422 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



We Ask this Favor ; American Gardening aims to 

 be accurate and correct in all its teachings. If you, 

 reader, see in our columns any statement needing modi- 

 fication or correction, by all means call our attention to 

 it. We shall interpret the action as a proof of your good 

 will and friendliness. 



Weeds in the Lawn. — Dandelions, thistles, dock 

 and other troublesome weeds mar the appearance of 

 lawns. As a remedy I would suggest that a reward of 

 say one cent for two dozen weeds properly pulled or cut, 

 be offered to your own or somebody else's children. 

 They will enjoy the work and know what it means to 

 earn money and you will be rid of the weeds. — W. E. 

 Bowman. 



WooLY Aphis on Evergreens. — In warm weather 

 we sometimes see an aphis of wooly appearance on the 

 branches of pines and other evergreens. To destroy them 

 it is only necessary to drench well the affected parts with 

 a solution of whale-oil soap, used in the proportion of 

 2 pounds to 15 gallons of water. Water a few degrees 

 below the boiling-point, freely applied with a syringe, is 

 also a complete specific. 



Effect of Crops upon Soil. — Some crops leave bale- 

 ful influences in the soil. Cabbage and cauliflower, for 

 instance, leave in it a tendency to grow club-roots upon 

 crops which follow them ; celery and potatoes leave the 

 tendency to produce blight. Not even the most delicate 

 chemical analyses could find traces of these influences, 

 but we recognize and overcome them by adopting a strict 

 and fitting system of rotation. 



A GOOD wax for covering tree-wounds in summer (and 

 spring also) is made as follows : To i pound of pure 

 beeswa.x add 2 pounds of rosin, and melt them together. 

 Then add 3 ounces of linseed-oil, stirring until well 

 mixed. Pour the mixture into cold water, and when 

 cool enough work it by pulling and rolling until 

 thoroughly pliable. If too hard when cold, melt it again 

 and add more oil ; if too soft, add more rosin. 



Unfermented Grape-Juice. — We use it both as a 

 medicine and as a beverage, and find it gratifying and 

 satisfactory in both respects. The juice of the Niagara 

 grape is especially pleasing. C. J. Baldridge writes us 

 that in his neighborhood in Seneca county there are 20 

 vineyards of Niagara grapes, comprising 982 acres. A 

 good share of the crop is used for the manufacture of 

 unfermented grape-juice. This is an industry which 

 deserves encouragement. 



II. THRIFTY SAPLINGS. 

 Prepare Potting-Soil Now. — Next fall you will need 

 some nice potting-soil for your plants. Some time dur- 

 ing this month, cut from a loamy pasture-lot or fence- 

 row some sod about an inch thick and pile it compactly 

 to decay. A few weeks later, chop the turf into fine bits 

 with a spade and turn the pile over. Turn it again 

 about September i, and by the time you need to take up 

 your outdoor plants, the soil will be ready for use. Any 

 fertilizers that it may need can be added at that time. 



Flower-Peddlers. — The old question as to how much 

 the cut-flower peddlers on our streets serve to demoralize 

 and injure the cut-flower business is likely to be brought 

 into fresh prominence by the action of the Boston com- 

 mon council, in suppressing such business in certain lo- 

 calities of that city. The fakir's manner of carrying on 

 his trade, as for instance, on Fourteenth street in New 

 York City, is insolent and disgusting ; but to suppress 

 the flower-peddlers without suppressing all street ped- 

 dlers will be a difficult problem for legislators. 



A Home-made Vase. — The accompanying sketch re- 

 presents a vase, built by a lady of this place from cement, 

 and marble chi-""--is;s such as may be obtained free at 

 any marble-shop. 

 The vase is five or six 

 feet high, and the 

 bowl about three feet 

 across. The arches 

 in the base were built 

 around hoop-iron 

 which was afterward 

 removed, and the 

 bowl was fashioned 

 about a frame-work 

 of wire. The edge of 

 the bowl is filled in 

 summer with hand" 

 some trailing vines, 

 and the center with 

 high-growing plants. 

 , A tile leads from the 

 ' surface of the soil to 

 a reservoir within, 

 which holds several 

 gallons of water, and plants in the vase need watering 

 only once a week. The vase is handsome enough for any 

 not too conspicuous place on anyone's grounds. — W. E. 

 Bowman, Ohio. 



Snowdrops in the Window. — Snowdrops are 

 among the earliest of plants to have bloom in the house 

 in the winter, because they flower so quickly after being 

 brought into a growing temperature. Mark the spot 

 where they stand in your garden so that you can find 

 them after the leaves die away. In September lift the 

 bulbs and plant them an inch apart and one inch deep 

 in pots or shallow boxes. Set the pots or boxes aside, 

 in a coldframe or cool cellar, and cover them with earth 

 or coal-ashes until they are wanted for the window. 



The Flora of Missouri. — The editor took a delight- 

 ful tramp of several miles through some of the wood- 

 lands of eastern Missouri, during the first week in May. 

 It was a great treat to him to find that old garden favor- 

 ite, the blue-flowered tradescantia, growing wild in great 

 profusion, and blooming on the rolling lands traversed. 

 Numerous wild phloxes, many pretty wood-oxalises, rose, 

 white and yellow in color, wild larkspurs, etc., were also 

 in bloom. These plants are unknown to the wild lands 

 of his own locality in western New York. 



A Home-made Vase. 



