March 26, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



477 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CUL- 

 TURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 



Asparagus plumosus nanus. 

 To have vigorous stock for June 

 planting can only be accomplished by 

 avoiding any check in the growth of 

 the seedlings. While the culture of 

 Asparagus plumosus in a general way 

 Is not especially difficult, the raising 

 of good stock involves the exercise of 

 care and caution as to watering and 

 airing. They want a light, warm house 

 when young, with proper amount of 

 moisture to push them forward. By 

 the first week in April they should be 

 big enough to shift into 3-inch pots 

 and as soon as they need a shift they 

 can be potted into 4-inch pots, which 

 will suflSce till they are planted out 

 into their permanent beds. When In- 

 tended for decorative purposes it can 

 be grown on in 6-inch or S-inch pots, 

 using a rich soil; a heavy loam with 

 third or fourth of cow manure is a 

 good compost for it. When 18 to 20 

 inches long the tops can be nipped 

 off, so as to make well-proportioned 

 and bushy plants for the various deco- 

 rative purposes for which this hand- 

 some variety is used. 



Calanthes. 

 These orchids produce an abundance 

 of showy flowers that last a long time 

 in perfection. If potted now they will 

 flower in January and February. Start 

 the bulbs in flats of sand until roots 

 and growths start, then place two bulbs 

 in a 6-inch pot or three or four in an 

 S-inch pan. A compost of fibrous soil 

 and well dried and decayed cow ma- 

 nure in e<iual parts, to which may be 

 added some peat and silver sand, will 

 grow them well. Be sure and pot 

 them fji-mly, tieing the bulbs to short 

 stakes so as to keep them steady. In 

 their growing season they require a 

 hot and moist house, and when growth 

 is complete a cooler house will be more 

 beneficial. Watering with liquid ma- 

 nure occasionally will be to their lik- 

 ing. They are subject to thrips, which 

 must be continually searched for and 

 destroyed by sponging the plants over 

 often. Attend to watering, syringing 

 over head in fine weather, and keep- 

 ing the floors and benches well damped 

 and they will pay for the trouble. 



Dracaena indivlsa. 

 This dracaena is indispensable to all 

 growers of miscellaneous stock. It is 

 unapproachable for vases, window 

 boxes, or when a graceful plant is 

 wanted to withstand the sun and 

 drought of our hot summers. The 

 young plants should be encouraged to 

 make as vigorous giowth as possible. 

 They are better for being grown under 

 glass the first year, and the following 

 year they may be planted out in good 

 rich soil, where they can be left till 

 September, when they should be lifted 

 and potted into 4-inch or 6-inch pots, 

 using a good loam that is quite lumpy 

 ■with about one-fourth of well-rotted 

 cow manure and some leaf-mould with 

 addition of a little charcoal. Use 

 plenty of broken crocks so as to have 

 good drainage. They do well in a 

 night temperature of .50 to 55 degrees 

 when established. 



Euphorbia fulgens. 

 The plants that flowered during the 

 ■winter will have plenty of wood suit- 



able for making into cuttings. Don't 

 use the hard wood. By cutting back 

 the old plants in April young growth 

 will stait and make good cuttings to 

 root in May. Watchful shading and 

 care when potting will place the plants 

 beyond any further danger. It is well 

 to allow the young and old plants time 

 to become fairly root-bound before re- 

 potting. They like a soil of such a 

 texture that the water will freely pass 

 through. A good compost should con- 

 sist of two piirtb turfty sod, one part 

 of leaf-mould, and the remaining fourth 

 well decayed manure with some sand. 

 The plants thrive best in a warm and 

 rather moist atmosphere where the 

 temperature will never be less than 60 

 degrees al night. When the growing 

 period is complete, the plants should 

 be removed into a drier air, and where 

 they will have ample ventilation, and 

 withhold water gradually. This will 

 allow a rapid and thorough ripening 

 of the wood, which will produce excep- 

 tionally fine sprays. Some years ago 

 this beautiful plant was one of our 

 standard winter flowering plants. It 

 seems strange that it is not more ex- 

 tensively grown. A few difficult de- 

 tails in its culture no doubt stand in 

 its way. 



Shading. 

 Such plants as palms and ferns will 

 now require some shade. It will be 

 better to apply only a light shade as 

 yet, and as the season advances you 

 can apply more. To retard and make 

 them hold their color a moderately 

 heavy shade over violets will be found 

 very beneficial. It also keeps the house 

 cooler. A good mixture to use is one 

 gallon of kerosene with ten pounds of 

 white lead, and mixed well before ap- 

 plying. This shade will withstand! the 

 rains well and is not hard to remove. 



Swainsona. 



