M PM jl » A lo, t> J~ r? , Department of X7634 4>30 SaS Voi.a LIBRARY OF Illinois Industrial University. CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS. Books are not to be Taken from the Library Eoom.^^ The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in dismissal from the University. University of Illinois Library L161— 0-1096 Digitized bythe Internet Archive in 2016 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/saxtonsruralhand02john SAXTON’S RURAL HAND BOOKS. SECOND SERIES. CONTAINING EVERY LADY HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. SKINNER’S ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE. BROWNE’S BIRD FANCIER. DANA’S ESSAY ON MANURES. FESSENDEN’S AMERICAN KITCHEN GARDENER. AMERICAN ROSE CULTURIST. NEW YORK: C. M. SAXTON, AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER. 1854. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, by C. M. SAXTON, the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. ADDRESSED TO THE INDUSTRIOUS AND ECONOMICAL. CONTAINING SIMPLE AND PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS CULTIVATING PLANTS AND FLOWERS IN THE GARDEN AND IN ROOMS. BY LOUISA JOHNSON. Revised from the Fourteenth London Edition, and Adapted to the USE OF AMERICAN LADIES. NEW YORK: C. M. SAXTON, AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER. 1852. ' PUBLISHER’S ADVERTISEMENT The Publisher, having found the want of small, cheap Books, of acknowledged merit, on the great topics of farming economy, and meeting for those of such a class a constant demand, offers, in his Rural Handbooks, of which this is one, works calculated to fill the void. He trusts that a discerning Public will both buy and read these little Treatises, so admirably adapted to all classes, and fitted by their size for the pocket, and thus readable at the fireside, on the road ; and in short everywhere. C. M. SAXTON, Agricultural Book Publisher. 2Af?,‘V •* 4 «*» I have been induced to compile this little work from hearing many of my companions regret that no single book contained a sufficiently condensed and general account of the business of a Flower Garden. M We require,” they said, “a work in a small compass, which will enable us to become our own gardener; we wish to know how to set about everything ourselves , without expense, without being deluged with Latin words and technical terms, and without being obliged to pick our way through multiplied publications, re- dolent of descriptions, and not always particularly lucid. We require a practical work, telling us of useful flowers, simple modes of rearing them, simply expressed, and free from lists of plants and roots which require ex- pensive methods of preservation. Some of us have gardens, but we cannot afford a gardener ; we like flowers, but we cannot attempt to take more than common pains to raise them. We require to know the hardiest flowers, and to comprehend the general business of the garden, undisturbed by fear Of failure, and at the most economical scale of expense. Who will write us ■uch a book 1 ” VI PREFACE. I have endeavored to meet their views ; and my plan of Floriculture may be carried into effect by any lady who can command the services of an old man, a woman, or a stout boy. In the present Edition, the publishers have added a paper on Window Gardening, written by Mr. M’Intosh — and another on Domestic Greenhouses, an apparatus by which a small collec- tion of exotics may be given in great perfection, and by a process which any lady may superintend with much gratification. In every other respect the work is the result of my own experience, and I dedicate it to all of my own sex who delight in flowers, and yet cannot allow themselves to enter into great expense in their cultivation. LOUISA JOHNSON. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Pleasures of Gardening — How conducive to health — Early taste for Gardening in England — Pleasure-gardens at Theobalds — Garden- ing for Ladies 9 CHAPTER II. GENERAI REMARKS. Situation for a Flower-garden — On improving the Soil — Aspect and choice of Flowers— -Monthly Roses — Rustic Stages — Garden Tools and Working Dress — India-rubber Shoes indispensable 13 CHAPTER III. LAYING OUT. Arrangement of Plants — Root-houses — Annuals — Biennials — Perennials — Planting out Beds — Amelioration of Soils — Monthly Lists of Flowers — Destructive habits of Hares and Rabbits — Snails, Ear- wigs, Mildew and Blight — Neatness and order indispensable in a well-kept Garden — Spring Plants — List of Perennials 18 CHAPTER IV. BULBS AND PERENNIALS. Transplanting Bulbs — Advantage of Salt Manures — Best arrangement for