i$g6. 



' ' GARDENING. 



of the paint on our houses, have them in 

 their proper place but not in preponderat- 

 ing numbers or scattered all over the 

 garden, and let their effect be tempered by 

 a proportionate variety ot other plants, 

 trees, shriil)s, perennials, etc., to break 

 the monotony of the ground and afford 

 us blossoms and pleasure the whole tea- 

 son through. 



An liNTERNATIONAI, GaRI 



TION. — The sixtieth year of the Hamburg- 

 Gartenau-Verein is to be celebrated in 

 1897 by the installation of an interna- 

 tional exposition devoted to gardening in 

 all of its branches, which will last from 

 the end of April until September. It is 

 proposed to include a spring exhibition of 

 about five days' duration early in May; a 

 summer exhibition, lasting about a week, 

 in June, and an autumn exhibition in Sep- 

 tember, extending over eight or ten days, 

 while various special exhibitions are to 

 be arranged for the intervening periods. 

 American plant growers and dealers 

 should be represented at this exposition 

 by displays of decorative plants and 

 others of commercial value and interest. 

 Roomy, well-built conservatories are 

 promised and an adequate list of premi- 

 ums and medals will doubtless soon be 

 issued. Persons interested are invited to 

 communicate with Prof. Dr. E.Zacharias, 

 o( the committee of arrangements, Ham- 

 burg, Germany. Wii.iiam Trelease. 



Botanical Garden, St. l.ouis, Februarv 

 27, 1896. 



ORNiTnoGAUM .\rabioim. — A Sub- 

 scriber asks: "Is there any way to pre- 

 vent its foliage from being spindling?" 



Ans. Use big fine bulbs to begin with 

 and grow them in a cool greenhouse or 

 window; the leaves will get long and 

 arching in spite of our best efforts, so 

 when they have assumed a fair length we 

 cut the tips of them off. Of course this is 

 unsightly, to a certain extent destroying 

 the lull beauty of the plant as a plant^ but 

 it doesn't interfere with the b\ooming in 

 the least. This is a very satisfactory 

 bulbous plant for winter and early spring 

 blooming, but be sure to get largest size 

 bulbs to begin with; if^'ouget the medium 

 or smaller size thev won't all bloom. 



Orchids. 



Those that are now passing out of 

 bloom should generally have a short sea- 

 son of rest by withholding somewhat their 

 treatment of heat and watering. I would 

 advise that such plants as la?lia,coelogyne 

 and Cypripedium insigne be placed in a 

 temperature of 40° to 50° at night with 

 only occasional waterings, give plentj- of 

 fresh air and shade lightly. When the 

 warm weather comes these' varieties will 

 do finely out doors where thev can have 

 the full benefit of outdoor atmosphere 

 and morning sunlight but shade in the 

 hottest part of the day; they will enjoy 

 copious watering daily and the ccelogyne 

 and cypripedium a good watering again 

 at sundown. As they are nearing the 

 finishing point of their growth a few 

 waterings with weak manure water will 

 help them to produce extra fine flowers. 



Cattleya Trianw as it passes out of 

 bloom should also have a little rest. 

 Each plant should be carefully examined 

 and if it is in vigorous condition and has 

 outgrown its pot the stock may be 

 increased by taking off the shoots or 

 leads that have overgrown the pot limit, 



and they will as the summer approaches 

 readily establish themselves and flower 

 the following winter. If the material is 

 porous and the drainage proper, better 

 not repot the remaining plant, as it will 

 ver\' likely produce two leads and will be 

 in better shape than before. I have 

 foimd that such varieties as C. maxima, 

 speciosissima and B/c/orado will not flour- 

 ish long in captivity if kept in large 

 masses, but if broken up when in a dor- 

 mant condition and placed in small pots 

 or baskets near the roof and of course 

 well shaded and given plenty of atmo- 

 spheric moisture they will soon establish 

 themselves, make stronger roots and con- 

 sequently stronger bulbs, and produce 

 flowers more abundantly than if left in 

 large masses. The same' rule also applies 

 to C. Skinneri, C. Bowringeaaa, etc. Just 

 as soon as the potting material gets into 

 a state of decay enough to prevent the air 

 to percolate the plant loses its strength, 

 and from the center to the outside the 

 plant gradually loses its growing powers 

 and rapidly becomes too weak to produce 

 strong, healthy leads, and consequently 

 produces no flowers. 



In some cypripediums I find a directly 

 different condition; take, for instance, a 

 gross-feeding plant like Boxallii or Mor- 

 ganiw, and they do not do as well by 

 division as Spicerianum, varieties of 

 insigne, Lawrenceanum. I find these do 

 better if broken in two every three or four 

 years, and in these pottings I find sphag- 

 num the very best material as a top dress- 

 ing, with a mixture of fern root and a lit- 

 tle leaf mold and sand with good broken 

 pot drainage. Keep the sphagnum grow- 

 ing as much as possible and water copi- 

 ously nine or ten months of the year. I 

 have never succeeded in flowering Mor- 

 ganiiE on a one-growth plant. I once 

 saw a specimen in a 7-inch pot with four 

 flower scapes, bearing in all ten flowers, 

 and it was a grand sight. I do not think 

 that any other variety can compare with 

 it. 



