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GARDENING. 



199 



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THE RANCHE GREENHOUSES. OAK PARK. ILL. 



A corner bench of the palm house will be 

 devoted to cacti and allied families and 

 the opposite ones to ferns, palms and 

 vines. The pond will contain water 

 hyacinths, water poppies and the lesser 

 water plants generally. 



Taken altogether the houses make a 

 very good place for a mid-winter visit 

 and the rockery is quite suggestive of a 

 summer trip to the mountains. Mr. 

 George Baldwin, who learned his profes- 

 sion in London and who was for between 

 five and si.x years head gardener to the 

 State College of Pennsylvania, has charge 

 of the houses. Nathan M. Fkekh. 



tiARRISIl LILIES WON'T START TO GROW. 



.\. S., Wis., writes: "What is the mat- 

 ter with my Harrisii lily bulbs? I potted 

 them carefully last October, but out of 

 six only two have started, and those only 

 by the "use of bottom heat, so to speak. I 

 have just taken one of them out^of the 

 pot and found it sound to the core— no 

 rot— but no sign of roots, though it has 

 been in a warm room for the last month. 

 1 have had just the same experience for 

 the last two or three years, though I for- 

 merly had excellent success with them." 



Uulbs that have been grown so near the 

 surface that they become exposed to the 

 light generally make a poor start; also 

 those bulbs that are exposed to the dry 

 air of the store until they shrivel will 

 start very slowly and make a very weak 

 growth. " I should advise Mr. S. to break 

 up one of the bulbs and find if the center 

 or heart of it is sound; it maybe that the 

 heart or crown of the bulb is gone, 

 although the scales look bright on the 

 outside. I have examined some late 

 potted bulbs of longifioruni and find that 

 to be the case. I.\Mi:s I)r:.\N. 



What are the best winter bloomers 

 among the fine greenhouse climlicrs? I 

 have no use for those that do not thrive 

 under a night temperature of from 45 to 

 r,(l". .\. I). M. 



They are few. Many climbers will live 

 first rate in that temperature, but won't 

 bloom in winter when you want them in 

 fiower. Try a Cherokee rose, lapageria. 

 Plumbago capensis, fuchsia Spcciosa kept 

 to a single stem with spurs and trained 



up a rafter; Habrothamtms elegans, if 

 you like the color of the flowers; Rhyn- 

 chospermumjasminoides, towards spring; 

 Thunbergia laurifoliaat the warmest end; 

 and some Lobbianum nasturtiums. Pas- 

 sitiora racemosa blooms nicely in winter, 

 but as all passion flower vines are so pes- 

 tiferous as regards mealy bugs we hesi- 

 tate to recommend them for a small 

 greenhouse. Kennedyas also bloom freely 

 in winter, but they are notshowyenough. 



fl SOLUTION FOR KILLING WORMS. 



You ask for a fairly safe solution for 

 killing worms, grubs, etc., in the earth in 

 the pots and on the benches without 

 injuring the roots of the plants. Vegeta- 

 ble insecticides would of course be the 

 safer, and I would suggest that you ex- 

 periment with the following: Pyrethrum 

 in water ('/■> ounce to two gallons of 

 water) hellebore (one pound of powder to 

 20 gallons of water); quassia water; 

 tobacco water; mustard water. Lime 

 water will kill small and tender insects 

 in pots, and weak keroseneemulsion might 

 be servicable to you. J. A. Lintnek. 



Office of New York State Entomologist. 



Adia.ntum Cuneatum and a. Tenerum 

 — A subscriber wants "directions for the 

 management of these two maidenhair 

 ferns, especially with reference to their 

 summer rest." 



Ans. The first named is the common 

 maidenhair of the greenhouse; the second 

 is another species also common m culti- 

 vation Both are tender and they are 

 evergreen, with a tendency to grow in 

 summer and rest in winter. In the green- 

 house they are of the easiest culture. 

 Grow them in pots, well drained, and use 

 any common potting soil that is not very 

 stiff; many people put a good deal of 

 sand and leaf mould in the soil and others 

 again use the same soil for these ferns 

 that they do for their roses and carna- 

 tions; we use the latter with a little leaf 

 soil and sand mixed into it. They like 

 moisture in the soil at all times, but more 

 when in active growth from spring 

 through summer than when in compara- 

 tive rest in winter; a cool or moderate 

 temperature is better than a hot one; 

 while they like fresh air, they dislike 

 draughts, and they should have shade 

 from warm sunshine at all times. During 

 the sunmier months they will enjoy a seat 

 on the piazza or on a shelf out of doors 

 wherever you keep your other plants, but 

 never forget them as regards water and 



protection from sunshine. Y'oung plants 

 are better than old ones for keeping fresh 

 and green in winter, and if they are 

 repotted in July or early August, giving 

 them a small shift only, they are apt to 

 have a less tendency to go to rest than 

 were they potbound when the summer 

 was over. 



CflRNflTION RUST 



Has made its appearance in this neigh- 

 borhood since a couple of years or so. 

 Some of our florists have tried Bordeaux 

 mixture, and otherchemical preparations, 

 but these didn't seem to affect the disease 

 for the better or the worse, others whose 

 plants were badly diseased claim that by 

 thoroughly syringing the plants with hy- 

 drant water daily from the top of the plant 

 down they have completely overcome the 

 disease. A case of rust infested carnations 

 subjected to this hydrant hosing, for two 

 or three weeks, came under my notice 

 recently and I was surprised " at the 

 healthy appearance of the plants. In 

 view of this shouldn't the best arrange- 

 ment in our carnation houses be narrower 

 bencher, and more shallow beds of soil, 

 stake and tie up the plants early, have 

 the greenhouse in the sunniest aspect 

 and syring them regularly and add a 

 little fresh soil and fertilizer to the beds 

 as the season advances and the plants 

 ref|uire it? W. Mathews. 



rtica, N. Y. 



That's all right from a florist's stand 

 point where carnationsarcf grown planted 

 out on benches, and is being generally 

 adopted, but what is the amateur to do 

 who grows his carnations in pots? Our 

 advice to him is to confine himself to such 

 varieties as are not subject to rust, and 

 don't grow a plant of any sort that is a 

 ready prey to the disease.' Take Scott for 

 instance, what a free-growing prolific 

 variety it is, and it seldom has a speck of 

 rust on it, but take Daybreak, and it may 

 be covered with rust. Then you want to 

 grow Scott and discard Daybreak. 

 Among scarlets Portia is seldom touched 

 but The Stuart is most always full of it. 

 Bridesmaid, perfect a flower, is hardly 

 touched, neither is the sweet Albertini, but 

 both Hinze's White and McGowan get 

 rusted but not to any great damaging 

 extent. Stick to clean varieties, and keep 

 all diseased leaves and spots picked ofl 

 them. 



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