Manual Of Gardening | by L. H. Bailey

A practical guide to the making of home grounds and the growing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables for home use

Title	Manual Of Gardening
Author	L. H. Bailey
Publisher	The MacMillan Company
Year	1920
Copyright	1916, The MacMillan Company
Amazon	Manual of Gardening

New And Revised Edition

Explanation: It has been my desire to reconstruct the two books, Garden-Making and Practical Garden-Book; but inasmuch as these books have found a constituency in their present form, it has seemed best to let ...

Manual Of Gardening. Chapter I. The Point Of View: WHEREVER there is soil, plants grow and produce their kind, and all plants are interesting; when a person makes a choice as to what plants he shall grow in any given place, he becomes a gardener or a ...

What A Garden Is: A garden is the personal part of an estate, the area that is most intimately associated with the private life of the home. Originally, the garden was the area inside the inclosure or lines of fortific...

Chapter II. The General Plan Ob Theory Of The Place: Having now discussed the most essential elements of gardening, we may give attention to such minor features as the actual way in which a satisfying garden is to be planned and executed. Speaking br...

The Plan Of The Grounds: One cannot expect satisfaction in the planting and developing of a home area unless he has a clear conception of what is to be done. This necessarily follows, since the pleasure that one derives from ...

The Picture In The Landscape: The deficiency in most home grounds is not so much that there is too little planting of trees and shrubs as that this planting is meaningless. Every yard should be a picture. That is, the area should ...

Birds; And Cats: The picture in the landscape is not complete without birds, and the birds should comprise more species than English' sparrows. If one is to have birds on his premises, he must (1) attract them and (2)...

The Planting Is Part Of The Design Or Picture: If the reader catches the full meaning of these pages, he has acquired some of the primary conceptions in landscape gardening. The suggestion will grow upon him day by day; and if he is of an observin...

The Flower-Growing Should Be Part Of The Design: I do not mean to discourage the use of brilliant flowers and bright foliage and striking forms of vegetation; but these things are never primary considerations in a good domain. The structural element...

Defects In Flower-Growing: The greatest defect with our flower-growing is the stinginess of it. We grow our flowers as if they were the choicest rarities, to be coddled in a hotbed or under a bell-jar, and then to be exhibited ...

Lawn Flower-Beds: The easiest way to spoil a good lawn is to put a flower-bed in i and the most effective way in which to show off flowers to tl least advantage is to plant them in a bed in the greensw Flowers need a b...

Flower-Borders In The Open Yard: I have asked a professional artist, Mr. Mathews, to draw me the land of a flower-bed that he likes. It is shown in Fig. 21. It is a border, - a strip, of land two or three feet wide along a fence. ...

The Old-Fashioned Garden: Speaking of the old-fashioned garden recalls one of William Falconer's excellent paragraphs (Gardening, November 15, 1897, p. 75): We tried it in Schenley Park this year. We needed a handy dumping...

Contents Of The Flower-Borders: There is no prescribed rule as to what one should put into these informal flower-borders. Put in them the plants you like. Perhaps the greater part of them should be perennials that come up of themsel...

The Value Of Plants May Lie In Foliage And Form Rather Than In Bloom: What kinds of shrubs and flowers to plant is a wholly secondary and largely a personal consideration. The main plantings are made up of hardy and vigorous species; then the things that you like are ad...

Odd And Formal Trees: It is but a corollary of this discussion to say that plants which are simply odd or grotesque or unusual should be used with the greatest caution, for they introduce extraneous and jarring effects. Th...

Poplars And The Like: Another defect in common ornamental planting, which is well illustrated in the use of poplars, is the desire for plants merely because they grow rapidly. A very rapid-growing tree nearly always produc...

Plant-Forms: Before one attains to great sensitiveness in the appreciation of gardens, he learns to distinguish plants by their forms. This is particularly true for trees and shrubs. Each species has its own expr...

Various Specific Examples: The foregoing remarks will mean more if the reader is shown some concrete examples. I have chosen a few cases, not because they are the best, or even because they are always good enough for models, bu...

Various Specific Examples. Continued: A City Lot A plan of a city lot is given in Fig. 44. The area is fifty by one hundred, and the house occupies the greater part of the width. It is level, but the surrounding land is higher, resulti...

Chapter III. Execution Of Some Of The Landscape Features: The general lay-out of a small home property having now been considered, we may discuss the practical operations of executing the plan. It is not intended in this chapter to discuss the general questi...

The Terrace: In places in which the natural slope is very perceptible, there is a tendency to terrace the lawn for the purpose of making the various parts or sections of it more or less level and plane. In nearly ...

The Bounding Lines: In grading to the borders of the place, it is not always necessary, nor even desirable, that a continuous contour should be maintained, especially if the border is higher or lower than the lawn. A som...

Walks And Drives: So far as the picture in the landscape is concerned, walks and drives are blemishes. Since they are necessary, however, they must form a part of the landscape design. They should be as few as possible...

The Question Of Drainage, Curbing, And Gutters: Thorough drainage, natural or artificial, is essential to hard and permanent walks and drives. This point is too often neglected. On the draining and grading of residence streets a well-known landscap...

The Materials: The best materials for the main walks are cement and stone flagging. In many soils, however, there is enough binding material in the land to make'a good walk without the addition of any other material...

Making The Borders: The borders and groups of planting are laid out on the paper plan. There are several ways of transferring them to the ground. Sometimes they are not made until after the lawn is established, when the ...

How To Make and Maintain Lawns: The first thing to be done in the making of a lawn is to establish the proper grade. This should be worked out with the greatest care, from the fact that when a lawn is once made, it should not be nec...

How To Make and Maintain Lawns. Part 2: When And How To Sow The Seed The lawn should be seeded when the land is moist and the weather comparatively cool. It is ordinarily most advisable to grade the lawn in late summer or early fall, bec...

How To Make and Maintain Lawns. Part 3: Spring Treatment Every spring the lawn should be firmed by means of a roller, or, if the area is small, by means of a pounder, or the back of a spade in the hands of a vigorous man. The lawn-mower ...

Chapter IV. The Handling Of The Land: Almost any land contains enough food for the growing of good crops, but the food elements may be chemically unavailable, or there may be insufficient water to dissolve them. It is too long a story to ...

