300 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[Octo ber 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Grafting Epiphyllum. — " J. B,*' says : "I wish 

 you or some of your readers would give the 

 proper method and time for grafting the Peres- 

 kia stock with Epiphyllum. Also, the best mode 

 of treatment during summer. Also, the best 

 blooming varieties." 



Celosia Clabkii.— Mr. A. Thorpe, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, writes: "I send you by mail a box 

 containing specimen pieces of Celosia pyramid- 

 alis Clarkii, of which perhaps you will remember, 

 that Mr. Neidman, of the Botanic Gardens, sent 

 you some specimens last fall for your opinion. 

 Your answer was favorable about it, as you said 

 you considered it a very valuable addition to 

 our fall bedding and winter flowering plants ; 

 the piece I send you is not quite so fine as he 

 sent last fall, as it is not in full flower until the 

 first of September. I also send you specimens 

 of three varieties of coleus ; the seed was col- 

 lected by Mr. Neidman in the South Sea Islands. 



[These specimens confirm our former good 

 opinion. It is a very desirable plant for winter 

 flowering.— Ed. G. M.] 



Cattleya Dowiana. — " C " asks : " Will some 

 of the readers of the Monthly be so good as to 

 give me some information concerning the treat- 

 ment and habits of Cattleya Dowiana?" 



Culture of Clerodendron Imperiale. — '' E." 

 says : " Will some of your readers, who have 

 flowered Clerodendron Imperiale, kindly give 

 me the result of taeir experience with it?" 



New Coleus. — Mr. A. Thorpe, Washington, 

 D. C, writes : " I send you specimens from pot 



plants of Coleus, Gen. Garfield and Garland. 

 We raised last year five or six hundred seedlings 

 i from seed furnished us by Mr. Neidman, and 

 propagated about twenty-five varieties we 

 : thought specially good. The three we now 

 ' advertise were particularly fine as pot plants 

 through last winter, leaves of Mrs. Geddes grown 

 on to an eight inch pot, often from ten to twelve 

 inches long, and eight to ten wide, which, to- 

 gether with its great substance of leaf and 

 beautiful colors, make it a very desirable plant. 

 As a bedder it is very fine, standing full sun and 

 shows well in a mixed bed where individual 

 beauty is the object. General Garfield is not 

 quite so large in the leaf, but looks exceedingly 

 rich among other foliage plants ; it will be sure 

 to make a mark as a bedder, as it shows mag- 

 nificently at a distance, and is extra fine at a 

 short distance. Garland makes a fine pot plant, 

 coloring up splendidly and looks well bedded. 

 We have six more seedling bedders which we 

 propose to send out in February or March, that 

 are better than anything yet sent out in their 

 color. 



[The great value of Coleus, now that they have 

 become so numerous, is in their ability to make 

 good colors for massing with other things in the 

 open ground. Single leaves will not decide this. 

 All we can say is, that the leaves were very 

 beautiful indeed, and the varieties will probably 

 prove among the most desirable. — Ed. G. M.] 



Calceolaria crenatifolia. — " C. E. P." asks : 

 " What is Calceolaria crenatifolia? and is Ficus 

 radicans distinct from F. reptans ?" 



[Calceolaria crenatifolia is an old Chiloean 

 species, long since gone out of cultivation. The 

 two Ficus are forms of one thing. — Ed. G. M.] 



Fruit and Vegetable Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The work of an instructor must of necessity 

 be to a great extent experimental, and he must 

 often lose in experimenting what other cautious 

 people gain. So in Plum culture, the writer has 

 been endeavoring to learn what there is in every- 



thing recommended as protective against cur- 

 culio. For years past different things strongly 

 recommended by eminent men have been fairly 

 tried with absolutely no result. This year the 

 old-fashioned plan of shaking the trees and col- 

 lecting the insects has been resorted to, and as a 

 consequence we have bushels of plums. It is 



