1877."^ 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



269 



Calla jEthiopica. — D.W., Denver, Col., writes: 

 " Why is there so little said about this general 

 favorite? I have two hundred planted out in 

 the garden, which seem to be doing splendidly, 

 but what to do with them, as cold weather 

 approaches, is the question. Should they be 

 taken up, potted, and kept growing, or would it 

 do to take them up, let them dry off in a cellar, 

 and then pot them from time to time, as they 

 are wanted for sale, or for flowers ? " 



[Florists who grow the Calla, or Richardia 

 ^thiopica, for its flowers, require them to be in 

 bloom between Christmas and Easter, and even 

 those who want them for window culture, desire 

 to have them through the Winter. For these 

 purposes they rest them somewhat during Sum- 

 mer by keeping dry, and about the middle of 

 August, or September, pot and water them. If 

 they are kept dry till later, they will, of course, 

 bloom later, and then it becomes a question 

 whether later flowers are desirable. — Ed. G. M.] 



Purple-leaved Ivy. — A coi-respondent in- 

 quires whether this plant referred to in a notice 

 from Garden in a recent paragraph, is yet in this 

 country. We have looked through several cata- 

 logues, but do not see it. If any one has it, 

 send word to Mr. T. S. Strickler, West Troy, N, Y. 



Culture of Hedychium Gardnerianum. — 

 Mrs. R. B. E., writes : — " Will you please inform 

 me through the Monthly what treatment is 

 necessary for Hedychium Gardnerianum. I 

 have one that grows luxuriantly, but, though 

 three years old, gives no hint of blooming. 

 What is its season of bloom? And does it re- 

 quire rest from growth ? And, finally, is it worth 

 growing at all ? 



[It is decidedly worth growing. The yellow, 

 sweet flowers open in Winter. The beet way to 



grow it, is to plant it out in the open border 

 in Summer. In Fall lift it carefully, ami put in 

 a pot or tub, and keep it growing in a moder- 

 ately warm greenhouse, and flowers will come 

 from the top of the stems before Spring.— 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Culture op Cactus. — A subscriber. Mount 

 Pleasant, Iowa, writes: — "Sometime at your 

 convenience, if you will have the kindness to 

 give one article in Gardener's Monthly to cultiva- 

 tion of Cactus, varieties, soil, and any treatment 

 necessary to successful growth, it will gratify a 

 number of your subscribers." 



[The various kinds of Cactuses love our Sum- 

 mer heat so well, that we might say in general, 

 plant them out in the full sun in Summer, and 

 then take up, and re-pot in Fall. This is the 

 way they are done in Mr. Shaw's Missouri 

 Botanical Gardens, at St. Louis, and we never 

 saw more healthy or beautiful plants. When 

 they become large they are awkward handling, 

 on account of their spines, and then they are 

 best grown in tubs, and the tubs set out in the 

 full sun during Summer. 



But there are some leafy kinds of Cactuses 

 which we believe thrive better in partial shade ; 

 of these are the Epiphyllums, though these like 

 the heat. The best and most generally known 

 of these are the E. Jenkinsoni, E. speciosup, 

 E. speciosissimus, E. Ackermanii, and E. trun- 

 catum and varieties. There is E. latifolius, and 

 E. Crenatus, often grown, which thrive in full 

 sun, as the other named ones do, but they are 

 not so showy in flower. They are often grafted 

 on more woody Cactuses, and in this way do 

 very well. The E. truncatum is grafted on 

 Pereskia aculeata, and thrives well on it. Any 

 kind of soil suits the Cactus family. — Ed. G. M.] 



Mruit and 'Vegetable Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



So far as fruit growing for market is concerned, 

 we hear on all sides that the season has been 

 unprofitable, and that there will be no encour- 

 agement to plant new orchards. The talk is as 

 if fruit growing for market was overdone. But 



this has always been the talk ever since any one 

 can recollect. Everything will be overdone 

 sometimes. No one knows when he plants just 

 how heavy the crop will be, or just how many 

 persons will want his crop. This uncertainly 

 must result sometimes in less than people want, 

 in which case those who pay the most get it; or 

 in too much, when the grower is glad to get 



