THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



27 



American Pomological Society.— The 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society having 

 invited the American Pomological Society to 

 hold its next meeting at Boston, the Presi- 

 dent, Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, gives notice 

 that the eighteenth session of this National 

 Association will be held in that city, com- 

 mencing September 14, 1881, at 10 o'clock, 

 a. M., and continuing for three days. 



This .session will take place at the time of 

 the Annual Exhibition of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, which is expected to 

 be of unusual excellence, and will give addi- 

 tional interest to the occasion. 



All Horticultural, Pomological, Agricult- 

 ural, and other kindred associations in the 

 United States and British Provinces, are 

 invited to send delegations as large as they 

 may deem expedient ; and all persons inter- 

 ested in the cultivation of fruits are invited 

 to be present, and take seats in the Conven- 

 tion. 



It is earnestly hoped that there will be a 

 full attendance of delegates from all quarters 

 of our country, thereby stimulating more 

 extensive cultivation by the concentrated 

 information and experience of cultivators, 

 and aiding the Society in perfecting its Cata- 

 logue of Fruits. This Catalogue includes 

 fifty States and Territories, most of which 

 have their columns filled with a great amount 

 of information as to the fruit adapted for 

 culture in the respective locations. Many of 

 these are yet incomplete ; and it is the object 

 of the Society, from year to year, to fill 

 the blanks, and bring its Catalogue nearer 

 to perfection. 



.This session will be held at the home of 

 its President, where, after an interval of 

 years, occasioned by ill health and a serious 

 accident, he hopes to have the pleasure of 

 meeting, not only his old friends, but others 

 from the various sections of our country, 

 and again to unite heart and hand with 

 friends for the promotion of the objects of 

 the Society, 



When we consider the importance of fruit 

 culture in North America, — its progress .dur- 

 ing the last thirty years under the beneficent 

 action of this Society, its moral, social, and 

 sanitary influence, and the increasing de- 

 mand for its products, both in this country 

 and Europe, rendering it a source of national 

 wealth,— we feel justified in urging the at- 

 tendance of all who are interested in the 

 welfare of our country and the development 

 of its wonderful resources in this branch of 

 industry. 



All persons desirous of becoming members 

 can remit the fee to E. W. Buswell, Treas- 

 urer, Boston, Mass. Life-membership, twenty 

 dollars ; biennial, four dollars. Life mem- 

 bers will be supplied with back numbers of 

 the proceedings of the Society as far as pos- 

 sible. 



The New York Horticultural Society. 



— The spring exhibition of this society, just 

 held at Republican Hall, No. 55 West Thirty- 

 third street, may be considered a great 

 success, in regard to the number of appre- 

 ciative visitors as well as the excellence of 

 exhibits. The tendency to reward quality in 

 preference to quantity showed its beneficent 

 effects everywhere, and the grand collections 

 of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Roses, Pseonies, 

 Hardy Plants, and especially Strawberries, 

 were probably never excelled in this city. 



FARM-HOUSE SUMMER LIFE, 



While the beauties and attractions of the 

 leading summer resorts are constantly di- 

 lated upon in the newspapers, but little is 

 written in praise of the homely comfort and 

 simple enjoyment which are obtained by the 

 sensible people who take board at farm-houses 

 during the hot mouths of the year. The glit- 

 ter, the display, and the excitement of sum- 

 mer life in the country are concentrated 

 about the big and fashionable resorts, and 

 the quietude and retiraey surrounding those 

 who go to farm-houses for rest and recrea- 

 tion seems tame and insipid in comparison. 

 Consequently, many who cannot well afford 

 it insist on visiting noted resorts, where they 

 feel obliged to dress in a fashionable manner 

 and to observe formal rules of etiquette, 

 sacrificing meanwhile real comfort and not 

 obtaining the full benefit of an out-of-door 

 life. 



The sensible people who are shrewd enough 

 to detect the great disadvantages inseparable 

 from the fashionable resorts, and who take 

 board with farmers, have a far different ex- 

 perience. They are constantly aware of a 

 refreshing feeling of freedom from all arti- 

 ficial restraint. They can make comfort 

 paramount, and do not have to spend a pre- 

 cious amount of time in studying how to 

 please the foolishly fastidious taste of fash- 

 ionable critics. The fair sex can put on 

 roomy sun-bonnets and calico dresses, and 

 the men and boys broad-brimmed straw hats, 

 and coats and trowsers suitable for roughing 

 it, and wander about the woods and fields at 

 will, or recline dreamily in hammocks under 

 shady apple-trees, inhaling the purest air 

 and enjoying themselves in a thoroughly 

 homelike manner throughout the livelong- 

 day. 



One of the greatest advantages of farm- 

 house resorts is that they are not expensive. 

