90 



GARDENING. 



Dec. /, 



along outside on the ridge-pole; were it 

 not for this, with a 2-inch thick cleat 

 nailed under the upper end of the ladder, 

 we could hook the ladder on to the ridge- 

 pole and make the task ot glazing quite 

 easy. Where the houses are crested we 

 overcome the difficulty by hitching the 

 end cleat of our ladder on to the cross 

 bar under the ventilator, but we have to 

 open the ventilator a little to do this. 

 For the roof, benches and floors cypress 

 lumber is very good, but for doors we 

 prefer white pine; it doesn't warp so 

 much as the other. 



2. Black Hamburgh, as a black grape, 

 and Muscat of Alexandria as a white 

 are the two best grapes you can plant. 

 Your arrangement seems to be all right, 

 but mark, you musn't keep the vines in 

 the greenhouse in the winter if you are 

 going to grow other plants in it. Alter 

 the grapes are cut, unfasten the vines 

 from the trellis, bend them down to one 

 side and box or otherwise cover them up 

 to keep them cool, or better still, have it 

 so arranged that you can turn the vines 

 completely out of doors in winter, tying 

 them together and covering them up 

 even then. 



Exhibitions. 



THE NEW yORK FLOWER SliOW 



Held in the concert hall in Madison 

 Square Garden. Nov. 25-30, was the most 

 beautiful we have seen in many a day, the 

 exhibits without exception were superb, 

 and there was no crowding, neither was 

 there anything of that distasteful feature 

 so often peculiar to large flower shows, 

 the introduction ol a lot of rubbish to 

 help fill up the space. The whole matter 

 of hall decoration and floral arrangement 

 had been placed in the hands of Mr. J. I. 

 Donlan, an expert is this line, and his 

 work was elegant, refined, plain and good. 

 Southern evergreen smilax and long- 

 leaved pine branches were mostly used 

 against the walls and many of the com- 

 peting palms, bays, araucarias, large 

 ferns and the hke disposed that they 

 formed a part of the hall decoration with- 

 out interfering with their positions in the 

 competing classes. Palms, draca?nas, cro- 

 tons, marantas, aralias, and other fine 

 leaved plants in pots formed circular 

 mounds; two magnificent species ot a 

 long drooping-fronded fern ( Polypodium 

 subauriculatuni), with leaves touching 

 the ground, were supported on trestles 8 

 or 9 feet high. Cyclamen in pots were 

 massive, but compact, and in tine leaf and 

 flower. Siebrecht & Wadley, of New Ro- 

 chelle,made a beautiful display of orchids 

 in bloom,— Dendrobiura formosum gigan- 

 teuw, a showj' white-flowered one, being 

 particularly attractive. 



Chrysanthemums were the leading 

 feature, and mostly as cut flowers. They 

 consisted of individual blooms each sta d- 

 ing on a long, strong, leafy stem, and 

 were models of perfection. Happily there 

 was nothing of the old flat board system 

 where the short-cut-off' leafless flower 

 heads used to be laid flat on boards in 

 deceptive array. By the system of to- 

 day, when every bloom must have an IS- 

 inch long stem, we can at once see what 

 kind of plant it grows on, whether it is 

 weak-necked or strong, full or sparsely 

 leaved, subject to mildew or not. .\nd 

 several had as much as 3-foot stems. 

 Among the finest yellows were Eugene 

 Dailledouze, W. H. Lincoln; tiolden \Ved- 

 ding. Major Bonnaftbn, W. H. Rieman 

 (globular heads, fine stiff leafy stems). Dr. 



Covert, D. G. Hughes; white, Queen (cut 

 before too old), Philadelphia (shown per- 

 fectly white, but few flowers of it), Mrs. J. 

 Tones Mayflower, Niveus (quite a num- 

 ber of). Our Mutual Friend (this might 

 be better). Flora Hill; pink, Viviand- 

 Morel and Pres. W.R. Smith (apparently 

 the two favorites), Zulinda, Erminilda, 

 Ada H. LeRoj', and Indiana; bronze, 

 Harry May; crimson, CuUingfordii and 

 Shrimpton. 



The Roses were very fine, some Brides- 

 maids being the finest ever shown in New 

 York. Among the best varieties were 

 The Bride, Niphetos, Kaiserin Augusta 

 Victoria (superb), white; Catherine Mer- 

 met and Bridesmaid, pink; the invincible 

 American Beauty, deep rose; Meteor, 

 velvety crimson; and the new Mrs. W. C. 

 Whitney bright deep pink; aud Belle 

 Siebrecht, bright rose. 



Select Carnations.— There was a 

 splendid array of carnations in competi- 

 tion for the Dean$50silvercup. Mr. W.C. 

 Ward, of Oueens, won it with Daybreak, 

 Bridesmaid, Wm. Scott, and Mrs". Chas. 

 Duhme,pink; Meteor, crimson; and Ethel, 

 Lizzie McGowan,and Storm King, white. 

 Among other varieties that looked par- 

 ticularly well were Bouton d'Or, pale yel- 

 low; Eldorado, yellow; Goldfinch, yel- 

 low; Alaska, white; Maud Dean, inner 

 part ol petals blush, otiter part white; 

 and Lily Dean, a lovely pure white flower 

 penciled around the edges with bright 

 pink. The jellow carnations are not 

 pure yellow, our winter blooming sorts 

 are more or less variegated with pink. 