The Draining Of The Land: The first step in the preparation of land, after it has been thoroughly cleared and subdued of forest or previous vegetation, is to attend to the drainage. All land that is springy, low, and sour, o...

Trenching And Subsoiling: Although underdraining is the most important means of increasing the depth of the soil, it is not always practicable to lay drains through garden lands. In such cases, recourse is had to very deep pre...

Preparation Of The Surface: Every pains should be taken to prevent the surface of the land from becoming crusty or baked, for the hard surface establishes a capillary connection with the moist soil beneath, and is a means of pas...

The Saving Of Moisture: The garden must have a liberal supply of moisture. The first effort toward securing this supply should be the saving of the rainfall water. Proper preparation and tillage put the land in such condi...

Hand Tools For Weeding And Subsequent Tillage And Other Hand Work: Any of the cultivators and wheel-hoes are as useful for the subsequent tilling of the crop as for the initial preparation of the land, but there are other tools also that greatly facilitate the keepin...

The Hoe: The common rectangular-bladed hoe is so thoroughly established in the popular mind that it is very difficult to introduce new patterns, even though they may be intrinsically superior. As a general-pur...

Scarifiers: For many purposes, tools that scrape or scarify the surface are preferable to hoes that dig up the ground. Weeds may be kept down by cutting them off, as in walks and often in flower-beds, rather than...

Hand-Weeders: For small beds of flowers or vegetables, hand-weeders of various patterns are essential to easy and efficient work. One of the best patterns, with long and short handles, is shown in Fig. 102....

Trowels And Their Kind: Small hand-tools for digging, as trowels, dibbers, and spuds, may be had of dealers. In buying a trowel it is economy to pay an extra price and secure a steel blade with a strong shank that runs throu...

Rollers and Markers: It is often essential that the land be compacted after it has been spaded or hoed, and some kind of hand-roller is then useful. Very efficient iron rollers are in the market, but a good one can be mad...

Enriching The Land: Two problems are involved in the fertilizing of the land: the direct addition of plant-food, and the improvement of the physical structure of the soil. The latter office is often the more important. ...

Chapter V. The Handling Of The Plants: There is a knack in the successful handling of plants that it is impossible to describe in print. All persons can improve their practice through diligent reading of useful gardening literature, but no...

Sowing The Seeds: Prepare the surface earth well, to make a good seed-bed. Plant when the ground is moist, if possible, and preferably just before a rain if the soil is of such character that it will not bake. For shal...

Propagating By Cuttings: Many common plants are propagated by cuttings rather than by seeds, particularly when it is desired to increase a particular variety. Cuttings are parts of plants inserted in soil or water with the...

Transplanting Young Seedlings: In the transplanting of cabbages, tomatoes, flowers, and all plants recently started from seeds, it is important that the ground be thoroughly fined and compacted. Plants usually live better if transp...

Transplanting Established Plants And Trees: In setting potted plants out of doors, it is nearly always advisable to plunge them, - that is to set the pots into the earth, - unless the place is very wet. The pots are then watered by the rainfall...

Removing Very Large Trees: Very large trees can often be moved with safety. It is essential that the transplanting be done when the trees are perfectly dormant, - winter being preferable, - that a large mass of earth and roots ...

Winter Protection Of Plants: If the ground is not ready for planting in the fall, or if it is desired for any reason to delay until spring, the trees or bushes may be heeled-in, as illustrated In Fig. 151. The roots are laid in a...

Pruning: Pruning is necessary to keep plants in shape, to make them more floriferous and fruitful, and to hold them within bounds. Even annual plants often may be pruned to advantage. This is true of tomato...

Tree Surgery And Protection: Aside from the regular pruning to develop the tree into its best form to enable it to do its best work, there are wounds and malformations to be treated. Recently, the treating of injured and decayed ...

Repairing Street Trees: The following advice on tree surgery is by A. D. Taylor (Bulletin 256, Cornell University, from which the accompanying illustrations are adapted): - 1A good grafting-wax Is made as follows: Into ...

The Grafting Of Plants: Grafting is the operation of inserting a piece of a plant into another plant with the intention that it shall grow. It differs from the making of cuttings in the fact that the severed part grows in an...

Keeping Records Of The Plantation: If one has a large and valuable collection of fruit or ornamental plants, it is desirable that he have some permanent record of them. The most satisfactory method is to label the plants, and then to m...

The Storing Of Fruits And Vegetables: The principles involved in the storing of perishable products, as fruits and vegetables, differ with the different commodities. All the root-crops, and most fruits, need to be kept in a cool, moist, a...

The Forcing Of Plants: There are three general means (aside from greenhouses) of forcing plants ahead of their season in the early spring - by means of forcing-hills and hand-boxes, by coldframes, and by hotbeds. The for...

Coldframes: A coldframe is nothing more than an enlarged hand-box; that is, instead of protecting but a single plant or a single hill with a single pane of glass, the frame is covered with sash, and is large enou...

Hotbeds: A hotbed differs from a coldframe in being provided with bottom heat. This heat is ordinarily supplied by means of fermenting manure, but it may be obtained from other fermenting material, as tanbark ...

Management Of Hotbeds: Close attention is required in the management of hotbeds, to insure that they do not become too hot when the sun comes out suddenly, and to give plenty of fresh air. Ventilation is usually effected...

Chapter VI. Protecting Plants From Things That Prey On Them: Plants are preyed on by insects and fungi; and they are subject to various kinds of disease that, for the most part, are not yet understood. They are often injured also by mice and rabbits (p. 144), b...

Screens And Covers: There are various ways of keeping insects away from plants. One of the best is to cover the plants with fine mosquito-netting or to grow them in hand-frames, or to use a wire-covered box like that ...

Fumigating: An effective means of destroying insects in glass houses is by fumigating with various kinds of smoke or vapors. The best material to use for general purposes is some form of tobacco or tobacco compou...

Spraying: The most effective means of destroying insects and fungi however, in any general or large way, is by the use of various sprays. The two general types of insecticides have already been mentioned - thos...

Insecticide Spraying Formulas: The two classes of insecticides are here described, - the poisons (arsenicals and white hellebore) for chewing insects, as the beetles and all kinds of worms; the contact insecticides, as kerosene, oi...