 Many families of moderate means can afford 

 to take board with a farmer for the whole or 

 the greater part of the summer ; whereas, if 

 they went to a fashionable hotel, they would 

 either have to make only a short stay, or else 

 spend money to an extent that would render 

 them seriously short of cash during the re- 

 mainder of the year. Richer and more 

 varied fare would be furnished them at the 

 hotels, but the best of milk in abundance, 

 the freshest vegetables, and the choicest 

 fruit in its season are always to be had at 

 the farm-house, and never fail to whet up 

 the appetites of those who have eaten largely 

 of pastry and baker's truck during a long 

 period of confinement in the city. None but 

 confirmed sybarites, or persons so particular 

 as to be fit only for the comjjany of angels, 

 can fail to enjoy wholesome country fare that 

 is skillfully prepared and neatly served. 



Almost every part of the country is charm- 

 ing in summer, but some portions possess 

 such decided advantages and superior attrac- 

 tions as to render it well worth one's while 

 to seek them out, rather than to take board 

 in some rural locality where there are no 

 especial attractions. In this connection, a 

 word for Berkshire may be fitly spoken. It 

 is easy of access, its hills and valleys, 

 streams and lakes, and beautiful towns and 

 villages offer inducements such as few other 

 rural localities can extend to city guests. 



om|»n IjiffeilijL 



SPARROW-GRASS, 



DEAlt BROTHEtt,— 

 You've asked rue in terms to relate 

 How to grow Sparrow-grass to have It first-rate; 

 You ask what I do, and how it is done, 

 To insure in the quality letter A one. 

 I'll disclose to you all you desire to know. 

 To he happy at dinner aud win at the. show. 



Be firm in the thought and prompt iu the deed, 

 Persist iu destroying each insolent weed: 

 Let no such intruder e'er roh ot its tood 

 A plant that is worthy ot everything good. 

 Yes, root out the weeds whenever you pass, 

 If you wish for a crop of the very best grass. 



When autumn arrives, and the growth is done 

 brown, 



Take a terrible knife and cut it all down ; 



Then fork the beds lightly; don't injure the roots, 



Or you ought to do penance with peas iu your boots; 



Make tidy aud clean, remove all the litter, 



Then take a short rest and a mugful of bitter. 



Now, refreshed by the essence of hops and of malt. 

 Bring forth your supplies of soot aud of salt; 

 Spread the black stuff to cover the bed like a pall. 

 Then sprinkle the salt to make white over all; 

 Some stercus (politely so called) from the stable, 

 Lay two inches thick, or three, if you're able. 



Leave all alone now to the mellowing light, 



The rain and the frost, and the dew of the night; 



But at times you must drench the bed freely with 



sewage, 



And for this you need only the household brewage. 

 Put it on as you get it direct from the house, 

 And, if needful, be secret and sly as a mouse. 



When winter sets iu leave the whole thing alone. 

 If you sewage iu frost you will soon be undone; 

 In times when the vain kills the flowers and midges. 

 Put sewage on laud that is laid up in ridges. 

 When the grass has done growing it needs a long 

 rest, 



So withholding the stimulants now is the best. 



Once more the bright spring, with her elegant 



Her laughter aud tears, her green aud gold dresses, 

 Will skim o'er the land to make us all merry, 

 And put on our faces the bloom of the cherry: 

 Then, then, my Sparrow-grass grower, look out : 

 There is work to be done, if your sinews are stout. 



Your loins must be girded, your head in its place, 

 Your feet firmly shod, and your knife in its case ; 



To screen off the wind, or y • grass will rise dead: 



By "dead " I mean dull, dry, shriveled, and shrunk, 

 Like a man who much tipples, yet never gets drunk. 



Once again pull the weeds, let the salt-box be found; 

 Give a dusting like snow to cover the ground ; 

 Do all this before a green top shall appear, 

 And you'll have your grass right for the rest of the 

 year. 



But beware of great haste in removing the sticks; 

 Let them grow to four inches or even to six. 



Then pull-do not cut— and the crop will be tine ; 



You will say to your < k, "I desire to dine"; 



Rich and tender, full-flavored 'twill be, if cooked 



r gilt- 

 Fill the stomach with food and the soul with delight ' 

 Oh, the world must be good that in plenty produces 

 A grass so abounding in delicate juices I 



Once in for this pastime, bravely go on. 



Fill the basket each morn in advance of the sun ; 



But on June seventeen the tables must turn 



may burn. 



One more merry pull, 'tis the last you may have, 

 Unless for your grass you'd be digging a grave. 



Be content, let it grow, make an end of your feast; 

 Be wise like a man, do not waste like a beast; 

 Thus, season by season, as weeks and days pass, 

 You must manage the work as you wish for good 

 grass. 



If you think the name vulgar you may, without 

 malice, 



Just call it Asparagus officinalis. 



— The Gardener's Magazine. 



t 



