214 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



September, 



Marigolds. 



When the Poppies blaze with scarlet, 



In the fields of tasseled Maize, 

 5nd the Cornllower shows its turquois. 



All alonpr the woodland ways— 

 When the Clematis its tangle 



Weaves above tht? filmy ferns. 

 And the Cardinal's bright namesake 



In the rich green meadow bums- 

 Then you come, O, radiant flower, 



Then your glowing heart unfolds. 

 Summer dons your rich tiara. 



Gorgeous, yellow Marigolds I 



—Helen Chase. 



Country Board. 



Such luscious Corn, such fragrant Peas, 



Such berries rich and rare ; 

 How wise the man, I thought, who flees 



To this entrancing fare. 



Ah, me, one day I carelessly strolled 



Down past the dairy pans, 

 And there I saw, 'mid bushes rolled, 



A hill of empty ca,ns. 



I read the labels one by one— 

 "Sweet Corn." "Green Peas,"a frown 



Stole o'er my face and hid the sun. 

 As back I fled to town. 



—Cleveland Stni. 



On a Gardener. 



To the earth and ite flowers time gladly he gave, 

 For labor is sweet when we love it ; 



Now the earth, in return, has bequeathed him a grave, 

 And the flowers bloom brightly above it. 



/^'P^ 



Order the flower pots. 

 Late Parsley to be thinned. 

 The last issue of Volume II. 

 Now let's give the plants a lift. 

 Yes, set out some improved bulbs. 

 We prefer fall planting for Rhubarb. 

 Working with clean pots is important. 

 Celery must have free moisture at the root. 

 Strawberries should be planted this month sure. 

 Planting in clumps is our way with hardy bulbs. 

 Time devoted to the ornamental features is not 

 wasted time. 



Have an eye to the suckers en budded Roses, to 

 rub such off. 



An exception to the rule: the Seckel Pear rip- 

 ens best on the tree. 



It's always in order to see that no plant or tree 

 i.s mole.sted by insects. 



Tree pruning may follow directly on the com- 

 pletetl growth of summer. 



New Type and other improvements will appear 

 in our next month's issue. 



Don't bother with old Verbena plants; strike 

 fresh cuttings for keeping over. 



Promptness in the renewal of subscriptions is life 

 to a paper. This to many whose time is now out. 



Few house plants give equal satisfaction with 

 pot Hyacinths. The season to start such is at hand. 



After September 10th is too late to sow Pansies, 

 as well as Cabbage and Cauliflower for wintering 

 over, according to our idea. 



For family use we <iuestion whether any method 

 ot growing Celery, can be devised that is better 

 than the trench, saj' six inches deep. 



Hail Insurance. An association has been formed 

 which is now ready to issue policies against loss to 

 glass by hail. The secretary is John G. Esler, Sad- 

 dle River, N. J. 



It would be a good thing for Horticultural Hall 

 at the fair if all unlabeled or incorrectly named 

 specimens were excluded. Duplicate plates is 

 another objectionable feature. 



Here is a good clause in the rules of the Kansas 

 State fair about fruits. " That the occurrence in a 

 collection or exhibit of very large and showy, but 

 comparatively worthies varieties, will be considered 

 as a discredit to such collection or exhibit.'' 



Speaking of Apple Pomace, I remember that 

 New York farmers used to feed it with cut hay to 

 horses, who ate it greedily, and showed glossy ' 



coats for it. Seems to me it was kept in layers 

 with the fall hay, and both' were cut down with a 

 hay knife —S. Powers. 



The Industry Gooseberry does not, after two 

 years' fruiting, give our correspondent, Mrs. J. W. 

 Kernan, of Norwalk Co., Mass., the satisfaction she 

 had hoped for. It bears heavily but half the fruit 

 drops before maturity. For flavor she prefers the 

 common kinds. Her soil is well drained and rich. 



Prunes. An exchange says that 00,000,000 pounds 

 of Prunes were imported into the United States last 

 year, but California is growing this crop more 

 largely every year, and it is only a matter of time 

 when the foreign product will be run out of the 

 market by the home-grown product. The Califor- 

 fornia Prune is said to be superior to the foreign 

 one and sells at better prices. 



