. 



That tree was planted in spring's llrstglow, 



Over a hundred years ago ; 

 A hundred drapings of gold and gi-een, 



^)f leafage and fruitage, dear eyes have seen : 

 And now in its hoary age it bears 



To its topmost branches, the old, sweet Pears. 



And ever and ever, as slow they fall, 

 Over the edge of the nio.ss-grown wall, 



I listen for joyous voices lied. 

 And weep for the silence of the dead ; 



For the Pear-tree blossoms when spring comes round 

 But my fair blossoms stay under ground. 



— Mary -!. Denison 



The Sunrtower, thinking 'twas for him foul shame 

 To nap by daylight, strove t'excu.se the blaine ; 

 It was not sleep that made him nod, he said, 

 But too great weight and largeness of the head. 



—Altfaliiim Cowley. 



The Beet is a rank feeder. 



BouTardias should be lifted first. 



In odd hours clear up the roadside. 



Subscriptions may begin any month. 



August 20 is our date for sowing Pansies. 



A bad gardener finds enough things to jblame. 



Never stop and shift plants at the same time. 



To Greenhouse Builders. Light is life to plants. 



There should be a good growth in subscription 

 clubs now. 



Grass sward could well take the place of many a 

 weed patch. 



An average of one quart of Lima Beans to a 

 pole is not rare. 



"Grape Dust," the new mildew remedy, comes 

 well recommended. 



Faint the glass houses now when the wood may 

 be had perfectly dry. 



An article last issue will pay for my subscription 

 as long as I live."— Gr. K. G., Chester Co., Pa. 



What your favorite horticultural journal next 

 needs is a doubled subscription list. You could help 

 as to this. 



Many a fine plant or bulb has been crowded out 

 of existence by strong growers being too near. By 

 weeds also, we might add. 



With us the Itasca Strawberry does well, being 

 of equal size with Wilson, sweeter, and nearly as 

 firm.— (i^. W. G , Pulaski, Ind. 



The Lucretia Dewberry excels the Snyder 

 Blackberry both in productiveness and hardiness. 

 — W. H. S., New Carlisle, Ohio 



It is astonishing the quantity of (lowers, fruits, 

 and vegetables that can be grown on a small plot 

 of ground with good management. 



Don't pinch out the Grape-leaves from bearing 

 caiies, so that the sun may shine on the clusters. 

 The leaves are more needed than the light. 



Many Would so Agree. Please mention that 

 one of the best Hybrid Perpetual Koses is the 

 Madam Charles Wood ; it should be in every col- 

 lection.— Henri/ C. Townsend. 



Beans, One thing we have demonstrated; By 

 saving only the largest pods of shell varieties tor 



seed and then planting none but the fruit of these, 

 the size and productiveness may in a few years be 

 much improved. 



" Orchids which every lady can grow in the win- 

 dow, as well as in the greenhouse," should be con- 

 sidered very desirable stock to many of our read- 

 ei-s. We are glad to see that such are offered by 

 a reliable New York firm. 



You, Good Keader ! must have some friend or 

 aciiuaiiitauee who would be the gainer for invest- 

 ing in a year's subscription to this Journal. Will 

 you not invite the attention of such to its merits 

 aud gently urge their coming into line y 



One amateur writes that she Alls her Calla jars 

 half full of manure before setting the bulbs after 

 their summer's rest, and then she gets two or more 

 flowers from each plant, i lur e.vperience, too, with 

 the Calla has shown that it enjoys a very fat soil. 



Do not cut lawns too close in hot weather for 

 heat and drought injure the growth, if not the roots. 

 The beauty of a lawn is not in being shaved like a 

 convict's head till the skull shows through, but in 

 its evenness and deep green color.— Swsan Power. 

 The sight of a healthy boy with a craving, jump- 

 ing aiipetite for fruit, but who is not permitted to 

 satisfy his hunger, because there's no fruit for 

 him, is pitiful to behold. Where there is land there 

 should be fruit for all, and especially for the boys. 

 Visitors to Mount Vernon readily observe that 

 the lawns are badly afflicted with Crab Grass, 

 ijarlic, etc. In all such cases we would urge en- 

 riching the .soil, in order to give the grass a better 

 footing. A strong growth of sod is one of the best 

 aids against weeds. 



The death of Mr. George Jackman, Woking, 

 England, after whom that most popular flowering 

 climber of the age. Clematis Jackmani, was 

 named, is reported. His name is closely associated 

 with the various wonderful improvements in the 

 Clematis, now so well known. 



What the cause of American horticulture needs 

 is that there be from two to ten readers of Popui.ah 

 Gardening and Faurr Growing for every one it 

 now has. This is a matter in which every reader 

 could help along the cause of improved horti- 

 culture. We are thinking of clubs. 



The White Everlasting Pea is one of our satis- 

 factory plants. A row several yards in length 

 stands six feet high, and is a veritable blooming 

 hedge. It is supported by a few stout stakes and 

 cleats, with some fresh twigs added every spring. 

 It is three years old.— TV. R. W., Trenton, N. J. 



The "Sun-Dial Bean." Mrs. Emily R. Mershen 

 writes all the way from Montesano, Washington 

 Territory, to inquire if any member of the family 

 can tell where this plant, the pet of her childhood, 

 grows. She says it resembles a Lupine. Our en- 

 quirer would be glad to exchange the Wild Hya- 

 cinth of her region for it. 



