1 66 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[June, 



I have four varieties of Passiflora in bloom in 

 the houses ; and the city is redolent with the per- 

 fume of Magnolia fuscata. And orange blossoms 

 have got to be such a nuisance. I have to rake 

 them up two or three times a week to keep them 

 from scalding the grass. 



New Orleans, La., April 6th. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Raising New Varieties of Gladiolus.— Mr. 

 James Douglas gives the Gardeners' Magazine 

 his method as follows : "The variety intended to 

 bear seeds must be watched, and as soon as the 

 anthers can be perceived in the centre of the half 

 opened flowers they must be removed with the 

 finger and thumb, before the pollen cases burst. In 

 two days more the flowers will be fully open, and 

 the stigmatic portion will be quite ready to be 

 dusted with the pollen from another variety. I 

 dust the seed bearing flowers about four times. It 

 is easy to do this, because at the time of setting the 

 blossoms we go over the flowers twice a day. In 

 the morning between nine and ten, and in the 

 afternoon between two and three. The pods soon 

 begin to swell, and when at their full size they 

 very speedily ripen. They are ready to be 

 gathered as soon as the pods crack from the top 

 downwards. When gathered dry them in an airy 

 room. The pods may be wrapped up in paper 

 loosely until April, when they should be sown, 

 about the first day in that month. My plan is to 

 prepare a hot-bed for them, and to sow about fifty 

 seeds in a 7-inch pot, using good light compost. The 

 seeds vegetate in two weeks, and the way to be 

 successful is to keep the young plants growing on 

 without any check. The plants grow very rapidly, 

 but it is best not to disturb them. As they increase 

 in size, gradually admit more air, until by the end 

 of May the lights may be removed entirely ; 

 placing them over the frames only in very rough 

 and frosty weather. By the end of September or 

 not later than the middle of October, the young 

 seedhngs have completed their growth, and the 

 pots will be full of bulbs varying in size from a 

 marrow pea to a filbert. The pots may be laid on 

 their sides until the leaves decay, when the next 

 step will be to shake the bulbs out, wrap them up 

 in paper, and store the packages in a dry place 

 where frost cannot reach them. If the soil in the 

 pots is allowed to become moist after having been 

 dried off the bulbs will start into growth in a 

 few days, and will shoot up two inches in as many 



weeks. Through an accident of this kind I had 

 500 bulbs start into growth out of 1,000 before the 

 end of October." 



The Winter Aconite.— It is a matter of 



surprise that this lovely flower is not more 



common in American gardens. It is not much in 



love with the common flower garden, but loves to 



take care of itself in woods or thickets, or other 



places where it can go on for years without being 



disturbed. The yellow flowers are prettier than 



any buttercup, and are open frequently before the 



snow has wholly gone away. It is so generally 



known by its common name that one is not likely 



to get something else when ordering it, but it is 



well to say that its botanical name is Eranthus 



hyemalis. Thomas Noel has some pretty lines on 



the Winter Aconite which we here reproduce : 



Flower, that foi-etell'st a Spring thou ne'er shalt see, 



Yet smileat still ujion tliy wintry-day, 



Content with thy joy-giving destiny, 



Nor envying fairer flowers their festal May, — 



Ogoklen-ehaliced Aconite ! I'll lay 



To heart the lesson that thou teachest me ; 



I, too. crmtciitfil with my times will be, 



And still a iil;i('lil aspect will display 



In tempest-troubled seasons, — nor repine 



That others, coming after, shall enjoy 



A calmer ilay, a sunnier sky than mine ; 



To speed the present, be my sweet employ ; 



To cast into a stormy world my mite 



Of cheer, like thee, gloom-gilding Aconite ! , 



Broken Branches of Norvitay Spruce. — 

 Under Norway Spruce trees towards spring, are 

 frequently found broken branches in consid- 

 erable quantities. The Editor has always re- 

 garded this as resulting from the operations of 

 a twig borer or girdler. Desiring to know 

 more of the supposed insect, specimens were 

 recently sent to Professor Riley, who doubts 

 whether the trouble comes from an insect at all. 

 This makes the matter mysterious. And it is well 

 worthy of the attention of acute observers. No 

 adequate cause for these broken branches has 

 been suggested. Mice or squirrels cannot do it, 

 as the twigs are not cut by teeth, but broken, as 

 examination by a lens clearly shows. 



Disease of the Hollyhock. — This once 

 lovely flower promises soon to be extinct. It has 

 been relentlessly pursued by a fungus known as 

 Puccinia malvacearum, which so weakens it in a 

 year or two it dwindles and dies. It is as 

 bad in the old world as in America. A number 

 of other herbaceous plants suffer under culture in 

 the same way. 



Rosa rubrifolia.— The taste for the original 

 wild single roses has developed remarkably since 

 the introduction of the Rosa rugosa. The Journal 

 des Roses says that one of the best is Rosa rubri- 



