292 



GARDENING. 



Jitnc 75, 



of Mme. Crozy, Alphonse Bouvier, J. C. 

 Vaughati and J. D. Cabos had had the old 

 blooms cut out more than three times, 

 and I am afraid from what I have seen of 

 Uueen Charlotte that she is of the same 

 nature; no matter, I should advise every 

 one to test it for its novel markings. 



I would also advise all to raise as many 

 seedling cannas as possible for their 

 different uses, some for bedding, others 

 for foliage, for decorations, some for spec- 

 imen plants, both foliage and bloom, and 

 still other varieties for winter blooming. 

 We should not txpect onevarietj' to com- 

 bine all these qualities, but please do not 

 disseminate any of them unless they are 

 distinct and decided improvements on the 

 standard varieties now in commere. 



Davenport, la. J. T. Te.mple. 



VINBS FOR TRELLISES ABOUT THE HOUSE. 



Lots of vines about the house give it a 

 cosy, homey feeling that no naked walled 

 structure can inspire. Now what hardy 

 perennial vines should we use for such a 

 purpose? We have considerable to choose 

 from. There are akebia, wistaria, honey- 

 suckle, clematis, trumpet vine, roses, pipe 

 vine, Virginia creeper, celastnis, grape 

 vine, and some others. 



For clinging to the wall we have noth- 

 ing better than Japan ampelopsis. For 

 other purposes, such as clothing a netting 

 or trellis to shade the piazza the honey- 

 suckle is the best, and in fact it is excel- 

 lent for covering pillars too. Our illus- 

 tration, for which we arc indebted to the 

 kindness of Messrs. Ellwanger & Barry, 

 shows a vine of Hall's Japan honeysuckle 

 and how well adapted it is for screens. 

 They say of it: "Without doubt the best 

 and most popular of all the climbing 

 honeysuckles. A strong, vigorous, almost 

 evergreen sort, with pure white flowers 

 changing to yellow. Highly fragrant and 

 covered with flowers from July to Decem- 

 ber; holds its foliage till January. The 

 best bloomer of all." 



In building a house we generally fill in 

 or bank up a lot of sandy or gravelly 

 rubbish about the base of the wall, usually 

 part of what was dug out of the cellar. 

 Now what's the use of planting vines in 

 stufl'like that? If you want the vines to 

 grow and do well — and you wouldn't 

 plant them if you didn't want them to 

 do that— dig out and remove that old 

 rubbish and fill in with good fresh loam. 

 If you give Hall's honeysuckle, panicled 

 clematis, akebia, and in fact any vine 

 plenty to eat and drink, and room for 

 their roots to revel in, they will repay the 

 kindness very markedly. 



GARDEN VIOLAS. 



Mv VIOLAS are delightful and much ad- 

 mired; they are little catalogued and it 

 would seem very little known. I have the 

 following sorts, mostly grown from seed 

 sown in cold frame last fall and germi- 

 nating this spring: Semperttorens, Sem- 

 perOorens alba, liarrensteini, Hamburgh 

 Forcing, Italica, Laucbeana, Lee's odor- 

 atissinia, Marguerite de P edmont, Rus- 

 sica. The Czar, The White Czar and Vic- 

 toria Regina. Inquirer. 



New Jersey. 



"Creepino Charlie"— Lobelia spe- 

 ciosA. — G. W. M., Philadelphia, sends us 

 .1 few flowers and writes: "Please tell 

 me the name of the enclosed creeper. I 

 have heard it called "Creeping Charlie." 

 It is Lobelia Erintisvar.speciosa, atender 

 perennial much used by florists and gar- 

 deners for flower bedding, basket and 

 window box work. They generally raise 

 it from seed every year, treating it as an 



annual, or if the variety is choice it is 

 perpetuated by cuttings or division. It 

 self-sows itself freely in garden ground. 



Roses. 



CULTIVATING ROSES UNDER GLASS. 



Perhaps never in the history of horti- 

 culture has t'.iere been such a wide-spread 

 love for and interest in any one kind of 

 flower, as is manifested for the rose 

 to-day. So great and universal in this 

 love that several millions of dollars are in- 

 vested in glass houses, in the vicinity 

 of New York City to meet the demand for 

 cut uses. And it is of this cultivation 

 under glass that I am to write. I like the 

 word cultivating rather than the more 

 commonly used forcing, for in reality the 

 proper treatment is not "forcing," but 

 merely supplying (as nearly as it is possi- 

 ble for fallible man to do) the best and 

 most suitable conditions for the perfect 

 development of healthy, vigorous growth 

 and therefore beautiful flowers. The 

 knowledge of what these conditions are 

 is in most cases the accumulated result of 

 many years of patient observation and 

 experiment. While this knowledgecan no 

 more be imparted than the secret of the 

 artist's touch, and must be acquired by 

 practical work, still there are certain 

 fundamental rules, that if obeyed muse 

 bring a fair portion of success. 



To begin at the beginning, which is the 

 preparation of the soil, remember that 

 the rose is a gourmand, and requires rich 

 food, and that in abundance. The right 

 method is to gather the best possible sod, 

 the previous fall and pile it up with fresh 

 cow manure in the proportionsof 3 parts 

 soil to 1 part of manure. Early in the 

 spring turn the mass over, thoroughly 

 breaking the lumps. 