choice Bulbs — Select Lists — Fibrous-rooted Flowers — Biennials — Their Propagation — Protection necessary 36 CHAPTER V ANNUALS. Sowing and gathering Seed — Training and trimming Plants — List of Annuals 56 I viii CONTENTS. » CHAPTER VI. / ROSES AND JASMINES. Poetry of Flowers — Varieties of Roses — Pyramids — Climbing Varieties Inserts injurious to the Rose — List of Roses — Luxuriant appearance of the Jasmine — Devices for displaying its beauty 63 CHAPTER VII. SHRUBS AND EVERGREENS. On Planting — Distance between each — Various modes of Propagating — List of best Garden Sorts — Pruning * 69 CHAPTER VIII. ON HOUSE AND WINDOW GARDENING. Plants proper for Window Culture — Treatment of House Plants — Mode of Supply — Bulbs in Glasses — Nosegays and cut Flowers — Diseases of Plants 76 CHAPTER IX. DOMESTIC GREENHOUSES. Form of Apparatus — Preparing the Soil — Draining — Principles of the Invention — Situation of Plants 91 CHAPTER X. MONTHLY NOTICES. Recapitulation of Work to be done in each Month 102 LADIES’ FLOWER GARDENER. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. ? has been well remarked that a garden affords the purest of human pleasures. The study of Nature is interesting in all her manifold combinations: in her wildest attitudes, and in her artful graces. The mind is amused, charmed, and astonished in turn, with contemplating her inexhaustible display; and we wor- ship the God who created such pure and simple blessings for his creatures. These blessings are open to all degrees and conditions of men. Nature is not a boon bestowed upon the high-born, or purchased by the wealthy at a kingly price. The poor, the blind, the halt, and the diseased, enjoy her beauty, and derive benefit from her study. Every cottager enjoys the little garden which furnishes his table with comforts, and his mind with grateful feel- ings, if that mind is susceptible of religious impressions. He contemplates the gracious Providence which has bestowed such means of enjoyment upon him, as the Father whose all-seeing eye provides for the lowliest of his children ; and who has placed the “ purest of human pleasures ” within the reach of all whc are not too blind to behold his mercy. With this blessed view before his mental sight, the cottager cultivates his little homestead. The flowers and fruits of the earth bud, bloom, and decay in their season ; but Nature again performs her deputed mission, and 1 * 10 ladies’ flower gardener. spring succeeds the dreary winter with renewed beauty and two- fold increase. Health accompanies simple and natural pleasures. The culture of the ground affords a vast and interminable field of observation, in which the mind ranges with singular pleasure, though the body travels not. It surrounds home with an un- ceasing interest ; domestic scenes become endeared to the eye and mind ; worldly cares recede ; and we may truly say — u For us kind Nature wakes her genial power, Suckles each herb, and spreads out every flower ! Annual for us, the grape, the rose, renew The juice nectarious. and the balmy dew : For us, the mine a thousand treasures brings; For us, health gushes from a thousand springs.” Eth, ep. i. ver. 129. The taste for gardening in England began to display itself in the reign of Edward III., in whose time the first work on the subject was composed by Walter de Henly. Flower-gardening followed slowly in its train. The learned Linacre, who died in 1524, introduced the damask rose from Italy into England. King James I. of Scotland, when a prisoner in Windsor Castle,, thus describes its “ most faire ” garden : — “ Now was there maide fast by the towris wall, A garden faire, and in the corneris set An herbere green, with wandis long and small Railit about, and so with treeis set Was all the place, and hawthorn hedges knet, That lyfe was now, walking, there forbye, That might within scarce any wight espie, So thick the bowis and the leves grene Bercandit all, the alleyes all that there were; And myddis every herbere might be sene The scharpe grene swete junipere Growing so fair, with branches here and there, That, as it seymt to a lyfe without, The bowis spred the herbere all about.” The Quair, Henry VIII. ordered the formation of his garden at Nonsuch about the year 1509, and Leland says it was a “Nonpareil. 0 INTRODUCTION. 