Fungicide Spraying Formulas: The standard fungicide is bordeaux mixture, made in several forms. The second most important fungicide for the home gardener is ammoniacal copper carbonate. Sulfur dust (flowers of sulfur) and liver o...

Treatment For Some Of The Common Insects: The most approved preventive and remedial treatments for such insect pests as are most likely to menace home grounds and plantations are here briefly discussed. In case of any unusual difficulty that ...

Treatment For Some Of The Common Insects. Part 2: Cabbage And Cauliflower Insects The green caterpillars that eat cabbage leaves and heads hatch from eggs laid by the common white butterfly (Fig. 295). There are several broods every season. If pla...

Treatment For Some Of The Common Insects. Part 3: Cut-Worms Probably the remedy for cut-worms most often practiced in gardens, and which cannot fail to be effective when faithfully carried out, is hand-picking with lanterns at night or digging the...

Treatment For Some Of The Common Plant Diseases: The following advice (mostly adapted from Whetzel and Stewart) covers the most frequent types of fungous disease appearing to the home gardener. Many other kinds, however, will almost certainly attrac...

Treatment For Some Of The Common Plant Diseases. Continued: Lettuce Drop Or Rot This is a fungous disease often destructive in greenhouses, discovered by the sudden wilting of the plants. It is completely controlled by steam sterilization of the soil to the...

Chapter VII. The Growing Of The Ornamental Plants - The Classes Of Plants, And Lists: In choosing the kinds of plants for the main grounds the gardener should carefully distinguish two categories, - those plants to compose the structural masses and design of the place, and those that a...

The Use Of "Foliage" Trees And Shrubs: There is always a temptation to use too freely of the trees and shrubs that are characterized by abnormal or striking foliage. The subject is discussed in its artistic bearings on pages 40 and 41. ...

Windbreaks And Screens: A shelter-belt for the home grounds is often placed at the extreme edge of the home yard, toward the heaviest or prevailing wind. It may be a dense plantation of evergreens. If so, the Norway spruce i...

The Making Of Hedges: Hedges are much less used in this country than in Europe, and for several reasons. Our climate is dry, and most hedges do not thrive so well here as there; labor is high-priced, and the trimming is th...

The Borders: The word border is used to designate the heavy or continuous planting about the boundaries of a place, or along the walks and drives, or against the buildings, in distinction from planting on the la...

The Flower-Beds: We must remember to distinguish two uses of flowers, - their part in a landscape design or picture, and their part in a bed or separate garden for bloom. We now consider the flower-bed proper; and we ...

Bedding Effects: Bedding is ordinarily a temporary species of planting; that is, the bed is filled anew each year. However, the term may be used to designate a permanent plantation in which the plants are heavily mass...

Plants For Subtropical Effects (Plates IV And V): The number of plants suitable to produce a semitropical mass or for the center or back of a group, which may be readily grown from seed, is limited. Some of the best kinds are included below. It wi...

Aquatic And Bog Plants: Some of the most interesting and ornamental of all plants grow in water and in wet places. It is possible to make an aquatic flower-garden, and also to use water and bog plants as a part of the landsc...

Rockeries, And Alpine Plants: A rockery is a part of the place in which plants are grown in pockets between rocks. It is a flower-garden conception rather than a landscape feature, and therefore should be at one side or in the rea...

1. Plants For Carpet-Beds: The beauty of the carpet-bed lies largely in its unity, sharp contrast and harmony of color, elegance - often simplicity - of design, nicety of execution, and the continued distinctness of outline due...

2. The Annual Plants: The annual flowers of the seedsmen are those that give their best bloom in the very year in which the seeds are sown. True annuals are those plants that complete their entire life-cycle in one season....

List Of Annuals By Color Of Flowers: White Flowers Ageratum Mexicanum album. Alyssum, common sweet; compacta. Centranthus macrosiphon albus. China asters. Convolvulus major. Dianthus, Double White Margaret. Iberis am...

Useful Annuals For Edgings Of Beds And Walks, And For Ribbon-Beds: Ageratum, blue and white. Alyssum, sweet. Brachycome. Calandrinia. Clarkia. Collinsias. Dianthuses or pinks. Cilia. Gypsophila muralis. Iberis or candytufts. Leptoaiphons...

Annuals That Continue To Bloom After Frost: This list is compiled from Bulletin 161, Cornell Experiment Station. Several hundred kinds of annuals were grown at this station (Ithaca, N.Y.) in 1897 and 1898. The notes are given in the original tr...

List Of Annuals Suitable For Bedding (That Is, For "Mass Effects" Of Color): A list of this kind is necessarily both incomplete and imperfect, because good new varieties are frequently appearing, and the taste of the gardener must be consulted. Any plants may be used, broadly ...

List Of Annuals By Height: It is obviously impossible to make any accurate or definite list of plants in terms of their height, but the beginner may be aided by approximate measurements. The following lists are made from Bullet...

List Of Annuals By Height. Continued: Plants 24-30 In. High Bartonia aurea. Calendula officinalis fl. pl., Prince of Orange and Pongei. Calliopsis elegans picta. Cardiospermum Halicacabum. Carduus benedictus. Centaur...

3. Hardy Herbaceous Perennials: There is a rapidly growing appreciation of perennial herbs, not only as flower-garden and lawn subjects, but as parts of native landscapes. Every locality yields its wild asters, golden-rods, columbin...

Perennial Herbs Suitable For Lawn And "Planting" Effects: Some of the striking plants that are valuable for lawn planting in the North, chosen chiefly on account of their size, foliage, and habit, are mentioned in the following brief list. They may or may no...

Perennial Herbs Suitable For Lawn And "Planting" Effects. Continued: June Achillea Ptarmica, ft. pl, var. The Pearl. ½ ft. June-August. Small double white flowers, in few-flowered clusters. Rich soil. Wind-flower, Anemone Pennsylvanica.* 18 in. June-September. ...

One Hundred Extra-Hardy Perennial Herbs: The following list of 100 best hardy perennials is adapted from a report of the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Ontario. These plants are chosen from over 1000 species and varieties that have bee...

One Hundred Extra-Hardy Perennial Herbs. Continued: Doronicum Caucasicum Height, 1 foot; second week of May; flowers, large, yellow, and borne singly. Doronicum Plantagineum Var. Excelsum Height, 2 feet; third week of May; flowers, large and d...

