358 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



experience confirms this; but after forty years 

 porsovoraiice, the hardiness dopentls on p:ivin.u; 

 the root suflicient space, manure and support. 

 By phmting a few feet from the tree or verandah 

 deaijjned to he covered, I find a marked im- 

 proved liardiness." 



(Tliis \n an excellent hint and ai)plicahle to all 

 trees. A half starved plant of any kind always 

 Buffers more from untoward circumstances than 

 one well fed. Tlie most losses in transplanting 

 trees are from those that are taken from poor 

 ground.— Ed. G. M.] 



EXOCHORDA GRANDIFLORA. — Mr. E. F. Luck- 



hurst, foreman to A. Hance & Son, Red Bank, 

 New Jersey, writes : — " I noticed an article 

 iu your Monthly of August last, an account 

 of propagation of E.Kocliorda grandillora by a 

 French horticulturist. He says the end of Win- 

 ter or commencement of Spring is the mostsuit- 

 able time for putting in the grafts. All I have 

 to say is, I grafted, two yeai's ago last January, 

 several hundred, and raised about eightj'' per 

 cent, of them." 



Flow^ering of Old Hyacinth Bulbs. — Mrs.R., 

 Springfield, Ills., asks; — "I am told that Hya- 

 cinths, after blooming in bottles, are no use any 

 more, and have always tloj'own them away. But 

 I do so dislike it. Is there no way to save them 

 and make them flower again ? " 



[In the hands of those w'ho understand it, they 

 could be made to do quite well ; but it is hardly 

 worth your while to try. Not even as a matter 

 of trade have Americans been able to beat the 

 the Dutch — (hough there were hopes of it some 

 years ago in New Jersey. If you would like to 

 try your hand, as a matter of horticultural exer- 

 cise, plant the bulb in a pot of earth as soon as 



it has done flowering, and keep it growing aa 

 long as you can. Next year take an oflset and 

 grow it in as good earth ixa you can get, and so 

 keep on next year, and do not lot the offset 

 flower till it makes a good strong bulb. In a few 

 years you would get it as good as a Dutch root. 

 —Ed. G. M.] 



Peristrophe angustifolia. — B. says: — "If 

 you will plciise inform me in the Monthly of the 

 name of the plant of which I enclose a piece, I 

 will be very much obliged. It is of a low spread- 

 ing habit, having blue flowers somewhat like the 

 Lobelia." 



[This is Peristrophe angustifolia — a plant of 

 the Acanthus order, with variegated leaves, and 

 a capital thing for bedding, where few other 

 things will stand the sun. — Ed. G. M.] 



The Sexes of Salisburia. — Prof. Sargent com- 

 municates the following : — " One of the Salia- 

 burias, planted some twenty years ago in the 

 grounds of the Kentucky Military Institute at 

 Farmdale, Ky., and now thirty feet high, proves 

 to be a female, and has fruited this year for the 

 first time. I am not aware that this interesting 

 tree has fruited before in the United States, while 

 iu Europe specimens known to be female are 

 still very rare. Through the kindness of Prof. 

 R. H. Wildberger, specimens of the ripe fruit are 

 before me. Its fleshy outer covering exhales an 

 extremely disagreeable smell of rancid butter, 

 but the kernel is excellent with the flavor of Fil- 

 berts, although more delicate. In Japan the 

 kernels have reputed digestive qualities, and are 

 very generally served at dessert. The cultivation 

 of the ' Ginjko ' for its fruit is one of the possibil- 

 ities of American Horticulture, and is, perhaps 

 worth consideration." 



^REEN House and House Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



It is too soon for window plants to get into 

 trouble yet. They generally look well till after 

 New Year, after being brought in during 

 October. But soon, over-wateriug, or under- 

 watering, or the effects of minute insects, or 



waste gas from the burners, or sulphurous gaa 

 from the heaters or stoves will begin to tell, and 

 there will be trouble. As these are about all the 

 difficulties in window-plant culture, one soon 

 learns to avoid them, and indeed nothing but a 

 veal love of window-plant culture will enable 

 anyone to learn. It is what the best of maga»- 

 zines, with the smartest of editors cannot teach. 



