GARDENING. 



Oct. /, 



time, and water them sparingly to begin 

 with, and they soon rush into bloom. In 

 the case of evergreen species, instead of 

 keeping them dust dry in winter we sim- 

 ply keep them moist enough to prevent 

 the foliage from withering, and in a tem- 

 perature of 45° to 50°. Amaryllises are 

 very easily grown in this simple routine 

 way. 



2. Most acacias bloom in Februan,' or 

 March; if yours belongs to this set keep 

 it at the cool end of your gfreenhouse, if 

 3'ou haven't room there keep it in the 

 frost proof cellar and near the light till it 

 shows flower, then bring it upstairs to 

 the window. Treat the Cape jasmine in 

 the same way. The guava may be kept 

 in the cellar all winter, where it can get 

 light. Keep the crape myrtle \\\ the cellar, 

 also the fig tree. As both of these are 

 deciduous, and will bear a few degrees of 

 frost with impunity, they will keep well 

 enough in a dark place, and the cooler it 

 is, providing hard frost is excluded, the 

 better. In stoxing any of these in the 

 cellar be very careful never to let the 

 roots get very dry, particularly in the case 

 of the evergreen plants. A cellar in which 

 potatoes will keep well is a good place 

 for such pot plants as those mentioned, 

 except that while the potatoes like dark- 

 ness, growing plants prefer the light. 



they show signs of rushing up, then bring 

 them to the light, Wecannot advise you 

 to grow many Due Van Thol tulips, their 

 only virtue, in our eyes, is their earliness, 

 and unless they behave pretty well they 

 are very disappointing. To get good svic- 

 cess with tulips don't hurry them. 



DUTCH AND OTHER BULBS flS HOUSE 

 PLANTS. 



F. E. \r., Warwick, Mass., asks how to 

 grow (1) freesias, (2) white Roman 

 hyacinths, (3) Due van Thol tulips, (4-) 

 large flowering narcissus, (5) jonquils. 



1. Take a 5 or 6-inch pot, drain it well, 

 fill it half full with rich light soil, now set 

 the freesia bulbs on this, heads up and 1 

 to IVa inches apart, and fill up with the 

 soil, give the pot a sharp rap on the table 

 to settle the soil firmly about the bulbs. 

 Now give a watering through a water 

 pot rose and place the pots out of doors 

 where they will be shaded from sunshine; 

 don't bury them over with earth or ashes 

 as you would hyacinths or tulips as the 

 freesias soon begin to grow, and itshould 

 be our aim to get them up stocky. If you 

 plunge the pots in the ground, a few 

 degrees of frost won't hurt the tops pro- 

 viding it does not come suddenly. Or the 

 newly potted plants can be kept in a 

 shaded frame, or north-facing window. 

 Bring them indoors when frost comes or 

 protect them in a pit or frame. When 

 they begin to grow, set four or five little 

 firm stakes into each pot near the out 

 edge and run a fine stringaround theseto 

 keep the freesias erect and from toppling 

 over. Water freely all the time. After 

 the plants have bloomed keep them green 

 and growing by still giving them water 

 as they require it, .so as to get good bulbs 

 for next j'ear's work, for freesias don't 

 deteriorate as hyacinths do. 



As regards the others read what Mr. 

 Scott says, page 409, and to give you 

 confidence in his teachings we may say 

 that he grows for cut flowers tens of 

 thousands of these bulbs every year. 



The Roman hyacinths, tulips,' and nar- 

 cissi should be potted at once, but the tops 

 of the hyacinths and tulijjs should be a 

 little above ground; the large narcissus 

 may be grown in the same way or alto- 

 gether under ground, as you Wish; we 

 prefer to keep the jonquil liulbs all under 

 ground. Some of the Roman hyacinths 

 may be kept warm from the first and had 

 in bloom for Thanksgiving, and l)y cooler 

 treatment others retarded till ".March. 

 Don't hurry up either trumpet narcissus 

 or jonquils; keep them in the cellar till 



fl SICK BEOONlfl-ECHEVBRIfl. 



H. E. L., Conn., sends a spraj' of sick 

 begonia and asks (1) what is its name, 

 and what ails it? 



2. Why do the lower leaves of my 

 echeverias dry and fall off? The drainage 

 seems to be good. Do they like much sun 

 or will they do better in partial shade? 

 And should thev be well watered or kept 

 dry? 



1. It is Begonia insignis. The ailment 

 is local and we can not tell what it is. 

 Raise a few young plants of it every year 

 from cuttings or slips in early spring, and 

 don't overwater them. Old plants of this 

 species are apt to get enervated. 



2. You don't give us material enough 

 to work upon. You don't saj whether 

 theecheverias are dwarf sorts like sccunda 

 glauca, or tall ones like metallica, nor 

 whether they are planted out or grown 

 in pots. Over-dryness in summer will 

 cause them to lose their lower leaves, and 

 the same cause, also a rush to bloom, 

 will cause the same defect in the case of 

 tall sorts like retusa and wetallica. They 

 like open sunshine, but not a scorching 

 exposure. While they are in full growth 

 in summer they like moistish ground, but 

 they shouldn't be continuously wetted 

 overhead, better give them a thorough 

 good soaking occasionally than light 

 waterings frequently. In winter they 

 should be kept somewhat dry. 



flMHRYLLlS- FUCHSIflS-CRINUMS. 