Odontoglossums will now be pushing 

 their flower spikes. Keep up good atmo- 

 spheric conditions, but do not allow a 

 strong draught to blow on them. I mean 

 such varieties as O. crispum, Sander- 

 ianum, triumphans, etc. Water gener- 

 ously the foregoing class, but keep off 

 water from O. grande and O. citrosmum 

 till the flower spikes begin to show from 

 the points of new growths at base of 

 bulbs. 



Dendrohium nobile that has been kept 

 back for spring flowering should now 

 enjoy a little warmer quarters, 55° to 

 G5°; gradually increase the watering. 

 D Phalxnopais is now breaking into new 

 growth; give it strong heat and lots of 

 moisture and if the heat goes up among 

 the nineties it will be just right for this 

 species on a sunny day, and 65° to 75° 

 w'ith fire heat on a cold day will be about 

 right. Do not over-pot this interesting 

 variety. It will find a congenial compan- 

 ion in D. formosum. The latter variety 

 responds readily to light waterings of 

 liquid manure, and I have no doubt that 

 the majority of the dendrobium would do 

 well with this treatment when their 

 growths are halforthree-quarters grown. 

 Wm. Mathews. 



Utica, N. Y., March 3, 1896. 



The Fruit Garden. 



RED CEDARS TO SHELTER AN ORCflflRD. 



Somewhere, sometime, I have seen the 

 statement that the red cedar was not a 



good tree to have in proximity to an 

 orchard asit wasagoodhost fora certain 

 fungus. [Not inGARDENiNO.— En ] Would 

 it be injudicious to plant a row of cedars 

 on north side of an orchard in Indiana as 

 a protection in winter? Paulownia,Po- 

 docarpus Japoriica,' Japan persimmon 

 and several varieties of retinosporas, 

 sometimes a little tender, have come 

 through the winter thus far in good 

 shape, also several ot the Japan maples. 

 Blue Spring, Mo. E. J. W. 



We have a fine young bearing orchard 

 of apple and pear trees at Dosoris, and 

 lots of big red cedar trees alongside of it, 

 and never knew of the least harm coming 

 from the cedars. But as we don't live to 

 the age of Methuselah nowadays, three 

 score and ten being our allotted span, we 

 strongly disadvise you planting a shelter 

 belt of red cedar, its growth is so slow. 

 Try Austrian pine or Colorado spruce 

 (Picea pungens), Colorado white fir 

 { Abies concolor) . or the Colorado Douglas 

 fir. And for very quick growth, if the 

 Norway spruce thrives in your neighbor- 

 hood it may be the best to use. 



FRUIT TREE QUESTIONS. 



R.J. R., St. Joseph, Mo., asks: 



1. Are ferrets used successfully for 

 catching moles and gophers? 



Ans. Not for moles. Get half a dozen 

 Reddick mole traps, and reset them every 

 morning and every afternoon till there 

 isn't one mole left on your place, if you 

 attend strictly to this it won't take but 

 two or three weeks. Then keep a sharp 

 eye and a ready trap for every mole that 

 visits you from your neighbors' fields. As 

 regards gophers write to the Agricultural 

 Department, Washington, for its literature 

 on this pest. 



2. Is the Califoi-nia privet a strong 

 grower, and equally as good as the com- 

 mon one for a fence and as hardy? 



Ans. It isn 't quite as hardy as the com- 

 mon privet, but we should think it is 

 hardy enough in your town; as it is one 

 of the commonest planted of all shrubs 

 look around among j'our neighbors; some 

 of them must have tried it. As a hedge 

 plant it is better than the common privet 

 and stronger growing, and by running a 

 string or two of barbed wire lengthwise 

 through the line of hedge it will make a 

 good fence as well as a good hedge. 



3. The best remedy for blight on pear 

 trees? 



Ans. Candidly the blight on the 

 Dosoris pear trees has ignored every 

 antidote we have tried, and the destruc- 

 tion among them during the past two 

 years has been very disheartening. The 

 moment we discover a bit of blight we 

 cut the limb considerable below the 

 blighted part, and in this way try to keep 

 them clean. And for faith's sake spray 

 with Bordeaux mixture, beginning in 

 April. 



4. Are ashes, iron, and salt good as a 

 preventive of pear tree blight? 



.4ns. We don't know, but we cannot 

 understand how they could be; ashes are 

 fine for pear trees though. 



5. I have a cherry and plum orchard 

 one year planted, on poor land, and will 

 cultivate it all next summer. Should I 

 mulch around the trees with manure, or 

 spread it broadcast and plow it under, 

 manure costs fifty cents a load delivered. 



.4ns That's cheap enough. Put on a 

 good dressing all over the land and plow 

 it well under, but don't plow deep near 

 the trees; then around the trees and for 

 three or four feet out from them place a 

 good mulching of the rankest of the 