Cuttings of Swainsona galegifolia 

 that were rooted the last of February, 

 if regularly attended to as to potting 

 and repotting, watering and curing, 

 will grow into good 4-inch or 5-inch 

 flowering plants by Decoration Day, 

 suitable for cemetery planting. They 

 are good for indoors and if planted out 

 on a bench will flower from June until 

 far into the winter. If picked when 

 nearly all the blooms are fully open, 

 and the bunches of sprays are placed 

 in water and kept in a cool but light 

 place for a day. the flowers will not 

 wilt. The bloom with its deep-green 

 setting of fern-like foliage is good for 

 all kinds of made-up work if rightly 

 handled. Cuttings can be put In now, 

 hut be careful and not let them flag 

 or they will be worthless. Any side 

 shoots taken from thrifty grown plants, 

 by pulling them sideways out of the 

 axil formed by the leaf and main stem 

 will make good cuttings. 



JOHN J. M. FARRELL. 



Mr. Farrell's next notes will be on 

 Camellias, Left-over Stock, Nephrolepis, 

 Poinsettias, Eose Compost and StevlaB. 



DAHLIAS. 



Dahlias are among our most popu- 

 lar tuberous garden plants, and some 

 of the types, especially the cactus and 

 single varieties, are very useful in cut 

 flower work, especially for large deco- 

 rations, cemetery bouquets, etc., and 

 may be artistically arranged to make 

 very good effects in home decorations. 



Many of the varieties increase very 



rapidly by tuber divisions, while a few 

 of them increase too slowly to be a 

 profitable crop. New varieties may 

 be easily produced from seed, many 

 new ones of great merit having been 

 introduced in the past few years, and 

 new ones are coming out each year. 

 In order to get good ones from seed 

 only the best hand poUenlzed seed 

 should be used. 



They may be planted here in Ne^w 

 England from the time the frost Is 

 out of the ground in April until July. 

 The July planted ones grow quickly 

 and produce the best flowers. The 

 earlier plantings will produce much 

 larger clumps of bulbs; but, coming in 

 flower when the weather is warmer, 

 the flowers are not apt to be as large 

 or as perfect as those from later plant- 

 ing, and the "tarnish bug" being ac- 

 tive at this season blasts many buds 

 or causes them to produce imperfect 

 flowers, while the later ones escape 

 this as the bug does not work in cool 

 weather. 



These bugs may be controlled in 

 part at least by spraying with Bor- 

 deaux and paris green in weak solu- 

 tion or by using "bug death," or even 

 coal ashes sifted fine and dusted on the 

 plants when the dew is on will check 

 them to some extent. 



In planting, the tubers should be 

 laid on the side, rather than stood up 

 straight as many growers practice, and 

 covered from four to six inches deep, 

 placing the tubers IV2 to 2 ft. apart, 

 the rows being .3 ft. or more apart 



Keep the soil well stirred through 

 the first part of the growing season, 

 to keep down weeds and conserve 

 moisture, being careful to cultivate af- 

 ter every rain to break- up the soil 

 particles and prevent baking or crust- 

 ing over, until the plants are about 

 2 ft. high. The balance of the season 

 a mulch of strawy dressing or any 

 waste material to shade the ground is 

 better than cultivation. 



The pompon and show varieties 

 bloom more freely usually than the 

 cactus, single or decorative types. A. 

 D. Lavoni fpink). Frank Smith (varie- 

 gated). Gloire de Lyon (white). Storm 

 King (white). Meteor (red), and Dr. 

 J. D. Kirkland (maroon), are some 

 of the best blooming show varieties. 

 Grand Duke Alexis (white tinted lav- 

 ender) is very large and handsome, but 

 a shy bloomer in most places. 



Among cactus varieties Florodora 

 (wine crimson), and Countess of 

 Lonsdale, are extra free bloomers. 

 Kriembilde (pink). Master Earl 

 (orange), Mrs. Chas. Turner (yellow), 

 are among the most beautiful of the 

 older cactus varieties. 



The bulbs should not be dug in fall 

 until the frost kills the tops, when 

 they may be dug, the stalks cut quite 

 close to top of clump. When thor- 

 oughly dry, store them In barrels or 

 boxes, packing the clumps bottom up. 

 A cool, dry cellar is best, but any 

 place where they will not freeze or 

 dry up too much will do. A cool room 

 upstairs is better than a damp cellar, 

 or one with too much heat. 



Before planting, divide tubers so as 

 to produce only two or three stalks to 

 the hill; one is enough and if the top 

 of that one is nipped oft above the 

 second or third leaf joint it will branch 

 and stand up better and produce better 

 blossoms. 



E. R. MACOMBER. 



