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HORTICULTUBB 



November 27, 1915 



ARDISIA. 



Ardisias may be propagated in two 

 ways — by seeds and by cuttings. 

 Seeds may be sown at any time, for It 

 is continually flowering and fruiting 

 and the berries last a long time. If 

 it is desirable to grow them on for 

 eighteen months, which gives an ex- 

 cellent size plant for Christmas sale, 

 the seeds should be planted In the 

 spring. As soon as large enough they 

 are pricked out into small pots and 

 shifted as necessary. 



Better plants, however, are grown 

 from cuttings, because the plant will 

 branch nearer the base and so give a 

 more shapely specimen and, more- 

 over, a saleable plant can be gotten 

 In a shorter time. A plant is usually 

 not saleable after three years of age 

 and such are the ones generally used 

 for stock. Plants may be obtained 

 from these by girdling the tops and 

 wrapping moss around the wound. In 

 about six weeks the moss will be well 

 filled with roots and the layers may 

 then be severed from the stocks and 

 potted up. Place them in a propagat- 

 ing frame until they have taken hold 

 of the soil well. 



The old stock will now answer fine 

 for taking cuttings from. Place them 

 in a close, warm atmosphere at 65 

 degrees and they will readily break. 

 The half matured young shoots that 

 will result make the best of cuttings. 

 Place the cuttings in a bench with 

 both a bottom heat and air tempera- 

 ture of 70 degrees. In about a month 

 they will have rooted, when they 

 should be potted up and shifted as 

 necessary. Tlie best soil is one of 

 loam, peat and sand in equal parts. 

 For later shifts, one-fourth part of de- 

 composed manure may be added to 

 good advantage. 



When the plants begin flowering, 

 give them more air and stop syring- 

 ing until after the fruits have set. 

 For the best development, they should 

 always be kept near the glass. In the 

 summer, it is well to shade the house 

 on sunny days with cheese cloth or 

 Blat shutters. When the berries are 

 well developed— about the first of Oc- 

 tober—they should be given plenty of 

 sunshine, and they will also do with 

 less heat, say 50 to 55 degrees. To 

 help the berries and leaves to a color, 

 soot water may be applied occasion- 

 ally. Never allow the plants to be- 

 come pot-bound, for unsightly, "leggy" 

 plants are liable to result. Occasion- 

 ally turn the plants to get a symmet- 

 rical form. In propagating from 

 seeds, use care in selecting the plants 

 from which the seeds are to be taken. 

 There is some variation in size and 

 productiveness of fruit, and only the 

 most productive and best colored 

 plants should be selected. 



There is also a white-berr'ed vari- 

 ety—A. japonica— but this Is not as 

 popular a pot plant. 



C. E. WiLDON. 



Amherst, Mass. 



AN AQUATIC POOL. 



Our cover illustration shows one of 

 the prettiest exhibits made at the 

 Cleveland Flower Show, and certainly 

 one which attracted much attention 

 and admiration from the visiting pub- 

 lic. Mr. Tricker sa.vs that the same 

 beautiful scene can be reproduced at 

 any time during the winter. Such a 



feature would be a prime addition to 

 any park or private conservatory or 

 sun parlor. The cut nymphiva flow^ers 

 travel well and keep a long time, as 

 was well demonstrated at Cleveland. 

 The most of those exhibited were 

 shipped from New Jersey on Monday, 

 Nov. 8, some of the blooms having been 

 cut on Friday previous and all were 

 still good on Friday the 12th. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 

 New Chrysanthemums. 



At a meeting of the Floral Commit- 

 tee of the National Chrysanthemum 

 Society on Oct. 25th, a batch of novel- 

 ties was exhibited for awards. These 

 were made as follows: Bertha Fairs, 

 a single, Mensa type, golden fawn 

 florets suffused with ruby red; Nor- 

 man Davis, Framfield, Sussex, first 

 class certificate. Champagne, red 

 crimson, early flowering, classed with 

 Source d'Or, Wells & Co., Merstham, 

 Surrey, card of commendation. Char- 

 lotte E. Soer, large flowered Jap, ca- 

 nary yelkjw, shaded at the tips with 

 bronze, first class certificate; Sir Ed- 

 ward Letchworth, large incurved Jap, 

 broad deep pink florets, silvery re- 

 verse, Martin Silsbury, Shanklin, Isle 

 of Wight, first class certificate. Mas- 

 ter A. Ewen, golden bronze single, W. 

 Newton, Potters Bar, card of com- 

 mendation. Miranda, terra cotta. sin- 

 gle sport from Portia, Cragg, Harri- 

 son & Cragg, Heston, Middlesex, first 

 class certificate. Mrs. Harold Phillips, 

 mauve pink single, Godfrey & Son, 

 Exmouth, Devon, card of commenda- 

 tion. Norman Pearson, chestnut crim- 

 son, single, Mensa type, G. Mileham, 

 Leatherhead, Surrey, first class certifi- 

 cate. Phyllis Cooper, golden yellow 

 single, P. Ladds, Swanley, Kent, first 

 class certificate. Tom Wren, pure 

 white single, Thos. Stevenson, Addle- 

 stone, Surrey, card of commendation. 

