^52 



GARDENING. 



Feb. /, 



cherry plants early in the season to get 

 good berried plants for next Christmas. 

 Chrysanthemums if sown now should 

 give us good blooming plants next No- 

 vember. 



Pot a few gloxinia roots to give us 

 flowering plants in April and May. For 

 early blooming we should also pot a few 

 achimenes; although the "roots" are 

 small they give us good sized jjlants in 

 two or three months. Pot up a few fancy 

 leaved caladiums, but there istimeenough 

 for one or two months yet before starting 

 all the stock, room being the absorbing 

 (|uestion at this time of the year. 



Ferns.— Repot all that need it, using 

 one shift larger pots; if repotting is un- 

 necessary turn the plant out of the pot 

 anvwav'to make sure that the drainage 

 is all rigtt and there are no worms in the 

 soil. For quick growing common sorts 

 as cuneatum maidenhairs, pteris of sorts, 

 onvchiura, nephrodium, aspidium and 

 nephrolepis we use the same sort of soil 

 that we do for geraniums, turfy loam 

 and rotted manure. As ferns like rough- 

 ish but not cloddy soil we sift out the 

 finest part and discard it. A little leaf 

 mould in the soil for ferns is well liked. 

 Sand in the soil isn't used as much as it 

 was in former years, neither is peat. Some 

 fresh, welldried swamp moss sifted or rub- 

 bed through a half inch mesh sieve, and 

 mixed with a little leaf mould, fibrous 

 loam and coal ashes or sand makes a nice 

 compost for little seedlings. 



there for a couple of months or more. 

 Then ifthey are starting to grow divide 

 the roots and pot or box them off and let 

 them come along slowly and make nice 

 plants for setting out of doors the end of 

 May. 



RUBBER PLANT IS SICK. 



J. C, Hamilton, Ont., writes; "My 

 rubber tree stand in the hall and has 

 always thriven well until the last few- 

 weeks. Latterly someof the lowerleaves 

 have become brown round the edges and 

 hard all over and spotted with small 

 brown spots all over them. This is grad- 

 ually spreading upwards. There is no 

 sign of scale, the leaves and stem quite 

 clean. The last born leaf is much smaller 

 than usual " 



We can not tell. Has frost got at your 

 plant? Turn it out of its pot gently and 

 see that the drainageis all right, and pick 

 out any worms j'ou may find trace of, 

 then replace the roots and soil intact. 

 Water very moderately. When more 

 active growth begins in spring it may be 

 well to cut down the plant half its length, 

 and repot it, using a considerably smaller 

 pot than it is now in. About the first of 

 June plant it out in the garden, and about 

 the middle of August lift and repot it. 



NOT fl rtoyfl. 



Z. B^ writes: "I was given a flower, 

 called by the giver 'Hoya wax plant.' 

 Please find enclosed a leaf of same and 

 tell me the proper name and treatment 

 ofit." 



It isn't a hoya at all, but a very com- 

 mon window or greenhouse plant called 

 Bryopbyllum calycimim. It is of upright 

 habit and has large fleshy leaves with 

 lots of little notches on their edges, and 

 little plants grow out of these notches. 

 The stem terminates in a tall, stiff, open 

 panicle of nodding flowers issuing from 

 inflated calyx tubes. The treatment of 

 any ordinary window plant suits it. 

 Keep it somewhat warm, only moder- 

 ately moist, and shade it a little from 

 warm sunshine. The common hoya or 

 wax plant much grown as a window 

 plant is a fleshy-leaved vine. There are 

 several other hoyas though, as H. Pax- 

 toTii, H. bella, and the like, that make 

 dainty basket or pot plants in a warm 

 greenhouse, but they are seldom grown 

 in the window. 



would probably be to run dry and cool 

 for a time until healthy root action is 

 restored and then give plenty of water 

 again. Paul M. Pierson. 



Scarborough, N. Y. 



LiNUM TRIGYNUM.— A. S. asks what to 

 do with it after it has done blooming. 

 Cut it in a little so as to make nice shapely 

 bushes, and keep a little on the dry side. 

 Then shake out the plants and repot 

 them, using fresh soil, but no larger pots 

 —perhaps ones not as large— than they 

 were in before. A moderate temperature 

 is better than much heat. Syringe every 

 fine morning. Strike a few cuttings for 

 young plants. 



Begonia.— In answer to Z. B.: If you 

 cut away the old stem you may weaken 

 the roots, hence the young shoot; better 

 cut the old stem back a little, and after 

 the young stem has grown a good deal 

 and' begun to branch and make leaves 

 then vou can with benefit to the plant cut 

 the old stem away altogether. 



Roses. 



