July IT, 1909 



horticulture: 



76 



BOUGAINVILLEA GLABRA SANDE- 

 RIANA UNDER GLASS. 

 It is seldom that Bougainvilleas of 

 any species are planted out in beds of 

 soil, but they are almost universally 

 cultivated in pots, with the results that 

 the plants make an extraordinary vig- 

 orous growth and bloom sparsely; yet 

 the culture of the plants is of the 

 simplest kind when planted out in a 

 properly prepared bed of soil, and the 

 flowering period lasts for nearly six 

 months, and includes the winter sea- 

 son at which time the plants afford 

 the best paying blooms for cutting pur- 

 poses. 



The method of treatment pursued by 

 Max Mayer, gardener at Schloss Tut- 

 slng, as given by him in "MoUer's 

 Deutsche Gartner-Zeitung," No. 24, 

 19U9, is as follows: 



'■In the months of January or Feb- 

 ruary short cuttings in a soft condi- 

 tion are taken and struck in the propa- 

 gating house or dung bed frame, in 

 silver sand washed clean of all loamy 

 particles. The cuttings should be 

 placed in the bed in a slanting direc- 

 tion, and not more than one-half an 

 inch deep; the temperature of the bed 

 being 73 degrees to S2 degrees Fahren- 

 heit. By the more moderate degree of 

 warmth they make roots in three t(j 

 four weeks. Cuttings taken from the 

 upper branches root more quickly than 

 others. The rooted cuttings should bf. 

 potted in light rich soil mixed with a 

 loamy kind, and placed in a warm 

 dung-bed. When well rooted they may 

 be afforded manure water at frequent 

 intervals, and in the month of July 

 receive frequent pinching of the points 

 of the shoots. In August the plants 

 may be set out, without any disturb- 

 ance of the ball, on a bed placed in 

 the middle of a span-roofed house pro- 

 vided with portable lights, and means 

 of heating. The bed must be provided 

 with good drainage and a layer of de- 

 cayed manure, with a layer of rather 

 heavy soil topped w-ith a lighter de- 

 scription. The plants should stand in 

 this bed at about 3 feet apart, and the 

 entire soil of the bed built up to a 

 height of about 3 feet. When the 

 plants are established in the soil, the 

 lights should be removed, and not 

 brought into use until cold threatens at 

 night. During rainy weather the lights 

 should be put on the roof. Syringe 

 the plants morning and' evening, and 

 apply shading at about mid-day, when 

 the sun's rays are fierce. In order to 

 mature the young wood and cause the 

 fall of the older leaves let the soil be 

 kept dry from the end of the month 

 of August. As soon as the glass house 

 must be heated, it is time to commence 

 to afford water to the plants and to 

 take care that as great an amount of 

 sunlight as possible reaches them. 

 With the above described treatment 

 the plants develop fine bloom in the 

 first year in December. 



"In the second year during and aRer 

 flowering, afford manure, pinch the 

 shoots and train the plants. The lights 

 should be removed earlier the second 

 year than in the first. According to 

 the time of year when the plants are 

 required to flower, so must the dry 

 period commence. Aged plants can be 

 brought into flower at the beginning 

 of November. 



FREDERICK MOORE. 



CARNATION BRITTANNIA AS A 

 POT PLANT. 



H. A. Barnard of Low's sends the 

 accompanying picture, remarking that 

 as nearly all the carnation growers 

 whom he met on his recent tour in 

 America spoke of Britannia as a fail- 

 ure, he is glad to be able to present 

 so good an evidence of its worth. The 

 plant illustrated was exhibited at the 

 Temple Show. It was 2 years and 5 

 months old and carried 12 flowers, 58 

 developed buds and 219 flowering 

 growths, the flowers measuring 3 1-2 

 inches in diameter. It was propagated 

 in January, 1907. flowered in a 7-inch 

 pot all the following winter until lat- 

 ter part of June; was re-potted into 



a 10-inch pot in July, 1908, and flow- 

 ered from the following autumn. It is 

 only fair to state that it was fed ex- 

 clusively on Low's Carnation Fertil- 

 izer for the past 9 months. It has been 

 often suggested that pot-grown carna- 

 tion plants would be a welcome addi- 

 tion to the exhibition of the American 

 Carnation Society. Perhaps the fore- 

 going may have a suggestive value to 

 our carnation growers in that respect. 



