1885.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



291 



trenched and enriched by compost to a depth be- 

 tween 2 and 3 feet. After examining the roots 

 and crowns I decided that the character of the 

 plant indicated that it would stand many degrees 

 of frost. I potted the one and removed it to the 

 greenhouse, the other I left in the ground. At 

 the approach of hard freezing, in this climate, I 

 covered the plant with leaves and a sufficiency of 

 old hot-bed manure to keep the leaves in place. 

 As soon as the winter frosts were over I removed 

 the manure and gradually the leaves. When dig- 

 ing the border in winter and spring, care was 

 taken not to disturb the roots. Late in the spring, 

 to my delight, it began to grow and sent up many 

 vines of great vigor, which twined around the 

 single stake to its top and formed a large column 

 of foliage, and bloomed continuously from mid- 

 summer until frost. It was an object of great 

 beauty with its deep green, rich foliage, producing 

 hundreds of tubulous waxy looking red flowers. 

 There the plant remained until the spring of 1882, 

 a period of twenty-five years, when a laborer, (a 

 new one of African descent, possessed of more 

 muscle than brains) in my absence dug up every- 

 thing on the border, the Manettia among them 

 and carted them to the trash heap. 



In 1864, at the time of "Hood's raid on Nash- 

 ville," my premises were on the line of the outer 

 intrenchments of the Union Army. It became ex- 

 pedient, as they thought, to occupy temporarily 

 my house and grounds as headquarters for a por- 

 tion of the army. "Necessity knows no law." 

 Soldiers had neither thought of, or cared for, plants 

 or shrubbery. That border became the conven- 

 ient place for the officers' horses to be stationed. 

 They destroyed every character of protection to 

 the plants and trampled the ground as hard as the 

 road. I expected that my Manetlia also was de- 

 stroyed after such usage, but to my surprise and 

 gratification, (the soil on the top having been care- 

 fully loosened with a fork and that surrounding it 

 spaded up as usual) the plant came up as form- 

 erly, but not so luxuriantly, and bloomed beyond 

 expectation. By the next year it regained its 

 accustomed vigor and continued to bloom every 

 season until destroyed as above. 



The thermometer has been many times below 

 zero at my place and occasionally to 15° below. 



In 1883 I was given another Manettia cordifolia 

 plant and planted it in the open border. It lived 

 through the winters of '84 and '85 without any 

 protection. It is now growing finely and making 

 blooms. The thermometer fell to 1 5° below zero 

 in 1884 and to 13O in '85. I am satisfied that any 



one in this latitude can grow this desirable plant 

 in the open grounds leaving it there during the 

 winter. Would advise light protection for the first 

 two or three years, or until the plant is well estab- 

 lished. I believe it will live out even at Mr. Par- 

 nell's place if planted in deep, rich alluvial soil, 

 well drained, and protected in breadth and depth 

 (height) according to the degree of freezing in his 

 latitude. It is worth trying. Nashville, Tenn. 



[This is a very interesting paper, and will give 

 pleasure to hundreds by the addition of another 

 very beautiful ornament to the out-door flower 

 garden. 



It will be noted that the roots are not possibly 

 frozen in the place noted by our correspondent, for 

 though the thermometer go to zero, sometimes the 

 covering keeps out the frost, and even though it 

 does penetrate some inches, the deeper rooting 

 portion is not reached by the frost. Ampelopsis 

 incisa and the " Hardy " Passion vine, Passiflora 

 incarnata are of this class. They have to be 

 covered as described for this Manettia, but when 

 they are not covered the plants generally hold 

 their own, because the lower roots are not reached 

 by the frost. But who would not take a little care 

 to cover the ground if it will preserve these beau- 

 tiful plants?— Ed. G. M.] 



GAS KILLING TREES. 



BY N. ROBERTSO.N. 



I am exactly in the same condition as Nanz & 

 Neuner with regard to street trees. A leaky gas 

 pipe runs alongside of them for a considerable 

 distance, and although I have had it thoroughly 

 examined, and every appearance of a leak made 

 good, the soil all removed for a considerable dis- 

 tance around, and the bottom of the pits made as 

 tight with wet clay packed as close and firm as 

 possible, yet they die off. At first there were 

 about a dozen, but by continued trials I have got 

 them all to take hold and grow, but four. Some 

 have been now four years and look healthy so 

 far. Last fall I had one large Elm that had been 

 transplanted some years before, knowing that its 

 roots would be in a strong condition to stand a 

 good deal. I had all the soil permeated with the 

 gas removed a long way around the bottom, 

 packed over a foot thick with strong clay ; but my 

 efforts are of no avail for it is gone also. This 

 position is in close proximity to a large main where 

 other pipes diverge from it. 



The only possible method I can think of would 

 be to have the pipes uncovered, and a thick coat- 



