Club Minutes: Horticultural Society, 1880-1891

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In our walk we found the flow -er garden suffering from the drought. The pot plants, Begonias especially were very fine. The vegetable gave promise of cold slaw and other winter vegetables

The box walk was very much admired.

Adjourned to meet at Edgewood in Oct.

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Edgewood

Oct. 4th 1881 Mer. noon 81°

Our Society met with the excep tion of the members from Longwood & White Hall Our guests were Mr and Mrs William Bond Mrs. Dr Thomas, Patty Stabler Eliza Bentley and Albina Stabler

The specimens were fine from most places. Some of the members had been troubled with the cabbage worm. In fact, it had visit -ed most places and the prospect for cold slaw was very slim. Our host had a display of vegetables showing the effects of the dry season, egg plant tomato potato and a skeletonized cabbage

Rock Spring, flowers

Norwood, egg-plants

Hermon salsify, Lima beans; carrots, egg plant and beets

Falling Green corn, carrots, onions from seed turnips, snap beans & flowers.

Brooke Grove, tomatoes

Olney, flowers

Sharon pears, tomatoes corn, flowers and pods of cotton

Avalon, flowers

Alloway, flowers

Rockland egg-plant, pepper, Martynia sweet potato, salsify, 3 kinds of squash, cucumbers, beets, carrots

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parsnips, gumbo and tomatoes.

Mrs Dr. Thomas, flowers.

The Exhibition which was to have been held at the Lycium was given up owing to the death of President Garfield The president of our Society persists in thinking it would have been a great success, in spite of dry weather, cab -bage worms &c. He expressed him -self encouraged at the improvement in our Society as evidenced by our specimens Tables & an increased interest in the meetings

The readers for this meeting were both absent

Questions

1 How treat a night-blooming Cerens [?] Not known. Eliza Bentley asked to find out from her friend who raises them successfully and inform us

2 How soon pick winter apples? As soon as the weather gets cooler.

3 How keep fall apples to use in the winter? Recommended to sell the fall applies and buy Northern ap-ples in the winter. Various methods for keeping apples were mention -ed, a cool dry cellar is thought the best tho' the "Home & Fireside" was quo -ted to show that dampness was not injurious

4 Are pits for keeping plants sat-

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-isfactory? Yes

5 How cure sage? Cut before frost and dry in the shade

6 Would it be well to manure and plow a garden in the fall? Yes

7 How keep apples by burying them? Make a trench 18 inches deep put straw in the bottom then the apples, cover with old bags, then straw, with 6 or 8 inches of earth on top

8 How keep small rosebushes, if you have no pit? Protect with Cedar boughs, if very small cover with a glass jar

A way of keeping water melons by varnishing was mentioned It is said to preserve them in a per -fect condition for months.

Margaret Magruder gave an example of the longevity of some kinds of seeds Fifteen years ago she had so pe-tunias in a certain place, which was this season dug up, when some of the same petunias came up and bloomed; working the ground bro't them to the proper point to germi-nate. A Letter to the Society from Sarah B. Stabler was read and or -dered to be recorded in the minutes. In the garden we found the rosebushes looking well. Heliotropes and Geraniums untouched by the frost. The vegetable garden had

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done as well as the dry season would allow but of course its beauty was over. After a delight -ful meeting we adjourned, hoping all to meet again in April.