684 



BCroS, IJLOSSOMS, FRblTS. 



all summer should have a rest. , You can keep them 

 in the cellar, watering two or three times in winter. 

 About April, bring them to the light, and if the pots are 

 filled with roots, shift into larger pots. Handle care- 

 fully, and do not break the ball of earth that contains 

 the roots. Set in a box or pot, and fill the vacant space 

 with rich soil. Press the soil firmly, and wet well. Be 

 sure the soil is free from angle worms, as their presence 

 is death to the fuchsia. .All the old leaves and dead 

 wood should be removed, and the plant trimmed in 

 good shape. Keep them from strong sunlight, and give 

 plenty of water at the roots. Spray the leaves twice 

 a week, and you will be astonished at the rapidity of their 

 growth. To those who wish to be busy over their plants 

 this one offers a fine chance, as they revel in re- 

 pottings, shower baths and attention generally. I know 

 of no other plant that will thrive when it is "fussed 

 with'' so well as the fuchsia. — May Frost. 



On Arranging Grounds. — The article entitled 

 "Taste and Tact in Arranging Home and Other 

 Grounds" is the thirteenth installment of what, without 

 doubt, is the most successful serial relating to practical 

 horticulture that has yet appeared in the American 

 press. The design of the series is to impart, in a plain 

 style, practical ideas on tastefully arranging grounds of 

 every kind, basing the instructions on actual examples 

 submitted by our readers. To this end sketches of home 

 plats, rural cemeteries, town squares, Tillage improve- 

 ment work, etc., have been invited from our readers, 

 with a view to our submitting suggestions for improving 

 the same, in future articles. To date, scores of plats for 

 improvement have accordingly reached us. Of these 

 more than a dozen have been carefully treated in Popu- 

 lar Gardening ; to the great satisfaction, as we are as- 

 sured, of multitudes of readers. While it has been the 

 case that more diagrams have been received than could 

 yet be published, this has been a decided advantage to 

 readers in enabling us to choose the best subjects for con- 

 veying information to the largest number of interested 

 persons. On similar conditions other plans are cordially 

 invited from our greatly extended list of readers. 



Flowers at the World's Fair. — Half a million pan- 

 sies, one hundred thousand roses, and millions of other 

 flowers, including every known variety and species, will 

 be seen at the Exposition. The horticultural exhibit 

 will be on a scale never before attempted in the history 

 of the world. Mr. Thorpe estimates that the equipment 

 of the horticultural building, including the purchase 

 price of plants, will be $350,000, and the total expense 

 of the display $750,000. The floriculturists of the coun- 

 try will donate a large share of the plants. Ten of the 

 sixteen acres of ground on the wooded island will be 

 planted in flowers. The shores of the island will be left 

 wild for scenic effect, and the waters around the margin 

 of the island will be bright with water lilies and other 

 aquatic vegetation, while its interior will be tastefully 

 planted with roses, rhododendrons and lilies, besides 

 a vast variety of wild flowers, which are at present pre- 

 served in a nursery on the island. 



H. J. Laing, a London florist, called on Chief Thorpe 

 and arranged to make a grand display of tuberous be- 

 gonias. Mr. Laing promised to send two men from 

 England to grow and care for the flowers, and have a 

 vast field of the blossoms ready for the fair. 



A Refrigerator Hot-bed. — "A hot-bed!" was the 

 great cry in early spring, and as a first-class onecouldn't 

 be thought of, we hauled out of the cellar a large old 

 ice-box, placed it under a chamber window, fastenirg 

 a strong string to the lid, and the other end to the 

 blind. A bushel of fresh manure was placed in the box, 

 with soft meadow soil on top. The seeds were planted 

 and seemed to like their quarters as much as if they 

 were in a real hot-bed made by a carpenter. In three 

 or four days most of them were up, and fit to transplant 

 before the garden was ready. The lid could be raised 



or lowered from 

 the w i n d o w 

 above. One night 

 it came on to 

 pour; I was 

 awakened by the 

 thunder, and 

 feared my poor 

 seedlings would 

 be drowned. But 

 it was only the 

 work of a mo- 

 ment to dash to 

 the window, low- 

 er the lid, and 

 make a 1 1 snug 

 and safe. After 

 the seedlings 

 had been trans- 

 ferred to the 

 beds, the box 

 proved conven- 

 ient for things 

 for the window- 

 garden. On 

 some accounts it 

 was better than 



a real hot-bed, for there was no tiresome stooping. I've 

 learned that if one wants a tool or some convenience for 

 the garden, and the money is not handy, by looking 

 around one may find right under her nose something 

 that will serve the purpose very well. — Sister Gracious. 



Flowers in the Buffalo Parks. — Superintendent 

 McMillan, of these parks, is one of the ablest landscape 

 gardeners in America — a man who strives for the highest 

 ideals in park embellishment. As a consequence, he is 

 opposed to many things in the line of floral embellish- 

 ment in public grounds which generally pass for being 

 very handsome. So far as the park system under his 

 charge is concerned (and it is one of the grandest speci- 

 mens of landscape gardening in the world), it has never 

 been marred by any ridiculous exhibits of so-called 

 "artistic" bedding, such as prevail in many parks- 



Refrigerator Hot-bed. 