11 Hentyner assures us of its perfect beauty, describing one of its marble basins as being set round with “ lilac trees, which trees bear no fruit, but only a pleasant smell.” The pleasure-gardens at Theobalds, the seat of Lord Burleigh, were unique, according to the report of Lyson. In it were nine knots exquisitely made, one of which was set forth in likeness of the king’s arms. “ One might walk two myle in the walks before he came to an end.” Queen Elizabeth was extremely fond of flowers, and her taste ever influenced that of her court. Gilliflowers, carnations, tulips, Provence and musk roses, were brought to England in her reign. William III. loved a pleasaunce or pleasure-garden ; but he introduced the Dutch fashion of laying them out, which is still horrible in our eyes. His Queen superintended in person all her arrangements in the flower-garden, — an amusement particularly delightful to her. In those days, “ knottes and mazes ” were no longer the pride of a parterre, with a due allowance of “ pleasant and fair fishponds.” Queen Anne remodeled the gardens at Kensington, and did away with the Dutch inventions. Hampton Court was also laid out in a more perfect state in her reign, under the direction of Wise. Since that period, flower-gardening has progressed rapidly ; and the amusement of floriculture has become the dominant pas- sion of the ladies of Great Britain. It is a passion most blessed in its effects, considered as an amusement or a benefit. Nothing humanizes and adorns the female mind more surely than a taste for ornamental gardening. It compels the reason to act, and the judgment to observe; it is favorable to meditation of the most serious kind ; it exercises the fancy in harmless and elegant occu- pation, and braces the system by its healthful tendency. A flower-garden, to the young and single of my sex, acts upon the 12 LADIES 7 FLOWER GARDENER. heart and affections as a nursery acts upon the matronly feelings. It attaches them to their home ; it throws a powerful charm over the spot dedicated to such deeply-interesting employment ; and it lures them from dwelling too deeply upon the unavoidable dis- appointments and trials of life, which sooner or later disturb and disquiet the heart. An amusement which kings and princes have stamped with dignity, and which has afforded them recreation under the toils of government, must become for ever venerated, and will be sought for by every elegant as well as by every scientific mind. Floriculture ranges itself under the head of female accomplish- ments in these our days ; and we turn with pity from the spirit which will not find in her “ garden of roses ” the simplest and purest of pleasures. GENERAL REMARKS. 13 CHAPTER II. GENERAL REMARKS. the laying out of a garden, the soil and situation must be considered as much as the nature of the ground will admit. Let no lady, however, despair of being able to raise fine flow- ers upon any soil, providing the sun is not too much excluded, for the rays of the sun are the vital principle of existence to all vege- tation. The too powerful rays can be warded off by the arts of in- vention, but we have yet no substitute for that glorious orb. Unless its warm and forcing influence is allowed to extend over the surface of the garden, all flowers wither, languish, and die. Sun and air are the lungs and heart of flowers. A lady will be rewarded for her trouble in making her parterre in the country ; but in large towns, under the influence of coal smoke, shade, and gloom, her lot will be constant disappointment. She can only hope to keep a few consumptive geraniums languishing through the summer months, to die in October, and show the desolating view of rows of pots containing blackened and dusty stems. Many soils which are harsh or arid, are susceptible of improve- ment by a little pains. Thus, a stiff clay, by digging well and leaving it to become pulverized by the action of the frost, and then mixing plenty of ashes with it, becomes a fine mould, which I have ever found most excellent for all flowers of the hardier kind. The black soil is the richest in itself, and requires no assist- ance beyond changing it about a foot in depth every three years, as a flower garden requires renewing, if a lady expects a succes- 14 ladies’ flower gardener. sion of handsome flowers. The ground should be well dug the latter end of September or October, or even in November, and if the soil is not sufficiently fine, let it be dug over a second or third time, and neatly raked with a very fine-toothed rake. Stony ground requires riddling well, and great care must be taken to keep it neat by picking up the little stones which con- stantly force themselves to the surface after rains. Nothing is so unbecoming as weeds and stones in parterres, where the eye seeks flowers and neatness. Almost every plant loves sand ; and if that can be procured, it enriches and nourishes the soil, especially for bulbs, pinks, carna- tions, auriculas, hyacinths, &c. Let