Zebra Zinnias. A subscriber speaks of these 

 as having turned out to be a fine addition to this 

 class of annuals. The flowers are about medium 

 size, and the variegation shows on about 50 per 

 cent of the plants, on some of the flowers being in 

 regular and broad stripes, and others are irregu- 

 larly striped and spotted; and there are some new 

 and desirable shades among the self colors not 

 before found in Zinnias. 



Cucumbers on Trellises. Did it ever occur to 

 the reader, asks the Rural World, that Cucumber 

 vines would grow on stakesor trellises? They will, 

 and indeed this would seem to be the way they 

 were intended to be grown, else why are they pro- 

 vided with tendrils'? By giving them branching 

 stakes or brush wood to climb over they will do so 

 and thus the Cucumbers will be above the ground 

 and more easily picked, and the vines less likely to 

 be injured by tramping. 



This is the last issue of Popclar Gardening amd 

 Fruit Growing paid for by many subscribers. 

 But judging by the way renewals for Volume III 

 begin to arrive thus early a hearty and prompt 

 response in this direction may generally be ex- 

 pected from all whose time is up. This is desirable. 

 Done at once and your name need not be disturbed 

 on our books, a gain both to yourself and to us. 

 Popular Gardening needs you as a patron; you 

 need Puuular Gardening, hence our agreeable 

 relations should continue without break. Let the 

 dollars come. 



Cranberries in America. Prof. L. H. Bailey of 

 Michigan, writes to the London Garden that " it 

 is only thirty years ago that the Cranberry was 

 known in a wild state; now it is much improved, 

 and several good varieties have been produced." 

 He states that in New Jersey alone there are some 

 S,aoO acres under Cranberry culture; that the lead- 

 ing Cranberry-growing States are Massachusetts 

 (near Cape Cod ), New Jersey, Wisconsin and Con- 

 necticut, and that the entire crop in the United 

 States last year from cultivated plants was probably 

 not far from CCO.OOO bushels. 



Carrying Baskets of Peaches. Why carry one 

 basket, using two hands, when any picker feels 

 equal to two baskets, one in each hand '? Because 

 the ordinary Peach basket has no bale, or handle, 

 hence must be grasped like a half -bushel measure. 

 Mr. S. C. Case, of Flemington, New Jersey, thought 

 about this matter and of the loss of time involved by 

 carrying baskets singly, so he devised the detach- 

 able handle shown figured herewith. Beyond say- 

 mg that the wire supports hook under the upper 

 rim of the basket the cut needs no explaining. Mr. 

 Case has had this device patented. 



Firm Potting. The importance of this, partic- 

 ularly in the case of hard-wooded plants is not 

 properly realized. When a shift is made, one 

 should, not be content with simply knowing that 

 the space between the pot and ball is filled with 

 earth, but this should be thoroughly rammed with 

 the square end of a label or similar potting stick. 

 The writer recalls a visit to his greenhouse in his 

 earlier practice of one of the best gardeners he 

 has ever known, who on seeing him at Rose-pot- 

 tiug remarked, " That's right; firm ramming for 

 fine bushes," a lesson he has never forgotten. 



Drainage is quite as important proportionately 

 in managing a few house plants or a greenhouse 

 collection as it is in the land drainage in the large 

 operations of the market garden and fruit farm. 

 In pot drainage the crocks should be clean; if they 

 are not, let them be washed by shaking in a partly, 

 immersed sieve. Arrange the pieces regularly, the 

 largest at the bottom, finishing with the smaller 

 above. If there is a difference in plants as regards 

 an absolute need of drainage, it is the slow or 

 delicate growers, which can illy dispense with it. 

 As a rule there is great safety in good drainage. 



A Celery Enemy. Subscriber W. T. Alan, ot 



greatest pests to the gardener in storing Celery 

 is the field mouse that gets in the trench and eats 

 the heart out. He has had whole trenches mined 

 after being stored for winter. But this pest, he 

 observes, is exceedingly fond of Lettuce. So he 

 starts some good plants at this season to have 

 them ready by the time the Celery is stored and 

 then puts some (which has been first well dusted 

 with Paris gr-etn) in here and there along the 

 trench. This settles the mice and saves the Celery. 

