892 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



MAY 5. 1898. 



Hesperalaea Yuccafolia, or Red 

 Flowering Yucca — This species was 

 described by Prof. Engelmann more 

 tlian thirty years ago. It is a native 

 of western Texas and northern Mex- 

 ico, but does not seem to have been in- 

 troduced to cultivation until some 

 twelve or fifteen years ago, when we 

 received plants of it. The flower stalk 

 appears about May and produces a con- 

 tinual series of flowers during the 

 summer and until late in the fall, each 

 individual flower lasting from six to 

 eight days. It is a showy plant, but 

 very slow in propagating, as the best 

 way is to increase it by division. Seed 

 pods form very seldom and seedlings 

 always come true. 



Limonium Trifoliatum, or Hardy 



upon the lemon or sour orange stocks 

 do not take kindly to cramped quar- 

 ters, and as they require large tubs 

 and much room, they are often unde- 

 sirable for small conservatories. This 

 is obviated by using the Citrus trifo- 

 liata, and a plant in an S or 10-inch 

 pot laden with large, luscious fruit 

 demonstrates the value of this class of 

 plants. 



As a hedge plant tor defensive pur- 

 poses, it is destined to supersede any 

 of the thorny species heretofore used 

 for that purpose. It is of rapid and 

 compact growth, remarkably easy to 

 transplant, free from insect depreda- 

 tions or diseases, and does not throw 

 up suckers. Though deciduous, the 

 vivid green color of the bark gives the 



Field of the Polyantha Rose Marie Fa vie, at Fruitland, Augusta, Ga. 



Japan Lemon [Synonyms: Pseudaegle 

 sepiara. Citrus trifoliata. Citrus trip- 

 tera, Karatachi ( Japanese name) ] : 

 This plant has been known in botani- 

 cal collections for many years past, 

 but its value as a stock for oranges 

 was only lately discovered here, when 

 plants of the Kum Kwat orange sent 

 us by Dr. Geo. Hall from Yokohama 

 in 1873 were found to be grafted upon 

 the Citrus trifoliata. We immediately 

 began to propagate the best varieties 

 of Florida oranges (taking a hint from 

 our Japanese friends), and in a few 

 years Florida orange growers report- 

 ed through their horticultural papers 

 that this stock caused nearly all 

 oranges to withstand more frost than 

 trees of the same varieties budded up- 

 on either the sour orange or wild 

 lemon. 



But its great value as a stock is that 

 it dwarfs the graft in the same man- 

 ner that the Paradise does the apple, 

 and this produces plants eminently 

 suited for pot culture, a two-year graft 

 usually setting fruit, and plants three 

 to four years old and not above three 

 feet high can carry a crop of from 10 

 to 20 large oranges. Trees grafted 



hedge a bright appearance in winter. 

 Hedges planted in good soil and prop- 

 erly cared for will at their third year 

 be so compact as to prevent a rabbit 

 from coming through, and are a Tor- 

 midable barrier to man and beast. Be- 

 ing hardy as far north as the latitude 

 of New York city, it is, therefore, one 

 of the most desirable plants for pro- 

 tective hedges. P. J. BERCKMANS. 

 Fruitland, Augusta, Ga, 



to neglect the young plants as a con- 

 sequence, as is the natural inclination 

 with the increasing spring work and 

 need of room. One is frequently 

 tempted to relegate those which are 

 pricked out in flats under the edges of 

 benches, etc., but don't do it, as the 

 results are soft, drawn plants; first 

 over watered and then over dry, and 

 by the time you are ready to plant out 

 you have a poor plant in some one re- 

 spect, if not more than one. 



We think it better to give them too 

 much air and light, rather than err on 

 the other side. Therefore, if you have 

 not room in the house, or cold frames 

 for them, find some place sheltered 

 from too strong winds, and where they 

 can be conveniently watered outside of 

 the house. Extra caution will have to 

 be used about watering, as they will 

 dry out so much faster than in the 

 house (unless it rains all the time, as 

 for the past week). This treatment 

 will harden them off, and they will 

 bear transplanting into the open 

 ground much better than if taken di- 

 rectly from the houses. 



Some growers advocate buying your 

 stock every season, claiming that they 

 have better flowers thereby. We have 

 not experimented largely in this line, 

 not having had good results in what 

 we have tried. However, we have or- 

 dered some stock from different lo- 

 calities to try again this season, and 

 we shall try part of each lot, both 

 inside and out of the houses. I shall 

 be disappointed if they do well the 

 first year, for, as I have before stated, 

 our experience is that it takes one or 

 two seasons for them to get accli- 

 mated, so to speak. However, we shall 

 watch the development with interest. 

 We hope that others will try the same 

 method and report the results, as we 

 believe that this department would be 

 of much more use to growers if such 

 things were freely discussed, and any- 

 thing out of the ordinary line reported 

 for the benefit of all. 



R. E. SHUPHELT. 



VIOLET NOTES. 



The issue of The Review for the 

 2Sth is just at hand, and I find that 

 I or the printers have made a little 

 mistake, which makes me say what I 

 do not mean. The sentence commenc- 

 ing. "More plants," etc., should read: 

 "More plants can be grown on a given 

 piece of gi'ound, as one can plant 

 closely, and then, too, a 'horse' culti- 

 vator," etc, not "hand" cultivator. 

 This, as will be seen, quite changes the 

 meaning. 



With us it has continued to rain 

 more or less all the week — mostly 

 more — so that we have been unable to 

 do anything to the fields preparatory 

 to planting. Care should be taken not 



SHEEP MANUF.E FOR THE LAWN. 



I have a quantity of sheep manure, 

 and thought of using it as a fertilizer 

 for the lawn. Would you advise using 

 it for this purpose, and if so, in what 

 way, to obtain best results? E. W. 



Sheep manure is a good grass ferti- 

 lizer and an application of ouO pounds 

 per acre, or even more on certain soils, 

 would be all right. A cheaper ferti- 

 lizer (cheaper as regards the amount 

 of plant food per dollar of cost) could 

 be compounded by any dealer in ferti- 

 lizers. The best proportions would be 

 (> per cent, nitrogen, ."> per cent, phos- 

 phoric acid (available), and 3 per cent, 

 potash. According to a simple rule, 

 this figures $2(i per ton, and may be 

 applied at the rate of 200 pounds per 

 annum per acre in two applications, 

 say one now and another two months 

 later. Finely ground tankage contains 

 about the proper proportions of plant 

 food for lawns and it can be had from 

 $18 to $24 per ton. J. A. P. 