 The Society is holding a show at 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's 

 Hall, on the 11th and 12th of Nov., in- 

 stead of at the Crystal Palace — now 

 used for naval purposes — as in former 

 >'ears. w. H. Adsett. 



MILDEW ON OUTDOOR ROSES. 



To the Editor of Horticulture: 



Dear Sir:— The request of M. H. S., 

 Walla Walla, Wash., for a formula to 

 overcome mildew on outdoor roses 

 impels me to send you the recipe for 

 a remedy that I use with unfailing 

 success. 



Liner c( sulphur 14 oz. 



Fel's Naptha so.ap or Ivory soap. % oz. 

 ^ater 1 gallon 



Dissolve the liner of sulphur in cold 

 water and the soap by the aid of leah; 

 when thoroughly dissolved mix. The 

 plants must be sprayed early in the 

 morning to prevent scalding — never 

 late in the day. I am convinced that 

 more mildew is developed on roses by 

 wetting the foliage late In the day 

 than from any other cause. I never 

 have mildew on my roses unless we 

 have much rain at night and always 

 spray with the above mixture as soon 

 as possible after a rainy night. In 

 sections where mildew is prevalent I 

 would suggest spraying before it ap- 

 pears. Roses should always be 

 watered early In the morning. 

 Yours very truly, 



ROBEBT HUET. 



Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1915. 



SOME CHOICE GARDEN SUBJECTS. 



GoRDONiA .\LT.LMAH.\. Flowers are 

 still opening on this beautiful south- 

 ern tree. They first appear in Septem- 

 ber and open in succession for fully 

 six weeks. Gordonia is related to the 

 Camellia, and the pure white flowers 

 which vary from three to three and a 

 half inches in diameter, although 

 more cup-shaped, resemble single 

 Camellia flowers. This small tree was 

 discovered in 1765 near Fort Barring- 

 ton on the Altamaha River; It has en- 

 tirely disappeared, however, as a wild 

 plant, and it has only been preserved 

 by the specimens cultivated chiefly in 

 the neighborhood of Philadelphia 

 where it was sent by its discoverers. 

 In these sheltered positions the plants 

 are doing well here and have not suf- 

 fered at all in recent severe winters. 

 This Gordonia, however, grows more 

 rapidly and to a larger size In the 

 middle states and there are many 

 good specimens in Pennsylvania gar- 

 dens. 



Abelia gbandifloba resembles in 

 shape the flowers of some of the 

 Honeysuckles; they are white faintly 

 tinged with rose color, and their deli- 

 cate beauty is set off by the small, 

 dark green and lustrous leaves. Abelia 

 grandiflora is a slender shrub with 

 arching stems from three to four feet 

 high and is thought to be a hybrid be- 

 tween two Chinese species. Until the 

 introduction by the Arboretum of 

 some of the species of this genus from 

 western China it was believed to be 

 the hardiest of the Abelias. In the 

 Arboretum it suffers in severe winters 

 but In sheltered positions it flowers 

 well every year and the flowers con- 

 tinue to open during nearly two 

 months. This Abelia has become an 

 exceedingly popular plant in the gar- 

 dens of the southern states and is 

 cultivated with more or less success as 

 far north as New York. 



(W. A. Manda regards Abelia runes- 

 tris as the hardiest species, this being 

 entirely reliable at South Orange, N. 

 J.— Ed.) 



The Chinese Buddleias. Buddleia 

 Davidii or, to use its more common 

 name, B. i-ariabilis. Has one-sided, 

 pointed, many-flowered clusters which 

 curve downward from arching stems 

 and are thickly covered with small, 

 blue-purple, fragrant flowers. In some 

 of the forms of this plant are found 

 perhaps the most beautiful of all sum- 

 mer and autumn flowering shrubs, and 

 although only recently brought to the 

 United States and Europe by Wilson 

 they are already largely planted in 

 this country where they have received 

 the name of Summer Lilacs. Here at 

 the north Buddleia Davidii is not per- 

 fectly hardy, and the stems are killed 

 to the ground by cold, but new stems 

 spring up and as the flower-clusters 

 are produced at the ends of branches 

 of the year this severe pruning Im- 

 proves the flowers. Few plants in 

 their season are better suited to sup- 

 ply cut flowers, and for this purpose 

 as well as for garden decoration this 

 Buddleia in Its various forms has 

 proved one of the most useful shrubs 

 of recent discovery. — Arnold Arbore- 

 tum Bulletin. 



