iS^S- 



• GARDENING. 



371 



irises have never been so magnificent in 

 color and size as this year, when I sur- 

 rounded them with a wide strip of gal- 

 vanized iron, flooding them with water, 

 thus keeping them growing in a sort of a 

 pond." 



THE LAWN AT EGANDALE IN '92, 



the opportunity of showing it to 

 readers. 



The Flower Garden. 



LflWN AND FLOWER GARDEN QUERIES. 



L. C. L. J., New York, asks: 



1 . Ckau-grass.— "Is the so-called crab- 

 grass an annual, and will the preventiug 

 it seeding itseli be of any service in exter- 

 minating it? It is, however, very hard 

 to do this, as the lawn mower passes 

 over the flat lying, seed bearing branches 

 without euttingthem. I thought a good 

 lop dressing of cotton seed meal last 

 spring might make the soil too rich for it, 

 but my lawn seems thicker than ever 

 with it." 



Ans. Yes, it is an annual. Preventing 

 it seeding would certainly tend to its ex- 

 termination, but this is hard to do. A 

 little later, say end of September and 

 October, many of its seed laden, wiry, 

 brownish stems hug the ground, hardly 

 raising their heads to within the reach of 

 the mower and scatter seed. One cannot 

 make the soil too rich for it, jud{;ing by 

 the rankness of its growth on top of our 

 manure pile, but in rich land it grows fo 

 rank as to be more easily caught by the 

 mower or scythe than on poor soil. In 

 dry summer weather when other grasses 

 arc mostly exhausted the crab-grass 

 comes up thickly, grows and spreads and 

 chokes out the perennial grasses. 



2. Green Mould on Soil. — "Can you 

 suggest the cause and a preventive of 

 green mould on soil? This forms quickly 

 in some parts ot m3' garden even in open 

 l)eds exposed to much sunlight. I cannot 

 think it is due to defective drainage, as 

 the worst infested bed is a raised and ter- 

 raced one ' 



Ans. Over-wet ill-drained land is apt 

 to be that way; also another kind on im- 

 poverished, thin land. Scrape off the 

 green mould with a long, sharp toothed 

 steel rake (a 1+ or Ki-tined new one) and 

 rake it olT, then .ipply a heavy coaling of 

 compnst ccin>isling of one-half rotted 

 niauun .mil .mk half fresh loam, and sow 

 siinu .■Mill :il oiicc on these bare spots. 



.•1. l.NM.cis .IN l.ii,ii:s.— "Is it common 

 Inr lilies to be ink-stcd (onlvon nndcr side 



of leaf) with a flat, light yellow species ot 

 louse with a dark brown spot in the 

 middle of back, and what is the insect?" 



Ans. Such insects are not at all un- 

 common to lilies. Please send us some 

 that we may submit them to Dr. Lintner, 

 our state entomologist. A heavy hosing 

 dislodges them, then dust the plant with 

 fresh tobacco powder, and hose it ofi in a 

 day or two. 



-i. Jai'.\nese Morning Glories.— 

 "What is the reason the extensively 

 vaunted Japanese morning glories lack 

 all variegation in leaf? They have full 

 exposure to sun." 



.4ns. You cannot have a very choice 

 strain. You ought to see them at Doso- 

 ris! Theirleaves are marbled and blotched 

 and many of them are almostself yellows. 

 We send j'ou some by mail to whet your 

 appetite for a feast next year. And their 

 flowers! They are brilliant, beautiful, 

 lovely and largely in a variety of coloring 

 uncommon among ordinary morning 

 glories. Superb in the morning, but shut 

 up and past by the early forenoon. \Ve 

 got ours from L. W. Goodell, Pansy Park, 

 D wight, Mass. If you start them early a 

 north facing or faintly shaded spot we 

 regard as a better place for them than a 

 full-sun exposure. 



5. NicoTiANA COLOSSEA.— "And why 

 does not Nicotiana colossea behave as 

 the catalogues say it ought to, by having 

 the young leaves pur])lc, and the older 

 ones green with a purple midrib? It cer- 

 tainly is a grand and noble plant as I 

 have it in a mass, very effective, subject 

 to no insect pests, requiring no staking, 

 and standing storms and winds excep- 

 tionally well; but really it ought to follow 

 the rules laid down for it in all the truth- 

 ful catalogues." 



