682 



BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FRUITS. 



a two weeks trip in the country. ' ' Dare's de whole worl', 

 an it's green, an dey ain't no houses, an you kin hear a 

 mile w'en you holler, 'cause it's so still. An all de 

 streets is dirt an soft, an de birds sings, and dere's cher- 

 ries on de trees. " 



II. THRIFTY SAPLINGS, 

 Idaho pear specimens have been received from H. S. 

 Anderson of this state, and the Idaho Pear Company of 

 Idaho. They only strengthen the impression resulting 

 from examination of specimens in former years. The 

 fruit is characterized by large size, somewhat awkward 

 shape, clear yellow color, its peculiar pleasant aroma, 

 smooth uniform texture of flesh, almost entire absence 

 of core, and fine quality. The variety is certainly val- 

 uable for all sections where the tree will grow. 



Wanted ! A Name. — 

 Exactly what this con- 

 solidated journal shall be 

 called has not yet been 

 decided. This is a family 

 matter, in which the 

 reader has an interest. 

 We want your help in 

 deciding. To tens of 

 thousands the name The 

 American Garden is en- 

 deared ; to quite as many 

 others, perhaps. Popular 

 Gardening would be 

 the first choice. A com- 

 promise on "Garden- 

 ing" is being considered ; 

 What say you, reader ? 

 Your postal card ballot 

 would assist in deciding ; 

 indeed, as the politicians 

 say, your vote may settle 

 the matter. Send it quick! 



Wandering Jew. — 

 Are plant growers above 

 giving this old window 

 plant a place, seeing it is 

 so rarely met ? I esteem 

 plants, old or new, according to their merits. If there 

 is another family that will develop more beauty for 

 equal trouble than will the subject of this, I want to 

 meet it. I grow three varieties — the common, the 

 zebra-leaved, and a species with small leaves called 

 vittata. I plant them in hanging pots in the most ordi- 

 nary soil, and with a little attention to pinching the 

 ends of shoots, obtain the handsomest mass of foliage 

 imaginable. — May Gaines, Uneida Co., N. Y. 



A Fine Bouquet Flower. — One of the wild flowers 

 that has given especial satisfaction in my flower garden 

 this year is the Virginia water-leaf {Hydrof</iy//iim Vir- 

 gi?iicii»i). The whole plant is very pretty ; it grows 

 about ten inches high. The handsome pinnate leaves 

 have leaflets with large spots in the center. The flow- 



Helenium Autumnale. (See page 683 



ers are very numerous, in dense one-sided racemes 

 ranging from white to sky-blue, and of good size for 

 bouquet making, for which they are especially adapted, 

 the color being particularly attractive in bouquets. It 

 is a fine plant for parks and other large grounds, and for 

 the flower garden. — Wilfred A. Brotherton, Oakland 

 Co., Mich. 



Window Garden Fruit. — To gather a little bouquet 

 for a friend or some invalid is one of the greatest com- 

 forts of the window garden, and we can well afford to 

 be generous, for the plants will do all the better for a 

 little thinning and a timely removal of the flowers. 

 Often we see a fine plant put forth a few choice blos- 

 soms, which the owner would not cut for love or 

 money. So they are allowed to bloom, fade, dry up 



and go to seed. After- 

 wards the owner wonders 

 why, with all the watch- 

 ing and fussing and ten- 

 der care, the plant does 

 not grow more rapidly 

 and does not give more 

 bloom. Picking off the 

 flowers would have 

 brought more in the train 

 of the pruning. 



An Improved Dibber. 



— Long continued work 

 with the home-made dib- 

 ber, or in fact any other 

 ordinary dibber, wears 

 greatly on hands not 

 perfectly hardened and 

 calloused by the steady 

 useof hard handled tools. 

 We who work in the gar- 

 den for pleasure or profit, 

 are not expected to have 

 the "horny hands" of 

 the man who earns his 

 living merely by hand- 

 ling shovel and spade. 

 We like to use a dibber 

 such as illustrated on page 683. It is cut from a branched 

 stick, the branch coming out at nearly a right angle. 

 It is neatly shaved down to the proper size and shape, 

 and the handle part fitted to receive a piece of rubber 

 hose, which should be lightly drawn over it. This- 

 gives a firm, and yet easy and convenient hold. We 

 like this dibber better than any other we ever used. — 

 W. W., Des Moines Co., loiva. 



Philadelphia's Sunken Garden. — The sunken gar- 

 den at Horticultural Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadel- 

 phia, is a product of the Centennial Exhibition, and has 

 been the admiration of thousands of people every sum- 

 mer since then. The fine effects here produced in 

 carpet bedding and its marked success make it no longer 

 an experiment, but a leading horticultural feature of 



