i8g6. 



• • • GARDENING. 



299 



bought at a moderate price but at best 

 they are disappointing. I do not, how- 

 ever, agree with many growers who con- 

 tine themselves to only one or two species 

 such as Cattkya. Triamc. having found 

 from experience that the VnntJa tricolor 

 and v. cccrulea and many ofthe^r/A'sare 

 are also very prolific and lasting. I have 

 many plants of V. tricolor auii suavis and 

 they bring about 3 crops of flowers per 

 year, and certainly as cut flowers for 

 basket work nothing can surpass them 

 for trimmingthehandle of a large basket, 

 which by the way is no doubt the best 

 arrangement of such bloom. The beauti- 

 ful and imposing catilcya, the bold cypri- 

 pedium, are par excellence the flowers for 

 the base of the basket, and sprays of 

 odontoglossum and icridcs drooping 

 gracefully over the sides on maidenhair 

 or asparagus, with the handle nicelj- 

 sprayed off with vanda in variety inter- 

 spersed perhaps with phalc-cnopsis and 

 other sprays such as lonopsis paniculata 

 and Oncidium incurvum and such like. 



To those that have only limited space 

 and have had through necessity to keep 

 all of their orchids in one house during 

 the winter I would say lose no time in 

 placing them in their proper place during 

 their summer growth, for instance sepa- 

 rate your Cypripcdiuw insigne from such 

 varieties as Lawrenceaiwn, and such hot 

 moist loving stock and bring them into 

 a cool light position where they will make 

 study growth and consequently a heavy 

 crop of flower, also bring the various 

 tribes of /a?//a into a light airy position, 

 as they will do with much less heat than 

 is required for cattleya. I refer to L. 

 alhicla, L. autumnalis, L. Perrini, etc. 

 Then also />endro6/(jmnoh;7e will do with 

 less heat and moisture than will the new 

 comer from New Guinea, the D. Plialai- 

 nopsis which will bear very moist, strong 

 heat and plenty of light during its grow- 

 ing and flowering period, which will last 

 from now till October or November, when 

 they should have a long rest, in a cool 

 house, 50° to 55-. Of course this is a lit- 

 tle opposite from what thej- get in their 

 native homes, as I believe they rest in the 

 dry, warm season and grow in the rainy 

 season. The whole dendrobium family 

 will be invigorated by an occasional treat 

 to a stimulant of wtak guano water or 

 any other liquid manure that will come 

 handily to the cultivator, of course first 

 taking care that the plants are in healthy 

 and strong growing condition and care 

 should also be used not to spray the 

 foliage. Do not commence this treatment 

 untill the new growth is fairly on the 

 way, say from one to two inches out of 

 the vase. Cywhidium Lowii, Sobralia, 

 Pbajus, etc., all enjoys weak wateringsof 

 the above. Do not fail to keep a good 

 supply of strong tobacco stems on the 

 pipes in your hot house, this will relieve 

 you from the unpleasant task of hunting 

 for thrips remedies, these insects do not 

 relish the tobacco atmosphere. Snails can 

 be kept scarce by using coarse bran in 

 which a little Paris green has been incor- 

 porated, this is also a good remedy for 

 the cockroach, which by the way is agreat 

 lover of the feeders of the orchid roots. 



I'lica, N. V. W.M. Mathews. 



ORCHID NOTES. 



The following orchids arc in bloom 

 here now (June 1): Cattleya SchoHelr]. 

 iana, an easily grown summer flowering 

 species; C. Harrisonia: violacea, a free 

 flowering cattleya with violet-purple 

 flowers, often blooming twice in a year; 

 C. gigas imperialis and C. gigas Saader- 

 iana, fine large flowered kinds, reliable 

 and of vigorous growth; C. Gaskelliana 



pulchra, a very handsome orchid indeed, 

 all the varieties of C. Gaskelliana arc 

 desirable and, like the type, reliable. 



Epidendrum dichromiiw does well with 

 basket culture; Sobralia wacrantha and 

 S. Williamsii, large growing plants with 

 reed-like stems, bearing on their summits 

 cattleya-like flowers; they are of easy 

 culture but take considerable room. 

 Airides odoratum, free-growing and 

 fragrant. Vanda tricolor, a lovely species 

 with a good many varieties, all of which 

 are desirable. These two orchids should 

 never be allowed to get wholly dry. 

 They do well in suspended baskets, which 

 allow freedom to their long aerial roots. 

 A mixture of sphagnum moss and pot- 

 sherds is the most suitable material 

 to grow them in. 



Cypripedium barbatum nigrum, and 

 C. Scliroderai, the latter a very highly 

 colored flower of a rosy purple hue. 

 Maxillaria tenuifolia, an evergreen easily 

 grown orchid with purplish brown 

 flowers; very odoriferous. 



The following are in bloom in a neigh- 

 bor's collection: Dendrobium anosmuni, 

 flowers purplish lilac; Brougbtonia 

 sanguinea, a free flowering species suit- 

 able for block culture; Lxlia grandis, 

 yellow flower with a white lip striped 

 with crimson; Cattleya citrina, with 

 j'ellow fragrant flowers; it should be 

 grown on blocks, the leaves hanging 

 downward, in the cool house; it gener- 

 ally dies out after the third or fourth 

 year. And the foUowiag cypripediums: 

 C. Elliottianum, Dominianum, conchl- 

 ferum longifolium and niveum. 