W. A. W., Emmetsburg, Iowa, writes: 



1. I purchased a number of amarjdlis 

 bulbs this spring, which proved to be 

 badl}- infested with mealy bug. They 

 have made no growth, as the leaves are 

 destroyed as fast as they push out from 

 the bulbs. I have picked them over time 

 after time, but the bugs have gotten so 

 far into the bvilbs, as to be difficult to get 

 at. What will destroy them? 



2. Where can fuchsias lulgens and ser- 

 ratiiolia be obtained? 



3. Are crinums ornatum and Moorei 

 the same? I have them from different 

 firms. I have not yet bloomed them, but 

 their growth isidentical,rauchresembling 

 a stalk of Indian corn in appearance. 



1. Shake the bulbs out of their pots 

 and wash them perfectly clean from mealy 

 bugs or any other pests, then pot them 

 into rather small pots, potting firmly. 

 Keep moderately moist but inclining to 

 the dry side, and in winter let them drv 

 off altogether. 



2. Fuchsia iiilgens from Currie Broth- 

 ers, Milwaukee, F. serratifolia may be 

 harder to obtain. Has anyone got it for 

 sale? 



3. They are the same species. The 

 projicr name is C. Moorei. 



THE GREENHOUSE. 



It is time everything now was being 

 taken indoors, and arranged. What you 

 can not get into the greenhouse s'ore in 

 cold frames where they can easily be cov- 

 ered with mats or straw or shutters to 

 save them from inclement weather. 

 Avoid over crowding. Have the pots all 

 washed clean, and the plants neath- ar- 



ranged in the house, it adds so much to 

 the pleasure one gets from a greenhouse. 

 Start up the fire early in the afternoon 

 to keep the temperature up while it is up; 

 this too is economj' of coal, less firing 

 being recessary, for the same end shut up 

 early in the afternoon to save the sun 

 heat. Don't nm high temperatures at 

 this tune of the year, and don't syringe 

 the plants late in the afternoon. Read 

 the instructions given in last issue (pages 

 8, 9), they are applicable yet. 



STURTBVflNT'S GOOSE FLOWER. 



The accompanying illustration en- 

 graved from a photograph taken by me 

 expresslj' for G.\rdening shows flowers of 

 this strange plant that have been in blos- 

 som in the conservatory at Washington 

 Park, Chicago, and about which you had 

 a note in last issue. A. party of picnicing 

 children visiting the conservatory saw 

 the curious blossoms, and unanimously 

 declared they looked just like a goose. An 

 omnipresent newspaper reporter struck 

 with the juvenile idea made good capital 

 of the same in a racy, catchy article in his 

 paper, and from that time on while they 

 lasted from 3,000 to 10,000 people a day 

 crowded out to the park to see the won- 

 derful goose flower. 



The plant is a long running vine, nine 

 months old, and was raised from a cut- 

 ting of the one shown at the World's Fair. 

 It is growing in a box IS inches deep, and 

 12 inches square at the bottom and 14 

 inches at the top. It seems to be a very 

 rampant free blooming vine needing lots 

 of room to show it to advantage. Atone 

 time I counted twenty -five flower buds on 

 it, but on account of having to move it 

 from a small greenhouse to a roomier 

 structure, a good many fell off. Nine of 

 them however have blossomed into per- 

 fect flowers each one about three feet 

 long including the tail-like appendage. 

 One flower is shown full front, of the 

 others the side or nearly back view is 

 given. What looks like superfluous 

 flower stems in the photograph are 

 strings used to tie the flowers into a set 

 position so that visitors can get a better 

 idea of their resemblance to a goose. 



Chicago. F. C. Seavey. 



[The original species, Aristolocbiagigas 

 is a native of Guatemala, and this extra 

 large variety was introduced to cultiva- 

 tion a few years ago by Mr. E. D. Sturte- 

 vant, a florist of Bordentown, N. J., and 

 named Sturterantii in compliment to 

 him, by the botanical authorities at Kew, 

 to whom he had sent living plants. It 

 grew in the gardens therewith wonderful 

 vigor having as many as fifty flower buds 

 on it at a time. But while the flowers are 

 very striking in appearance, they are ill- 

 smelling. As a rule when open they meas- 

 ure about 11 or 12 inches wide by 15 to 

 22 inches long, not includingthelongtail- 

 like appendage, which measures about 2 

 to 3 feet in length.— Ed.] 



CiiRVSA.NTiiEMUMs.— If in pots, keej) 

 them well watered at the roots, and if 

 they are root-bound feed them with weak 

 li(|uid manure. Don't crowd them, else 

 they will drop their lower and inner leaves 

 rendering the plants scraggy looking and 

 naked. Tie them secureh' to neat stakes, 

 using as few as possible to each pot, and 

 do the tying so neatly and unobtrusively 

 that a person will not notice the tying. 

 Be particular about disbudding. Don't 

 leave more than one flower bud on each 

 br.-inchlet; keep the most perfect bud and 

 remove the others, for it is better to have 

 one fine ftdl flower than several under- 

 sized imperfectly developed ones. If pos- 



