Vol. IV. 



No. 4. 



teneii 



A MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL. 



Devoted to the Gardening' Interests of America, 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. 



SINGLE NUMBER, 10 CENTS. 

 DR. F. M. HEXAMER, : Editor. 



B. 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 Garden 



Foe April, 1883. 



Page Sixty-one— Contents — April, a Poem— Our 

 Parks — Garden Making. 



Page Sixty-two — The Vegetable Garden— Sea- 

 sonable Hints — Classification of Garden Vege- 

 tables, by Dr. B. I). Halsted — Bowing Seed. 



Page Sixty-three — Cauliflower Culture, by Chas. 

 E. Parnell— Radishes, Beets, and Cabbages, by 

 T. D. Baird — Blanching Asparagus. 



Page Sixty-four— The Fruit Garden— Seasona- 

 ble Hints — Indoor Grape Culture, by M. Milton 



— What to Plant, by C. W. Idell. 



Page Sixty-fire — Strawberries and their Culture, 



by Hon. Marshall P. Wilder. 

 Page Sixty-six— The Flower Garden— The 



Spring Concert, a Poem — Seasonable Hints— 



Godetias — Water-Lily Culture, byE. D. Sturte- 



vant. 



Page Sixty-seven — Dwarf Convolvulus — Tlie 

 Dahlia, by T. D. E. — California Lilies, by Mrs. 

 N. W. Win ton — A Pretty Flower Bed. 



Page Sixty-eight —Lawn and Landscape — Mak- 

 ing Lawns, by L. B. Pierce — Exterminating 

 Sorrel from Lawns, by S. E. T. — Inclosiug 

 Grounds, by J. J. Thomas. 



Page Sixty-nine — The Window Garden and 

 Greenhouse — The Heliotrope, by John Thorpe 



— Chinese Primroses, byWm. Falconer— Bou- 

 gainvilleas, by Francis Began — Hardening 

 Plants. 



Page Seventy — Foreign Gardening — Tropical 

 ' Fruits, by E. S. Band, Jr.— Miscellaneous— 

 Mid- Winter Floral Beauties, by Clark W. Bryan 



— Hops and their Culture, by Col. F. D. Curtis. 

 Page Seventy-one— Hope, continued— Horticult- 

 ural Societies — the New-York Horticultural 

 Society— The Mississippi Valley Horticultural 

 Society— Our Exhibition Table. 



Page Seven ty-two — Books and Pamphlets received 



— Catalogues received — Answers to Corre- 

 spondents. 



Page Seventy-three— Premium List, 



Page Seventy-four —Advertising Department. 



APRIL. 



April has come — the capricious in mien. 

 With her wreath of the rainbow aud sandals of 

 green ; 



Storms on her forehead, and flowers at her feet, 

 And many-toned voices, but all of them sweet ; 

 Clouding the heaven, but scenting the glade ; 

 Wearing with brightness, and warping with 

 shade ; 



Dampness her carpet, and dimness her roof; 

 But threads of the sunbeam shot through their 

 woof; 



Playing like childhood with tear and with 

 smile. 



Weeping forever — and laughing the while. 

 Like a beautiful witch, in the woodland she 

 dwells, 



Muttering magic, and playing with spells; 

 Mixing her charms over meadows and bowers. 

 Throwing her seeds in, and talcing out flowers. 



Months follow fairer when April is gone, 

 But none of the year hath a gift like her own. 

 Richer their colors, and sweeter their breath, 

 But no month of them all sees so little of 

 death. 



Thomas K. Hervkv. 



OUR PARKS. 



Every lover of natural beauty, every ad- 

 mirer and student of the grand scenery and 

 wonderful geological formations of our 

 country breathes freer now that the great 

 wonder-land of our continent — the Yellow- 

 stone Park — has been rescued from the 

 greed and grasp of a merciless corporation. 

 The value of this national reservation to 

 future generations can hardly be over-esti- 

 mated. Within its limits exist more natural 

 curiosities than can be found in any equal 

 area. Here the buffalo, the bison, the 

 moose, the elk, and all the other native 

 game will find protection from entire ex- 

 tinction. Here thousands of people will 

 come from all parts of the globe to spend 

 their summers for recreation and pleasure. 

 The influence which this people's park will 

 exert upon -the development of our future 

 national life can, as yet, be but faintly con- 

 ceived ; but the time will come when all the 

 gold in the world would be but a small con- 

 sideration for this priceless treasure. 



Niagara Falls, another wonder of the 

 world, has already been robbed of much of 

 its most beautiful surroundings. Fortu- 

 nately, the Legislature of the State of New- 

 York is now, in the eleventh hour, taking 

 measures for the protection of what is left 



of its natural beauty. A bill to purchase the 

 islands and adjoining land for the construc- 

 tion of a State park has already passed the 

 Assembly. 



The wanton destruction of the forests in 

 the Adirondack region, in the northern part 

 of this State, makes itself already felt in in- 

 creasing floods and the masses of soil and 

 debris washed down from the treeless mount- 

 ain sides into the Hudson River, to the 

 serious detriment of navigation. For the 

 latter reason, if for no other, the State will 

 be forced to preserve this lofty mountain 

 region in its primeval beauty and grandeur. 



These national and State parks are excel- 

 lent in their way, but they are not sufficient. 

 Every county and town should have its park, 

 common, or green, by whatever name it may 

 be called. In many townships the few re- 

 maining acres of woodland are rapidly dis- 

 appearing, and with but little effort such 

 lands of greater or less extent could often be 

 secured as a pleasure and breathing-place 

 for its inhabitants. Their maintenance need 

 not necessarily be any expense to the town. 

 Agricultural or Village Improvement Socie- 

 ties could easily_take care of these people's 

 gardens. The grounds should be open at all 

 times to excursion parties, Sunday-school 

 and other picnics, meetings, fairs, and ex- 

 hibitions, base-ball clubs, and for healthful 

 and proper recreation of every kind. Every 

 visitor should be made to feel that he is 

 owner in part, and the inhabitants would 

 soon take pride in the preservation and 

 attractive appearance of their Town Park. 



GARDEN-MAKING, 



With the opening of spring will come to most 

 men and women the desire to join the forces of 

 nature and make something grow. The proclivity 

 to garden-making happily remains permanent in 

 the race, and its general enjoyment is on the in- 

 crease, from the one window or one flower-pot 

 garden of the sewing-girl, to the conservatories 

 and lawns of the man of fortune. It will greatly 

 add to one's enjoyment in this line to know how 

 to do the work best, and to share the labors and 

 success of others by learning what they are 

 doing. The American Garden, published by 

 B. K. Bliss & Sons, New-Yoi'k, is the magazine 

 which best serves this end. Its editor, Dr. Hex- 

 amer, is a life-long horticulturist and scientist, 

 who knows how to gather, use, and present facts 

 in the most agreeable aud available way. A dol- 

 lar invested in its pages for a year will give many 

 times that amount in profitable knowledge,— 

 So says Outing. 



Copyright, 1883, by B. K. BLISS & .sons. 



