266 



GARDENING. 



May i£, 



the tuniing enervates them; as it would 

 take so much of their strength to move 

 back again to the light. Ans. Now don't 

 bother about any such notions as this. 

 Hy all means turn your plants around to 

 the light so as to preserve their symmetri- 

 cal even forms, but never wait so long be- 

 fore doing it as to allow the plants to be- 

 come one-sided, turn them before they 

 shoA this inclination. 



Roses. 



Hybrids of Rosa rugosa.— Professors 

 Budd and Hansen of the Ames, Iowa, Ex- 

 periment Station crossed some flowers of 

 the Russian form of Rosa rugosa with the 

 pollen of a number of the best garden roses. 

 According to their bulletin 32 "This 

 crossing was done in the summer of '92, 

 and the seed planted thefoUowingspring. 

 In the fall of '93 the plants were potted 

 and wintered in thecellar. ThefoUowing 

 spring they were planted out in nursery 

 rows where they now stand. In the fall 

 of '94- the tops were cut back to mere 

 stubs, which were covered with earth. 

 During the past season ('95) they have 

 made a rampant growth which has been 

 unfavorable for the blossoming of such 

 young plants. As a rule, the hybrids 

 showing most variation from the Rosa 

 rugosa mother have not bloomed, while 

 those following more nearly the mother 

 in leaf and habit have given more bloom. 



' Among the many seedlings, oneof which 

 the staminate parent was General Jacque- 

 minot, is a rampant grower, with many 

 branches. It is less thorny, and its leaves 

 are thick r, more leathery and glossy than 

 those of either parent. So far it seems 

 to be a model of health, and able to en- 

 dure the extremes of summer heat and 

 drouth. * * * Other hybrids have blos- 

 somed that show the beautiful color of 

 Gen. Jacqueminot, Duchesse de Brabant 

 and other choice varieties which show a 

 tendency to doubling; and the other 

 plants not yet in bloom indicate their hy- 

 brid char cter in color of wood and mod- 

 ified foliage. * * * The Russian Rosa 

 rugosa now known as R. rugosa var. 

 Regeliana is far handsomer in habit, in 

 leaf and color of flower, and is hardier 

 and much better able to endure drouth 

 than the Japan type." 



Our Iowa Friends are on the right 

 lack. The hardy plants from Japan are 

 verv beautiful, but we find that most of 

 them are surface rooting and must have 

 considerable moisture in summer. What 

 we need most is a hardy race that will 

 endure the drouths of our parching sum- 

 mers, and if the good people of Iowa can 

 help us in this respect they will do us very 

 great service. 



Three Common Roses.— E. A. G., Tre- 

 mont, N. Y., wants three common roses, 

 one a pink, one a white, and one a red. 

 Ans. Get Mr. John Laing, pink; Madame 

 Plantier, white; and General Jacqueminot, 

 scarlet-crimson. 



Aquatics. 



SOWING NYMrflflBfl SE£D. 



A reader sowed some scedof nymphaeas 

 in pots, then submerged the pots in a 

 tank of water, but the seeds soon rose to 

 the surface and floated about on the 

 water, so he asks us if the seed was good, or 

 if his treatment of it was a mistake. Mr. 



Bisset of Twin Oaks, Washmgton, an ex- 

 perienced nymphasa-grower, kindly an- 

 swers as follows: 



"As there is a great difierence in the 

 time required to germinate the seed of 

 tender and hardy varieties of nympha;as 

 it would be hard for me to say whether 

 his seed was good or not, not knowing 

 the varieties he sowed. If the seed was 

 of the Zanzi'^arensis varieties, and kept at 

 a temperature of from 70 ' to 80 they 

 should have g rniinated in 10 days; the 

 same may be said of all tender varieties 

 of nymph;ea of which seed is generally of- 

 fered. But hardy nymphteas require from 

 30 to 4-0 days to germinate if kept in the 

 above temperature. Of course if the seed 

 is subjected to a lower temperature it 

 will take a corresponding longer time to 

 germinate. As to the seed floating around 

 after being submerged, that is what al- 

 ways happens when the pot is submerged 

 immediately after sowing. The proper 

 way to sow nj'mphfea seed is to leave the 

 soil about one inch from the rim of pot or 

 pan; after sowing the seed the potshould 

 be submerged to within half an inch of 

 the rim this will give half an inch of 

 water over the seed. The seed will float 

 around on the surface for several hours, 

 but will eventually sink when soaked 

 through. Then the pot can be submerged 

 so that it will be completely covered with 

 water, having from one to one and a half 

 inches of water over the seed." 



Washington, D. C. P. Bisset. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



TilE flflRLEQUIN CABBAGE BUG. 



