j893. 



GARDENING. 



PLATE OP BOUSSOOK PEARS [SEE PAGE 183 



Scarlet, Meteor, Boabdil, Vesuvius. 



Maroon, James Walton, Maroon 

 Beauty, Prince Bismarck. 



Pink, A. D. Livoni, Viola. 



Variegated, Emperor (Floral Park 

 Jewel), Emily. 



Cactus varieties. Electric, Lyndhurst, 

 Black Prince, Wm. Pearce, Maid of Kent, 

 Nymphaea, Harry Freeman and a host of 

 other new sorts. This class is verj- at- 

 tractive and its flowers are tjrand for 

 vases and general decorations. There is 

 also a type of new single cactus dahlias 

 which make a useful addition to the 

 garden. 



Many of the varieties mentioned here 

 are old sorts, but they are none the worse 

 for that, for they have proven themselves 

 reliable. Charles H. Allen. 



Floral Park, N. Y. 



ffllLtD WITH BOLTONIfl AND LftVflTERfl. 



J. B. G., Flushing, N. Y., writes: "Last 

 summer I tried a large number of seeds 

 (annuals and perennials) whose names 

 had stared at me for years from the cata- 

 logues, but which I had never seen grow- 

 ing. Among my unknowns I failed 

 utterly with two. 1. Thorburn says of 

 Boltonia latiscjuama "The handsomest 

 border flower grown." I planted seeds 

 in the hotbed (in flats) in early spring 

 and again in the fall, but not one ger- 

 minated. 2. I sowed Lavatera trimes- 

 tris in the open in spring It came up 

 well. I thinned the seedlingsout toabout 

 eight plants. When thev got about a 

 foot high one leaf after another lopped 

 over, at a place on the leafstalk that 

 looked as if a string had been tied tightly 

 about it. Finalh' this girdling occurred 

 on the main stem and then the plant died. 

 I suspected cut worms, but no digging 

 around the pl.-int, or lantern searching at 

 night disclosed any enemy. I trans- 

 planted some of the plants to other jwirts 

 of the garden, where at first they seemed 

 to do better, but finally all succumbed. 

 Have you any suggestions to favor me 

 with?" 



1. It is a tall growing, very handsome, 

 hardy, aster-like perennial. But the hot- 

 bed was a bad place to sow it in; better 

 have sown it in a cold frame, for it is 

 slow to germinate. The hotbed is good 

 enough for quick growing seeds, but a 



verv poor place for slow germinating 

 seeds as a good manj-of our hardy peren- 

 nials, especially native plants, are. 



2. The trouble with the lavatera was 

 local, and probably might have been 

 avoided were the seedlings transplanted 

 when they were about two inches high. 

 It is a very easy plant to raise and grow. 



THE CflNNflS GOT FROZEN. 



R. K., Southport, Conn., had some 

 canna roots in the cellar, and the frost 

 got at them one night, he took them into 

 the greenhouse next day and covered 

 them over with damp earth and let them 

 thaw out slowly. He asks what to do 

 with them, and how to treat them to get 

 them into good condition for blooming 

 next summer. 



By this time whatever damage the frost 

 did to them will be visible. With a sharp 

 knife cut out all rhe dead or decaying 

 parts, then break up the crowns into 

 several pieces, being sure to have at least 

 one good eye to each. Pot each piece 

 separately and let it start in the green- 

 house. Or plant the pieces into flat 

 boxes, rather close together, and about 

 the first of April, after they have started 

 to root and grow, plant them out in cold 

 frames or a gentle hot bed( covering them 

 securely from frost. This should givej'ou 

 well started stocky plants to set out in 

 Mav. 



Propagate all mannerof bedding i)lants 

 now, and be especially particular about 

 getting up a large stock of such ones as 

 you use for cut flowers in summer, for in- 

 stance, heliotropes, single dahlias, double 

 white feverfew, oak geranium and the 

 like. Make good use of the window, 

 greenhouse and hotbed in raising seeds. 

