February 9, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



163 



WHOLESOME CHESTNUTS. 



If sufficient heat cannot be main- 

 tained uninterruptedly in tlie house or 

 that part intended for gardenias, It 

 will be better to leave the gardenias 

 in the pots yet a while, and In the 

 event of a shift being absolutely neces- 

 sary, and as it is presumed the plants 

 are now in 3 or 3 1-2 in. pots, put them 

 into 4 in. pots and keep them growing. 

 If last year's gardenia plants still in 

 benches are vigorous and in good all- 

 round condition, but are crowded, try 

 the experiment of taking every other 

 one out, leaving the remaining ones 

 for summer flowering. Of course it 

 will be necessary to renovate the soil 

 in the bench. 



Where it is required to have Ameri- 

 can Beauty roses for summer and the 

 plants are put in every year, It will 

 be well to make preparations very soon 

 in the way of getting the benches 

 ready and good soil for the reception 

 of the plants, and what is perhaps of 

 as much importance as anything else 

 is to make sure of getting good healthy 

 stock to plant. It is poor economy to 

 make cheapness the first consideration 

 v/hen ordering plants; better be on the 

 safe side and order the best from con- 

 cerns sending out no other but the 

 best, then the chances are that when 

 the plants come to hand you will not 

 have to shrink from poor, sickly stock 

 discolored with hereditary spots. 



Fuchsias are again coming into favor. 

 Put in as soon as you have a chance 

 all the cuttings you see; keep them 

 shifted and growing, and by early sum- 

 mer you will have a nice lot of orna- 

 mental as well as salable stock. 



Salvias are satisfactory in most cases 

 from seed if grown along in the prop- 

 er way, but are not satisfactory it they 

 are simply transplanted from the seed 

 pans into flats and left there to crowd 

 each other into weak, spindly things. 

 After the seedlings are fit to handle it 

 will do well enough to transplant them 

 into flats: in fact, I prefer doing that; 

 then when they show- any sign of 

 crowding, pot them into small pots, re- 

 potting them afterwards as they may 

 require it, until they ar* in 3 1-2 or 

 4 in. pots, stopping them occasionally 

 to get them bushy, but always early 

 enough so that it will not have to be 

 done when they should be in flower. 



Vincas are of little use if they are 

 not of some length. Keep them grow- 

 ing as much as you can; if they are 

 now in as large pots as you can give 

 them and these are filled with roots, 

 feed them occasionally but regularly 

 with liquid manure. 



Geraniums will now be in 2 in. pots 

 and ready in many cases for 3 in. pots. 

 Now is the time to lay the foundation 

 for stocky plants; good potting soil is 

 a help to that end, and so also will be 

 the process of pinching the tops of all 

 that are at present of lanky growth 

 and later on of all that show a ten- 

 dency in the same direction. Keep 

 shifting the plants about as often as 

 possible, and each time stir the soil on 

 the surface of the pots. Do every- 

 thing possible to encourage the plants 

 to grow robust and capable of throw- 

 ing up good trusses of bloom to tempt 

 buyers, otherwise you need not expect 

 to compete successfully with others 

 who are willing to do what is neces- 

 sary to produce acceptable goods. 



It is early enough yet to begin propa- 

 gating coleus, and it is a question in 

 my mind, although I am pretty well 



decided on it, whether or not it pays 

 the ordinary grower of plants for sale 

 to bother with the cuttings at all, 

 when these can be had in splendid con- 

 dition and are offered at a low figure 

 by firms having special facilities for 

 handling them in immense quantities. 

 This question is equally pertinent in 

 relation to many other things besides 

 coleus. 



The sage who objects to the remark 

 that "it is better to be too early than 

 too late," and is satisfied that dirty 

 sand and old sand, if I may use the 

 term, is just as good as clean, fresh 

 sand for propagating purposes is too 

 late; that kind of advice might have 

 done about the time when Old Mother 

 O'Leary's cow made her famous kick. 

 If a man is a little early with cuttings 

 or seedlings there is some hope for 

 him, but if too late God pity him; that 

 is how I look at it. 



Pansies should never be allowed to 

 get into such condition that it will be 

 necessary to take them up in "clumps" 

 as is sometimes advised when dispos- 

 ing of them to customers. It is much 

 the better way to have the plants in 

 such shape that they can be lifted out 

 of the soil in the frame singly and yet 

 have enough soil adhere to them to 

 insure success. 



Where changes, alterations or im- 

 provements are under consideration or 

 contemplated on private estates, it will 

 be well for the gardener, or whoever is 

 selected to carry out the work, to make 

 beforehand a careful estimate of the 

 cost and make the same known plain- 

 ly to the owner of the property, tak- 

 ing care always to base the estimate 

 rather higher than lower than actual 

 conditions and future eventualities 

 may warrant; this will most likely pre- 

 vent much unpleasantness at the Inter- 

 vals of settlement. 