CflNNfl LEAVES ARE DISEASED. 



Ontario writes: Can you tell me the 

 cause of blight on enclosed canna leaf, I 

 have several seedlings all similarly 

 affected. They have been grown in a box, 

 at the southeast window of a moderately 

 warm room heated by a furnace. The 

 soil is rather rich but heavy. I notice 

 lately a great many white worms. 



It is hard to say what has caused the 

 blight. Cut the plants down to the 

 ground, turn them out of the boxes and 

 shake the soil from the roots, and if you 

 find any of the little worms sticking to 

 the root stocks or any rust-like or de- 

 cayed spots on the latter, wash the roots 

 and cut out the diseased parts. Then 

 pack the root stocks, one deep, heads up, 

 and moderately close together in ordi- 

 narily moist sand or light loam in a box, 

 whichshould bekeptin a cool but always 

 frost-proof dry cellar. Let them rest 



BLIND WOOD ON ROSES. 



A. S., Hamilton, N. Y., writes: "1 have 

 a bench of Bridesmaid roses which have 

 been flowering nicely and are still, but 

 there is a large quantity of 'blind wood' 

 on them. Would it be best to prune back 

 part of it? I am forcing the roses and 

 will throw them out next June." 



Years ago it was the practice for rose 

 growers to prune out the blind wood, on 

 the theory that by so doing the strength 

 of the plant would be thrown into bloom- 

 ing wood. But the practice has been 

 gradually superseded by more sensible 

 treatment. The foliage is one of the 

 prime factors in building up or restoring 

 lost vigor. The fact is that while a cer- 

 tain amount of blind wood is natural an 

 excess of it is usually the result of im- 

 paired vitality and deficient root action, 

 which may be the result of any one of a 

 number of causes, and which it is futile 

 for one not periectly familiar with treat- 

 ment given to try to name. Examine the 

 roots and see if they are working prop- 

 erly, that is ifthey are white and fibrous; 

 if so water freely on fair days. If the 

 roots are few and dark the best treatment 



ROSE MRS. FIERFONT MORGAN. 



This is anew rose, a sport from Madame 

 Cusin. The plant is very vigorous and 

 free blooming, and has fine handsome 

 foliage. The flowers are unusually large 

 measuring when in perfection 4V2 inches 

 in diameter, very full and double, and of 

 fine shape and build. Their color is a 

 clear, bright cerise or rose pink, and 

 shows equallv well in daylight or artifi- 

 cial light. The petals are broad and mas- 

 sive. The flowers last longer in good 

 condition on the plant, and also after be- 

 ing cut, than those of any other rose I 

 grow, and they are borne on strong 

 stems, filteen to'twentv inches long. 



J. N. May. 



Our illustration, from a photograph 

 sent us by Mr. May, was engraved and 

 paid for by Gardening, and is not an 

 electro from any other engraving. In 

 fact no other engraving that has yet ap- 

 peared from the same photograph ap- 

 proaches it in depth of detail, clearness, 

 Ijeauty, or fineness of workmanship. 



Aquatics. 



THREE WATER LILIES FOR TUBS. 



E. M. L., W. Va , "wishes next season 

 to grow three tubs (oil barrels cut in 

 two) of water lilies. As I have never 

 grown any plants of this kind I would 

 Tike to know what three varieties would 

 give me the most satisfaction, also the 

 best time to plant them." 



Nvtnpbsea Marliacea chroaiatella, sul- 

 phur yellow; N. alba candidissima. white; 

 and for a third I'd have -V. pygmasa Hel- 

 viola, yellow; but maybe your corre- 

 spondent would prefer N. odorata rosea, 

 rose. All ofthese are hardy. Iftheplants 

 haven't begun to grow plant them about 

 the first of April; if they have started 

 into growth don't plant them out and 

 set the tub out of doors before the first 

 of May. If plants that have started well 

 into growth are set outside early they 

 get a check and they do not come into 

 bloom as early as do those whose roots 

 were dormant when they were planted 

 and set outside. John McElyery. 



Flatbush, L. I. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



A AOTBED. 



There is nothing new to tell about how- 

 to make a hotbed, the same story is told 

 and retold vear after year, and we have 

 got to tell" it atresh every spring. Hot- 

 beds can be worked to advantage all 

 through the winter in the south, in the 

 north, however, we don't care to start 

 them before February, and then for veg- 

 etables only; March is soon enough for 

 our flower seeds. The trouble with the 

 hotbed inmidwinteris properly attending 

 it in inclement and stormy weather. But 

 we can get the heating material ready, 

 the loam under cover, and the box or pit 

 of the frame ready. 



At this time of the year a hotbed should 

 be in a well sheltered, sunny spot sloping 