When planting time arrives, properly 

 either May or June, fill the benches (which 

 should be provided with ample drainage 

 by leaving spaces of about one-half inch 

 between the boards) about 4 inches deep 

 with this soil, and immediately, while the 

 soil is fresh plant your young roses, which 

 I think preferably should be from S'-; or 

 4-inch pots, and I believe better n spits 

 will usually be obtained by amateurs if 

 they buy their plants from some florists 

 making a specialty of theirgrowth rather 

 than to attempt to propagate them them- 

 selves. The plants should be set about 

 t4 inches apart, and as soon as planted 

 well wet about the root, but do not at 

 first soak the whole bed, this is entirely 

 unnecessary, and only tends to make the 

 soil sour. This one point of improper 

 watering is probably the cause of more 

 failures than all other causes combined. 



Plants are very much like animals in 

 their demand for water, on very hot days 

 they will require lots of it, but on cool, or 

 cloudy days very little, and it does tliem 

 no harm to be quite dry on such days. 



Frequent sj'ringing with some force on 

 the under side of the foliage is necessary 

 to keep down red spider. Prevent green 

 fly by a free use of tobacco stems, and do 

 not let weeds get established. 



Pinch off all buds until the plants begin 

 to make strong growth, which is usually 

 in about two months afterplanting. Give 

 plenty of ventilation, but be careful in 

 case of sudden change in temperature not 

 to allow it to your rose house. Whenyou 

 begin to cut the flowers rigorously cut 

 back to two or three eyes. 



In the selection of the varieties to bif 

 grown many people make the serious 

 mistake of choosing those sorts they 



think the most beautiful rather than 

 stop to think whether they are suitable 

 tor growth under the condition their 

 house affords. Probably the varieties 

 that will give most general satisfaction, 

 requiring about the same treatment are 

 the following: Bride, white; Bridesmaid, 

 pink; Perle, yellow; and Wootton, red. 

 These can all be grown in the same house 

 and will do well under ordinary condi- 

 tion. American Beauty, Meteor, Kaiserin 

 Augusta, Mme. C. Tcstout, La France 

 and Mme. Cusin are all very beautiful 

 roses but require more skill in their treat- 

 ment and are therefore less adapted for 

 amateur cultivation than those pre- 

 vi .usiy named. 



Common sense and close attention to 

 details, are prime factors in bringing suc- 

 cess. Remember that the leaves of a 

 plant are its lungs, the roots its digestive 

 organs, and that on keeping these healthy 

 largely depends the vigor of the plant. 

 Paul M. Pierson. 



Scarborough, N. Y., June 5, 1S95. 



GROWING ROSES IN THE GREENHOUSE. 



Perhaps my method of growing roses 

 in the greenhouse may be suggestive to 

 some of your readers. I willtellyouabout 

 it as plainly as I can, and if Idonotmake 

 my self clearly understood, or shall omit 

 to tell anything anyone is interested in, 

 ask and I shall gladly furnish the inform- 

 ation. 



The ro.se house here is 65 feet long, 18 

 feet wide and three-quarter span and 

 faces south. The glass is double thick, 10 

 b3' 14 inch size, and bedded in putty, but 

 on the outside no putty is used, paint 

 only is rtin down along the edges. The 

 ventilators are two lights deep, hinged at 

 the ridge, and worked by regular ventilat- 

 ing gear. The south side front consists 

 of a 3 feet high brick wall and a one-light 

 high run of glass on top of it; the back 

 wall is of brick and 8 feet high. Inside the 

 house four benches rtin lengthwise, three 

 of them are each 3 feet wide, and the 

 higher or hack one is about 2 feet wide. 

 The pathways are of cement. The heat- 

 ing is by hot water; five 4-inch pipes 

 run along the front in the house, and 

 three next the back. 



The soil I use is a yellow loam, 4-inch 

 deep sod cut from a pasture, secured in 

 spring and piled up with a good dressing 

 of bone meal mixed with it. This makes 

 a most satisfactory compost for roses. 

 We replant the house in June, when the 

 old soil is cleared out and fresh compost 

 brought in. Before the new soil is taken 

 in it is turned, broken up, and well mixed. 

 Our beds of soil on the benches are four 

 inches deep, and a small opening is left 

 between the boards in the bottom to 

 ensure good drainage, a most important 

 point in growing roses. 



Our rose plants are set out in rows pnd 

 about fifteen inches apart and we make 

 up and replant the beds everj' year. But 

 we do not use all young plants, I save the 

 best of the old ones at d replant them. In 

 securing them I cut a nine inch square 

 block containing the roots and save this 

 as nearly intact as possible, the rest of 

 the earth is entirely removed. These old 

 plants being larger than j'oung ones are 

 moved a little further apart than they 

 used to be, so as to give plenty of room 

 for fresh soil. They do very well with me, 

 indeed sometimes better than the first 

 year plants. When they are lifted I do 

 not cut them but as little as I can. 



We give them as little water as possible 

 and keep them healthy in summer, and 

 when we commence to grow them in fall 

 we dislike cutting them much. Be very 



