i8g6. 



' GARDENING. 



123 



it is placed on the market, accepting and 

 using the description given of it bj' the 

 originators. They cannot wait to test it 

 Ijefore selling it, lest their competitors 

 should get ahead of them, for the pubHc 

 are on the alert for novelties and will go 

 where they cangetthem. But themoment 

 our nurserymen and florists get hold of 

 some of the plants they should set out a 

 few on their own grounds for trial. 



"X X" Chrysanthemums.— In cutting 

 over a lot of chrysanthemums in pots to- 

 day (December 10) for storing past till 

 spring we noticed that many of the labels 

 had double c OSS (X X) marks on them; 

 this signified that they had behaved 

 .-idmirably under pretty rough treatment, 

 that is kept in a deep cold pit till now. 

 Those that were most marked had been 

 most cut from, in itself a good sign. They 

 included Gloriosum, pale yellow; Yellow 

 Dragon, deep yellow; W. H. Lincoln, fine 

 stiff habit, late yellow; George S.Conover, 

 fine, round headed, yellow; Judge C. S. 

 Benedict, clear yellow; Mrs. M. R. Par- 

 ker, Jr., globular, pink, early; Helen 

 Bloodgoocl, delicate, fine pink; Silver 

 Cloud, creanij' white; Mrs. Higinbotham, 

 verj' large, pink, slightly hairy, strong, 

 tree blooming and doing well outside or 

 indoors; Mrs. Irving Clark, delicate pink, 

 verj- full, making fine big heads, but a lit- 

 tle weak necked; E.xcellent, light pink on 

 long stems; Mrs. Langtry, white; Cul- 

 lingfordii, glowing crimson; Brigand, in 

 the way of, but bigger than, Culling- 

 f rdii; and Bronze Giant, an immense full 

 headed flower of crimson and gold. There 

 were lots more, but these are the first ones 

 that came to our memory. 



The Garden Annual, 1896, has come 

 to hand. It is published by The Garden, 

 37 Southampton street, London, and 

 costs one shilling exclusive of postage. It 

 contains over 390 pages of closely filled 

 matter relating to horticulture, and gives 

 the name and address of every country 

 seat in Great Britain and Ireland, with 

 the proprietor's and gardeners' names, 

 also the names and addresses of all the 

 florists and nurserymen of the country, 

 and too of all the leading nurserymen, 

 florists and seedsmen of the rest of Europe. 

 ■Vnd a full list of the botanical gardens of 

 the United Kingdom, India and the 

 Colonies with the names of their officers 

 are given. All of the new plants, vegeta- 

 bles and fruits certificated in London dur- 

 ing the past year are enumerated. Among 

 these vi'e find 334 different kinds of plants 

 and flowers, 16 sorts of fruits, and IS of 

 vegetables. Among the plants we find 5 

 amarj'llis, 13 begonias, 7 carnations, 63 

 chrysanthemums, 10 dahlias, 8 gladioli, 

 .'i nymph;cas, 5 pteonias, 4 sweet peas, 6 

 roses, etc. Orchids seem to have been 

 |)articularly prominent. There were 27 

 cattleyas, 26 cypripediums, 14 dendro- 

 biums, 10 Ijelias, 12 la?lio-cattleyas, 11 

 odontoglossums, and 3 vandas. In the 

 way of fruits there were 5 apples, 1 cherry, 

 .") melons, 2 plums, and 3 straw-berries; 

 and of vegetables we find 5 beans, 1 kale, 

 7 lettuces, 1 radish, 1 spinach and 3 

 tomatoes. 



The New York G.vruexers' Society. 

 — .\ large number of representative pri- 

 vate gardeners met in New Y'ork on the 

 21st ult. and organized a society to be 

 known as the New York Gardeners' So- 

 ciety. The object o' the members is 

 mutual improvement, professional ad- 

 vancement, a better acquaintance with 

 each other and to secure that recognition 

 in horticulture which should belong to 

 tlieni. The gardeners wish to place flori- 

 culture and fruit and vegetable culture 



on a higher plane than it has ever before 

 been in New York by aiding one another 

 in every practical, consistent way. At 

 their meetings they will give their experi- 

 ence in the cultivation of flowers, fruits 

 and vegetables, and kindred subjects, 

 relate their successes that others may 

 learn, and tell of their failures that others 

 may give them light. They will also 

 bring some of the fruitsorfailures of their 

 labor to render the discussions the more 

 pertinent and instructive. Recognizing 

 the apathy shown to general gardening 

 in the commercial metropolis of the coun- 

 try, where even no horticultural society 

 exists, the gardeners have determined to 

 urge the co-operation of their employers 

 in bringing before the public in pi'riodical 

 exhibitions that which is best, most 

 beautiful and useful in gardening. And 

 they have resolved among themselves to 

 aid each other into entering into that 

 noble contention or rather emulation of 

 who best can work and grow the most 

 superior fruits, flowers and vegetables. 

 In fine they unite into a society that they 

 may become better men and better gar- 

 deners. The next meeting of the 

 society will be held on Saturday evening, 

 4th inst. All gardeners wishing to join 

 should attend that meeting. 



