i895- 



GARDENING 



327' 



material. The sod is removed in April, 

 iisuallj' a week or ten days before the 

 mounds are leveled, and is nia<le thel)asis 

 for a new compost. For the less hanly 

 roses I believe that sod and earth are 

 better than earth alone, because the sod 

 is a much better noneiinductor than 

 earth alone and therefore keeps the tem- 

 perature of the sensitive portions of the 

 plant, namely the buds and the inner 

 l)ark, more even, or to put it in another 

 way , it makes the changes in temperature 

 more gradual and lessens their range. I 

 do not think it well at this season to dig 

 deeply about the plants. After the 

 mounds are made the bed should be given 

 a good-dressing of well rotted or at least 

 half rotted cow manure, and this should 

 be dug in just enough to leave a rough- 

 ened surface. 



Pruning. — Very little is needed by the 

 varieties which are most hardy and 

 vigorous. What I do with these is forthe 

 purpose of making the plants well 

 balanced and shapely. The others, how- 

 ever, require considerable careful atten- 

 tion. My rules are the following: ( I ) m 

 the spring priming never leave any wood 

 except where the bark has every fign of 

 perfect health; (2) in summer pruning 

 stop each vigorous growing shoot at a 

 height varying (according to the variety ) 

 from fifteen to fifty inches; try to have 

 several canes from each plant of nearly 

 equal height and vigor, instead of a single 

 overgrown one surrounded by a few 

 starvelings. 



Fkrtiuzation. — The aim should be to 

 lurnish enough at the right time and in 

 the right form. As to the amount my ex- 

 perience agrees with that of many others 

 that when the plants are most active it is 

 difficult to give them more food thanthey 

 can use. But it is at this very time that 

 the feeding roots should not be disturbed; 

 hence the great importance of applying 

 the heaviest dressing in the fall when the 

 plants are nearly dormant. A lighter 

 dressing may and indeed, should be given 

 just after the June bloom. During the 

 five weeks between the first appearance 

 of the buds and the cutting of the last 

 June and early July blooms frequent but 

 moderate applications of liquid fertilizer 

 are useful. Thus far my experience has 

 been confined to well rotted cow manure 

 thoroughly incorporated with the soil, 

 and to licpiid fertilizer made from cow 

 manure. 1 think, however, that the 

 rotted sod a])])licd in the spring is a fer- 

 tilizing element of considerable value, 

 espeei lly for some of the finer and more 

 capricious varieties. Of the best method 

 of fertilizing ground in which roses are 

 about to be planted I will write in a 

 subsequent note. Anson D. Morse. 



Amherst, Mass. 



BOSTON ROSES. 



Of course we of Boston believe that the 

 finest roses on the Atlantic seaboard are 

 grown in New England, Cape Cod prob- 

 ably ])roducing the best. Why, the H. I', 

 roses grown there and at Newport and in 

 Rhode Island have an English finish to 

 them, they are so large and full, and have 

 such fine substance and clear bright color, 

 indicative of the benefits of the moist, 

 cool sea air. And the glory of these pro- 

 ductions is spread before our admiring 

 eyes every year at the rose exhibition of 

 the Massachusetts Hort. Society in Bos- 

 ton. That exhibition was held in June, 

 and the flowers were grand. 



The best three roses shown were: 



Eari of Duflerin, brilliant velvety-crim- 

 son. 



Mile S. (le Rodoennachi, rose shading 

 to while. 



Margaret Dickson, white, pale flesh 

 center. 



Next to them the following are the best 

 twenty-four roses in the exhibition. 



Abel Carriere, velvety crimson. 



Alphonse Soupert, bright rose. 



Baron de Ponstetten, velvety maroon. 



Duchess of Fife, silvery rose. 



Duke of Teck, bright crimson. 



Elizabeth Vigneron, bright pink. 



Fisher Holmes, bright crimson. 



Jeannie Dickson, rosy pink. 



Magna Charta, pink. 



Marie Baumann, crimson- vermilion. 



Madame Eugene Verdier, mottled rose. 



Madame Prosper Laugier, red. 



Marchioness of Duflerin, cherry rose. 



Merveille de Lyon, white shaded with 

 rose. 



Mons. E Y. Teas, carmine-crimson. 



Mrs. Paul, blush white shaded with 

 peach. 



Perfection des Blanches, white. 



Pride of Waltham, flesh color, shaded 

 with rose. 



Queen of Queens, pink with blush edges. 



Senateur Vaisse, red shaded with car- 

 mine-crimson. 



Souvenir de Wm. Wood, dark crimson. 



Thomas Mills, rosy crimson. 



Ulrich Brunner, cherry red. 



Victor Hugo, brilliant velvety crimson. 



Cliftondale, M;iss. D.wii) Ai.i..\n. 



Lfi FRANCE ROSES. 



A. D. M., Department of History, Am- 

 herst, Mass., asks: "Please give di ec- 

 tions how to raise the finest La P'rance 

 roses both under glass and out of doors." 