4. Bulbs And Tubers: (See the particular culture of the different kinds in Chapter VIII (The Growing Of The Ornamental Plants - Instructions On Particular Kinds); and instructions for forcing on p. 345). It is customar...

5. The Shrubbery (Exclusive Of Coniferous Evergreens And Climbing Plants): The common hardy shrubs or bushes may be planted in fall or spring. In the northernmost parts of the country and in Canada spring planting is usually safer, although on well-drained ground and when th...

List Of Shrubbery Plants For The North: The following list of shrubs (of course not complete) comprises a selection with particular reference to southern Michigan and central New York, where the mercury sometimes falls to fifteen degrees be...

List Of Shrubbery Plants For The North. Part 2: Japanese Quince, Cydonia (Or Pyrus) Japonica An old favorite blooming in earliest spring, in advance of the leaves; not hardy at Lansing, Mich.; 4-5 ft. Maule's Japanese Quince, C. Maulei.t ...

List Of Shrubbery Plants For The North. Part 3: Mock-Orange (Syringa Incorrectly), Philadelphus Coronarius.(Recommended) In many forms and much priced; 6-12 ft. Other species are in cultivation, but the garden nomenclature is confused. The fo...

List Of Shrubbery Plants For The North. Part 4: Shepherdia, S. Canadensis* Spreading bush, 3-8 ft., with attractive foliage and fruit. Early Spirea, Spiroea Arguta.(Recommended) One of the earliest bloomers among the spireas; 2-4 ft. Th...

6. Climbing Plants: Vines do not differ particularly in their culture from other herbs and shrubs, except as they require that supports be provided; and, as they overtop other plants, they demand little room on the groun...

6. Climbing Plants. Part 2: In the following lists, the plants native to the United States or Canada are marked by an asterisk (*). Annual Herbaceous Climbers. (Grown Each Year From Seed) a. Tendril-climbers Adlumia (bienn...

6. Climbing Plants. Part 3: Bignonia, Bignonia Capreolata* A good strong evergreen vine, but often a nuisance in fields in the South. Frost Grape, Vitis Cordifolia* One of the finest of all vines. It is a very tall grow...

7. Trees For Lawns And Streets: A single tree may give character to an entire home property; and a place of any size that does not have at least one good tree usually lacks any dominating landscape note. Likewise, a street that i...

List Of Hardy Deciduous Trees For The North: (The genera are arranged alphabetically. Natives are marked by*; good species for shade trees by ; those recommended by the Experiment Station at Ottawa, Ontario, by J). In a number of the g...

List Of Hardy Deciduous Trees For The North. Continued: Tulip Tree Or Whitewood, Ldriodendron Tulipifera.*(Shade Trees) Unique in foliage and flower and deserving to be more planted. Cucumber Tree, Magnolia Acuminata.*(Shade Trees) Native in the N...

8. Coniferous Evergreen Shrubs And Trees: In this country the word evergreen is understood to mean coniferous trees with persistent leaves, as pines, spruces, firs, cedars, junipers, arborvita, retinosporas, and the like. These trees have a...

List Of Shrubby Conifers: The following list contains the most usual of the shrub-like coniferous evergreens, with asterisks (*) to mark those native to this country. The double dagger ((Recommended)) in this and the succeedin...

9. Window-Gardens: Although the making of window-gardens may not be properly a part of the planting and ornamenting of the home grounds, yet the appearance of the residence has a marked effect on the attractiveness or u...

The Inside Window-Garden, Or "House Plants": The winter window-garden may consist simply of a jardiniere, or a few choice pot-plants on a stand at the window, or of a considerable collection with more or less elaborate arrangements for their acc...

Bulbs In The Window-Garden: Bulbs flowering through the winter add to the list of house plants a charming variety. The labor, time, and skill required is much less than for growing many of the larger plants more commonly used fo...

Watering House Plants: It is impossible to give rules for the watering of plants. Conditions that hold with one grower are different from those of another. Advice must be general. Give one good watering at the time of potti...

Hanging Baskets: To have a good hanging basket, it is necessary that some careful provision be made to prevent too rapid drying out of the earth. It is customary, therefore, to line the pot or basket with moss. Open w...

Aquarium: A pleasant adjunct to a window-garden, living room, or conservatory, is a large glass globe or glass box containing water, in which plants and animals are living and growing. A solid glass tank or glo...

Chapter VIII. The Growing Of The Ornamental Plants - Instructions On Particular Kinds: In the preceding chapter advice is given that applies to groups or classes of plants, and many lists are inserted to guide the grower in his choice or at least to suggest to him the kinds of things th...

Agapanthus, Or African Lily (Agapanthus Umbellatus And Several Varieties): A tuberqus-rooted, well-known conservatory or window plant, blooming in summer. Excellent for porch and yard decoration. It lends itself to many conditions and proves satisfactory a large part of t...

Alstremeria: The alstremerias (of several species) belong to the amaryllis family, being tuberous-rooted plants, having leafy stems terminating in a cluster of ten to fifty small lily-shaped flowers of rich colors...

Amaryllis: The popular name of a variety of house or conservatory tender bulbs, but properly applied only to the Belladonna lily. Most of them are hippeastrums, but the culture of all is similar. They are satisf...

Anemone: The wind-flowers are hardy perennials, of easy culture, one group (the Anemone coronaria, fulgens, and Hortensis forms) being treated as bulbs. These tuberous-rooted plants should be planted late in S...

Aralia, A. Sieboldii: Aralia, A. Sieboldii (properly Fatsia Japonica and F. papyrifera), as it is sometimes called, and the variety variegata, with large, palmlike leaves, are grown for their tropical appearance. Sow in...

Araucaria, Or Norfolk Island Pine: Araucaria, Or Norfolk Island Pine, is now sold in pots by florists as a window plant. There are several species. The greenhouse specimens are the juvenile state of plants that become large trees in th...

Auricula: A half-hardy perennial of the primrose tribe (Primula Auricula), very popular in Europe, but little grown in America on account of the hot, dry summers. In this country auriculas are usually propag...

Azaleas: Azaleas are excellent outdoor and greenhouse shrubs, and are sometimes seen in windows. They are less grown in this country than in Europe, largely because of our hot, dry summers and severe winters. ...