At the flower show held here last 

 month, the prominent chrysanthemums 

 were Minerva, Georgienne Bramhall, and 

 H. L. Sunderbruch, all yellow; Philadel- 

 phia, creamy white; Viviand-Morel, and 

 Mrs. G. West, pink; G. W. Childs, and 

 Mrs. A. J. Drexel, crimson; and Niveus 

 and Qtjeen, white. "Majencha," an in- 

 curved, dark pink variety of the C. B. 

 Whitnall type and raised by Malcolm 

 MacRorie, obtained first prize as a seed- 

 ling never before exhibited. Conspicuous 

 among the many fine orchids were Cat- 

 tleya lahiata and C Bowringeatia; Deti- 

 dr'obium Phalienopsis Scbroderiaaum; 

 and D. formosum giganteum; Oncidium 

 van'cosuw, Rogersii, and Gravesiana a 

 variety of O crispum, and a fine specimen 

 o{ Cypripedium rexillarium. Other plants 

 that were the center of much attraction 

 were a splendid specimen, fourteen feet 

 high, of the rare palm Pboenicophiam 

 secbellarum from Mr. MacRorie, Piper 

 (Cissus) porpbyropbyllum, an orna- 

 mental leaved tropical vine from Mr. W. 

 A. Manda; Heliconiaaureo-striata, ahold 

 and beautiful variegated leaved tropical 

 plant belonging to the banana family 

 from Mr. Henry Graves, and a fine Cycas 

 circinalis and a pair of specimens of 

 Zamia spiniilosa from the Rev. Father 

 Fleming. W. Fitzwilliam. 



Orange, N. J. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



OUR VEGETABLES. 



We grow a full assortment and large 

 (juantity of vegetables and try to havcan 

 abundance of everything in its season and 

 of the best quality. 



Asparagus. — We grow Conover's Colos- 

 sal. It is planted in good, well enriched 

 ground, in rows, the plants two feet 

 asunder in the row and about si.x inches 

 underground. The stems are mown off 

 close to the earth late in fall and burned, 



and a good coating of manure spread 

 over the ground and forked in quite 

 lightly. Many growers leave the manure 

 on the top of the ground all winter, but 

 I prefer digging it under to save it from 

 sun and wind. Whatever roots are 

 needed for forcing are dug now (in 

 November) before hard frost sets in, and 

 stored close together out of doors, 

 covered with some sedge or leaves to keep 

 them from getting dry, and have them 

 easily get-atable at anytime they may be 

 needed for forcing. It is not necessary to 

 preserve them from frost, indeed after 

 gettirg some frost they start quickerinto 

 growth when brought into warm quar- 

 ters than had they been kept beyond its 

 reach. 



Snap Beans.— We confine ourselves to 

 Valentine, and make a small sowing ot it 

 once a week or ten days, from the 20th 

 of April till the latter part of August. 



Lima Beans —We grow the Large 

 White and Dreer's Limas in hills 4- feet 

 apart each way, using red cedar poles for 

 them. They like good ground, well ma- 

 nured and deeply dug. Although wecan get 

 all the poles we want quite readily here I 

 grow both Burpee's and Dreer's bush Lima 

 beans and like them quite as well as, the 

 pole varieties. I plant them in rows three 

 feet apart, and after the\- come up and get 

 good start in life, thin them out to about a 

 a foot asunder in the row. I have picked 

 about two bushels of shelled Limas for 

 use in winter, indeed we are very fond of 

 the ripe beans baked much as one would 

 Boston baked beans. 



Beets.— These are housed now. Igrow 

 Egyptian, Blood turnip, and Edmand's 

 for turnip beets all summer and to last 

 into winter, and Long Smooth Blood for 

 winter. All of these are of good quality 

 and have fine dark-colored flesh when 

 boiled, the turnip rooted ones especially. 

 We sow as soon as the ground is dry 

 enough to work in spring, and once a 

 fortnight after that till the latter part of 

 July, when we put in our main winter 

 crop of turnip sorts; the Long Smooth 

 Blood taking a little longer to grow is 

 sown early in July. Of the summer sorts, 

 we sow a little at a time and often, for 

 they soon get foggy in the heart and 

 tough, then they are fit only for the pigs 

 or cows. 



Brussels Sprouts.— We grow the Half 

 Dwarf, sowing it early in May. Even 

 when sown as late as the first of June I 

 have had fine sprouts, but altogether 

 results are better and surer from the ear- 

 lier sowing. Plant out in rows 2V2 to 

 3 feet apart and 2 feet asunder in the row 

 as one would cabbage. Leave them out 

 as long as possible in fall, taking them in 

 late in November, that is before the ground 

 gets hard crusted by frost. Before pull- 

 ing we strip oft" "the rougher leaves 

 and often nip the top out, then keepitig 

 some earth to the roots, we heel them in 

 heads up and quite close together in a 

 pit or deep frame, covering them with 

 spare sashes to give them light and keep 

 them dr}', and with sedge over the sash 

 in severe weather to exclude hard frost. 

 The roots should be in moist earth to 

 maintain the plumpness and freshness of 

 the sprouts, but the stems and sprouts 

 should be kept dry to save them from 

 moulding or rotting. They may also be 

 kept in a shed or cellar, observing the 

 same conditions, but don't have them in 

 the house cellar, for they exhale a strong 

 cabbage smell. Why can't our seedsmen 

 be more particular about their seeds of 

 Brussels sprouts? The seeds germinate 

 and the plants grow well enough, but 

 many of them have a lank weedy habit 

 and oiK'ii flabby sprouts. 



