108 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\^ April, 



ture this Carnation makes a small, weak, wiry 

 growth, and jjroduccs small flowers, ami of 

 those quite few; but iii a low lein|terature as 

 stated above, the ^rowtii is exceoilingly robust 

 and short joiuted, the foliaire laru;e, of a rieh 

 glaucous blue, and the flowers lar^e, perfect, and 

 of the richest clove fragrance. I have gathered 

 hundreds of flowers of this variety, each one a 

 jierfc'ct rosette two and a half or three inches in 

 diameter, and this, notwithstanding its having 

 been tlescribed in some catalogues as "a variety 

 having rather small flowers." As far as my expe- 

 rience goes I And a high temperature injurious 

 to the Carnations generally, but more particu- 

 larly is this the case with the true, or perpetual 

 flowering varieties, to which class the La Belle 

 belongs, and I find tVie old variety called "La 

 Purite," produces flowers of a much richer 

 color, double the size and double the quantity in 

 a temperature during Winter of 45° or 50° than 

 they do in a temperature of 65° or 70°. Carna- 

 tion growers cannot have failed to observe the 

 great change which takes place in their planted 

 out Carnations as soon as the cool dewy nights 

 of August and September occur; they seem all at 

 once to assume new life, making vigorous shoots 

 and in flowering plants the brilliancy and size of 

 the flowers are greatly increased ; after a while 

 the plants are lifted and cither potted or planted 

 out in the houses, and subjected to a high tem- 

 perature during the coldest part of the year, and 

 if we find a variety that will not flower freely and 

 give the very best results under this unnatural 

 treatment, how ready we are to pronounce it 

 worthless. 



OBSCURED GLASS IN GREENHOUSES. 



BY GORDON LEVER, IRVIKGTON'-ON-HUDSON, N. Y. 



It may be worth while to say a word or two 

 about obscured or semi-opaque glass in green- 

 houses, though there is hardly any wish to stir 

 up such a controversy among writers as was 

 raised by the " Wild Goose Plum." — (This in 

 capital letters, Mr. Printer, as it is going to be a 

 good year for wild geese, perhaps ! hardy Rho- 

 dodendrons, and kindred subjects.) It is hard to 

 tell at present what is hardy among this princely 

 class of plants, and the man who has capital, 

 would do a real benefit to horticulture by careful 

 experiments for a couple years up in this lati- 

 tude with so-called hardy Rhododendrons, and 

 give us some day the result of the trial — situa- 



tioti and everything else considered. But I am 

 wandering from the subject, and scribbling over 

 space may cause the Editor's hair to stand on 

 end, like plants that don't know what to do with 

 head-room in a dark corner except to straggle 

 up to the light. Speaking about obscurity, I 

 dont know of anything that takes the gloss and 

 greenness out of bedding stuft" in such an insidi- 

 ous way as ground glass. Roses sufter a little too, 

 and their leaves look as if the gardener's unwel- 

 come pet, the lively red spider, was around and 

 on the rampage, though the jirevailing moisture 

 forbids his mischievous inroads. It does very 

 well over Camellias and hard-leaved stuff", where 

 they have plenty of air-space and bench-room, 

 though the rosy tints of some Azalias are 

 aflected in an unexplainable way by the hazy 

 light admitted. They grow and flourish cer- 

 tainly, are seldom drawn, but there is an absence 

 of that pure, healthy coloring to be found in 

 pure sun-light and more fiivorable circumstan- 

 ces. Callas and most white flowering stuff are 

 not visibly discolored by the light through ground 

 glass ; on the contrary, their whiteness seems to 

 be improved; but fine foliage plants, Crotons, 

 &c., get somewhat seedy in appearance and 

 the streaks and markings are not so distinct 

 and vigorous as under clear glass. Ferns, Palms, 

 Begonias, &c., grow very well under obscured 

 glass, but there is something unmistakable in 

 their general appearance which is not favorable 

 to the use of this kind of glass overhead. If it 

 could be replaced by transparent glass on dark 

 days and during the Winter months, the greatest 

 objection to its use might be overlooked, but as 

 this is out of the question, I would suggest that 

 only a couple feet each side of the ridge pole be 

 glazed with ground glass, the rest to the edges of 

 the benches clear. This will tone down the 

 violent mid-day heat of the sun in Summer, and 

 admit nearly all the sunlight in Winter and 

 Spring, when it is most needed. 



CALLA /ETHIOPICA. 



This plant is probably as well known as any 

 thing that could be mentioned. Though not 

 belonging to the Lily family proper, it is yet al- 

 most universally known as the Calla Lily. It is 

 found in almost every one's house, and is one 

 of the main things grown by florists for Winter 

 blooming; its spotless white spatha, or flower as 