 Cutting Long Stems. In the case ot Gladioluses, 

 Daffodils, Tulips, and Dwarf Lilies, I have often 

 known people who cut these flowers with long 

 stems, express disappointment because the same 

 bulbs did not produce good flowering stock the 

 next year Plucking out or cutting off the flowers 

 only strengthens and improves the bulbs, but if 

 you cut off leaves or stems also you injure the 

 bulb.s, and this injury is in proportion to the 

 amount of tolia»e you remove. In cutting Tulips, 

 Daffodils, and Gladioluses with long stems, we cut 

 them off close to, or in the case of Daffodils, under 

 the ground. Now no rational person will expect 

 those bulbs to produce flowering stock nest year. 

 — William Falconer. 



To Turn or Not to Turn the window plants is a 

 common question at this season ot taking in stock. 

 For the soft-wooded class that includes Geraniums, 

 Fuchsias, etc., we would especially say don't; 

 turning such causes them to repeatedly execute a 

 right-about-face manLCuvre that has a weakening 

 tendency on the plants, which soon shows in a 

 vigorless, ragged look that is not pleasant. The 

 finest specimens of window plants one may meet 

 are not thus treated. Better lo have health and 

 vigor with onesidedness thau weakness of growth 

 and something like symmetry of form . Cactuses 

 bulbous plants, and those with narrow or hard 

 leaves are less liable to injury from frequent turn- 

 ing than most others. 



The Gold Strawberry is a new pistilate variety 

 which originated with the Augurs, of Middlefield, 

 Conn., seven years ago. Four years since, when 

 shown with many others at an exhibition by the 

 Connecticut State Board of Agriculture, it first at- 

 tracted general attention. Indeed, Secretary T. S. 

 Gold of the Board, then pronounced it the finest 

 berry on exhibition, and later on by his own con- 

 sent it was allowed to bear his name. Last year the 

 Gold received the silver medal ot the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society as the best new seedling 

 Strawberry. Its shape is shown by the accompany- 

 ing cut, some of the berries being rather more 

 conical. The texture is said to be firm, the color 

 bright, the season long and the quality the best. 



Two Incorrect Names. Says W. E Endicott, 

 Canton, Mass., in a recent letter: Two species of 

 Oxalis were offered in a catalogue of 1886 and sev- 

 eral of 1887, under incorrect tames. It seems de- 

 sirable to make a correction in the interest of intel- 

 ligent gardening. The species offered as Oxalis 

 Deppei is described as bearing while flowers, and 

 Oxalis laf iandra is also erroneously described. In 

 point of fact the one thus called Deppei is O. um- 

 brosa. and the other is the true Deppei. The real 

 lasiandra has rose-colored flowers, smaller and 

 more numerous in the cluster than those of Deppei. 

 and borne on taller stalks. The foliage is also very 

 different from ihat of Deppei, having from seven 



Detachable Handle for Peach Basket. 

 to nine long and narrow leaflets instead of three 

 closer-shaped ones, as the latter species has. 



Easpberries in Iowa. The Nemaha Raspberry 

 fruited finely this season. The fruit seems identi- 

 cal with the Gregg, but the plant is much hardier 

 and proves a better bearer with me. Prof. J. L. 

 Budd was at my place a few days smce while 

 fruit was on the bushes ripe, and at first sight pro- 

 nounced it Gregg, but he was soon convinced that 

 it was not that variety. He was very much inter- 

 ested in it. I esteem it of great value for the 

 Northwest. Shaffer is growing in favor every 

 year, and is becoming very popular in Iowa. The 

 fruit brings the highest price in the market. 

 Marlboro is not hardy enough for this climate. I 

 had a few plants ot Caroline that fruited this year 

 and I like it very well. Fruit crop is not heavy 

 with us.—//. A. Terry, Crescent City, Iowa. 



mushrooms in Cellars. A writer who has had 



Mercer Co., Pa., in a letter, says that one of the I experience in this line adds to what was said on 



