Vol. III. 



NEW YORK, JULY, 1882. 



No. 7. 



fa |i©fiii (?,arieii, 



A MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL. 



Devoted to the Gardening Interests of America. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SINGLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS. 

 DR. F. M. HEXAMER, : : : Editor. 



It. K. BLISS & SONS, Publishers, 



34 Barclay Street, "New York, 



To whom all orders should be addressed. 



Entered at Post-Office at New York as second-class matter. 



CONTENTS OF 



The American G-arden 



For July, 1882. 



Page Ninety-Seven— Table of Contents— Pleasures 

 of the Country— What is a Fruit. 



Page Ninety-Eight— The Vegetable Garden— 

 Seasonable Hints— Marketing Vegetables, by C. 

 W. Well— Planting Celery— Lima Beans. 



Page Ninety- Nine — Growing Water-melons, by 

 Chas. E. Parnell— Forcing Peas— Easy Way to 

 Grow Potatoes. 



Page One Hundred— The Fruit Garden— Season- 

 able Hints— Strawberries, by Charles Mackay 

 —The Pear Crop, by P. T. Quinu— Plucking Cher- 

 ries, by S. E. T— The Hansell Raspberry. 



Page One Hundred and One— Gooseberry Culture, 

 by Josiah Hoopes— Manchester versus Hovey. 



Page One Hundred and Two— The Flower 

 Garden — Cliff Roses, a Poem — Seasonable 

 Hints— Summer Treatment of Flower-Beds, by 

 P. B. Mead. 



Page One Hundred and Three— The, Gladiolus as 

 a Fall Flower, by E. Williams — Sub-tropical 

 Gardening, by Miss E. L. Taplin. 



Page One Hundred and F<nc7'—Lxws and Land- 

 Scape —The Arrangement of Lawns, by Robert 

 J. Sidell — Ready-made Lawns. 



Page One Hundred and Five — The Window- 

 Garden— Abutilons and Hibiscus, by John 

 Thorpe— Mimulus— Mimosa pudica. 



Page One Hundred and Six— Foreign Scenery— 

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



Page One Hundred and Se ven— Rural Life— Cool 

 Houses and Dry Cellars— Horticultural So- 

 cieties— The New York Horticultural Society. 



Page One Hundred and Eight — Books and Pamph- 

 lets Received — Answers to Correspondents — 

 Our Exhibition Table— Miscellaneous. 



Page One Hundred and N ine— Advertising De- 

 partment. 



PLEASURES OF THE COUNTRY. 



Many of our city friends who are now 

 spending a few weeks in the country will, no 

 doubt, find the time hang heavy, sometimes, 

 and the hours pass too slow. They miss the 

 accustomed morning paper, the excitement 

 of business, the friendly call of a neighbor, 

 and the facility and ease with which one's 

 every want almost can be gratified in the 

 city. Yet, for the absence of these comforts, 

 life in the country need not be dull and 

 monotonous if only we do not expect to take 

 the city with us. To enjoy life in the coun- 

 try we must leave the city behind: its com- 

 forts and pleasures, as well as its heat and 

 dust and vitiated air. 



To any one whose inborn natural taste has 

 not been entirely eradicated by long city 

 life, the country offers an inexhaustible 

 fount of enjoyment. Thousands of beauti- 

 ful and interesting objects, living and in- 

 animate, surround us everywhere, waiting 

 for our notice. Graceful Ferns and deli- 

 cate Mosses overhang and line the babbling 

 brook which restlessly winds its way through 

 the shaded glen ; bright flowers of many 

 hues make gay the roadside and the fields ; 

 mollusks, fishes and an endless variety of 

 other aquatic animals enliven every lake and 

 stream, while myriads of brilliant butterflies 

 and gayly plumed birds flit through the 

 air. 



It is not necessary to become a scientist 

 to be able to enjoy Nature's wonderful crea- 

 tions. All that is needed is the habit of 

 observation, and this may be acquired with- 

 out teacher or text-books. When we once 

 commence to take an interest in observing 

 and examining flowers and plants and other 

 natural objects, we are led on step by step, 

 opening and creating for ourselves an un- 

 limited field of inexhaustible fertility, from 

 which we may draw pleasure and enjoyment 

 at will. 







WHAT IS A FRUIT 7 



This question is asked by a correspondent, 

 adding the apology of — Excuse this stupid 

 question. 



Now, this is not as stupid a question as it 

 may at first sight appear. Botanically speak- 

 ing, a fruit is the seed of a plant and all that 



surrounds it — the pericarp. But, when it 

 comes to a pomological or horticultural 

 definition, we are at a loss. Musk and Water- 

 melons are generally spoken of as fruits, yet 

 they are not enumerated in the catalogue of 

 the American Pomological Society, nor are 

 they mentioned in any work on fruit-culture, 

 while in all seed catalogues they are classed 

 among vegetables. If Melons are fruits, why 

 not Tomatoes, and if Cucumbers are vege- 

 tables, why not Melons, their near relatives, 

 their own sisters, botanically speaking. On 

 the other hand, if we accept that fruits are 

 eaten raw, how about the Quince, which is 

 called a fruit, although it is never eaten raw. 

 Who can give a satisfactory definition ? 



WRITING- FOR THE PRESS. 



A reader who kindly offers to write for the 

 American Garden wishes to be informed 

 about the "rules of writing for the Press," 

 before sending his communication. 



Well, our notion about writing for the 

 Press is : If you have anything to say, say it ; 

 and when you have said it, stop. If you 

 haven't anything to say, don't say it. 



FRIENDLY WORDS. 



The American Garden is a monthly illustrated 

 journal devoted to the gardening interests of 

 America. It is a paper that every man who pre- 

 tends to make a garden produce vegetables for 

 his family should have. Our truck gardeners, 

 most of whom are novices in the business, would 

 find it a great help to them ; fruit-growers, also, 

 would find its seasonable hints valuable. Much 

 useful information is given to those who arc fond 

 of the cultivation of flowers. Any questions in 

 regard to any of these arts are promptly answered 

 in its columns, and altogether it is a journal that 

 all heads of households will find invaluable. Be- 

 side being furnished at the cheap rate of $1.00 a 

 year, every subscriber is given a premium of a 

 package of seeds.— Barnesville Gazette. 



FOR FIFTY CENTS 



THE AMEEICAN GARDEN 



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

 Ask your neighbor to give it a trial. 



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



