GARDENING. 



Dec. /5, 



edged with golden coleus, which attracted 

 a good deal of attention. J. Meehan. 

 Philadelphia. 



GETTING RID OF GREEN SCUM ON LILY 

 FONDS. 



In answer to M. N., Chippewa Falls, 

 Wisconsin: "How to get rid of green 

 scum on lily ponds," would say- The 

 quickest and best way to clear a ponJ of 

 it is to have two men with long, and 

 light boat oars, one stationed at each 

 side of the pond, then commence at the 

 upper end (or inlet) to skim the surfaceof 

 the water lightly in the direction of the 

 overflow. Very soon you will start a 

 current towards the overflow which will 

 carry all the scum with it. By following 

 up with the oars you can run all the 

 scum out at the overflow in a very short 

 time, and without hurt to the Ulies, as 

 the current created carries the leaves 

 under water until you have got past 

 them. If vou choose a day when thewind 

 is blowing towards the overflow it will 

 be a great help to you. P. Bisset. 



Washington, D. C. 



fl POOR FISH POND, BUT fl GOOD LILY FOND. 



I have a fish pond that proved a failure 

 for fish on account of the musk rats, and 

 I want to make it into a Hly pond in the 

 spring. It is so near a large spring that 

 the water in it never freezes in the coldest 

 weather. In summer I can turn the 

 stream around the pond and only let it 

 be fed by a small pipe, otherwise being so 

 near the spring the water may be too 

 cold. Can not I winter in this pond with 

 a bold stream from the spring only a few 

 yards away many plants that would be 

 too tender for a frozen pond? L. G. C. 



Rockingham Co., Va, 



The pond is admirably adapted for a 

 water garden. But it shouldn't be very 

 deep where the Hlies grow, grading from 

 six inches to three feet is a good depth; 

 and there should be a good thickness of 

 rich natural mud in the bottom for the 

 plants to grow in. As such a deposit of 

 mud seldom occurs in brisk spring-fed 

 ponds it should be added artificially, say 

 rich loamy soil mixed with old cow man- 

 ure. If the stream can be diverted in 

 summer why not altogether except to 

 clean the pond, and in winter just enough 

 to keep it from freezmg? 



Although the water may not freeze in 

 winter I should not care to risk fine trop- 

 ical lilies in the pond, but would try a 

 few Nymphsea Zanzibarensis and its vari- 

 eties for experiment. I would plant 

 nelumbiums notwithstanding the musk 

 rats, thev grow vigorously and flower 

 profusely' the first year. The rats will 

 thin them out in winter, but they will 

 need thinning, otherwise they would soon 

 take possession of the whole pond. Nym- 

 pheeas interspersed with the nelumbiums 

 add to the beauty of the pond. Don't 

 plant the parrot's feather ( Myriophyllum ) 

 or the nymph£Ea-like floating heart {Lim- 

 nanthemum nympbeeoides), lest, being 

 hardy, they become ineradicable pests. 

 You can depend upon the following kinds 

 of water plants as being hardy, beautiful, 

 easy to grow and well adapted for your 

 pond: 



'Lotus.— Nelunibium speciosum and N. 

 album striatum. Water lilies or nym- 

 phffia.— White, N. odorata, o. superba 

 and N. candidissima; yellow, N. sul- 

 pburea, cbromatella and Mcxicana; pink, 

 N. odorata rosea, o. Caroliniatia, Mar- 

 liacea rosea and Laydekeri rosea. 



Companion plants to set out about the 



banks of the pond —Japan irises, varie- 

 gated flag, zebra-striped rush, different 

 kinds of arrow \eaS (Sagittaria) , cardinal 

 flower, wild rice, narrow-leaved cat tail 

 flag (TypAa), and the swamprose mallow 

 (Hibiscus moscbeutos). 



Among tender plants that should grow 

 well in summer in such a pond a e: Blue 

 —NymphiEa Zanzibarensis and its variety 

 azurea, and N. ccerulea; red — N. Zanzi- 

 barensis rosea and N. Devoniensis; white 

 —N. dentata. The last two are night- 

 bloomers. As companion plants to these 

 plant the Egyptian paper reed ( Cyperus 

 Antiquorum), the umbrella plant (C 

 alternitolius), the yellow water poppj' 

 (Limnocbaris Humboldtii), water hya- 

 cinth {Eicbbornia azurea), water ranun- 

 culus (Limnantbemum Indicum). and the 

 cauna-like thalia (Tbalia dealbata) from 

 S. Carolina. Wm. Tricker. 



Clifton, N.J. 



The Flower Garden. 



FROFflOflTlNG GLflDIOLI. 



I am interested in hybridizing gladioli 

 and have now two things I am in a hurry 

 to propagate, one is seed of G. oppositi- 

 Qorus, a high priced species, the other is a 

 lot of bulblets of an extra fineNanceianus 

 novelty, "Sir Trevor Lawrence," soldlast 

 spring at 10 francs. My one bulb pro- 

 duced 75 or so bulblets, very much to my 

 surprise, and I want a stock in a hurry. 