Begonias: Begonias are familiar tender bedding and house plants. Next to the geranium, begonias are probably the most popular for house culture of the entire plant list. The ease of culture, great variety of ki...

Cactus: Various kinds of cactus are often seen in small collections of house plants, to which they add interest and oddity, being different from other plants. Most cacti are easy to grow, requiring little ...

Caladium: Tuberous-rooted, tender perennial plants used for conservatory decoration, and also for subtropical and bold effects in the lawn (Plate IV). The plants commonly known under this name are really coloca...

Calceolaria: The calceolarias are small greenhouse herbs sometimes used in the window-garden. They are not very satisfactory plants for window treatment, however, since they suffer from dry atmosphere and from sud...

Calla (Properly Richardia), Egyptian Lily: The calla is one of the most satisfactory of winter house-plants, lending itself to various conditions. The requirements of the calla are rich soil and an abundance of water, with the roots confine...

Camellias: Camellias are half-hardy woody plants, blooming in late winter and spring. Years ago camellias were very popular, but they have been crowded out by the informal flowers of recent times. Their time wil...

Cannas: Cannas are among the most ornamental and important plants used in decorative gardening. They make fine herbaceous hedges, groups, masses, and - when desirable - good center plants for beds. They are m...

Carnations: Carnations are now among the most popular florists' flowers; but it is not generally known that they may be easily grown in the outdoor garden. They are of two types, the outdoor or garden varieties, ...

Century Plants: Century Plants or agaves are popular plants for the window-garden or conservatory, requiring little care and growing slowly, thus needing repotting only at long intervals. When the plants have outgrow...

Chrysanthemums: Chrysanthemums are of many kinds, some being annual flower-garden plants, some perennial border subjects, and one form is the universal florists' plant. In chrysanthemums are now included the pyrethru...

Cineraria: Cineraria is a tender greenhouse subject, but it may be grown as a house-plant, although the conditions necessary to the best results are difficult to secure outside a glasshouse. The conditions fo...

Clematis: One of the best of woody climbing vines, the common C. Flammula, Virginiana, paniculata and others being used frequently to cover division walls or fences, growing year after year without any care and...

Coleus: The commonest foliage plant in window-gardens. It was used very extensively at one time in ornamental bedding and ribbon borders, but owing to its being tender has lost in favor, and its place is ...

Crocus: Crocus is one of the best of spring bulbs, easily grown and giving good satisfaction either in the border or scattered through the lawn. They are also forced for winter (see p. 345). They are so cheap...

Croton: Under this name many varieties and so-called species of Codiaeum are grown for conservatory decoration, and latterly for foliage bedding in the open. The colors and shapes of the leaves are very vario...

Cyclamen: A tender greenhouse tuberous plant, sometimes seen in the window-garden. The Persian cyclamen is best for the house-gardener to grow. Cyclamens may be grown from seed sown in April or September in ...

Dahlia: Dahlia is an old favorite which, on account of its formal flowers, has been in disfavor for a few years, although it has always held a place in the rural districts. Now, however, with the advent of th...

Ferns: The native ferns transplant easily to the garden, and they make an attractive addition to the side of a house, or as an admixture in a hardy border. The ostrich, cinnamon, and royal ferns are the best...

Freesia: One of the best and most easily handled tender winter-flowering bulbs; height 12 or 15 inches. The white form (Freesia refracta alba) is the best. The white or yellowish bell-shaped flowers of free...

Fuchsia: Well-known window or greenhouse shrub, treated as an herbaceous subject; many interesting forms; late winter, spring and summer. Fuchsia is readily grown from cuttings. Soft green wood should be us...

Geranium: What are commonly known as geraniums are, strictly speaking, pelargoniums. (See Pelargonium). The true geraniums are mostly hardy perennials, and therefore should not be confounded with the tender ...

Gladiolus: Of summer and fall-blooming bulbous plants, gladiolus is probably the most widely popular. The colors range from scarlet and purple, to white, rose, and pure yellow. The plants are of slender, erect h...

Gloxinia: Choice greenhouse tuberous-rooted, spring and summer-blooming perennials, sometimes seen in window-gardens, but really not adapted to them, although some skillful house-gardeners grow them successfull...

Grevillea: The she oak, very graceful greenhouse plant, suitable also for house culture. The plants grow freely from seed, and until they become too large are as decorative as ferns. Grevilleas are really tree...

Hollyhocks: These old garden favorites have been neglected of late years, primarily because the hollyhock rust has been so prevalent, destroying the plants or making them unsightly (see pp. 183,210). Their cul...

Hyacinths: Hyacinths (see Bulbs, p. 281) are popular spring-flowering bulbs. Hyacinths are hardy, but they are often used as window or greenhouse plants. They are easy to grow and very satisfactory (Fig. 262). ...

Iris: Iris includes many handsome perennials, of which the blue flag is familiar to every old-fashioned garden. They are favorites everywhere, for their brilliant spring and summer bloom; and they are easy ...

Lily: Under this name are included bulbous plants of many kinds, not all of them being true lilies. It has been said of this family of plants that it has no poor relations, each of them being perfect in i...

Lily-Of-The-Valley: A perfectly hardy little perennial, bearing racemes of small, white, bell-shaped flowers in early spring; and also much forced by florists. For ordinary cultivation, sods or mats of roots may be du...

Mignonette: Probably no flower is more generally grown for its fragrance than the mignonette. It is a half-hardy annual, thriving either in the open or under glass. The mignonette needs a cool soil, only moder...

Moon-Flowers: Moon-Flowers are species of the morning-glory family that open their flowers at night. A well-grown plant trained over a porch trellis, or allowed to grow at random over a low tree or shrub, is a stri...

Cissus: Daffodils, jonquils, and the poet's sus all belong to this group, and many of them are perfectly The polyanthus section, which includes the Paper-white nar-and sacred lily or Chinese joss-flower, are ...

Narcissi: Narcissi may be forced into flower through the winter, as described on p. 345. A popular kind for winter bloom is the so-called Chinese sacred lily. This grows in water without any soil whatever. Secu...

Oleander: An old favorite shrub for the window-garden, and much planted in the open far South. While there are many named varieties of the oleander, but two are often seen in general cultivation. These are t...