Ans. The catalogues say so because 

 the original technical descriptions said 

 so, see Gardening, December 15, '1)2, 

 page 102. But no doubt your refractory 

 plants are true to name, even if they 

 won't adopt the central red rib. Ours 

 are like yours, the red or purple of the 

 mid-ribs is so slight as to be almost un- 

 noticeablc. 



KacMPFER's Irises. — "The above in the 

 way of woes and tribulations, but the 

 remembrance and anticipation of delights 

 past and to conic arc a siitHcient rcconi 



fl BED OF HflRDY LILIES. 



C. C. P., Newark, N. Y., writes: "1 am 

 desirous of making up a large bed of lilies 

 to include as wide a range of color and 

 lime of flowering as possible. Kindly ad- 

 vise what varieties I should include in 

 such a collection. Our climate here is 

 (|uite severe; the temperature sometimes 

 goes as low as 15 or 20 degrees below 

 zero during the winter. Should like it to 

 include only varieties which could be left 

 out during the winter, if possible, but, if 

 this would make the number too limited, 

 please mention those that would succeed 

 ,ill right if taken up every fall." 



While several lilies are sure to do well 

 with you, as regards a large variety it 

 must be a matter of experiment. Your 

 rigorous winters signify but little, for you 

 can mulch the Hly bed deep and well 

 enough to exclude frost, no matter how 

 severe it may be. As regards the hardier 

 lilies, it doesn't matter whether the 

 ground freezes about the bulbs or not; 

 they seem to live all right. But please 

 remember freezing does no lily any good, 

 but it may injure many of them very 

 severely, so to the best of your ability ex- 

 clude frost from your lily bed; this can be 

 done by mulching. The following arc 

 good kinds, and as long as thev remain 

 free from disease should do well with vou; 

 they are given in their order of blooming, 

 taken from our own diary: Lilhims tcii- 

 uifolium, davuricuw,pulchellum,parvutn, 

 Scovitzianum, uwhellatum, JIansoni, rii- 

 bcsccns, atrosangiiineum (var. of e/e- 

 gans), candidum, Parryi, canadense, 

 Grayi. Humboldtii, testaceuni, Brownii, 

 longHlorum, pardalinuw, auratum, su- 

 perhum, tigrinum, speciosum, Leichtlinii, 

 Maxiwowiczii and Wallacei. Also see 

 article by Mr. F. H. Horstbrd, page 25!l, 

 Mav 15 last, and the one bv Mr. C. H. 

 Allen, page 304., June 15, '92. 



iist; 



flURflTUM LILIES. 



F. C. C Bath, Maine, writes: "In re- 

 ])ly to your question, page 343, as to 

 whether we ever had lily disease. I would 

 like to describe the appearance of our 

 auratums. We grew them for five years 

 all right, and supposing the insect, if 

 there, would make his presence manifest 

 by the second year, concluded they were 

 free and transplanted them to a bed pre- 

 pared by digging out the soil to a depth 

 of three feet and replacing with a liberal 

 ((uantity of dressing mixed with the soil, 

 the drainage being all right. We covered 

 the bulbs with sand. The next year, 

 1S',)4, the lilies did nicely and we pur- 

 chased new bulbs, planting them in the 

 same way beside the others. They all 

 budded well, but before maturing the 

 blooms some of the stocks commenced 

 having yellow spots on the leaves. One 

 died outright, and recently others have 

 turned yellow in both lots and died. Is 

 this the disease? And if so is it not safer 

 to raise auratum bulbs from seed? How 

 long does it take to get blooming bulbs 

 from seed, and how is it best to care for 

 them during the first winter?" 



Alls. The diagnosis points strongly to 

 disease. But don't despair. It is seldom 

 that all of the bulbs are killed out by it. 

 It often happens, though, that the year 

 after our auratums attain their greatest 

 strength and floral perfection thev begin 

 to fail. Kaising them from seed is"a l.iud- 

 able purpose. Sow the seed in a iiorllior 



