GARDENING. 



Dec. IS, 



is planted go over and press the soil as 

 firmly as possible, then give the whole 

 enough water to moisten it as deep as 

 the roots are. Syringe them at least 

 once each day from this time on till the 

 buds are almost ready to show color, 

 unless ver\' stormy or cold. In .selecting 

 the plants' be careful to keep the dwarf 

 growing varieties as near together as 

 possible, and the tall grovi-ing varieties 

 should be placed in the center of the house. 



From the time of planting onward the 

 plants will grow very rapidly, and as 

 soon as they have started to grow in the 

 new soil each plant should be pinched 

 back, say four or five eyes from the top. 

 This will make them break from several 

 eyes; select from these three of the strong- 

 est and most even in growth (pull all the 

 others off) and encourage them to grow 

 on steadily without check; do not stop 

 them any more. During all this time 

 and until they are through blooming 

 great care must be taken to keep them 

 clear from all insects. Give all the air 

 possible day and night in hot weather. 

 As soon as the plants get fairly started 

 after being pinched they should be staked 

 or supported in some way; give each 

 shoot equal room to develop. When the 

 buds are about the sizeof peas they should 

 all be very carefully picked out except one 

 to each shoot. Those varieties being rec- 

 ommended as best on crown bud should 

 have all others removed, those advised 

 for terminal buds means that the crown 

 or first bud shown should be picked out 

 and the next bud showing retained for 

 blooming. During the period the plants 

 are setting their buds they should never 

 be over watered at the roots, as this is 

 the critical period of their growth. When 

 the disbuddingis allfinished and the bench 

 nicely cleaned over, all weeds, etc. cleared 

 off, give a thick mulching of fine manure 

 and water when required only. Keep the 

 shoots carefully tied as required and when 

 the blooms unfold their gorgeous beauty 

 you will be well repaid for the little extra 

 trouble given to obtain them. Nearly 

 every variety general!}' grown to-day is 

 adapted to this system of culture, though 

 of course some are betterthan others, but 

 by a careful selection of colors suitable 

 for early, mid-season and late, even a 

 small greenhouse can be made exceedingly 

 attractive from early October to Decem- 

 ber T will defer that part relating to pot 

 culture, etc. for another issue. 



Summit, N. J. John N. May. 



throw the strength of the shoot into one 

 flower, if really fine exhibition flowers are 

 to be the desideratum. This of course 

 only applies to cases where one flower is 

 to be grown to one shoot, and generally 

 only two or three to each plant. 

 Summit, N. J. John N. May. 



CROWN BUDS OP CHRYSflNTttEMUMS. 



F. N. B., Indiana, asks what is meant 

 by "crown buds," page 09: "Crown 

 bud" means that after a plant has been 

 stopped in the summer and the shoots 

 allowed to growon without further stop- 

 ping the first bud formed is the crown 

 bud, and where it is advised to grow cer- 

 tain varieties on crown buds it means 

 that this bud should be the one selected 

 and left to develop; all others on the 

 shoot should be carefully picked out as 

 soon as they can be handled, also the lat- 

 eral shoots which start out down the 

 stem. Where a variety is advi.scd as best 

 on terminal buds it means thatthecrown 

 bud above noted should be picked out as 

 soon as it is large enough. This will 

 cause several shoots to start out just 

 below it which will grow from one to two 

 inches and then produce one or more buds 

 in a cluster; the largest or most promi- 

 nent of these is what is generally called 

 the terminal bud and is the one that 

 should be selected to produce the flower; 

 all others, also all shoots, should be care- 

 fully removed as soon as possible to 



NEW CHRySflNTflEMUMS. 



Mr. L. A. Martin, Passaic Co., N. J., 

 sends us some blossoms. Hewrites: "No. 

 1 is a last year's seedling, a splendid 

 grower, with stift' stems and fine foliage, 

 and massive ochre yellow flowers that last 

 a longtimein perfection. No. 2, also a last 

 year's seedling is of a fine crimson color. 

 No. 3, is a part white and part yellow flow- 

 ered sport of Mabel Simpkins I got last 

 year, am trying to get it all yellow. No. 

 4 is a sport of Gladette (salmon pink), 

 and No. 5 is a this year's seedling. What 

 do you think of them?" 



No. 1 is a massive, very ftill, stiff-necked 

 fine, bold flower of good color. It is 

 worth keeping. No. 2. Try again. Bril- 

 liant crimson above, paler underneath. 

 Not quite full enough and is a little weak 

 in the neck. No. 3, like its parent is a 

 handsome flower, but keep at it till you 

 get the pure yellow. 



No. 4 is ' a very full-headed stift- 

 stemmed flower of a peculiar purplish 

 crimson shade, but the color is not a 

 favorite one. No. 5 is a pretty golden 

 bronze flower showing the eye, and a lit- 

 tle weak in the neck. It is hardly good 

 enough to keep. 



Roses. 



FLflNTINO ROSES. 



