July 23, 1910 



HORTICULTURE 



103 



SEASONABLE NOTES ON CULTURE 

 OF FLORISTS' STOCK. 

 Eucharis amazonica. 

 Here and there in quite a few com- 

 mercial places I have seen these plants 

 stubbornly refuse to bloom, and all 

 through cultural errors of the growers. 

 There is no difficulty in having them 

 flower if a few simple rules are ob- 

 served. The present time is about the 

 best to make a start. Plants that were 

 started last winter and are now in 4 

 or 5 inch pots are the best. A per- 

 fectly sound bench should be chosen, 

 as a bench of eucharis is good for 

 years, as the plants are more and 

 more floriferous as they become 

 crowded in the course of time. Old 

 clumps can be used by dividing them 

 up. Give them a good sod soil with 

 about one-third of well decomposed 

 cow manure. They can be planted as 

 close as 5 or 6 inches apart. The 

 divided plants will take about a year 

 to get established, so will not flower 

 till then. When established plants 

 have made a good growth for about 

 two months, grant them a rest by 

 shortening up on the supply of water 

 for about 4 to 6 weeks, but not so 

 severe as to show any bad effects on 

 the foliage. By this process flowers 

 will form instead of leaves. After this 

 rest apply abundance of water and you 

 will have fine flowers. Having a short 

 rest after flowering they can be 

 started up again and grown as stated 

 above for a second crop. A tempera- 

 ture of 60 to 65 degrees at all times is 

 needed. Top dressing and liquid 

 manure will be found very beneficial 

 as they proceed. 



Euphorbia fulgens. 

 This beautiful but seldom seen plant 

 is not very good for pot culture, but 

 if planted out on a side bench in a 

 warm light house, it will grow along 

 quite freely. Give them a good rich 

 compost and of a texture that will let 

 the water pass off freely. They can 

 stand from about S to 10 inches apart, 

 and with one or two pinchings will 

 give you an abundance of their slen- 

 der arching sprays. 60 or 65 degrees 

 is the proper temperature. If you 

 bring them into flower by the holi- 

 days they will start and break into 

 new growth, which will give you 

 another crop of flowers by April. The 

 essentials for its well being are no 

 root disturbance, plenty of water, 

 light and heat when growing. 

 Geranium Stock Plants. 

 If you have any geraniums in 4 or 

 5 inch pots, by shifting them into 6 

 or 7 inch pots you will have a fine lot 

 of cuttings that will be hardier, 

 shorter-jointed and less liable to 

 damp off, than field-grown stock. They 

 being more under the control of the 

 grower he can root practically every 

 tip, he can force them into activity 

 again and take more cuttings right 

 along. I think the failure to get a 

 greater number of geraniums into 

 flower by Decoration Day is in a great 

 part due to the sappy condition of our 

 fall cuttings. Just now, when your 

 geraniums are all blooming and at 

 their best it is well to see if any have 

 not come true to color or form. Much 

 future annoyance can be saved now, 

 where only an expert would be able 

 to separatt them after the flower has 

 gone. It is au easy matter at this date 

 to label or tag any that are not true 

 ti) name. 



Repairing and Outside Painting. 

 The season of cold weather seems 

 quite a ways off but it is surely on 



its way so a few timely reminders as 

 to pieparations will not be out of 

 place. When you have leaky and 

 draughty houses it is impossible to 

 produce good stock. Now the wood is 

 dry and the weather such that a few 

 hours exposure will affect a complete 

 drying of either paint or putty. There 

 is therefore no better time than the 

 next six weeks for repairing and 

 painting. It is sometimes more profit- 

 able to rip all the glass out and re- 

 paint the sashbars and reset with new 

 putty, particularly if the putty is in 

 very bad condition. An application of 

 thin putty distributed by a putty bulb 

 along the sash bars will make a good 

 job for a season or two. See that all 

 the ventilators are adjusted, and look 

 for any defective parts in the ma- 

 chinery so as to have everything in 

 good working order before the cold 

 nights are on us. 



Roses; Care of Young Stock. 



Roses that were benched in May or 

 June will by this time be making 

 some strong growth, which will make 

 some tying necessary. Care must be 

 taken not to tie the plants too closely, 

 that is, not to bunch them up too 

 much, which would impede a proper 

 circulation of air through the plants. 

 Syringing should now be carefully at- 

 tended to, so that the plants are kept 

 clean from red spider. Never neglect 

 an opportunity to fumigate, once or 

 twice a week, whenever the tempera- 

 ture is below 72 degrees. Another very 

 important matter at this time of the 

 year is to keep the plants disbudded. 

 Do not disbud all at one time or re- 

 move all the buds from a plant at 

 once, as this has a great tendency to 

 check the growth. The surface of the 

 soil should be kept stirred frequently — 

 at least once a week. A little air- 

 slaked lime, applied lightly, will be 

 found very beneficial, especially where 

 the green scum is in evidence. 

