172 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



fied, and yet near to most of the civilized conveniences 

 of life. The association, says Charles N. Wingate of 

 New York, who is a leading spirit in the enterprise, began 

 in a small way. First came log cabins, then followed 

 modest cottages, and with the proceeds of these, larger 

 and more costly structures were built. Every penny 

 received was spent in improvements. No one drew any 

 salary and no one expected dividends. Our capital, 

 continued Mr, Wingate, has been turned many times, 

 and the nimble sixpence has brought shillings galore- 

 Three years ago the park comprised fifteen buildings and 

 seventy-five souls ; to-day there are nearly 50 buildings, 

 costing over $100,000, and a population of 300, Lots 

 that originally cost $10 are readily selling for *.i,oooand 

 $1,500, and the boom has scarcely begun, A feature of 

 the settlement is a club-house ; simple fare is supplied to 

 cottagers at moderate rates, so that families can enjoy 

 all the privacy and freedom of home life without the 

 cares of housekeeping. 



Royal Gardeners. — It is well known that Queen 

 Victoria is fond of gardening. A writer in the English 

 Illustrated Magazine says of the customs in vogue at 

 Her Majesty's private garden at Osborne : In a certain 

 part of the grounds is the glade of trees which com- 

 memorates the marriage of each one of the queen's 

 children. First come two splendid firs in memory of 

 the Prince of Wales' wedding, planted there by the 

 prince and princess after their honeymoon ; then two 

 planted by the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh ; and 

 near at hand the budding trees of the Duke and Duchess 

 ofConnaught, Prince Henry of Battenberg, and.Princess 

 Beatrice, and the Duke and Duchess of Albany. The 

 queen frequently takes her afternoon tea on the lawn 

 amidst these emblems of the happy union of her children. 

 There is only one bed of flowers in this beautiful grass 

 plat, which is in summer fragrant with the scent of pinks 

 and carnations, and this is always watched by the 

 Princess Beatrice, who tends and cares for the flowers 

 for the queen's delight. The queen loves gardening, 

 and all her children were taught to dig and plant flowers, 

 fruit and vegetables in season. Each child had a 

 separate garden and each had exactly the same kinds of 

 vegetables and flowers. These gardens are still kept up 

 exactly as the princes and princesses cultivated them 

 years ago. There are fourteen beds in each garden, con- 

 sisting of two flower-beds, two strawberries, two goose- 

 berries, two currant, two raspberries, and one row each 

 of beets, turnips, potatoes, onions, carrots, asparagus, 

 peas, beans, parsnips and artichokes. 



Peonies and Rhododendrons. — One need not much 

 deplore the absence of the brilliant hybrid rhododen- 

 drons throughout the north, when the magnificent 

 peonies succeed so perfectly everywhere. The most 

 effective way to use peonies is in clumps on the lawn. 

 The soil should be deep and rich. Let them stand 

 about three feet apart in the outer line, and four feet 

 apart within. Unlike some choice hardy flowers the 

 foliage of which turns yellow and bad-looking after 

 blooming time, the peonies, with their beautifully divided 



dark-green leaves, look handsome enough to grace any 

 lawn all through the season. One of the prettiest 

 species is that known as the fennel-leaved peony, the 

 foliage as well as the flowers of whicn are remarkably 

 fine. It is no wonder that the gorgeous blooms and 

 handsome leaves of the peony render this plant a 

 great favorite with those aesthetic flower-growers, the 

 Japanese, In Japan a common way of disposing the 

 plants is to set them in clumps quite close to the dwelling, 

 so that their magnificent bloom can be enjoyed as seen 

 from the windows or balconies above. Let a cultivated 

 Japanese be invited to decide between the peony and 

 the rhododendron for garden embellishment, and we are 

 sure his vote would very quickly be for the former. 



Horrible Floral Designs. — Flowers are generally 

 understood to represent the highest ideals of inanimate 

 beauty, but this does not prevent some professional 

 florists from combining them into the most distasteful 

 and inappropriate floral designs imaginable. We are 

 glad that the American Florist holds up with approval 

 the censures of a California paper on such designs. 

 Among these were floral pieces representing a wagon-load 

 of beer-casks, and a corset with a wreath above, con- 

 structed as ' ' appropriate emblems, " at the funerals of a 

 brewer and a manufacturer of corsets. Another was the 

 ' ' market woman of Hamburg, " an outrageous caricature 

 of the human form, in which, it is said, the eyes 

 were black buttons. Florists can hardly justify them- 

 selves on the grounds that their customers demand it. 

 They are the designers and should be the leaders in what 

 constitutes appropriate floral emblems ; and in almost 

 every instance could succeed in having something decent 

 and becoming substituted for what is so shocking. We 

 regret to say, as a result of some observations, that we 

 fear it is the florists themselves who too often encourage 

 their patrons to order such monstrosities. 



Horticultural Exhibits at the World's Fair.— It is 

 estimated that not less than 50,000,000 people will visit 

 the World's Fair in '93, so that exhibits will be presented 

 to an enormous constituency. It is designed that the 

 planting of hardy trees, shrubs and plants for decora- 

 tive purposes be completed by May i, 1892. The chiefs 

 of the horticultural department wish to impress upon all 

 that under no circumstances will poorly grown or badly 

 rooted specimens be accepted. All material must be 

 shapely, vigorous and large enough to be effective ; for 

 instance, shrubs like Deiitzia crenata should be three to 

 four feet high with six to eight canes, Spiraa callosa 

 should not be less than 18 inches in diameter. The 

 plans for this section were to have been completed by 

 March i. In order to insure the harmonious effect as a 

 whole, it is necessary that the department be given full 

 control of such plants contributed. Those used for the 

 general decoration of the grounds, and not planted as 

 grouped exhibits for competition, will be cared for at the 

 expense of the department. A complete list of all 

 material to be supplied must be furnished the depart- 

 ment at once, blank forms for which purpose will be 

 furnished upon request. All plants sent must be correctly 