 But bear in mind that it is far better to 

 wait J:ill .\])ril and then sow in a cold 

 frame than sow now and neglect the seed 

 pots as regards warmth, moisture, light, 

 shading and freedom from draughts. 



Iris KncMrFERi from seed — X corres- 

 pondent asks about raising this from 

 seed. Sow the seed as soon as you get 

 it, in fall or sjning, in flats, or in a cold 

 frame, and cover with hay or excelsior 

 till the seedlings appear, if you sow infall 

 the seedlings may not come up till spring; 

 if you sow in spring they should come up 



in a few wr. I v > ,f' them should 



bloom -when iw.i year- mIcI, most all when 

 three. It depends upon the parent plants 

 how manv of the seedlings will be 

 "double." 



The winter lawn dressing.— Just as 

 soon as the snow has gone rake up the 

 roughest of the manure dressing in tht 

 lawn and cart it away. Grass starts 

 e.irly, and if you leave the dressing on 

 ,iny longer the grass will become bleached 

 under the clods of manure, and disfigured 

 for a long time. At the same time see that 

 stones, scraps of wire, sticks, and the like 

 are raked off' clean, else if left they will 

 destroy the mowing machine. 



What to do wnii iiii-i kakings — 

 The subst.-nice bcinu «a-li,J .,„i of it 

 pretty thoroughly, It i- oi In i Ir account 

 as manure this spring. We ii> it largely 

 .'IS a summer mulch to evergreens, young 

 trees and shi'ubs, and for sweet peas, cur- 

 rant and raspberry bushes, a;nd anything 

 else that needs it, and cart the balance to 

 the manure yard and throw it into a pile, 

 when if it is wet, it soon starts to heat, 

 and makes good material for mild 

 hotbeds. The dry, chaffy stuff we cart to 

 the hog pens for bedding, and as an 

 absorbent. 



Bulb Beds.— Watch the ones that have 

 been mulched over winter very closely, 

 and the moment j'ou find the plants 

 breaking through the ground lighten the 

 mulching by removing a considerable 

 part of it, and a little later, and before 

 the tips of the plants get bleached, remove 

 it altogether. Retard rather than hasten 

 the growth of your bulbous plants if you 

 would get the best results from them. 



The Flower Garden.— Very little can 

 be done in the beds or borders. Look 

 ■•iround among the labels and if any have 

 been heaved out by the frost stick them 

 into tte ground before they get displaced; 

 and if the writing has become in part ob- 

 literated restore it at once. 



The Greenhouse. 



"MY LITTLE GREENflOUSE." 



.A. B. C. has got a little greenhouse 

 12x16 feet, span-roofed, simk one step 

 below the ground level, and heated with 

 a coal stove with a string of sheet iron 

 smoke pipe running along tmder the 

 middle bench. The panes of glass are 

 large, light good, situation open, and 

 ventilators at top and at one end, the 

 door being at the other end. He wishes 

 to grow flowers in winter and raise veg- 

 etable plants in it in spring, but he knows 

 verv little about either, and asks for help. 

 The plants wilt with the heat, and the 

 little green "bugs" infest them. 



First let us heat the house: Run 

 your night temperature at 55" to 60°, 

 and 5" to 10" warmerfor raising seedlings 

 in, but if the night is very cold let the tem- 

 perature in the house drop as low as 50' 

 or even 45° rather than run the fire very 

 strong, for hot, dry fire heat is bad for 

 plants, but heaven for red spider. In the 

 day time let the temoeralurc rise 10° or 

 15 = , OS in the event of a bright sunny day 

 maybe 20°. In the morning, if it isn't a 

 cold, raw, sunless or wet one, and the 

 temperature doesn't fall below 55" or 

 60\ let the fire alone, you don't want it, 

 for as the morning advances the heat will 

 rise; in the event of a cold, raw or wet 

 morning a gentle fire may do good. 



If the morning or forenoon is bright, 

 when the temperature in the greenhouse 

 rises between 5° and 10= above 60°, sav 