 Wallflowers. 



While it is true that most plants 

 raised under continuous pot culture 

 are better than those grown out in the 

 field, wallflowers are suited better 

 by open ground treatment; they are 

 healthier, stouter, more compact and 

 freer-flowering and they lift in the fall 

 without much trouble. Watering is 

 only necessary in long and continued 

 spells of very dry weather. Any cool 

 greenhouse where the temperature 

 can be controlled between 40 and 45 

 degrees will make ideal winter quar- 

 ters for wallflowers. Seed can be 

 sown now for the border and trans- 

 planted into some coldframe that can 

 be protected during the winter and in 

 the spring they can be removed to 

 their permanent quarters. It is well 

 to have some of these plants as the 

 flowers are highly prized for their 

 pleasing fragrance. 



JOHN J. M. FARRELL. 

 Mr. Farrell's next notes will be on the 

 following: Callas; Ferns for Fern Dishes; 

 Harrisii Lilies; Lyslmachia Nummularla; 

 Verbenas; Vandas. 



AN ENCHANTED LAND. 



President Taft showed good judg- 

 ment in the selection of the place for 

 his "summer capital." No more at- 

 tractive and accessible a section can 

 be found on the whole Atlantic Coast 

 than the far-famed North Shore of 

 Massachusetts Bay with the villas of 

 Beverly, Montserrat. Prides, Manches- 

 ter-by-the-Sea and Magnolia following 

 one another like a string of pearls, 

 and across the bay lies Marblehead 

 Neck, a veritable gem of the ocean. 



There is much to interest the horti- 

 culturist in this enchanted land, in 

 natural woodland, bold scenery, elab- 

 orate gardens and palatial conserva- 

 tories presided over by some of the 

 most proficient gardeners in America, 

 but at present we wish to call 

 attention to only one or two fea- 

 tures. First of these is the rose 

 garden on the grounds of W. S. 

 and J. T. Spaulding at Prides Crossing. 

 This magnificent country estate is un- 

 der the charge of superintendent F. E. 

 Cole and the work he has been doing 

 on the grounds the present season is 

 prodigious. The conservatories and 

 herbaceous gardens all bear witness to 

 his cultural abilities and we shall take 

 opportunity to revert to them at some 

 time in the future. The rose garden, 

 which particularly concerns us now, is 

 a large rectangular reservation on the 

 estate which has been placed under 

 the exclusive care and control of Mrs. 

 H. R. Foote, a lady whose name is not 

 unknown to rose experts and fanciers 

 either in this country or abroad and 

 whose rose nurseries at Marblehead 

 have a more than local fame. 



This rose garden is unquestionably 

 the most beautiful in this country. It 

 is one of the very few spots worthy 

 of the name. There are between four 

 and five hundred varieties and, when 

 at the height of their June blooming 

 a few weeks ago, were well worth a 

 trip across the continent to see. There 

 were actually hundreds of thousands 

 of flowers all displaying that depth of 

 color produced only by exposure to 

 cool, moist saline air, enormous 

 growth and foliage such as is usually 

 seen only under the highest perfection 

 of culture under glass. 



Hybrid Teas are seemingly in the 

 ascendant here, although the H. P. 

 varieties are numerously represented] 

 as well as the Noisettes and Polyan- 

 thas, and the Ramblers clamber in 

 wondei-ful luxuriance over the enclos- 

 ing trellises and arbors. All the new 

 varieties of foreign or domestic origin 

 here get an opportunity to show what 

 they are capable of. Mrs. Foote con- 

 fesses to be unable to get satisfactoiT- 

 results on own-root plants, so every- 

 thing is sent abroad to be budded on 

 the briar. Cow manure is the only 

 stimulant given. The garden is now 

 in its fourth season. 



Across the Bay, high up on the 

 rocky brow of the promontory known 

 as Marblehead Neck is the home of 

 Charles W. Parker, chairman of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society's 

 garden committee. It was he who, a 

 few years ago, encouraged Mrs. Foote 

 to turn to commercial advantage the 

 cultural skill which her little amateur 

 rose garden gave evidence of. Today 

 she has under cultivation nine hundred 

 varieties at her home garden in Mar- 

 blehead and can give from memory 

 the name of any one of them. Mr. 

 Parker is a flower-lover and nature- 

 lover and his ruggedly picturesque es- 

 tate is laid out with much taste, with- 

 out the introduction of artificiality in 

 any feature. At present the exposed 

 patches of ledge are beautifully fringed 

 and mottled with random patches of 

 golden Sedum Acre. The variety of 

 trees which Mr. Parker has after many 

 years of patient care induced to grow 

 luxuriantly on this exposed promon- 

 tory is astonishing and he is in love 

 with everyone of them. His grounds 

 are an object lesson in their way and 

 the genial proprietor never tires of 

 showing visitors about. 