No matter how a skilful gardener 

 may contrive to beautify a country 

 residence with plants innumerable, if 

 from any cause the lawn gets into poor 

 condition and in consequence the grass 

 patchy and weedy, much of his labor 

 has been in vain; therefore the great- 

 est care should be taken that the lawn 

 may look well. Animal manure is 

 doubtless of great value for lawns, al- 

 though there may be a good deal in 

 the complaint that such manures are 

 productive of weeds; however that may 

 be, the fall of the year is the best time 

 to apply that kind of manure, while 

 for spring application wood ashes, or 

 bone, or blood and bone, are preferable. 

 If wood ashes are used it will be neces- 

 sary to caution those engaged in 

 spreading it to do so carefully and 

 evenly, not to get a thick coat any- 

 where, otherwise burnt spots will later 

 make their appearance on the lawn. 

 Now is the time to cart or wheel on 

 to the lawn any soil required to fill 

 in where settlements are noticeable, 

 and it is also the time when manure 

 should be conveyed to beds and bor- 

 ders for digging in later. 



PREPARING FOR THE JAMES- 

 TOWN EXHIBITION. 



I have just returned from a trip to 

 Norfolk, Va., and the exposition 

 grounds at Jamestown. It might be 

 interesting to some to learn that the 

 total appropriations for the Jamestown 

 Exposition are larger than they were 

 for the Buffalo Exposition; the 

 grounds are also larger than those of 

 Buffalo. 



A new feature of the coming exposi- 

 tion, and one that ought to be of great 

 advantage to the promoters, is the 

 plan of building with a view of saving 

 the buildings. To begin with, the land 

 was drained and piped for modern 

 conveniences, and at the close of the 

 exposition cottages and buildings can 

 be either rented or sold for a town 

 settlement. Warren H. Manning and 

 John Thomas Withers are at the head 

 of the landscape work. The boundary 

 fence designed by Mr. Manning is very 

 beautifully planted with honeysuckle 

 and Wichuraiana roses. The growth 

 is such as a genial soil and moderate 

 climate only can make— just about 

 three times as much growth made in 

 one year as could be made in more 

 northern latitudes. That genial horti- 

 culturist, Mr. Charles H. Pratt, is pret- 

 ty busy with the grounds, but is han- 

 dicapped with all kinds of building 

 refuse where he longs to sow grass 

 and plant shrubs. 



The soil is easy to work, being a 

 fine, sandy loam, retentive of moisture 

 and, once planted, results will come 

 along quickly; yet from my view of 

 it, Mr. Pratt has a poor chance to 

 get things in shape before the opening, 

 April 26. THOMAS L. BROWN. 



Black Hall. Conn. 



It remained tor a southern Democrat, 

 whose voice has little weight, to rebuke 

 Speaker Caiinou for his refusal to permit 

 the Appalachian and White Mountain for- 

 est reserve bill to come before the house 

 of representatives. By similarl.T display- 

 ing a fighting spirit. New England members 

 might be able to force the speaker to at 

 least permit the house to judge the bill 

 on its merits. But they still sit meekly 

 under his thumb, and the prospect for any 

 action during the present session is very 

 slight. — Boston Record. 



PROPAGATION OF LORRAINE BE- 

 GONIA. 



Horticulture Publishing Co.: 



Would you kindly tell me through 

 your paper what treatment to give be- 

 gonia Gloire de Lorraine after it has 

 finished flowering, also when to start 

 to propagate it, and at what tempera- 

 ture should the cuttings be kept, and 

 oblige. Yours truly, 



R. D. 



Editor of HORTICULTURE: 



In reply to your inquiry of the 14th 

 inst. We usually keep our Lorraine 

 begonias after flowering in a tempera- 

 ture of about 50 degrees; commence 

 propagating about May 1st, and run 

 the propagating house CO to 70 degrees. 

 Yours truly, 



T. ROLAND. 



PERSONAL. 



John H. Cox sailed from Boston on 

 February 5 to represent the F. R. 

 Pierson Company in "the old coun- 

 try." He has in carnation Winsor a 

 trump card. 



Ferdinand Tschupp, of Union Hill, 

 N. J . is reported as dangerously 111. 

 Mr. Tschupp is one of the pioneer flo- 

 rists of Hoboken, a man highly re- 

 spected for his integrity and industry. 



G. E. Bradshaw, of Ossining, N. Y., 

 formerly connected with the whole- 

 sale cut flower trade in New York city, 

 is now engaged as an inspector on the 

 new station site of the Penna. R. R. 

 tunnel. 