Oxalis: A number of hardy species of oxalis are excellent plants for rock-work and edging. The greenhouse species are very showy, growing without extra care, and blooming freely through the late winter and sp...

Palms: No more graceful plants for room decoration can be found than well-grown specimens of some species of palms. Most florists' palms are well adapted for this purpose when small, and as the growth is usu...

Pandanus, Or Screw Pine: The screw pines are stiff-leaved saw-edged plants often grown in window-gardens and used for porch decoration. 'The Pandanus utilis and P. Veitchii (the latter striped-leaved or white-leaved) are e...

Pansy: Pansy (Fig. 244) is without doubt the most popular hardy spring flower in cultivation. The strains of seed are many, each containing great possibilities. The culture is simple and the results are s...

Pelargonium: To this genus belong the plants known as geraniums - the most satisfactory of house-plants, and extensively used as bedding plants. No plants will give better returns in leaf and flower; and these fea...

Peony: The herbaceous peony has long had a place in the garden; it has now been much improved and constitutes one of the very best plants known to cultivation. It is perfectly hardy, and free from the many d...

Phlox: Garden phloxes are of two kinds, the annual and perennial. Both are most valuable. Excepting the petunia, no plant will give the profusion of bloom with as little care as the annual phlox (Phlox Dr...

Primulas, Or Primroses: Primulas, Or Primroses, are of various kinds, some being border plants, but mostly known in this country as greenhouse and window-garden subjects. One of them is the auricula (p. 354). The true or Eng...

Rhododendrons: Rhododendrons are broad-leaved evergreen shrubs that are admirably adapted to producing strong planting effects. Some of them are hardy in the Northern states. Rhododendrons require a fibrous or pe...

Rose: No home property is complete without roses. There are so many kinds and classes that varieties may be found for almost any purpose, from climbing or pillar subjects (p. 318) to highly fragrant teas, g...

Rose. Continued: Pruning Roses In pruning roses, determine whether they bloom on canes arising each year from the ground or near the ground, or whether they make perennial tops; also form a clear idea whether an ab...

Varieties Of Roses: The selection of kinds should be made in reference to the locality and purpose for which the roses are wanted. For bedding roses, those that are of free-blooming habit, even though the individual flow...

Roses In Winter: Although the growing of roses under glass must be left chiefly to florists, advice may be useful to those who have conservatories: - When growing forcing roses for winter flowers, florists usually ...

Propagation Of House Roses: The writer has known women who could root roses with the greatest ease. They would simply break off a branch of the rose, insert it in the flower-bed, cover it with a bell-jar, and in a few weeks they...

Stocks: The Ten-weeks and the biennial or Brompton stocks (species of Matthiola) are found in nearly all old-fashioned gardens. Most gardens are thought to be incomplete without them, and the use of the bienn...

Sweet Pea: A hardy, tendril-climbing annual, universally prized as an outdoor garden plant; also forced to some extent by florists. On any occasion the sweet pea is in place. A bouquet of shaded colors, with a f...

Swainsona: This plant has been called the winter sweet pea, but the flowers are not fragrant. It makes a very desirable house plant, blooming through the late winter and early spring months. The blossoms, which ...

Tuberose (Properly Tuber-Ose, Not Tube-Rose, From Its Specific Name, Polianthes Tuberosa): This plant, with its tall spikes of waxen and fragrant white flowers, is well known in the middle latitudes, but usually requires more heat and a longer season than are commonly present in the most no...

Violet: While the culture of violets as house-plants rarely proves successful, there is no reason why a good supply may not be had elsewhere through the greater part of the winter and the spring months. A ...

Wax-Plant: The wax-plant, or hoya, is one of the commonest of window-garden plants, and yet it is one that house-gardeners usually have difficulty in flowering. However, it is one of the easiest plants to manage...

Chapter IX. The Growing Of The Fruit Plants: Fruits should be counted a regular part of the home premises. There are few residence plots so small that fruits of some kind cannot be grown. If there is no opportunity for planting the orchard fruit...

Pruning Trees: Having planted the trees, they should be carefully pruned. As a rule, trees with low heads are desirable. Peaches and dwarf pears should have the lower branches from 12 to 24 inches above ground, and ...

Thinning The Fruit: If the best size and quality of fruit are desired, care must be taken to see that the plant does not overbear. Thinning of fruit has four general uses: to cause the remaining fruit to grow larger; ...

Washing And Scrubbing The Trees: The washing of orchard trees is an old practice. It usually results in making a tree more vigorous. One reason is that it destroys insects and fungi that lodge underneath the bark; but probably the ch...

Gathering And Keeping Fruit: Nearly all fruits should be gathered as soon as they will readily part from the stems on which they are borne. With many perishable fruits the proper time for gathering will be determined largely by t...

Almond: The almond tree is seldom seen in the eastern states, but now and then one will be found in a yard and not bearing. The failure to bear may be due to frost injury or lack of pollination. The almond...

Apple: Apples thrive over a wider range of territory and under more varied conditions than any other tree fruit. This means that they are easy to grow. In fact they are so easy to grow that they are usually ...

Apricot: This fruit is not often seen in home gardens in the East, although it deserves to be better known. When grown at all, it is likely to be trained on walls, after the English custom. In the latitude ...

Blackberry: In a general way, the planting and care of a blackberry plantation is the same as required by raspberries. Prom the fact that they ripen later in the season, when droughts are most common, even greate...

Cherry: Of cherries there are two common types, the sweet cherries and the sour cherries. The sweet cherries are larger and taller-growing trees. They comprise the varieties known as the hearts, bigarreaus, a...

Cranberry: The growing of cranberries in artificial bogs is an American industry. The common large cranberry of markets is also a peculiarly American fruit, since it is unknown in other countries except as the f...

Currant: As the currant is one of the hardiest and most productive of fruits in the North, so is it often neglected, the patch allowed to become foul with grass, never thinned or trimmed, the worms eating the ...

Dewberry: The dewberry may be called an early trailing blackberry. The culture is very simple. Support should be given to the canes, as they are very slender and rank growers. A wire trellis or large-meshed fen...

Fig: The fig is little grown in the East except as a curiosity, but on the Pacific coast it has gained considerable prominence as an orchard fruit. Figs will stand considerable frost, and seedling or infer...

