March 1U, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



285 



TRANSPLANTING NOTES. 



Although many men profess to un- 

 derstand transplanting, yet few have 

 results that substantiate the claim. 

 Many seem to believe that a short 

 period of digging gives them this 

 knowledge. Every season the results 

 from such experience (?) is seen, and 

 generally the blame is placed on the 

 poor nurseryman. In considering the 

 essentials in successful transplanting, 

 thought must first be given to the stock 

 itself. Why will so many allow price 

 to be the only factor in deciding where 

 they will purchase? A plant is quite 

 different from any ordinary purchase, 

 because if unsatisfactory, it means not 

 only the loss in money, but time. 



When plants are ordered, the ground 

 in which they are to go should be pre- 

 pared, if weather permits. Give them 

 large holes, and if the soil is heavy 

 and of a clay composition, dig a foot 

 deeper than customary and fill in with 

 broken stone or ashes for drainage. 

 Good soil should be used in filling in 

 on the roots, using, if necessary, about 

 15 or 20 per cent, manure, with the 

 ordinary top soil. 



When trees arrive plant at once, or 

 heel them in temporarily. If received 

 in frozen condition, they should be 

 placed in a dark cellar where the tem- 

 perature is a few degrees above freez- 

 ing, and allowed to thaw out gradu- 

 ally. Care should in all cases be ex- 

 ercised to see that roots are not ex- 

 posed to sun or wind. 



A word regarding pruning will not 

 be amiss. A nurseryman seldom, if 

 ever, prunes unless told to do so. In 

 digging, a certain percentage of roots 

 is destroyed, and a corresponding 

 amount of wood should be taken from 

 the top. If the transplanting occurs 

 early in the spring, severe pruning is 

 not necessary for soft wooded trees, 

 such as willows or poplars. Harder 

 wooded ones, such as oak and beach, 

 should be given a little more pruning, 

 as they do not make many fibrous 

 roots, and therefore stand a time be- 

 fore making marked progress. 



When the transplanting is attempted 

 after the plants have started to leaf, 

 they should be severely pruned, and 

 if a drought occurs the ground should 

 be kept moist. In planting, see that 

 the soil is worked in among the root 

 fibres. It is a mistake to pour water 

 in, as there are sure to be air spaces 

 after the water drains away. It is bet- 

 ter to plant without water, packing 

 the soil well in and then soak the 

 ground, and after the soil has settled, 

 fill to the level of the ground and give 

 a mulch of manure. 



WARREN J. CHANDLER. 



PERSONAL. 



Charles Guelph, of Rice & Co., was 

 a visitor in Cleveland last week. 



Charles Beck, chief gardener at the 

 National Soldiers' Home, Dayton, 

 Ohio, for past thirty years, suffered a 

 stroke of paralysis, March 1st, and is 

 npt expected to live. He is seventy- 

 rioe years of age. 



OBITUARY. 

 Michael O'Donnell, one of the well- 

 known market gardeners of Revere, 

 Mass., died on March 2 at his home, 

 aged 78 years. He was a member of 

 the Boston Market Gardeners' Asso- 

 ciation. He is survived by three sons. 



William T. Pierce, for ten years 

 chief engineer for the Metropolitan 

 Park Commission, who resigned about 

 a year ago, on account of ill health, 

 died February 26, at his home in Wa- 

 tertown, Mass. He was 41 years old. 

 He leaves a widow and a daughter. 



Jesse Beebe, 25, an employe of the 

 Miami Floral Company, at Dayton, was 

 struck by an engine and instantly 

 killed at the railroad crossing on Mon- 

 day, March 5th, while carrying flowers 

 to the banquet hall where the execu- 

 tive committee of the S. A. F. were to 

 be entertaiiu-d. 



Peter Patterson, for nineteen years 

 in charge of R. A. Grannis's country 

 seat at Morris Plains, N. J., died on 

 February 16. He was a native of Scot- 

 land, a man of ability and held in the 

 highest esteem by his brother garden- 

 ers. He was 76 years old. He lost 

 his wife six months ago. A sister and 

 brother survive him. 



