230 



GARDENING. 



April 15, 



Ans. Yes, from cuttings is the way flo- 

 rists raise them. Take half ripe wood in 

 summer. But it isn't a very easy matter. 

 If you notice, Jackmanni and tlie other 

 large flowering clematis keep up in price, 

 and this is because of their slow propaga- 

 tion. Florists having good convenience 

 for striking the cuttings are often quite 

 successful in rooting them. 



SflilDINO FOR GREENHOUSES. 



I have tried various means of shading 

 greenhouses and find white lead and 

 kerosene applied with a brush is best of 

 all. It covers well, rain does not affect it, 

 and it comes off quite easy. [Excellent. 

 Make a thin white wash and apply it 

 with a broad white wash brush, reaching 

 the top of the greenhouse from the ground 

 by using a long pole handle to the brush 

 which can be put in or taken out at 

 pleasure.— Ed.] W. H. A. 



Hvde Park, Mass. 



Chrysanthemums are easily raised 

 from seed, and from seed sown now we 

 should get good flowering plants next 

 fall. Sow the seed indoors as you would 

 China asters or French marigolds; when 

 the seedlings come up prick them off" 

 singlv into other pots or flats, protect 

 them" from frost till the end of April; early 

 in May plant them out in good sround, 

 and afterwards treat them as you do your 

 regular stock of chrysanthemums. They 

 will probably bring you all manner of 

 flowers, big and little, ill-fared and good 

 looking, single and double, and you will 

 likely get a great deal of pleasure and in- 

 struction out of the experiment. 



Lemo.n verbena from seed.— K. C — 

 Yes, you can raise it irom seed, but if you 

 want to get up some plants to cut lots of 

 fragrant sprays from next summer, stick 

 to the cuttings. But for the interest in it 

 and experiment's sake try a few seeds: 

 and when the seedlings come up and start 

 off" in life with broad hairy leaves more 

 like sage than lemon verbena, and having 

 nothing resembling their parents but the 

 scent, don't be disappointed, that is sim- 

 ply a trait of theiryouth, they'll outgrow 

 it in time, in likemanner asdoes Eucalyp- 

 tus glohuhis outgrow its broad-leaved 

 glaucous babyhood. 



Small white worms in the soil in pots. 

 M. B. L., Princeton, 111., asks: "What 

 can I use to prevent the small white worm 

 in the earth for potted plants from being 

 so troublesome?" Wm. Fitzwillian, 

 Orange, N. J., answers: "I have used 

 permanganate of potash for killing 

 worms in pots, and as a fertilizer with 

 good effect, in the proportion of one tea- 

 spoonful of the permanganate to two gal- 

 lons of water. I have used it on ferns, 

 " crotons, palms, etc., but would not like 

 to use it on such fine rooted plants as 

 heaths or azaleas." 



Orchids. 



ORCHIDS. 



A complaint is often made that orchids 

 wear out, and dwindle away, and that 



orchids that were kept in dry, hot green- 

 houses, when they should have been kept 

 in cool ones. Through mistaken kindness 

 we often find them subject to about 

 the same condition as kiln dried 

 lumber, the bulbs are shrivelled and 

 in order to try to plump them up 

 they are watered very often (too often! 

 and the roots are made to decay by 

 the process of watering. Then follows 

 the scale insect and soon a general decay 

 sets in, and the plants are relegated to 

 the waste heap. Now there are many 

 plants, and valuable varieties at that, 

 that will not thrive under such condi- 

 tions. Such plants embrace La;/ia/lrno/d- 

 iana, L. Gouldiana, Odontoglossum 

 ciirosmuw, Sopbronites grandiffora, 

 Oncidium varkosum, O. Marsballianuw, 

 O. crispuw, O. Jonesianuw, La:lia anceps 

 alba, L. alhida, etc., Odontoglossum 

 grande, O. Insleayi, that will do better in 

 a cool house, at 40° to 50° with just 

 enough moisture in the atmosphere to 

 keep the plants from shrivelling. Better 

 let them shrivel with drouth in a cool 

 house and keep the roots from rotting 

 than to swelter them in heat and decay. 

 This of course applies to such plants when 

 at rest. Much of the poor success in 

 orchid culture is occasioned by not taking 

 proper care of them , or rather not allowing 

 them to take care of themselves during 

 their season of rest, indeed it is surprising 

 how much cold many of the orchid family 

 will bear when at rest. W. Mathews. 

 Utica, N. Y. 



wait till the buds begin to swell before 

 heading the canes in, then cut them back 

 to the living wood. And tic them up to 

 their supports. 



Strawberries.— We lift the winter 

 mulching right off in April and pile it 

 aside. This gives us a good chance to 

 clean and cultivate between the plants. 

 About the end of this month or first of 

 May we replace the mulch, keeping it be- 

 twe'en the rows and well in about the 

 plants, but not over them. We like to do 

 this Ijefore the plants come into bloom. 

