Vol. III. 



NEW YORK, JUNE, 1882. 



No. 6. 



A MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED (JOURNAL. 



Devoted to the Gardening Interests of America, 

 ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SINGLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS. 

 DR. F. M H EX AM ER, : : : Editor. 



B. K. BLISS «fc SONS, Publishers, 



34 Barclay Street, New York, 



To whom all orders should be addressed. 



Entered at Post-Off ice at New York as second-class matter. 



CONTENTS OP 



The American Garden, 



For June, 1882. 



Page Eighty-One— Table of Contents— Horticult- 

 ural Theories— Notices of the Press. 



Page Eighty-Two — The Vegetable Gabden— 

 Seasonable Hints— The Potato Beetle and its 

 Destruction, by Dr. Byron D. Halsted. 



Page Eighty-Three — Growing Pickles — Experi- 

 ences with Peas. 



Page Eighty-Four— The Fruit Garden— Season- 

 able Hints— Marketing Fruits, by C. W. Idell— 

 Do not Waste Bones, by E. S. T. — Spring Set 

 Plants. 



Page Eighty-Fire— Blackberries, by E. Williams— 

 The Mulberry— A Monstrous Bunch of Grapes. 



Page Eighty- Six— -The Flower Garden— Lilac, 

 a Poem, by K. F. H. — Seasonable Hints— Bed- 

 ding Plants, by E. E. Rexford. 



Page Eighty- Seven— Wild Flowers — Hollyhock- 

 Siberian Squills, by William Falconer— Tiger 

 Flowers. 



Page Eighty-Eight — Lawn and Landscape — 

 Ornamental Planting, by W. C. Barry — Late 

 Planted Shrubs. 



Page Eighty- Nine — Tub Window Garden — 

 Cinerarias — Sickly Orange Trees — The New 

 German Ivy. 



Page Ninety — Foreign Scenery — The Wild 

 Flowers of Para, by E. S. Rand, Jr. 



Page Ninety-One— Rural Life— A Trailing Arbu- 

 tus Festival, by Miss M. E. Grimm— Horticult- 

 ural Societies— The New York Horticultural 

 Society— The American Nurserymen's Associa- 

 tion — Obituary — James Vick. 



Page Ninety-Two— George A. Stone— Books and 

 Pamphlets Received— Answers to Correspond- 

 ents. 



Page Ninety-three — Miscellaneous — Advertising 

 Department. 



HORTICULTURAL THEORIES. 



A few months ago, when foreign Potatoes 

 were strongly recommended for seed here, 

 we stated our experience with them, which 

 showed that imported Potatoes are generally 

 inferior to home-grown ones. Our remarks 

 were extensively copied and variously com- 

 mented upon, hut why any one should call 

 those results of our experiments ' ' untested 

 theories " is more than we can comprehend, 

 especially as we stated plainly that "we do 

 not attempt to explain the causes," but 

 simply state the facts. 



Subsequent events, however, have shown 

 that we are not alone in our preference for 

 American Potatoes, the people at large have 

 pronounced in their favor, and have repudi- 

 ated the foreign stock. Thousands of bushels 

 are now rotting at our wharves for want of 

 buyers, poisoning the air to such a degree 

 that the Board of Health is taking measures 

 for their removal, while home-grown Pota- 

 toes sell readily at from four to five dollars 

 per barrel. 



"It is not likely that the experiment of 

 importing Potatoes will be repeated," says 

 the Rural New-Yorker of this week. "One 

 who has been used to American Early Rose 

 and Peaehblow will never hanker after Scotch 

 Champion's, with their ungainly appearance 

 and their flat, insipid flavor, or rather want 

 of flavor." 



Even English testimony is in favor of our 

 Potatoes. A correspondent of The Gardener's 

 Chronicle, of May 6th, writes: "It is a desir- 

 able thing to have Potatoes as good in May 

 as in autumn, and having a few large tubers 

 of American Matchless left after planting 

 was over, I cooked them to test the quality, 

 and found they dished up as white, dry, 

 and mealy as a good Regent would be at 

 Christmas, and far better than any Regent 

 would be now. That an American-raised 

 Potato should have such first-rate table qual- 

 ity shows that trans-Atlantic raisers are 

 reaching a higher level, and are now giving 

 us kinds worth eating." 



We may say in this connection that we 

 have not the slightest intention to force upon 

 our readers any "pet theories" of ours. In 

 fact we, nor any progressive horticulturist, 

 have any theories the disproval of which 

 would not give us as much gratification as 

 Copyright, 1882, by B. K. Buss & Sons. 



their establishment, when verified by facts. 

 Every thinking man forms some theories, 

 based upon the results of his experience and 

 the facts within his observation. New facts 

 may modify his theories, but he does not care 

 a snap how roughly they are shaken as long 

 as truth remains triumphant. 



This decrying of "theories" as something 

 antagonistic to practice, is one of the great- 

 est hindrances to progress. The farmer who 

 after planting part of his Corn the middle of 

 April, and the other the middle of May, finds 

 that the latter gave the best yield, accepts as 

 a fact that May is a better season for plant- 

 ing Corn than April, and forms a theory 

 accordingly. Only a dunce has no theories. 

 Let us have facts, and the theories will take 

 care of themselves. 



NOTICES OF THE PRESS, 



The American Garden is a reliable monthly 

 guide for all interested in fruits, flowers, and 

 vegetables.— ElMand Journal. 



Tun American Garden, published by B. K. 

 Bliss & Sons, N. Y., comes each month handsomer 

 than before, and ranks with the best of its class. 

 —Farm and Garden. 



The American Garden is a monthly devoted, 

 as its name suggests, to the cultivation of the, 

 garden. Those who take pleasure in work of 

 this kind will flud it a help in making it both 

 profitable and enjoyable.— Pittsburgh Christian 

 Advocate. 



livery one who owns a garden should have The 

 American Garden, as it tells all about how to 

 raise small fruits and vegetables, how to make 

 and preserve a lawn, and it will be a great help 

 to the cultivator and lover of flowers. It is worth 

 four times the money.— WarivicJc Advertiser. 



The American Garden, an illustrated journal 

 devoted to the, gardening interests of America, is 

 a valuable publication, and shows ability in its 

 editorial columns, and contains many fine illus- 

 trations. Such a journal cannot fail to prove 

 both interesting and beneficial to all who devote 

 any attention to the subject of gardening.— 

 Williamsport Gazette. 



FOR FIFTY CENTS 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN 



Will be sent from now to the end of the year. 

 Ask your neighbor to give it a trial. 