Gooseberry: The gooseberry differs little from the currant in its requirements as to soil, pruning, and general care. The plants should be set 3 to 4 feet apart; rows 5 to 7 feet apart. Select a rich, rather mois...

Grape: One of the surest of fruit crops is the grape, a crop each year being reasonably certain after the third year from the time of setting the vines; and the good amateur kinds are numerous. The grape ...

Mulberry: Both for fruit and ornament the mulberry should be more generally planted. Even if the fruit is not to the taste, the tree is naturally open-centered and round-headed, and is an interesting subject; s...

Nuts: The nut trees demand too much room for most home-ground fruit plantations, although they are also useful for windbreaks and shade. The hickories, all American, make excellent lawn trees, and should be...

Orange: Oranges are grown extensively in Florida, in places along the Gulf, and in many parts of California, but in the most favored sections there is occasionally some injury from cold or frost to the trees ...

Peach: Given the proper exposure, peaches may be fruited in many sections where now it is thought impossible to have a crop. It is usually the practice of the amateur to set peach trees in the shelter of som...

Pear: No fruit plantation should be considered complete without trees of various kinds of pears, ripening fruits from early in August till winter. The late varieties are generally good keepers, and extend t...

Plum: Of plums there are three general or common types: first, the common Domestica or European plum, which gives rise to all the older varieties, like Lombard, Bradshaw, Green Gage, the Prunes, the Egg plu...

Quince: Although not largely grown, quinces generally find a ready sale, and they are desirable for home use. The trees are usually planted about 12 feet each way, and may be trained either in a shrub or tree...

Raspberry: Both the red and black raspberries are essentials of a good garden. A few plants of each will produce a supply of berries for a family through six or eight weeks, provided both early and late varietie...

Strawberry: Every one may grow strawberries, yet the saying that strawberries will grow on any soil is misleading, although true. Some varieties of strawberries will grow on certain soils better than othei variet...

Chapter X. The Growing Of The Vegetable Plants: A vegetable garden is admittedly a part of any home place that hae a good rear area. A purchased vegetable is never the same as one taken from a man's own soil and representing his own effort and soli...

Vegetables For Six: A home vegetable-garden for a family of six would require, exclusive of potatoes, a space not over 100 by 150 feet. Beginning at one side of the garden and running the rows the short way (having each ...

The Classes Of Vegetables: Before attempting to grow particular vegetables, it will help the beginner to an understanding of the subject if he recognises certain cultural groups or classes, and what their main requirements are....

The Culture Of The Leading Vegetables: Having now obtained a view of the layout of the vegetable-garden and a good conception of the leading cultural groups, we may proceed with a discussion of the different kinds of vegetables themselves....

Asparagus: The best of all early spring vegetables; a hardy herbaceous perennial, grown for the soft edible shoots that spring from the crown. The culture of asparagus has been simplified in the past few year...

Artichoke: The artichoke of literature is a tall, coarse perennial of the thistle tribe, producing edible flower-heads. Cardoon is a related plant. 296. Good (.A) and poor (B) modes of inserting the knife to ...

Bean: Every garden grows beans of one kind or another. Under this general name, many kinds of plants are cultivated. They are all tender, and the seeds, therefore, should not be planted until the weather is...

Beet: This vegetable is grown for its thick root, and for its herbage (used as greens); and ornamental-leaved varieties are. sometimes planted in flower-gardens. Being one of the hardiest of spring vegeta...

Brussels Sprouts: The plant is grown for the buttons or sprouts (miniature cabbage heads) that grow thickly along the stem (Fig. 298). It should be more generally known, as it is one of the choicest of the cabbage f...

Cabbage: The cabbage is now so extensively grown aa a field crop, from which the market is supplied, and the plants require so much room that many home-gardeners incline to give up its culture; but the early v...

Carrot: While essentially a farm crop in this country, the carrot is nevertheless a most acceptable garden vegetable. It is hardy and easily grown. The extra-early varieties may be forced in a hotbed, or seed...

Cauliflower: This is the choicest of all vegetables of the cabbage group, and its culture is much the most difficult. While the special requirements are few, they must be fully met if good results are to be expect...

Celeriac: A form of the celery plant in which the tuberous root is the edible part (Fig. 302). The tuber has the celery flavor in a pronounced degree, and is used for flavoring soups and for celery salad. It ma...

Celery: Although celery has now become a staple vegetable with al classes of people, the home-gardener is likely not to attempt its culture; yet it is not difficult to raise in small quantities in most any go...

Chard, Or Swiss Chard: Chard, Or Swiss Chard, is a development of the beet species characterized by large succulent leafstalks instead of enlarged roots (Fig. 305). The leaves are very tender and make greens much like you...

Chicory: Chicory is grown for two purposes, - for the roots and for the herbage. Barbe de capucin is a salad made from young shoots of chicory. The Magdeburg chicory is the variety usually spoken of, it ...

Chervil: The chervil is grown in two forms, - for the leaves, and for the tuberous roots. The curled chervil is a.good addition to the list of garnishing and seasoning vegetables. Sow seeds and cultivate th...

Collards: This is a name given to a kind of kale, used when young as greens; also to young cabbages used in the same way. The seed of any early cabbage may be sown thickly in rows 18 inches apart, from early...

Gives: A small perennial of the onion family, used for flavoring. It is propagated by division of the root. It may be planted in a permanent place in the border, and, being completely hardy, will remain f...

Corn Salad: This is one of the earliest spring salad vegetables, coming into condition with spinach, and needing the same culture. Sown in the fall, and covered with straw or hay when cold weather sets in, it ...

Corn, Sweet Or Sugar: This is the characteristic American table vegetable, and one that every home-gardener expects to grow. Too often, however, only one planting of one kind is made. The ears come to edible maturity almos...

Cress: Two very unlike species of plants are grown under the name of cress, - the upland-cress and the water-cress. There are still other species, but not much known in this country. The upland cress, or ...

Cucumber: The custom of putting down cucumber pickles in the home kitchen is probably passing out; but both the pickling and the slicing cucumbers, especially the latter, are still an essential part of a good h...

Dandelion: Under domestication the dandelion has been developed until quite unrecognizable to the casual observer. The plants attain a large size and the leaves are much more tender. Sow in spring in well-man...

