For December, 1923 



297 



the young growths are well advanced and right up to the 

 time of flowering. 



Those that have to force very early grapes may start 

 a house of lilack Hamburg by the first of January. After 

 all the many varieties that have been tried for forcing, 

 this grand old variety still stands supreme as an early 

 forcer, and is still one of the best flavored grapes we 

 have. Remove all the loose soil on the top of the border 

 and apply any fertilizer tliat has been tried and found to 

 produce a good well flavored crop. So far, we have found 

 bone meal, lime. Thomson's vine manure, and Clay's fer- 

 tilizer very good, and of course, after the vines are grow- 

 ing good and have set their fruit, liberal applications of 

 cow manure water. After the fertilizer has been applied, 

 it may be covered with a light coating of good fibery up- 

 land loam. A good watering may also be given, but in an 

 early grapehouse the water ought at all times be at least 

 the same temperature as the border. Start the vines in 

 a temperature around forty-six degrees and about every 

 ten days increase it five degrees at night and ten during 

 the day, gradually working up to sixty-five at night and 

 eightv during the day. Any later grapehouses, if the vines 

 are old and the soil looks spent, may be greatly heli)ed 

 if the roots are gradually and carefully uncovered, shak- 

 ing the old soil out of them, removing it and replacing 

 with fresh sod. At the same time the roots may be raised 

 nearer the surface, covering them with alx)ut four inches 

 of good sod. Of course, we all know the best way to 

 renew with young vines, but I have seen wonder.- with 

 very old vines treated in this manner, at the same time 

 gradually renewing the fruiting canes. 



Pot vines can also be had in fruit vers- early in the 

 season, if started now. and also peaches and nectarines if 

 houses suitable to their growth are available. Peaches and 

 nectarines require a temperature five degrees lower than 

 grapes. 



Strawberries that have been treated properly may be 

 brought into a carnation house temperature. Apples and 

 pears that are well established in their pots may be forced 

 similar to nectarines. Remember that pot fruit needs to 

 be carefully watched as regards watering as they dry out 

 quickly and they need to be fed very liberally. 



A good collection of books pertaining to gardening is 

 necessary to any gardener who desires to be successful 

 in his profession, for no matter how good a brain one may 

 be gifted with, he cannot carry all the information neces- 

 sary to his calling under his hat. There is never a day 

 but what it is needful to look up something pertaining 

 to gardening. 



THINGS AND THOUGHTS OF THE GARDEN 



(Continued from page 294) 



W'ashington or Baltimore may be valueless even in Phila- 

 delphia, and I know that varieties which do finely near 

 New York and in New Jersey are not successes in ilassa- 

 chusetts. A\'hat we need for outdoor culture in lieu of 

 named sorts is an early flowering strain, seeds of which 

 can be sown by an amateur and raised as easily as asters 

 or marigolds, and which when planted out in a row in the 

 "cutting garden" can be depended upon to give a fine 

 autumnal crop of flowers. The time is near when we will 

 have these strains oft'ered ; they will not displace named 

 varieties but will popularize chrysanthemums tremen- 

 dously among amateurs. I look to see the time when 

 seeds of early bloomers will be offered in separate colors, 

 although mixtures with their infinite variety of forms and 

 colors will continue to appeal to many. 

 * * * 



The cultivation of our native orchids is but little un- 



derstood and it is tolerablv safe to say that the bulk of 

 plants collected or bought fail to survive over two sea- 

 sons. Thev are not plants for culture in the garden 

 proper but for naturalizing in the wild garden, or in suit- 

 alile locations in the rock garden they are splendid. The 

 L'ypripediums as the largest and most showy of the fam- 

 ily will naturally appeal to amateurs the most. For their 

 successful culture it is very necessary to provide them 

 with soil such as they have been growing in, and neces- 

 sary to provide them with soil such as they have been 

 growing in, and necessary shade. I have had good suc- 

 cess with the nol)le C. spectabile naturalized, also with 

 C. pubescens and C parviflorum, each of which did better 

 than the common C. acaule. The latter we often find 

 growing luxuriantly below pine trees where there is a 

 thick bed of decaying pine needles, in which very few 

 plants seem to thrive, but even the addition of plenty of 

 pine needles to the soil and a generous mulch of the same 

 has for some reason failed to suit this plant. The other 

 Cypripediums named are much less finicky and in a mix- 

 ture of loam, leaf mold, and sand do very well. Among 

 our hundreds of warm house cypripediums there is no 

 variety today so stately and beautiful as a well grown 

 C. spectal^ile. 



^ * ^ 



I do noi know whether or not the otitdoor culture of 

 any of our greenhouse Cypripediums has been attempted 

 in the frostless section of southern Florida. There ought 

 to be some varieties which should thrive outdoors there 

 if given a suitable soil and location. It is a 

 fact that not a few amateurs are successful in grow- 

 ing such orchids as Dendrobium nobile, various Cypri- 

 pediums, and some Lffilias and Cattleyas in their homes 

 here, and it is surprising how Well some of them flower. 

 That some of these orchids are by no means tender is 

 easily proved by the fact that C)dontoglossums, Alasdeval- 

 lias and some other varieties which have been frozen in 

 greenhouses during severe weather, when sprayed with 

 cold water and allowed to thaw out in the dark, have 

 suffered no apparent harm. Plants, frozen in express 

 shipments, have also come out alright. This season I 

 ex])erimented with a small plant of C. insigne which had 

 Ix'en growing outdoors all Summer to determine what 

 amount of cold it would stand. Temperatures of 30° 

 and 28° failed to harm it ; when the thermometer fell to 

 26° a few leaves were slightly discolored, while a mini- 

 mum of 24° finally killed it. It would seem that in the 

 tropical region of Florida many of these plants and other 

 tropical orchids should grow tolerably well. Also would 

 it not be possible to sow seeds of such orchids as cattle- 

 \-as and dendrohiums on mossy ma.gnolia trunks and have 

 them germinate? Surely these experiments are worthy 

 (if a trial, and open up alluring possibilities. 



MINIATURE DAHLIAS 



It would seem that JZuropean Dahlia growers are giv- 

 ing more attention to the raising of varieties suitable for 

 garden decoratic^n and cutting, than to the giant flowered 

 exhibition forms. Dwarfness of habit, too, seems to be an 

 important feature. Anyone who has seen the miniature 

 flowered Cactus varieties with their dwarf habit and abun- 

 dant blooming qualities, as well as the dwarf bedding sin- 

 gles of which Coltness Gem and the various iNIignon va- 

 rieties are examples, cannot help being impressed. Minia- 

 ture Peony flowered forms are also in being, these appar- 

 ently being a specialty of J. T. West, an English raiser, 

 wh(i has in the past, introduced many magnificent Peony 

 flowered and other garden types of Dahlias. — American 

 Dahlia Socict\ Bulletin. 