 Many growers however, don't removethe 

 winter mulch at all, they simply go oyer 

 the rows now, clearing the straw aside 

 from over the plants to let them come up 

 through it, and they Ictit stayfor a sum- 

 mer mulching. This is an excellent time 

 to set out a new plantation. The plants 

 will grow well and make good runners, 

 but won't fruit this season. Those planted 

 last fall, however, wifl bear fruit. 



them. But such a complaint is all non- 

 sense. Were the lovers of orchids to visit 

 an establishment where orchids are grown 

 in the finest health and condition they 

 would soon learn that no plants are more 

 easily grown. The zero weather we have 

 recently had was very trying to many 



The Fruit Garden. 



THE fRUIT OflRDEN. 



All hardy trees show well for flowers, 

 and the latenses of the season may save 

 them from spring frosts. 



CjKaftinc..- Wherever the wood buds 

 have not burst into growth grafting may 

 yet be done, but it is getting late for it. 



Finish Planting trees, bushes and 

 vines as soon as possible, so as to give 

 them a start in life before the weather 

 gets hot and dry. Set a stout neat stake 

 to every tree that needs support, and use 

 stout soft string for tying. A piece of old 

 hose between the stake and the tree will 

 save the stem from chafing. 



Scale.— The white scales seen on the 

 bark of trees just now is simply the dead 

 shells of last year's insects, but under- 

 neath them are nests of living eggs that 

 hatch out now and become scales this 

 summer. With an old knife or bit of thin 

 hoop iron and a very stiff (the bristles cut 

 short) paint brush rub the white scales 

 off of the bark, then spray the wood all 

 over with strong kerosene emulsion or 

 potash water to kifl the eggs or young 

 insects. We like to do this before the 

 young leaves appear, as we are apt to do 

 less mischief to the trees, after growth 

 begins while the insects are more getata- 

 ble, the trees are more susceptible to 

 injury 



Pruning.— Don't hesitate to do any 

 pruning of apple, pear or plum trees that 

 may have been neglected in winter. And 

 if you find anv dead branches on your old 



they are prone to insect pests and other peach trees cut them out. After the trees 

 ailments, and some who would like to leaf out the dead twigs are easily seen, so 

 grow orchids are deterred from trying the big branches are all we bother with 



now. But don't prune grape vines as late 

 as this. Wait till after they begin to grow; 

 in pruning them then they don't "bleed" 

 so much as they would do now. 



Raspberry and Blackberry bushes 

 that were not buried over winter are apt 

 to be more or less winter-killed. Better 



OREENflOUSE GRflFES. 



We started our greenhouse grape vines 

 March 1. We commenced by shuttingup 

 the vineries early in the afternoon and 

 getting them well warmed by sunheat, 

 this was all for the firsteight days, except 

 what little fireheat was necessary to keep 

 out frost. The temperature some morn- 

 ings was as low as 36°. Then, continuing 

 the early shutting and using a little more 

 fireheat we kept the heat at night up to 

 4-0°, then to 45° and gradually a little 

 higher till now (April 4) we keep it at 60° 

 at night with a rise of 10° or 20° in the 

 day time. But never forget to shut up 

 early. 



Our vines now have all been tied up 

 and disbudded, and only one bunch of 

 grapes retained to each branch, if the 

 shoot has shown more the}' have been 

 removed. This induces stronger flowers 

 and a better setting of fruit. 



When the Hamburgh vines are in flower 

 we maintain a night temperature of 65°, 

 and for Muscats 70° to 75°, allowing it 

 to rise 5° in the day time if by fireheat, or 

 10° to 20° by sunheat, with a free circu- 

 lation of air in the day time. Be very 

 careful against cold draughts. See that 

 the borders are kept moist at this time, 

 but do not damp the inside of the houses 

 late in the afternoon. Let them get dry 

 before night. 



We syringe the vines twice each day 

 from the time we shut them up to start 

 them till they come into flower, then we 

 stop it till the fruit is set, after which we 

 give one more syringing to remove the 

 old blossoms. 



When the Muscats are in flower we will 

 go over the clusters with a fine brush to 

 distribute the pollen and in this way 

 assist in fertiUzing the blossoms and get- 

 ting a good setting of fruit. In fact we 

 find it better to take the pollen of some 

 free-setting variety like Hamburgh and 

 fertilize the Muscats with it; this gives 

 them the double chance of setting by their 

 own pollen or foreign pollen. 



We shall begin thinning Hamburghs 

 and all free-setting varieties after the 

 bunches are well set, and while the ber- 

 ries are quite small; but in the case of 

 Muscats we allow the berries to swell a 

 little before thinning. 



Watering must be properly attended to 

 and liberal. We use diluted liquid manure 

 from the stable when the fruit is swelling, 

 but stop it when the berries begin to 

 ripen. 



In summer we will mulch the border 

 with stable manure tohelpkeepitequable 

 in temperature and moisture, and the 

 feeding roots near the surface. 