This requires a compost of fresh sod 

 loam (from an old pasture is the best) 

 with the addition of one part to five or 

 six of thoroughly decomposed cow man- 

 ure, all well incorporated. Put this on 

 benches in the greenhouse about four 

 inchtsdcep, then plant good strong thrifty 

 plants about 15 inches apart each way. 

 Water liberally in dry hot weather and 

 give all the air possible till cold weather 

 comes, then treat reasonably and never 

 let the night temperature exceed 5G° and 

 you can get La France fit for a king to 

 look at. For open air culture deep culti- 

 vation with plenty of manure .and liberal 

 waterings in dry weather will produce 

 the desired effect. Joi'N N. Mav. 



CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSE. 



At Lincoln Park, Chicago, there .are 

 four plants of Crimson Rambler that 

 have been in their present position near 

 the stone bridge that crosses the neek of 

 water connecting the two large ponds of 

 hardy water lilies since the spring of '94. 

 They behaved so badly last summer, par- 

 ticularly in the matter of mildew, that 

 Mr. Stromback decided that they would 

 be of no use to him. So he left them to 

 their own devices, and when winter came 

 they were givtn no comforts save those 

 provided by nature — which included an 

 unusual amount of snow. The result is 

 that all of the plants wintered perfectly 

 and have grown and flowered most sat- 

 isfactorily. In fact they have done so 

 admirably in every way that Mr. Strom- 

 back is tireless in his praise of the beau- 

 tiful little rose. As shown by these plants 

 the color is good, even old flowers show- 

 ing no purplish cast although losing some 

 of their depth of color. It keeps well 

 when cut, freshening up nicely even after 

 being long carried, and it opens its unde- 

 veloped buds (though the flowers are 

 somewhat smaller than when opening on 

 the plant), when kept in water. 



I' C Sl-AVKV 



Mareciial Niel Rose.— I have a Mare- 

 ehal Niel rose budded on the Cherokee, 

 and growing in a large tub, that is doing 

 well with me. It had forty fine roses on 

 it this spring and was a beauty; later it 

 has had three or four more on new wood. 

 We keep it in a cool flower pit over win- 

 ter and set it out of doors during sum- 

 mer. E. O. N. 



Tracy City, Tenn. 



Orchids. 



ORCHID NOTES. 



Dendkobium nobile is now making its 

 growth and should be encouraged by 

 plenty of sunlight and water, copious 

 syringings overhead and a moist atmos- 

 phere. Make the most of the growing 

 season. Remove the offsets from the 

 stems unless they are close to the base of 

 the plants. If the old stems are sound 

 and plump leave them, as they will help 

 the plant; but cut away all shrivelled 

 ones, and induce the plant to make 

 growths from its base. When a plant 

 ceases to make new growths from the 

 base the only remedy is to cut down and 

 pot the offsets, with a piece of the old 

 jjseudo-bulb attached for a "handle" so 

 as not to bury the bright fresh young 

 roots; these offsets will make young 

 plants much better than the parents. 

 Don't depend on scraggy old plants of 

 this orchid. Unlike Dendrohiam Wardi- 

 atium, this orchid does not flower best 

 from the current year's growth; it can be 

 done, but it will be at the expense of 

 shriveling the plant by excessive ripening, 

 and produce inferior flowers. When the 

 plants finish their growth ripen them by 

 full exposure to the sun, gradually with- 

 hold water and keep them cool, but do 

 not keep them below 45° or they will be 

 sure to get black spot. The same gen- 

 eral treatment applies to all dendrobiums 

 now making their growth, such as D. 

 Wardianiim, D.fimbriatum, D. formosum 

 giganteum. D. aiireum, etc. The house 

 must now be kept very moist, for this is 

 the "building up" time, but while aridity 

 is the bane of orchids the opposite ex- 

 treme, a heavy, foul, stagnant atmos- 

 phere, must be guarded against. This is 

 often likely to occur during cold rainy 

 spells in the shaded houses. The remedv 

 is to light a little fire so as to heat the 

 pipes sufficiently to start the air in mo- 

 tion, ventilating at the same time. 



Cattleva labiata has now finished 

 its growth and consequently requires less 

 moisture and shade till it shows signs of 

 flowering. C. Bowringiana is now in 

 active growth and will flower before C. 

 labiata. All the cattleyas which are now 

 growing, such as C. Trianie, C. Percivali- 

 ana, etc., must now receive their maxi- 

 mum amount of heat and moisture. 



Orchids in bloom on this place at present 

 (June 2.'5) are: Cattleya Gaskelliana, 

 Harn'sonia.- violacea, gigas sitperha 

 and Lcopoldii guttata; Cypripedium bar- 

 batum, Lawrenceanum and Chamber- 

 lainianiim; Sobralia macrantha and On- 

 cidiuw ampliaturn majiis. Coming into 

 bloom are Cattleya Dowiana, Sobralia 

 leucoxantha and S. Kuckerii and Cypri- 

 pedium Parisbii and Roezlii. 



Wm. Fitzwii.liam. 

 Baron.ald, Orange, N.J. 



I AM so interested in flowers and have 

 read with much pleasure and profit vour 

 valuable Gardenino. E.C. 



Petersburg, Va , June 20, '95. 



