746 



HORTICUUTURU 



November 27, 190:) 



CLIANTHUS DAMPIERI AND C. 

 PUNICEUS. 



As most gardeners know, these spe- 

 cies of the Glory Pea — natives of Aus- 

 tralia — are very showy inhabitants of 

 the cool greenhouse. They are of 

 moderately easy culture when planted 

 in a mixture of two-thirds turfy loam 

 and one-third hard peat, with a small 

 quantity of sand to afford porosity. 

 When grown to a sufficiently large 

 size, no more shifts should be afforded 

 Into larger pots; but every second 

 year the plants should be removed 

 from the pots in which they have been 

 growing and the balls reduced by 

 about one inch all round, and the 

 roots at the bottom disentangled with 

 care, and the strongest cut back mod- 

 erately. This operation is best per- 

 formed in early spring, or at the time 

 when growth is about completed, but 

 when there is enough solar warmth 

 to promote root growth. The work of 

 repotting should be carried out with a 

 moderate amount of firmness and with 

 a potting stick or rammer. The plants 

 thus treated are the better for being 

 housed forthwith, and supplied mod- 

 erately with moisture at the root and 

 afforded an overhead sprinkling in the 

 afternoon if the weather has been 

 sunny. 



C. Dampieri has a prostrate habit of 

 growth, and shows to the best advan- 

 tage when grafted on C. puniceus, a 

 hard-wooded, erect-growing species, or 

 on Colutea arborescens, an allied Pap- 

 ilionaceous species, having a similar 

 habit. On the last named stock the 

 grafted plants make fine ornaments in 

 a lew months, of two feet or more in 

 diameter and come into bloom a week 

 or two sooner than those grafted on 

 C. puniceus. They flower ver\' abun- 

 dautly on Colutea, but in regard to 

 the size of the flowers these do net 

 equal those on C. puniceus. Cultiva- 

 tors who may wish to have flowering 

 plants in the summer till winter ar- 

 rives, should graft C. Dampieri on 

 both stocks. Seeds of the stocks, and 

 of the named species should be sown 

 simultaneously in pans — those of the 

 stocks at a good distance apart. As 

 soon as the characteristic leaves ap- 

 pear grafting may be commenced, and 

 the best method is by clelt grafting, 

 the stocks being cut in wedge form, 

 and the scions split upwards so as to 

 fit them saddlewise. The knife must 

 be thin and very sharp. It is scarcely 

 possible to place a ligature around the 

 point of union, nor is it required. 

 When the union is completed the 

 plants should be placed in pots of two 

 inches in diameter, using coarse leaf 

 mould and sand, and be further re- 

 potted in five or six-inch pots when 

 established. Good drainage with 

 crocks is essential at all stages, as is 

 likewise much moisture in the air. It 

 is well to sink the pots during the 

 summer in a bed of fine gravel, coarse 

 sand, or finely sieved coal ashes. A 

 white flowered form of C. puniceus is 

 in commerce 



FREDERICK MOORE. 



AGAVE NEGLECTA IN FLOWER. 



The accompanying picture shows 

 one of three Agaves neglecta (century 

 plants) in flower by the side of 

 the villa of Mi-. E. Rollins Morse at 

 Newport, R. I. These three are in a 

 batch of eight plants which have been 

 on this place the past eight years, and 

 all are probably about fifteen years 

 old. They began to show their flower 

 stems early in .lune and had not 

 opened all their flowers October IS, 

 when this picture was taken. The 

 stem of the plant shown in the picture 



is twenty-two inches in circumference 

 near the base and its height is thirty- 

 two feet six inches. D. J. Coughlin, 

 the gardener in charge here, infoims 

 us that no special treatment has been 

 giv'en those plants with a view to in- 

 duce them to flower, except that they 

 have never been watered other than by 

 the rains that fell on them. And the 

 vigorous and healthy condition of all 

 Ibis batch proves that this is all the 

 moisture they require. Mr. Coughlin 

 is in the picture standing up on the 

 tub, J. R. 



Reports on nursery trade from In- 

 dianapolis are to the effect that a 

 very large amount of fall planting is 

 being done this year, of shrubbery and 

 hardy ornamental material generally. 



JACK ROSE DAHLIA. 



So much has been said pro and con 

 about this dahlia that I feel in duty 

 bound, to at least, try to clear the 

 atmosphere. 



In the first place, instances have 

 been brought to my notice where a 

 distinctly different variety was sold 

 for Tack Rose; also the old question 

 of properly growing and handling the 

 blooms has a g'reat deal to do with 

 .lack Rose dahlias as with any other 

 flower. Last fall Jack Rose was con- 

 demned by a great many who had 

 seen flowers from cerUiin sources, and 

 on seeing blooms grown by us could 

 hardly conceive them to be the same 

 variety. 



Jack Rose was certified by the 

 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society 

 after having been critically examined 

 and passed upon by expert commit- 

 tees at both the September and Octo- 

 ber meetings. It was then pronounced 

 the finest crimson dahlia on the mar- 

 ket. Several of the leading catalogue 

 firms who are most exclusive and al- 

 ways insist on trying varieties out on 

 their own grounds, waived this "try- 

 out" after seeing the cut blooms in the 

 open market and the dahlia growing 

 on our place, and listed Jack Rose as 

 the finest crimson florist dahlia in ex- 

 istence. 



Now, after another year's growing, 

 during which we had several acres, 

 we can only add to the praise extend- 

 ed by us last year. It was the health- 

 iest plant we had on the place, the 

 first to gel into bloom, and every 

 flower was perfect the entire season; 

 which, in our location, was a most try- 

 ing one, owing to the extended 

 droughts throughout the season. True 

 the stems were not so long as they 

 should have been, but were as long as 

 Sylvia, recognized by all as a first- 

 class flower with good stems, and later 

 in the season Jack Rose stems aver- 

 aged lon.ger than many of the recog- 

 niz-^d standard varieties. 



Almost every special order for cut 

 floweis included Jack Rose. In justice 

 to the many florists and seedsmen 

 who have stocked up on Jack Rose, 

 it is only fair to say that no attention 

 should be paid to detrimental remarks 

 made by inexperienced growers, or 

 even experienced growers, who only 

 know the variety after one yeai''s ex- 

 perience under adverse conditions, in 

 the face of the perfect flowers pro- 

 duced by competent growers under the 

 conditions — ^probably the worst sea- 

 son we have experienced in the last 

 25 yeai-s, with the exception, perhaps, 

 of 1,S95. 



Another thing not to be forgotten is 

 the forcing quality of Jack Rose, 

 which is even today placed on the 

 market and sold at prices far above 

 chrysanthemums, as it has that bril- 

 liantly rich crimson that appeals to 

 all, and cannot be found in the chrys- 

 anthemum; a decidedly richer shade 

 than found even in the "Jacqueminot" 

 rose. Perhaps one of its best quali- 

 ties is largely responsible for the 

 criticism of the color, and I wish to 

 say most emphatically that it does 

 not bleaoh one-fourth as badly as 

 Lyndhurst. and yet Lyndhurst is the 

 standard vermilion scarlet. Lyndhurst 

 is inclined to show the open center 

 if allowed to get old enough to fade, 

 and the Jack Rose continues to un- 