Mignonette in Winter is a leading 

 crop with many commercial florists. 

 They sow the seed about the first 01 

 August and transplant the seedlings into 

 beds of soil on the benches of their green- 

 houses, whole houses being devoted to 

 this crop alone. It begins blooming in 

 November. The plants are 9 to 12 inches 

 apart each way. The}' belong to the 

 Machet section and are very different 

 from the common outdoor sorts; indeed 

 they often grow to be 2 feet high with 

 stems i/Q-inch thick. They also grow 

 nicely in pots, but of course they make 

 the best flowers when planted out in beds. 



BEflUTIFUl. CflRNflTIONS. 



From the Cottage Gardens. Queens, L. 

 I., we have received a box of three score 

 very beautiful seedling carnations. Every 

 blossom is perfect in form, and on a long 

 leafy stiff" stem. In colorthey range from 

 pure white, through delicate and deep 

 tinted pinks, scarlet and crimson, and 

 several are variegated and pencilled. Mr. 

 Ward grows carnations splendidly, and 

 he has the best facilities and greenhouses 

 for so doing, and better still he is an 

 enthusiast in this line, and raising new 

 pedigree varieties is a hobby of his. If 

 any of our readers who have never seen 

 carnations grown in thousands for the 

 cut flower market, happen to be in the 

 neighborhood of Queens they should 

 visit Mr. Ward's place and get a practical 

 lesson. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



MUSHROOMS IN T«E BASEMENT. 



I wish to raise mushrooms in the base- 

 ment of a dwelling, but have never 

 tried to grow them. I find full instruc- 

 tions in Gardening (a complete set of 

 which I have from the first issue), but am 

 doubtful if the preparingof the bed would 

 be wholesome in connection with a dwell- 

 ing as the basement is used for ventilat- 

 ing the rooms above. Can I prepare a 

 bed and grow mushrooms in the base- 

 ment without rendering the air above 

 unwholesome? K. B. 



Washington. 



In an ordinary house cellar from which 

 there is no current of air passing into the 

 upper rooms mushrooms can be grown 

 without any inconvenience as regards 

 noxious gases or smell; but when the 

 rooms above are ventilated from tl'e 

 basement in which the mushroom beds 

 would be made up we would hesitate to 

 introduce them. Under no circumstances 

 should the fermenting manure be prepared 

 for use in thecellar;prepareitoutof doors 

 or in some shed or under coveraway from 

 the house, and don't bring it into the 

 cellar till it is a condition quite ready to 

 build into beds, then the smell is evident 

 for only a day or maybe two; and after 

 the beds are encased with soil it emits no 

 discemable odor. 



Whitloof.— T. G., N. Y., writes: "We 

 are enjoying whitloof now, grown in 

 greenhouse and in boxes. It's good, too, 

 as salad." We may say that Whitloof 

 is a large leaved kind of chicory raised 

 from seed sown out of doors in summer 

 as one would parsnips; in fall the fleshy 

 roots are lifted and kept over as one 

 would salsify, except that they are 

 planted in boxes, pots, or beds in the 

 greenhouse and "forced" for their leaves. 

 In forcing they are kept in the dark as 

 one would rhubarb to bleach them and 

 make them tender. They are treated and 

 eaten as a salad. It has been in common 

 cultivation for many j'cars, that is with 

 people who raise winter salads. 



Sweet Potatoes, how to keep the.m 

 IN winter.— James Stewart of Memphis 

 in the Commercial Appeal says: "Dig 

 before hard frost, and as soon as possible 

 put in the tubers in barrels or boxes and 

 place in the kitchen, near or back of the 

 cook stove. They will then keep until 

 May or June. There is no danger of get 

 ting them too warm. They will not rot, 

 and the last of them will be as good as 

 the first." 



The Bean Mildew.— The mildew (illus- 

 trated and described in Gardening, pages 

 72-73, November 15 last) was almost 

 ruinous to my own and some others' 

 Lima beans. Others' in vicinity escaped. 



Plainfield, N. J. E. R. 



Miscellaneous. 



fl LETTER PROM MEMPHIS. 



Your display of chrysanthemums, front 

 page, December 15 is grand, but that's 

 bantering us. Were these flowers of 

 longer duration and easier produced we 

 would indulge in them more. 



Tell David Eraser, page 100, that he 

 will fail in his rose project. [We don't 

 think so. D. F. has had considerable ex- 

 perience in growing roses and many years 

 in gardening generally.— Ed.] 



Y'ou give us lists of plants in bloom 

 both indoors and outside. Strange to say 

 there is but little taste for such things 

 here. When a fine mansion is built a 

 negro is generallj' sent to the woods to 

 hunt for a few scrubs courteously called 

 shade trees, and plant them, the grounds 

 are sodded over with Bermuda grass (the 

 worst of all grasses); a wall of stone and 

 iron is built around the front of the prop- 

 erty; a straight stone flag pavement is 

 laid from the gate to the house, and all is 

 done. Some indulge in a few flower beds 

 or a border, or a border under the eaves 

 about the house. Evergreens are verv 

 little planted, still many kinds thrive 

 gloriously. There is very 'little variety of 