Aphides on Snowball Bushes. Mr. William 

 Falconer writes to us that he has not found the 

 tobacco refuse remedy suggested on page 155 effect- 

 ual in dealing with this trouble. As only V. opulus 

 is afl'ected, he suggests that the game is not 

 worth the candle, and that it would be far better 

 to discard the old Guelder Rose altogether in favor 

 of the Japanese species V. jilicatum, the leaves of 

 which are never infested with lice. 



"Happy Parisians" is what a French journal 

 exclaims, in view of the fact that the French capi- 

 tal is the best tree-shaded city of large size in the 

 world. Sixteen years ago the trees lining the 

 streets and squares numbered 33,000, and these are 

 annually assuming greater importance— a fact 

 which speaks for itself when we are told that at the 

 present day they number fully 87,000. Since 1S70 

 about 1.50 acres have been added to the promenades. 

 Salicylic Acid. With reference to the several 

 suggestions that have appeared in your paper con- 

 cerning salicylic acid for preserving fruit, etc., I 

 beg tf draw your attention to a report presented 

 to the French government: "That the continuous 

 taking of saUcyUc acid, even in small quantities, or 

 Its derivatives, is injurious to health, especially in 

 the case of aged persons, and those whose renal 

 and digestive organs are not properly sound,"— 

 Henry Urquhart. 



Heating a Small Greenhouse. My greenhouse 

 is twelve leet by eight feet, a lean-to. I have had 

 it heated this last season by an oil stove, using the 

 best high test kerosene oil, and have successfully 

 preserved all my plants and cuttings ; and more- 

 over, early in spring, I struck a large supply of 

 cuttings in two shallow boxes, placed over a larger 

 box, under which the stove was kept lighted night 

 and day for eight or ten days.- frj-ace Soiners, 

 I Clark Co., Ohio. 



"Weed Day." Now that we have an Arbor Day 

 in almost every state for promoting tree planting, 

 the Rural New Yorker comes forward with the 

 sensible suggestion of a Weed Day. The idea is 

 for the people of a neighborhood to set apart one 

 day or a portion of a day, to making war upon the 

 weeds in vacant or public places. Such united 

 action would do much to clear out the hated vege- 

 tation that robs so much of the soil's substance. 

 Here is a chance for the Grange to organize a new 

 and taking celebration. 



Baldwins, Mr. Henry Lutts, the Niagara Co. 

 nurseryman, reports that while the Baldwin Apple 

 promises little fruit this .season, the trees in his vi- 

 cinity are making more growth than in the last 

 four years taken together. Inasmuch as the fail- 

 ure in fruitage is generally attributed to weakened 

 vitality as a result of the attacks of the Aphis in 

 previous years, this present increased growth and 

 the absence of Aphis gives grounds for a more 

 hopeful outlook of the Apple crop for next year 

 than for some time past. 



Pencil and Paper Now. The present is the time 

 to make a note of what to repeat and what to 

 avoid in future ornamental gardening. To trust 

 to one's memory in these matters is to lay one 

 open to repeat that which is not desirable . A 

 thing to now note is the classifying of the strong, 

 medium and small growing hardy plants, with a 

 view to properly separating them at the next trans- 

 planting season. It is well to keep an eye to the 

 weeding out of the more worthless species. As a 

 rule, what are kept up only as curious plants could 

 as well be spared. 



An ornamental mound, which in its simplicity, 

 we are satisfied would prove handsome, and the 

 material of which is at the command of most all 

 gardens, is thus described by an English exchange; 

 " The center is occupied by blue German Flags, 

 {Iris,) intermixed with Striped Ribbon Grass, [Pha- 

 laris arundinacea, ) and the rather steep sides of 

 rocks are clothed with irregular clumps of Peren- 

 nial Candytuft, {Iberis seinpervirens,) flowering 

 freely. The white flowers of the latter, the blue 

 flowers of the flags, and the white-striped leaves of 

 the grass harmonize most pleasingly. 



Festoons of Ivy.— To make festoons of Ivy for 

 the window garden, plant five or six nice plants in 

 a box, tie the ends rather loosely together to pre- 

 vent blowing about, and in a few months they will 

 hang in thick festoons. If wanted for creeping 

 over a low-arched trellis of the window-box, place 

 one or two plants at each end, train and tie over 

 the trellis ; by the summer the arch will be a mass 

 of bright green . The trellis can be had at the zinc 

 worker's of all shapes and sizes. The Ivy plants 

 can be bought either in or out of the pots ; the 

 latter is the cheaper.— (rardeniTiy Illustrated. 



Poisoning From Plants. Subscriber "P" of 

 Worcestei' Co., Mass., while commending the re- 



Double Glazing. The Sash-bar properly cut. 



cent article on this subject, calls attention to the 

 well-known plant of low lands, Chelone glabra, 

 also known as Snake Head, Balmony, etc , as a 

 remedy for vegetable poisons. He says the plant 

 should be gathered while in bloom, dried, and pre- 

 served in paper bags. It can then be used at any 

 time by steeping in water. He also reports that he 

 has had fowls die from eating the leaves of Olean- 

 der and Bocconia cordata when thrown in their 

 yards. Has never heard of the plants being 

 poisonous by contact. 



The Birds' Advertisement. A Swiss newspaper 

 contained, during a severe "cold snap" last spring, 

 the following advertisement : 



Notice to the Charitable. 



" On account of the heavy snow fall and the ex- 

 treme cold, the resident birds and birds of passage 

 in Geneva make this pressing appeal to a generous 

 public. They earnestly request the reader to place 

 in some place not likely to be covered with snow, a 

 plate containing seeds, or a modest provision of 