Egg-Plant: The egg-plant or guinea squash has never become a popular home-garden product in the North. In the South it is better known. Unless one has a greenhouse or a very warm hotbed, the growing of egg-pl...

Endive: One of the best fall salad vegetables, being far superior to lettuce at that time and as easily grown. For fall use, the seed may be sown from June to August, and as the plants become fit to eat about...

Garlic: An onion-like plant, the bulbs of which are .used for flavoring. Garlic is little known in this country except amongst those of foreign birth. It is multiplied the same as multiplier onions - the b...

Horseradish: Widely used as an appetizer, and now grown commercially. As a kitchen-garden vegetable, this is usually planted in some out-of-the-way spot and a piece of the root dug as often as needed, the fragment...

Kale: Under this name, a great variety of cabbage-tribe plants is grown, some of them reaching a height of several feet. Usually, however, the name is applied to a low-growing, spreading plant, extensively ...

Leek: The leek is little grown in this country except by persons of foreign extraction. The plant is one of the onion family, and is used mostly as flavoring for soups. Well-grown leeks have a very agreeabl...

Mushroom: Sooner or later, the novice wants to grow mushrooms. While it is easy to describe the conditions under which they may be grown, it does not follow that a crop may be predicted with any certainty. L...

Mustard: Almost all the mustards are good for greens, though white mustard is usually best. Chinese mustard is also valuable. Seed should be sown in drills, 3 to 3½ feet apart, and covered with a half inch ...

Muskmelon: The most delicious of all garden vegetables eaten from the hand, and of simple cultivation; but like many another plant that is easy to grow it often fails completely. The season and soil must be warm...

Okra: A plant of the cotton family, from the green pods of which is made the well-known gumbo soup of the South, where the plant is more extensively grown than in the North. The pods are also used in their ...

Onion: A few onions, of one kind or another, give character to every good kitchen-garden. They are grown from seeds (black seed) for the main crop. They are also grown from sets (which are very small onion...

Parsley: This is the most universal of garnishes. It is used also as a flavoring in soups. The seed is slow to germinate, and often the second or third sowing is made, thinking the first is a failure; but u...

Parsnip: A standard winter and spring vegetable, of the easiest culture in deep soil (Fig. 311). Parsnips are the better for the winter's freeze, although they are of good quality if taken up after the fall...

Pea: Perhaps no vegetable is planted in greater expectancy than the pea. It is one of the earliest seeds to go into the ground, and the planting fever is impatient. There is great difference in quality ...

Pepper: The garden pepper Is not the pepper of commerce; it is more properly known as red pepper (though the pods are not always red), chilli, and capsicum. The pods are much used in the South, and most North...

Potato: The potato is rather more a field crop than a home-garden product; yet the home-gardener often desires to grow a small early lot. The common practice of growing potatoes on elevated ridges or hills...

Radish (Plate XXV): In all parts of the country the radish is popular as a side-dish, being used as an appetizer and for its decorative character. It is a poor product, however, if misshapen, wormy, or tough. Radishes...

Rhubarb, Or Pie Plant: A strong perennial herb, to be grown in a bed or row by itself at one end or side of the garden. It is a heavy feeder (Fig. 190). 313. French Breakfast and olive shaped radishes. Rhubarb is...

Salsify, Or Vegetable Oyster (Fig. 314): Salsify is one of the best of winter and early spring vegetables, and should be grown in every garden. It may be cooked in several different ways, to bring out the oyster flavor. The seed should be...

Spinach: The most extensively grown of all greens, being in season in earliest spring, and in fall and winter. The earliest spinach that finds its way to market is produced from seed sown in September or...

Squash: The summer squashes rarely fail of a crop if they once escape the scourge of the striped beetle (p. 201). The late varieties are not so certain; they must secure a strong start, and be on quick fe...

Tomato: The tomato is an inhabitant of practically every home garden, and everybody understands its culture (Fig. 316). The early fruits are very easily grown by starting the plants in a greenhouse, hotbed...

Turnips And Rutabagas: Turnips And Rutabagas are little grown in home gardens; and yet a finer quality of vegetable than most persons know could be secured if these plants were raised on one's own soil and brought fresh to ...

Watermelon: The watermelon is shipped everywhere in such enormous quantities, and it covers so much space in the garden, that home-gardeners in the North seldom grow it. When one has room, it should be added to t...

Chapter XI. Seasonal Reminders: The author assumes that a person who is intelligent enough to make a garden, does not need an arbitrary calendar of operations. Too exact advice is misleading and unpractical. Most of the older garden...

Suggestions And Reminders. - I. For The North: January Cabbage Plants Cabbage Plants in frames need free airing whenever the temperature is above the freezing point, or so long as the soil of the bed is not frozen. Snow, in that case, should...

Suggestions And Reminders For The North. Part 2: Tomato Tomato seeds may be sown in the hotbeds. April Artichokes Sow the seeds for next year's crop. A deep, rich, sandy loam is best. Fork in a dressing of well-rotted manure around the o...

Suggestions And Reminders For The North. Part 3: Tomatoes Set some early plants by the middle of the month or earlier, if the ground is warm, and the season early and fair. They may be protected from the cold by covering with hay, straw, cloth, o...

Suggestions And Reminders For The North. Part 4: Onions Harvest as Boon as the bulbs are well formed. Let them lie on the ground until cured, then draw to the barn floor or some other airy place and spread thinly. Market when you can get a good p...

Suggestions And Reminders. - II. For The South: January Annuals All kinds of hardy annuals and perennials, such as alyssum, snapdragon, foxglove, hollyhock, phlox, poppy, pansy, lobelia, candytuft, sweet pea, Chinese pink, sweet william, lark...

Suggestions And Reminders For The South. Part 2: Lettuce Sow seeds and transplant the plants on hand. This crop requires a soil well supplied with plant-food. Melons Plant seeds in the same manner as advised for cucumbers. Okra Sow se...

Suggestions And Reminders For The South. Part 3: June Beans All kinds may now be sown. Cauliflower Sow the Italian kinds. Corn Make a planting at the beginning of the month and again at the end. Cucumbers Plant a few more hil...

Suggestions And Reminders For The South. Part 4: October All spring flower seeds should be sown in boxes or trays in the conservatory, and all spring bulbs should be planted. The hyacinth, narcissus, tulip and anemone, ranunculus and various lily...

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