rfune 29, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



845 



WHOLESOME CHESTNUTS. 



Peaches and nectarines are nincli 

 prized. Large fruit of both these are 

 much more satisfactory than small 

 fruit. Thinning at one or more stages 

 of their growth has a good deal to do 

 v/itb obtaining large peaches or nec- 

 tarines. Moisture and the proper dis- 

 position of the young wood at this 

 time of the year have also not a little 

 to do with the same ultimate result. 

 When trees require wate.- they should 

 have it in abundant quantity; diibbling 

 is simply an inducement tor failure; 

 and when trees are fiuiting heavily an 

 occasional aiiplication of animal 

 manure or guano water before each 

 regular watering will aid them greatly. 

 Syringing should be done persistently; 

 the surfaces should be kept open and 

 the soil sweet and mellow. Stop the 

 shoots regularly and tie in carefully, 

 avoiding the shading of the fruit as 

 mucli as possible. There ought to be 

 just enough young wood left to fur- 

 nish the trees without crowding. One 

 well placed young shoot from the bot- 

 tom part of the present fruit-bearing 

 shoots will generally be enough, but 

 where the fiuit bearing wood is very 

 long, as may be in the case of young, 

 vigorous trees, another shoot halfway 

 between (he b(jttom bud and the top 

 of the shoot may be left. 



Greenhouses on inivate places should 

 always be kept in such a condition 

 that it would be a pleasure to walk 

 through them, so neat, clean and tidy 

 should everything be, and further- 

 more, there should even in midsum- 

 mer be something of interest in every 

 house on the place. Do not get the 

 notion in your head that wonderful 

 artificial centre pieces are preferable 

 to loosely and tastefully arranged 

 flowers without iron and timber ac- 

 companiments. 



PERSONAL. 



H. G. Humphrey has taken a posi- 

 tion with C. A. Rieman, Connersville, 

 lud. 



E. W. Hampton of Springville, N. 

 Y., was married on June 15 to Miss 

 Lottie Churchill. 



Ferdinand Beyer of Detroit and 

 Miss Maud M. Warner of Wayne were 

 married on June 12. 



Visitors in Boston: Winfried Rol- 

 ker, New York City; Mr. and Mrs. 

 Jos. Heacock, Wyncote, Pa. 



Mr. and Mrs. John Hanft of New 

 York City started on June 13 for a 

 three months' tour of the continent. 



The wedding of Oglesby Paul of 

 Philadelphia, and Miss Laura Little 

 Wilson, took place at Trinity Church, 

 Boston, on June 22. 



J. E. Simpson, whose contributions 

 on Rose Growing Under Glass to HOR- 

 TICULTURE are proving so interest- 

 ing, is now located at Clifton, N. J., 

 with his uncle, Robert Simpson. 



Col. W. W. Castle of Boston is in 

 Cleveland this week attending the in- 

 terment of his mother who died last 

 winter and his sister Mrs. Rhoades 

 whose death occurred three weeks 

 later. 



A BEAUTIFUL WAYSIDE FLOWER (RANUNCULUS AQUATILIS.) 



The accompanying illustration, I 

 venture to think, has a double interest. 

 It shows a wayside pond simply 

 smothered with the flowers of the 

 water crowfoot, — a mass of white, and 

 it also shows a remarkably fine 

 specimen of clipped yew. It is not 

 often that one sees such a fine ex- 

 ample of the latter by the wayside; 

 it is more than 100 years old, and, 

 apparently, is growing in a hard 

 gravel road. Doubtless ho.wever its 

 roots have found the cool moist soil 

 by the adjoining pond and this ac- 

 counts for its excellent state of health 

 in a most unlikely position. 



The water ranunculus makes a de- 

 lightful display when is it as rampant 

 as shown in the picture and it would 

 be quite a good plant for the water 

 garden were it not for the fact that 

 when established it spreads so rapidly 



as to become a nuisance. However it 

 might well be used to cover the sur- 

 face of a pond or pool in the wilder 

 part of the garden, where the desired 

 effect is obtained when nature's de- 

 signs are as closely followed as cir- 

 cumstances will allow. This ranun- 

 culus is a quaint and interesting plant. 

 It grows wild in ponds, streams and 

 ditches throughout all temperate re- 

 gions and is abundant in Britain. It 

 has an extraordinary habit of adapt- 

 ing itself to circumstances. There are 

 two distinct sets of leaves: those that 

 float on the surface are the ordinary 

 rounded, lobed leaves characteristic of 

 ranunculi while the lower leaves, in 

 fact all those that are submerged are 

 divided into many very fine segments, 

 and are exactly like skeleton leaves, 

 offering no resistance to the water. 

 This ranunculus flowers throughout a 

 long season. H. H. THOMAS. 



FLOWER NOTES. 



A beautiful combination in color and 

 form is brought out by the use of 

 branches of the red leaved Japan maple 

 with cut blooms of the light pink 

 peonies. 



Peony blooms sometimes wilt badly 

 after having been cut and are revived 

 with diflSculty. This can be avoided 

 by plunging the stems deep in cold 

 water directly after cutting instead of 

 carrying them around and waiting un- 

 til a quantity has been gathered. 



The custom of scattering flowers 

 over the table cloth at banquets, etc., 

 is often abused by the use of material 

 which wilts quickly when out of wa- 

 ter. Many dining tables for this 

 reason present a very unattractive 

 and slovenly appearance before the 

 affair is half ove;'. 



THE GLORIOUS FOURTH. 



Correspondents and advertisers 

 please take notice that as July 4 falls 

 on Thursday our regular publication 

 day, HORTICULTURE will go to press 

 one day earlier next week. Send copy 

 to reach us in time, accordinglj'. 



HORTICULTURE IN ALASKA. 



J. G. Johnston, of Bear Lake, near 

 Seward, Alaska, is a bona fide farmer 

 who is makin.g a success. He took up 

 a homestead two years ago and is now 

 comfortably settled. He will soon 

 have sixty acres under plow and in 

 pasture. He reports that his radishes, 

 lettuce, carrots, beets, rhubarb and 

 potatoes did as well as those he had 

 grown on Paget Sound. Strawberries 

 did veiy well as did the blackberries, 

 currants, gooseberries, and raspberries 

 did nicely. Mr. Johnston finds that 

 rose bushes, lilacs and English ivy 

 grow well. He is also having con- 

 siderable success with poultry. 



Experiments are being made to de- 

 velop varieties of strawberries and 

 raspbernes adapted to the Alaskan 

 climate by cross fertili-iing cultivated 

 varieties with wild native species. 

 The work is new and there has not 

 yet been time enou.gh to produce re- 

 sults. 



The Houghton Horticultural Society, 

 Lynn, Mass., will hold a flower show 

 on June 29. 