I mail to you in a tin box to-day a male 

 and female "terrapin bug"; under this 

 name they are known here They have 

 been known in this county about 3 or 4 

 years, but this spring is their first unwel- 

 come visit to my garden. As a conse- 

 quence my early cauliflowers and early 

 cabbage planted out the first of the 

 month (April) are now no more Are 

 they known north? And what will kill 

 them? I gave them repeated dustings of 

 slug-shot and one spraying of London 

 Purple, out results rather unsatisfactory. 

 People here claim there are no remedies 

 for them. E.O.N. 



Tracy City, Tenn. 



The insect of which examples are sent 

 is generally known as the "harle(|uin 

 cabbage-bug," the name having been 

 given it in consideration of its motley 

 markings in blotches and bars of red and 

 black. For the same reason it has been 

 called in some localities "the calico back," 

 The name of "terrapin-bug" is new to us. 

 Scientifically it is Murgantia histrionica: 



It is a southern insect, perhaps native 

 to Central America. It was first heard 

 of many years ago in Mexico. About the 

 year 1860 it entered Texas, and from 

 that time we have been able to trace its 

 progress steadily northward over many 

 of the states of the Union. As long ago 

 as 1880 specimens of it were received by 

 me from Tennessee. Since then it has 

 been moving northward and eastward, 

 through Virginia, Maryland and New Jer- 

 sey, until last year (1895), when mem- 

 bers of the advance guard were discov- 

 ered on Long Island, state of New York. 

 Without much doubt it will, ere long, 

 invade the eastern states and Canada. 



Wherever it occurs in large numbers, 

 which it is not slow in doing from the 

 rapid multiplication of its several annual 



broods, ani almost entire immunity from 

 parasites and other enemies, it becomes 

 exceedingly destructive to the cabbage 

 crop. As it is a true bug it takes its 

 food by suction through {he beak, and 

 can not therefore be killed by the arsen- 

 ites. Its peculiar structure renders it 

 extremely difficult to reach by the ordi- 

 nary "contact insecticides." 



Our best remedies are therefore to be 

 found in baiting the first brood of the 

 year, or better, the hibernating individu- 

 als if possible, with some favorite food 

 upon which they may be destroyed. 

 Professor Webster has recommended, to 

 this end, placing the old cabbage stumps 

 and leaves in piles about the fields in the 

 autumn in order to induce the bugs to 

 take refuge among them for winter pro- 

 tection, and in the early spring to burn 

 or char the piles so as to kill all the bugs. 

 Also, to plant out early a lar e number 

 of cabbage stumps, and as soon as the 

 bugs have been drawn to the young 

 growth, to kill them with kerosene. 



Mr. H. E. Weed of the Mississippi Ex- 

 periment Station has suggested an excel- 

 lent remedy, which is that a row of mus- 

 tard or radish plants be run on the sides 

 or through the middle of the cabbage 

 patch or field, and when the bugs have 

 been drawn to them in preference to the 

 cabbage, to kill them with a heavy spray 

 of kerosene. 



They may also be trapped with cab- 

 bage leaves spread on the ground, where 

 they will gather on cold nights, and may 

 easily be killed in the morning. Children 

 might search for the eggs upon the leaves 

 and crush them by hand. The prettily- 

 banded eggs are conspicuous objects, 

 standing on end, often in double rows, 

 and are readilv found. J. A. Lintner. 



Office of N. Y. State Entomologist, 

 Capital, Albany. 



A Big Crop of Mushrooms. — I 

 picked 10 lbs 6 oz of mushrooms yester- 

 day (May 3), weighing them after the 

 stems were cutoff'. Don't you think that 

 was a good day's cut from a bed 23 feet 

 long by 4 ft. wide? This bed is in a 

 cool cellar and has been in bearing since 

 the 15th of February, and plenty of mush- 

 rooms are yet showing. The night tem- 

 perature of the house now is 46°. [It is 

 not only a good crop, but a most extra- 

 ordinary one, and we hope you will tell 

 our readers all about how you made up 

 that bed and otherwise took care of it.— 

 Ed.] David Fraser. 



The Fruit Garden. 



FEARS FOR NEW MEXICO. 



What are the best winter pears (late 

 keepers) to plant for market? We have 

 here an ideal pear soil and climate, with 

 plenty of water. I have always regarded 

 Chamontel as the winter pear par e-vce/- 

 /ence, but find none offiered in the cata- 

 logues in this country, I see Winter 

 Nelis and Acme quoted at high prices in 

 February and March. Kindly advise me 

 which sorts to plant. I have about 80 

 acres altogether set apart for pears, and 

 mean to plant this autumn, choosing 

 best winter pears onlv. E. McQ. G. 



Croftonhill, N. M. ' 



Replying to the enclosed inquiry, we 

 should name as best winter pears the 

 Anjou, Winter Nelis, Josephine of Malines, 

 Barry, Columbia, Dorset and Duhumel 

 du Monceau. The Anjou, Winter Nelis 

 and Barry are recognized now as the 