Orange, N. J. Wm. Fitzwilliam. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



TflE VECETflBLE GARDEN. 



CmvES.— Don't let them all run to 

 flower; cut over a few clumps so that 

 they may throw up young leaves. If left 

 uncut the plants run to flower, and soon 

 get rusty and mmsable. 



Carrots.— If the plants in the row are 

 very thick thin them out a little either by 

 hand or the corner of a hoe; it will give 

 those left a better chance to get larger 

 than they would have if left all in bunches 

 and it is with carrots as with otherroots; 

 if grown quickly they are apt to be ten- 

 der, if grown slow they may be totjgh. 

 Although we like to sow our main crop 

 of winter carrots about the end of this 

 month or first of July, their welfare de- 

 pends a good deal upon whether we get 

 rain enough to start the seeds and keep 

 the seedlings in active growth ever after. 

 Rather than risk everything so late, bet- 

 ter put in a good sowing as soon as you 

 can conveniently. 



CoRN.^Put in a good sowing once 

 fortnight up till the middle of July, of 

 course in localities colder than New York 

 the end oi June may be late enough. Keep 

 the crop well and frequently hoed as apre- 

 caution against drouth as well as lor cul- 

 tural reasons. If the ground and weather 

 are very dry and you wish to sow corn, 

 mark off the hills and dig them over deep 

 and mellow, then with the hoe scoop out 

 a wide hollow in the middle of each hill 

 and fill it with water, giving a pailful to 

 each one; when this soaks in draw on a 

 little earth, sow the corn and earth it 

 over with loose mellow earth, giving it a 

 tamp with the hoe. This will start the 

 com no matter how dry the weather may 

 be. And do the same with melons, cu- 

 cumbers, siiuashes, and other vegetables 

 you sow now. Look out for the worms 



in the young ears, they are generally 

 quite troublesome to the early crop. If 

 you look in time you will find them in the 

 silk or just as they enter the tip of the 

 ear, then pinch them between your fingers. 

 If you delay hunting for them they will 

 soon eat their way down into the ears, 

 making very dirty and destructive work. 



Cucumbers.— Look out for cut worms 

 every morning. Where you find a plant 

 has beencutoverduringthe night, scratch 

 away a little earth from the base of it and 

 there most likely you will find the ma- 

 rauder; now kill it. Or mix a little Paris 

 green in bran and lay a little heap — half a 

 teaspoonful in each hill; while this is a 

 bait to the worms it also is an attraction 

 to other creatures, and may be the cause 

 of more evil than good. 



Dandelions are our earliest outdoor 

 spring greens. If you had them this 

 spring and have kept over the old roots, 

 dig them out and throw them away; 

 they are no use for another season, they 

 seem to flower the moment the spring 

 opens. They should be sown early in 

 spring. If you have not done this by giv- 

 ing the ground a good soaking of water 

 before sowing and shading it with excel- 

 sior or sacking it for some days the seeds 

 will germinate yet; if not thev are apt to 

 lie dormant till the after 'midsummer 

 rains come when the plants will be too 

 small to give good greens next spring. 



Egg Plant.— On account of the cool 

 stormy weather of the latter part of May 

 nothing was gained bv planting out our 

 egg plants in that month, but if the 

 plants have been well inured to the air it 

 is now time to set them out. They like a 

 warm sheltered place. 



Garlic should be planted as one would 

 onion sets in early spring. Let it alone 

 till it matures, then pull it up and store 

 it for use. If you leav. it in the ground 

 after the tops die down it is apt to rot, 

 or at least get lost. 



Horse Radish.— Cut the flower stems 

 out of the old plants, this spring's setting 

 is not apt to run to bio m this summer. 

 Use the old roots first. 



Kale.— Put in a sowing of dwarf green 

 curled when you sow the winter cabbage, 

 or even a month later, just as you have 

 room for it. If planted early there is no 

 danger of its running to seed; if planted 

 late, small although it may be, every leaf 

 of it will befit for use; this makes it an 

 accommodating as well as useful vegeta- 

 ble, for if we have plenty of it on hand we 

 can fill up any odd places in the garden 

 with it that may be empty, and gaps 

 among other crops. 



Kohlrabi.- Sow and treat as you 

 would cabbage, except set the pi nts 

 much closer together, say IS inches apart. 



Leeks. — Transplant those sown in 

 spring. Draw a deep row as if to sow 

 beans in, and into this dibble the leek 

 plants a few inches apart. 



Lettuces.— Thoroughly wet a row or 

 piece of ground, and as soon asitmellows 

 enough to rake scatter some lettuce seeds 

 on or along it and cover them lightly. 

 When they come up thin them to a few 

 inches apart, wide enough to let them 

 heart. Or if the ground is moist and the 

 weather not very hot, transplant them. 

 Sow at least once in two weeks. 



Melons.— Both musk and watermelons 

 if not already sown should be sown now; 

 if the ground is good and conditions 

 favorable the hills of niuskmelons may be 

 6.x4 feet, and the watermelons 6x8" If 

 the weather is dry prepare the ground as 

 recommended forcorn, and look out for 

 cut worms as mentioned for cucumbers. 

 But we think we get a better stand of 

 melons and cucumbers too when we sow 