A subscriber St. Louis, writes: "I 

 want to set out some ro.ses in the spring. 

 Eight or ten inches below the surface of 

 the ground is red clay and I cannot afford 

 to trench it, I thought of making a hole 

 say four or five feet deep and two wide, 

 and in the bottom put eight or ten inches 

 ••f broken pottery or brick for drainage 

 and fill in with good rich earth. Do you 

 think that would answer? 



Very well. But we wouldn't go so 

 deep. Throw out the bed three feet deep; 

 then fill it up a foot deep with clean 

 stones, brickbats and other rubble, keep- 

 ing the larger ones in the bottom and the 

 smaller ones at top. Over that spread a 

 layer of straw, hay, sedge or similar ma- 

 terial to keep the dirt from falling in 

 among the rubble to choke the drainage; 

 and fill up with good loam Be sure, 

 however, that, even then, means are pro- 

 vided for the water to drain away from 

 the bed, else instead of draining it you 

 may be simply digging a water cistern; 

 better have no hole than do that. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



fINE POLIflGE IN FALL. 



The handsomest bit of coloring on my 

 grounds this fall was given by a quar- 

 tette of easily grown and perfectly hardy 

 shrubs. Commencing early in September 

 Acer Ginnala, a small maple from the 

 Amur River, put on its harlequin attire 

 and opened up the ball in charming colors 

 of reds, yellow and even black, furnishing 

 daintily colored leaves for wall or table 

 decoration. Followingitcamethe yellow 

 leaved hop tree (Ptelia trifoliata aiirea) 

 aUays attractive, that during the sum- 

 mer is charming in its shadings from the 

 light yellow of the new growth to the 

 deep green of the older leaves, but now 

 assuming the brightest lemon in all its 

 parts, and retaining its leaves with per- 

 sistency. Berheris Tbiinbergii appears in 

 various shades of salmon and terracotta, 

 enlivened by the scarlet berries that fringe 

 the semi-pendent stems in profusion. But 

 brighter far, and more vivid in its color- 

 ing than all these, is the crimson robed 

 winged euonymus (E. alatus) a choice 

 hardy shrub deserving a place of honorin 

 all collections. The maple and the hop 

 are small trees but in nature of habit can 

 be classed among the shrubs. Can you 

 tell us the habitat of the euonvmus? 



Highland Park, Ills. W. C. Egan. 



.\ broad spreading, free-growing, but 

 dense shrub whose arms are inclined to 

 spread out with a drooping tendency. 

 The wood buds are bright red in spring, 

 the foliage is moderately small but pretty 

 and it colors beautifully in October. Bark 

 scale is exceedingly destructive on decidu- 

 ous euonymuses, but this species seems to 

 enjoy comparative immimity from it. For 

 brilliantly colored foliage there is a wild 

 goose plum tree in the orchard here that 

 eclipses everything else in the garden just 

 now. 



Ifl FRANCE flS fl flflRDY ROSE. 



J. D. W., Southern Illinois, asks: "Is 

 La France rose better for growing in the 

 open ground when budded? I have bought 

 lots of them and never had but one to 

 grow and bloom thrifty, so cannot ac- 

 count for it." 



La France blooms best with us on its 

 own roots, and it blooms very freely too. 

 When budded it is hard to protect it even 

 when budded very low. Without protec- 

 tion La France does not do well. We 

 protect it by hilling eighteen to twenty- 

 four inches with soil then mulching with 

 long stable manure. J.Gregory. 



Bloomington, HI. 



fl FEW DESIRABLE SHRUBS. 



Tecoma stans is a very decorative lawn 

 plant stately in appearance and with 

 vivid green foliage and golden-yellow, 

 trumpet shaped blossoms. It blooms 

 continuously and profusely and its 

 branches are often weighted down with 

 its wealth of flowers. If cut down by 

 frost it soon grows up again. Its blos- 

 soms are followed by peculiarly shaped 

 fruit each of which contains a hard shelled 

 seed which when planted germinates very 

 readily. The plant is also increased by 

 root division and from cuttings. When in 

 the prime of its beauty, that is when cov- 

 ered with blossoms and fruit it calls forth 

 exclamations of praise from all who 

 behold it. 



Abelia rupestris is a shrub possessing so 

 many sterling qualities that it deserves to 

 be more extensively cultivated. It is 

 always in bloom unless cut back by frost. 

 Its trumpet shaped blossoms are bornein 

 great profusion and are very attractive 

 to insect Hfe. as insects are continually 

 hovering over the floweis and sipping 

 their sweets. Cuttings of it strike very 

 readily, and commence to bloom vyhile in 

 thumb pots. A symmetrical specimen is 

 a fine addition to any lawn. It is also a 

 very desirable window plant. 



Cassia Brazilieiisis, a native of South 

 America, as its name indicates, is a shrub 

 of rare beauty. Its flowers are gold u 

 yellow. Its foliage resembles that of the 

 locust. At the approach of sundown it 

 folds its leaves, which gives it a peculiar 

 appearance. 