Frederick W. Ritter, a leading florist 

 of Dayton, Ohio, since 1832, died on 

 March 1st, in the ninety-third year of 

 his age. He had been in the green- 

 house business since he was 13 years 

 of age, and worked in the establish- 

 ment of his son, Herman H. Ritter, at 

 Dayton, up to within two weeks of his 

 death. His death was caused by a fall 

 downstairs. 



PENNISETUM MACROPHYLLUM 



ATROPURPUREUM. 



Translated from "Moeller's D. G. Ztg.," by 

 G. B. 



The Pennisetum m. atrpp. is one of 

 the best introductions in recent years. 

 It is an ornamental grass of a very 

 impressive effect, produced by the 

 deep-brown coloring of its long, ele- 

 gantly carried foliage as well as by 

 the silver-rose color of its flowers, 

 making a very charming contrast, and 

 being comparable to a colored foun- 

 tain. 



The plant is a perennial to be kept 

 in winter in most any place in a cool 

 house; the new shoots start in spring 

 with very little heat and when placed 

 outdoors in a rich-soiled sunny loca- 

 tion will grow very rapidly into an 

 elegant decorative plant. 



WHAT THEY SAY OF US. 

 Inclosed please find postal money 

 order for subscription to HORTICUL- 

 TURE for 1906. Am well pleased with 

 it. Every number is improving. — S. J. 



HORTICULTURE needs a wide- 

 awake representative in every town 

 in the land. Good commissions paid 

 on advertising and subscriptions. If 

 you are ambitious, write for terms. 



WHOLESOME CHESTNUTS. 



Get early cabbage and cauliflower 

 plants into frames to be hardened be- 

 fore planting time. 



When not absolutely necessary, fire 

 heat, ought to be dispensed with in the 

 day time, utilizing the sun heat to the 

 fuliesf extent in preference. 



With one good watering shortly af- 

 ter heat is turned on, the grapery bor- 

 der will not require much more until 

 growth has progressed considerably. 



Don't place anything in a cold frame 

 immediately after potting if you want 

 growth to proceed without interrup- 

 tion, better wait until they are some- 

 what established. 



If grape vines have been tied down 

 to break, they ought to be untied and 

 fastened permanently to the vines be- 

 fore the shoots attain the length of be- 

 ing easily broken in handling the 

 vines. 



Do not let cucumbers in full bear- 

 ing in shallow benches suffer for want 

 of water; top dress the bed with soil 

 and some fertilizer, remove all de- 

 formed fruit and avoid heavy cropping 

 which soon cripples the plants. 



Continue propagating by seed, sow- 

 ing and cuttings, if you have room. 

 Don't let last year's number be your 

 limit; then, when the time comes, if 

 you need them you'll have them, but 

 if you don't save them, and need them, 

 it would have been better if you had 

 them. 



To help the setting of fruit on peach 

 and nectarine trees, shake the branches 

 at the time of day when the sun is 

 brightest. Attend early to the dis- 

 budding of peaches and nectarines. An 

 hour devoted to this work in time is 

 better than a long, wearisome day 

 when it is too late. 



FORCING THE VARIEGATED MA- 

 PLE (ACER NEGUNDO VARIE- 

 GATUM) FOR WINTER 

 DECORATIONS. 



Translation from a German Trade Paper. 

 Choose well-branched plants, either 

 standards, pyramids, or bush form. 

 Use smallest possible pots; after pot- 

 ting, lay plants outdoors flat on their 

 sides on the ground, cover branches 

 with leaves to protect against very 

 severe frosts. After slight freezing 

 take plants into the house — say in 

 November to December — give plenty 

 light, start with 60 degrees and grad- 

 ually increase to 90 to 95 degrees 

 Fahrenheit. During all this time 

 water the plants freely and syringe 

 the wood liberally. Four to five 

 weeks of such treatment should pro- 

 duce the foliage and plants ready for 

 decorating. For forcing, the wood 

 should of course not be pruned. This 

 same treatment holds good for the 

 Japanese maples; treated thus, they 

 will be in foliage easily within five 

 weeks. 



James B. Kidd is connected with the 

 Hinode Florist Co., New York, and not 

 with the Yokohama Nursery Co., as 

 stated in our last issue. 



If you want to do business with rose 

 growers or rose dealers, advertise in 

 our Rose Number next week. Send 

 copy at once. 



