124 



GARDENING. 



Jan. t. 



fine flowering shrubs in our gardens, 

 although this is Paradise for tHem. Most 

 people have a border or a few beds of 

 roses, but seldom give them the necessary 

 care to get the best results from them. 

 We cannot show vou much horticultural 

 taste. 



Our Irish and svv'eet potatoes are 

 housed, of kale, winter beets, onions, car- 

 rots, and parsnips some have a few, but 

 many have none, even turnips are not 

 plentiful in our gardens You may think 

 this strange considering our splendid soil 

 and glorious climate, but it is owing to 

 the unsatisfactory labor— negro labor. 

 Of late years some Swedes, Germans, 

 Italians, and Scotch have settled here, 

 and it would really do you good to visit 

 their places (though small) and find the 

 abundance, variety and excellence of their 

 garden crops, and the way in which they 

 save, accummulate and use manure But 

 thev cannot begin to supply the full 

 demand of our cit v. James Stewart. 



SUPPORTS FOR GREENHOUSE CflRNflTlONS. 



I find that plants of different habits re- 

 quire different supports. For such vari- 

 eties as Daybreak, Mrs. Duhme, Brides- 

 maid, Portia and strong stiff growing 

 sorts we havefoundthe inverted V shaped 

 wire netting coupled with the wiring and 

 stringing overhead to be the best support 

 that we have found. For such sorts as 

 Storm King, Scott, Lizzie McGowan, 

 Meteor and tall growing kinds that are 

 inclined to sag down at the base of the 

 plant we have adopted the same wire 

 netting to support the base of the plant 

 and the Excelsior wire ring support man- 

 ufactured by the Worcester Wire Co. put 

 up at successive heights to support the 

 upper portion of the plant. There are 

 some objections to this Excelsior sup- 

 port, but I think on the whole that the 

 advantages outweigh the objections. By 

 both of these methods no unsightly stakes 

 appear above the plants to shade the 

 ground and interfere with the work of 

 picking the flowers. I believe that these 

 two systems are the best in vogue at the 

 present time, although there is an im- 

 provement on the Excelsior stake that 

 makes it a better stake than the Excel- 

 sior, but the improvement is rather ex- 

 pensive, but it pays us because it is cjui'e 

 an advantage to liave so large a place as 

 ours balanced up with proper labor sav- 

 ing appliances of all descriptions. We 

 think it to our advantage to have the 

 best ventilating apparatus; to have our 

 houses built in a neat substantial as well 

 as durable manner, and to have every- 

 thing about our place in apple pie order. 

 Bv so doing we can carry on the work 

 with fewer men and at less expense, and 

 the neatness and cleanliness of the place 

 predisposes our plants to a healthv 

 growth. There is another good wire- 

 device invented by W. A. Mills of Port 

 Chester, N. Y., which seems to be a 

 passabl.- good thing. I have never used 

 it, as it was a little too expensive for me. 



Queens, N Y. C. W. Ward. 



Wai-I-FLOWERS.-.^ reader writes "Now 

 and again I have seen a wallflower in a 

 pot which showed a loving care by some 

 one who treasured it foroldac<|uaintance 

 sake, but they don't pay." -Ins. True 

 wc do not have here the superabundance 

 of this lovely flower one finds in central 

 and southern Europe, and cannot; but 

 with a little care and trouble we can have 

 nice wallflowers. And if you grow what 

 is called the "annual" wallflower, from 

 seed sown as you would gillyflowers in 

 spring you can have a nice sprinkling of 



wallflower blossoms, with the true color 

 and fragrance, from late summer all 

 through the fall, till hard frost sets in. 



CLERODENDRON TRICflOTOMUM. 

 We have had this clerodendron several 

 years and find it one ■ f the worst trees to 

 throw up suckers we know. Sometwenty 

 years we have tried to destroy it, but it 

 is as bad as the small perennial morning 

 glories to kill. We bought the first plant 

 under the name of Catalpa Bungei. Two 

 j-ears ago seeing this clerodendron praised 

 we sent and got it, and behold it was the 

 same tree we had so long been trying to 

 eradicate Isaac Hicks. 



True, Clerodendron trichotomum suck- 

 ers badly, so do T. viscosuw and T fcct- 

 idum, also hardy shrubs. But like the 

 locust, the trumpet creeper and the angel- 

 ica tree {Aralia spinosa), when it is 

 allowed to grow unchecked, it does not 

 sucker so much as when it is cut down. 

 For large gardens and parks because of 

 its bold foliage and late (September) 

 blooming qualities we have room for it, 

 but on account of its suckering habit, 

 large spreading size and bad smelling 

 leaves we should advise against its being 

 planted in small gardens. Nicholson in 

 his "Dictionary of Gardening" describes 

 it as "a very handsome hard}' shrub." 

 Professor C' S. Sargent in his "Forest 

 Flora of Japan," page 53, refers to it as 

 "the beautiful Clerodendron trichotomum 

 which in late summer enlivens the banks 

 of streams with its great masses of trop- 

 ical foliage and brilliant flowers, and in 

 Yezo often attains to the size and habit 

 of a small tree." Veitch & Sons of Lon- 

 don in their last catalogue give it a lead- 

 ing place in their select list of trees and 

 shrubs, and say "The flowers appear in 

 September and are produced in large ter- 

 minal cymes; they are white with a pur- 

 plish calyx, and delightfulli' fragrant. It 

 is thence one of the most distinct and use- 

 ful hardy shrubs." 



The whole plant is not at all unlike a 

 catalpa, indeed in foliage it is very much 

 like the dwarf catalpa known in gardens 

 as C. Bungei. How this dwarf catalpa 

 which is only a form of C. bignonioides 

 get the name of Bungei wc do net know, 



the true Catalpa Bungei being a large 

 tree and a native of China. Cleroden- 

 dron factidum is also called C Bungei. 

 It also suckers freely, indeed, it always 

 get-; killed to the ground in winter with 

 us, but in the form of many suckers it ap- 

 pears again in spring, blooming in early 

 fall. Its foliage has no resemblance to 

 that of a catalpa, however. 



IF YOU 



LIKE 



GARDENING 



PLEASE 



RECOMMEND 



IT TO 



YOUR 



FRIENDS. 



BERBERIS THUNBERGIl. 



Everybody is nuw admirlnt; the I 



Ho per 100. 18 to S4 Inches. J3 per doz.: *20 per luo 

 24 to;« Inches and upwards. »3. 75 per do2 ; *26perl00. 

 A large and complete stock of all the finest decora- 

 tive shrubs and plants, hediie plants, etc My priced 

 list of autumn foliage and fruit plants will be sent to 

 any address. B. M. WATSON, 



Old Colony Nurseries, Flymouth, Mass. 



r> I T I OO lUtJO Varieties of Cacti. 

 13 U LD^ 500 sorts of rare BULBS. 



/-^ k ^-*rr^M <2 Cacti, $1. SforSOcils. 

 i ^\L > I I ISO Blooming Bulbs, $1. 



^•iV^/ 1 I 60for50oti..25ror 26ct» 



r> A r.c- r>i A KTTt- Two nimlra-ei) C.t.lo(roe» frp<-. 



KAKb HLAIMIS Book on Cactl,116 Pages, lOcfj 

 A. BLANC & CO. 316 N nth St PHILADELPHI 



g*"^!"^..:" FLOWERS 