TOTTY LEASES FLORHAM FARMS 

 GREENHOUSES. 



C. H. Totty has leased the Florham 

 Farms Greenhouses at Madison, N. J., 

 which have been under Mr. Herring- 

 ton's management hitherto. It is an 

 immense plant and affords Mr. Totty 

 a big field for the enterprise and busi- 

 ness ability which he has displayed in 

 so marked a degree since establishing 

 himself commercially in Madison a few 

 years ago. We know of no one better 

 entitled to the good wishes of the 

 trade, and HORTICULTURE cordially 

 joins in the congratulation. 



NEW PUBLIC PARKS AND GAR- 

 DENS IN GERMANY. 



As an evidence of the astonishing 

 progress and wealth of the towns in 

 Germany we may state that the mu- 

 nicipality of Heidelberg has sanctioned 

 the payment of 421,000 M. for a new 

 central cemetery on the right bank of 

 the Neckar. Mannheim is about to lay 

 out a park of about 100 hectars for a 

 sum of 293,000 M., according to the 

 estimate of the town landscape gar- 

 dener F. Keerl, who will be entrusted 

 with the carrying out of the work. 



PROPAGATING ARAUCARIA EX- 



CELSA. 

 Editor HORTICULTURE; 



Allow m'e to give L. M., your in- 

 quirer on page 42 of HORTICUL- 

 TURE, more complete directions for 

 propagating Araucaria excelsa. 



As is well known all branches of the 

 Norfolk Island pine will root but only 

 cuttings of the leader will give sym- 

 metrical plants. To get a large amount 

 of leaders, cut the leader and soon 

 several adventitious buds on the main 

 stem between the branches of the top 

 whorl will start to grow. Some 

 growers simply girdle the leader to 

 produce the breaking. One grower of 

 my acquaintance makes a cut immedi- 

 ately under the top whorl, puts a bit 

 ot charcoal in it ttj keep it open and 

 mosses it, cutting it off and potting it 

 as soon as the moss is filled with roots. 



By which ever method used the prac- 

 tice is the same after the top whorl 

 has broken. When the new breaks are 

 3 or 4 inches long they are carefully 

 removed with a heel and put in the 

 cutting bench; the whorl is cut off and 

 the plant carefully grown on. Soon the 

 next whorl breaks and the treatment is 

 the same, and the same process is re- 

 peated until each whorl has given 

 several terminal cuttings. In this way 

 each plant is made to produce 20 or 

 more cuttings, according to the num- 

 ber of whorls of branches, that will 

 produce symmetrical plants, specimens 

 just as good as are imported. B. 



A PROFITLESS NARCISSUS. 



Editor HORTICULTURE: — 



Two years ago last fall I purchased 

 from our local sedsman and planted 

 two thousand of the double white nar- 

 cissus, Alba plena odorata. The next 

 spring the foliage and spikes looked 

 to be in good condition and the plants 

 were full of flower buds. But the 

 buds never opened; they seemed to 

 blast and rot without passing beyond 

 the bud stage. From the two thou- 

 sand bulbs I got one hundred and 

 twenty-five cut flowers. I thought it 

 might be due to an unfavorable winter, 

 so I did not dig up and throw away 

 the bulbs, but mulched them well and 

 waited anxiously to see what they 

 would do this spring. The same thing 

 was repeated, but a little worse than 

 the preceding year. I scarcely got 

 a uundred blooms from the two thou- 

 sand bulbs. I might mention that the 

 bulbs are planted in two separate lots 

 about three-quarters of a mile apart 

 on widely different soil. 



Under the circumstances do you 

 tbinl: it worth while to keep these 

 bulbs any longer, or would you throw 

 thom away now? I would very much 

 like to grow this flower, as it comes 

 just at a time when I can use it to 

 advantage. 



Yours respectfully, 



EMSWORTH. 



Alba plena odorata is not a profit- 

 able bulb to grow, outdoor or under 

 glass. I have tried this for three 

 years, but the loss is too great. It is 

 about the average that you get 6 to 10 

 per cent, flowers. While the narcis- 

 sus keeps on growing right along, just 

 before flowering the buds dry up; 

 therefore, I should not trouble any 

 longer with the bulbs. 



WILLIAM S. JURGENS. 