it be mixed in the proportion of a third part to the whole. If the dead leaves are swept into a mound every autumn, and the soap suds, brine, &c., of the house be thrown upon it, the mass will quickly decompose, and become available the following year. It makes an admirable compost for auriculas, &c., mixed with garden or other mould. If the ground be a gravelly soil, the flower-garden should not slope, for stony ground requires all the moisture you can give it, while the sloping situation would increase the heat and dryness. A moist earth, on the contrary, would be improved by being sloped towards the east or west. The south is not so proper for flowers, as a glaring sun withers the tender flowers ; but the north must be carefully avoided, and shut out by a laurel hedge, a wall, or any rural fence garnished with hardy creepers, or monthly roses, which make a gay and agreeable defense. Monthly roses are invaluable as auxiliaries of all kinds. They will grow in any soil, and bloom through the winter months, always giving a delicate fragrance, and smiling evon in the snow. Monthly roses will ever be the florist’s de- light : they are the hardiest, most delicate-looking, and greenest- GENERAL REMARKS. 15 leaved of garden productions ; they give no trouble, and speedily form a beautiful screen against any offensive object. No flower garden should exist without abundance of monthly roses. It has often been a disputed point whether flower gardens should be intersected with gravel walks or with grass plots. This must be left entirely to the taste and means of the party forming a garden. Lawn is as wet and melancholy in the winter months, as it is beautiful and desirable in summer; and it requires great care and attention in mowing and rolling, and trimming round the border. Gravel walks have this advantage : the first trouble is the last, They will only require an old woman’s or a child’s assistance in keeping them free from weeds ; and a lady has not the same fears of taking cold, or getting wet in her feet, during the rains of autumn and spring. Many females are unequal to the fatigue of bending down to flowers, and particularly object to the stooping posture. In this case, ingenuity alone is required to raise the flowers to a conve- nient height ; and, by so doing, to increase the beauty and pic- turesque appearance of the garden. Old barrels cut in half, tubs, pails, &c., neatly painted outside, or adorned with rural orna- ments, and raised upon feet neatly carved, or mounds of earth, stand in lieu of richer materials, such as vases, parapet walls, and other expensive devices, which ornament the gardens of the wealthy. I have seen these humble materials shaped into forms as pleasing to the eye, and even more consonant to our damp climate, than marble vases. They never look green from time, and are renewed at a very trifling expense. A few pounds of nails, and the unbarked thinnings from fir plantations, are the sole requisites towards forming any device which a tasteful fancy can dictate ; and a little green paint adds beauty and durability when the bark falls from the wood it protects. I have seen fir balls nailed on to these forms in tasteful patterns ; and creepers 16 ladies’ flower gardener. being allowed to fall gracefully over the brims, give a remark- ably pleasing and varied appearance to the parterre. Where mould is not easily to be procured — as, for instance, in towns — the tubs or receptacles may be half filled with any kind of rubble, only space must be left to allow of two feet of fine mould at the top, which is quite sufficient for bulbous roots, creepers, &c. These receptacles have one powerful advantage over ground plots ; they can be moved under sheds, or into out- houses, during the heavy rains or frosts of winter ; and thereby enable a lady to preserve the more delicate flowers, which would deteriorate by constant exposure to inclement weather. A lady requires peculiar tools for her light work. She should possess a light spade ; two rakes, one with very fine teeth, and the other a size larger, for cleaning the walks when they are raked, and for raking the larger stones from the garden borders. A light garden fork is very necessary to take up bulbous or other roots with, as the spade would wound and injure them, whereas they pass safely through the interstices of the fork or prong. A watering-pot is indispensable, and a hoe. Two trowels are like- wise necessary ; one should be a tolerable size, to transplant pe- rennial and biennial flower roots ; the other should be pointed and small, to transplant the more delicate roots of anemones, bulbs,