1. Can I save a year by sowing seed or 

 bulblets in a greenhouse, or in boxes in 

 the house having no greenhouse. I would 

 not hesitate to put them in some green- 

 house to save time. My idea was to dry 

 ofi"the bulblets say in March and plant 

 again in May. 



2. I have some trouble to make bulb- 

 lets even when they are peeled grow. Too 

 many don't start until fall. 



3. Also I would like to know whether 

 sowing seed and bulblets in a hotbed, say 

 in March or April, would advance them 

 and by giving a chance to cover with 

 lights in fall make strong bulbs the first 

 season. Our seasons here are rather 

 short. Gladiolus. 



Wisconsin. 



1. We do not think you can, in fact we 

 look with much disfavor on the green- 

 house idea. It will pay you to take some 

 bulblets of common sorts and start them 

 in a greenhouse now forexperiment. You 

 will find they don't start kindly, but after 

 they do start some of them are apt to rot 

 off" mysteriously and easily. If you mean 

 to give them two growing periods and 

 two resting periods a year, we would 

 caution you against it. If you mean to 

 give them an early start in the greenhouse 

 in spring and then plant them out when 

 in growth in May to lengthen theirgrow- 

 ing season, we do not think it would be 

 of any advantage to them. 



2. That has been a general complaint 

 this year; the very dry summer was the 

 cause of it. Don't ptel your bulblets till 

 within a few days before you plant them 

 out, and don't plant them too deep, then 

 mulch the ground with three to four 

 inches deep of loose excelsior held in place 

 by a few light laths or thin branches till 

 the bulblets begin to grow. 



3. No, let the hotbed too alone. But 

 sow early and don't forget the mulching 

 of excelsior. You ought to see the beds 

 of seedlings as grown out of doors in this 

 way at Floral Park, where more than 

 a hundred acres are devoted to the culti- 



vation of gladioli in all stages; both Mr. 

 Childs and Mr. Allen, who own these 

 farms have lots of greenhouses, hotbeds, 

 and frames, but they never sow gladioli 

 seeds in them. 



SAW BUCK, LOG AND SAW. 



In the construction of this flower stand 

 it was intended to depart as far as possi- 

 ble from conventional forms and at the 

 same time preserve the utility requisite 

 for vigorous growth. A hollow freshly 

 fallen poplar tree furnished a log nearly 

 two and a halt feet in diameter of which 

 a piece six feet in length was taken. The 

 decayed center was taken out and an 

 opening, one by four feet, made in that 

 side chosen as the top when in position. 

 As the interior opening extended clear 

 through the log, partitions were placed 

 at each end of the top opening, entirely 

 filling the hollow center, thus shutting in 

 what might be termed the earth basket 

 ot the main display. This left a hollow 

 space one foot in length at each end. 

 Within six inches of the end it was closed 

 up half the height of the opening, a piece 

 of board half moon shape being used, 

 covered on the exposed surface with cedar 

 post bark. Thus we had three recepta- 

 cles, which were filled with earth well 

 mixed with old manure and horn shaving. 



The saw buck was made in ordinary 

 form of white oak, some four inches in 

 diamettr, retaining the bark. This must 

 be made strong, as the weight it bears is 

 considerable. The saw is composed of 

 sedums and sempervivums. The form 

 is first made of 14-inch pine. Three 

 inch nails are driven in this wood 

 saw, all along the margins within 

 a few inches of each other, slanting 

 slightly outwards. Twine is then 

 woven in and out among the nails, thus 

 forming atwine "fence" alongthe margin 

 about two inches high. Clay loam some 

 what damp is then pressed in between 

 the space enclosed by the nails. The roots 

 of the sedums are twistrd between the 

 fingers until they are pointed. A dibbler 

 the size of a lead pencil makes the hole to 

 receive the pointed roots. Those on the 

 sides or teeth points are held in place by 

 wooden toothpicks. A piece of a broom- 

 stick studded with nails standing out 

 from the wood an inch, between which 

 the earth is pressed, forms the foundation 

 ot the handles. After the plants have been 

 dibbled into these, they are wrapped with 

 strong white thread and set away in a 

 safe place for a week, to allow the roots 

 to take hold. Were I to make the han- 

 dles agiin I would use a spirally coiled 

 wire to hold the soil and thus form han- 

 dles of less diameter. The plants used 

 were mainly Draaena indivisa, canna 

 Egandale, which was never without one 

 or more open spikes all summer; varie- 

 gated ground ivy {Nepeta Glecboma 

 variegata) at the ends of the top opening 

 lav over the log and blended splendidly 

 with the gray of the bark, Lopbospermum 

 scandens, variegated vinca and a trailing 

 nasturtium formed the drooping plants. 

 At the ends planted back in the log, be- 

 yond the first bark covered portions were 

 ferns, Solanum jasminoides and the annual 

 Tlumhergia. ' W. C. E. 



KILLING OUT SORREL. 



W. H. F., Cleveland, Ohio, writes: 

 "The place I am now living on has been 

 allowed to run for several years and as a 

 result I found this summer all I wanted 

 to do, in spare time, to keep the weeds 

 down. Think I have gotten all in hand 

 except what I call sorrel or sour grass, 

 and so far that has the best of me. I have 



