i8g6. 



GARDENING. 



'49 



but near the glass, and give them lots of 

 water and plenty room. Don't wet them 

 much overhead. The same with cinerarias 

 and late Chinese primroses and pelargo- 

 niums. 



Copyright, 1895, by Charles Scribuer's Sous 

 ILLUSTRATION PROM WINDOW AND PARLOR GARDENING. 



bother raising them. Very fine single- 

 flowered dahlias, however, may be raised 

 from seed, and the seedlings bloom 

 abundantly and early the first year. 

 From seed sown in March in pots or 

 boxes in the window or greenhouse you 

 should get plants that will begin bloom- 

 ing in Jul}-, and from April sowing in a 

 frame, to begin blooming in August. 

 Dahlias seeds are large and not unlike 

 those of zinnias, and they germinate quite 

 as readily. Prick the seedlings off singly, 

 harden them well beforehand and then 

 plant them out about the middle of May 

 where you wish to have them bloom, in 

 moistish, deeply worked, rich soil. The 

 tubers of these seedlings are just as good 

 for lifting and storing over winter as are 

 those of old varieties. 



TflE GREEN«OUSE. 



Get all manner of plants that recjuire it 

 repotted and ready for a good summer's 

 growth. Use clean pots, drain them 

 effectively, in repotting have the ball of 

 the plant deep enough that the fresh soil 

 will completely cover it, but not so deep 

 that an inch' or so of the stem will be 

 buried. In potting ram the soil veryfirm. 

 A loose soil when well watered becomes a 

 mud puddle; a very firmly packed soil no 

 matter how much watered retains its 

 firmness, and the plants in their short 

 jointed firm wood soon show which isthe 

 better practice. The soil used in potting 



while somewhat moist should not be wet; 

 in fact it should be very free and mellow. 

 Never use a large \ ot for a small plant; 

 overpotting is very injurious. Newly 

 potted plants should be kept only moder- 

 ately moist at the root till young roots 

 begin to grow into the fresh soil; th^y 

 enjoy a moist atmosphere though, and in 

 the ease of fine-leaved plants like dra- 

 cfEnas, crotons, marantas,aralias,anthu- 

 riums, alocasias, and the like syringing 

 them overhead twice a day, say in the 

 morning and again in the early after- 

 noon does them much good. The blos- 

 soms of plants, however should never be 

 syringed overhead. 



Put in some cuttings of all manner or 

 plants increased in this way, for instance 

 carnations, begonias, libonias, eupato- 

 riums, marguerites, stevia, streptosolen, 

 fuchsias, habrothamnus, cytisus, aspara- 

 gus (tenuissimus), myrtles, double 

 petunias, plumbago, passion flowers, and 

 many others. Bouvardias if they have 

 been kept rather drj' at the root since 

 flowering may now be shaken out of their 

 pots and their fleshy roots cut up into 

 shoi-tlpieces, say 2 inches long, if these are 

 inserted as cuttings they throw out ad- 

 ventitious eyes that soon grow into nice 

 little plants. If some clumps of Anemone 

 Japonica are lifted and treated in the 

 same way we can get up a nice stock of 

 them for flowering next August and Sep- 

 tember. 



Keep calceolarias cool, faintly shaded 



GREENHOUSE QUESTIONS. 



II., St. Louis, asks as follows: 

 Pitch of a greknuoush uoof. — Will 

 not five inches of a fall do? 



.l;;s. Yes, very well. Seven and a half 

 inches in the foot is regulation pitch. The 

 more pitch the more sunlight and sun- 

 heat, and vice versa. 



2. "Lime water, how often should 

 house plants have it? ' 



.4ns. Now be careful. Don't give lime 

 water except for some special purpose as 

 the killing of worms in the soil, and then 

 onl3' to carnations and soft wooded 

 lilants generally. Don't give it to ever- 

 green shrubby plants as azaleas. Only 

 repeat the application as may seem neces- 

 sary for the specific purpose for which it 

 is used. 



3. "Japan Allspice and Magnolia 

 I- use ATA.— Where can I get them? I can- 

 not find them in any of the catalogues 1 

 have." 



Ans. Try John Saul, nurseryman, Wash- 

 ington, D. C, Prosper J. Berckmans, Au- 

 gusta, Ga., or Reasoner Brothers, Oneco, 

 Fla., or R. D. Hoyt, Seven Oaks, Fla. 



4. "RosFSANuCAKNATiONS.-Canthey be 

 grown successfully in the same green- 

 house?" 



Ans Yes, but not with the certainty 

 that they can in separate houses. When 

 grown together the roses are generally 

 climbing varieties; pot plants may also 

 be grown pretty well. Particularly avoid 

 a high temperature especially at night. 



flSFflRflOUS SPRENGERI. 



Here is a new and beautiful ornamental 

 species for cultivation in our greenhouses 

 and window gardens. Although it is new 

 in our gardens it made rapid strides in 

 popularity in Europe last year. Mr. F. 

 W. Burbidge, curator of the Botanic 1 

 Garden, Trinity College, Dublin, writes 

 as follows in the London Garden Novem 

 ber 9, 1S95 about it. "1 consider thisone 

 of the most distinct of all the indoor 

 species, and as a contrast in form, habit, 

 and color to A. pluwosvs, A. deciimbens, 

 etc., it well merits the attention of all 

 interested in greenery for bouquets, 

 wreat'is and sprays. But it is most hand- 

 some as seen drooping gracefully and 

 naturally from pot or hanging basket in 

 a warm plant house or conservatory. * * 

 It is an evergreen species with silvery 

 tubers, reminding one of those of some 

 kinds of oxalis. and its growths are 

 thrown up in free and plumose manner 

 like 'Prince of Wale's feathers,' as a lady 

 said the other day. These leathery 

 growths vary from 2 to 8 or 10 feet in 

 length, and being of a fresh light or apple 

 green hue, are admirably adapted for all 

 delicate decorations indoors. I have had 

 cut fronds in water that were quite fresh 

 six weeks after they were cut from the 

 plants. Like all the species, this will grow- 

 in almost any soil, but in large pots or 

 baskets of rich compost with a handful 

 of bone dust the plumes are very longand 

 beautiful. Another way is to plant out 

 the crowns along the margins of the 

 stages and allow the growths to fall 

 over naturally like a green curtain orcas- 

 cade. My plants are in pots on a shelf 

 and hang down over the head of a door- 

 way, and they form an admiiably fresh 

 green background for a few cattleyas or 

 dendrobiums in flower." 



