July 19, 1919 



HOETICULTURE 



43 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF A 

 ROVING GARDENER. 



I noticed an item in the American 

 Florist which says: "Chicago is soon 

 to have on the outskirts of the city 

 the most beautiful and extensive bo- 

 tanic garden and arboretum in I be 

 world." It is interesting to learn of 

 this new undertaking, and if, as is 

 likely, two thousand acres from the 

 Palos Preserve district be chosen for 

 the site, there will be ample opportun- 

 ity for unlimited development. But 1 

 question the use of the word "soon" in 

 the above quoted statement. An ar- 

 boretum is not to be made in a day. 

 It takes years for trees to grow, and 

 any attempt to make such an institu- 

 tion in a hurry will surely fail. How- 

 ever, a comprehensive plan is being 

 evolved, and in the site selected the 

 city has a splendid nucleus, with deep 

 wooded ravines, high bluffs overlook- 

 ing the Desplaines river valley, and 

 great stretches of green prairie. 



It is a matter for congratulation to 

 find a general disposition in all parts 

 of the country to develop garden spots 

 of this kind, which shan prove educa- 

 tional as well as merely beautiful. It 

 is in line with the plan of establish- 

 ing municipal rose gardens now find- 

 ing favor. 



Women gardeners at Kew have had 

 their day. A year ago nearly forty 

 of them were employed in. the green- 

 houses and the flower gardens. Less 

 than a dozen now remain, having been 

 replaced by the journeyman gardeners 

 returning from the war, or by other 

 men who have applied for positions. 

 It would be interesting to have a re- 

 port as to the quality of service which 

 the women gave. There seems to be 

 a disposition on the part of women 

 gardeners in this country to seek 

 greenhouse work, and some growers 

 have declared that the women are 

 more satisfactory in many ways than 

 the men. I know of one private estate 

 where a young woman has been em- 

 ployed in the greenhouses for nearly 

 two years, and whose work is giving 

 great satisfaction to the head gard- 

 ener. At the same time I do not an- 

 ticipate much likelihood that this ten- 

 dency will go very far. 



this plant is hardly worth a place In 

 the hardj border, especially if used in 

 patches. It is not to be compared with' 

 Veronica subsessilis, which although' 

 a little later has much finer color and 

 larger flowers. This Veronica is a 

 true blue, and most impressive where 

 planted in masses. I am waiting some- 

 what impatiently to see the first flow- 

 ers of the variety Blue Ridge, which 

 is said to be an improvement over 

 subsessilis. I must confess, though, 

 that these so called improvements 

 sometimes fail to measure up to the 

 catalogued description. Take Perry's 

 variety of Anchusa, for example. If it 

 has any greater value than the Drop- 

 more variety, I have not discovered it. 

 Truth to tell Anchusa is not a very 

 easy plant to place. One landscape 

 architect of wide experience tells me 

 that he makes but little use of it be- 

 cause of its awkward habit. 



The other day I saw a long border of 

 common Speedwell which really looks 

 very attractive. As a rule, though. 



A plant not often seen in perennial 

 gardens, but one which it seems to 

 me is deserving much wider planting 

 is Cimicifuga, which is blooming at 

 the present time, its tall slender spikes 

 being held far above the foliage which 

 bears some resemblance to that of As-' 

 tilbe. This is a plant which does not 

 need to be massed to look well. It is 

 attractive scattered here and there 

 through the border, and doesn't clash 

 with anything else. 



There has been some discussion 

 about good plants to associate with 

 peonies in order to give blooms later 

 in the season. This season I have 

 noticed Lythrum used in that way, and 

 the combination seems to be a good 

 one. The loosestrife is in flower with- 

 in a few weeks after the peonies pass, 

 and continue for a long time. Strange- 

 ly enough this good perennial is sel- 

 dom found in small gardens, although 

 it will adapt itself to almost any situ- 

 ation except one which is very dry, and 

 requires but little attention. Its light 

 purple flowers are not too brilliant for 

 a mid-summer setting, and they have 

 a long season. Perhaps there is a 

 general impression that the loose- 

 strife will only thrive on the banks of 

 bogs or along streams. To be sure, it 

 looks particularly well in such situa- 

 tions, as may be seen by a visit to 

 the Arnold Arboretum just now, but 

 it does not require such a location by 

 any means, growing and blooming for 

 years in ordinary garden soil. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM GALL FLY 

 WORKS WHILE YOU SLEEP 

 Uier completing the study of the 

 habits and seasonal history of the 

 chrysanthemum gall fly or midge, the 

 entomologists of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture say that 

 growers either must use nicotine sul- 

 phate as a spray or do some night 

 work if they expect to prevent the 

 damage done in florists' greenhouses 

 by this pest. 



The gall fly was not a pest in green- 

 houses in the United States until two 

 or three years ago, but now it has 

 been reported by a number of "mum" 

 growers scattered over a wide area 

 in this country. It causes unsightly 

 galls on the leaves of chrysanthe- 

 mums and curls or crumples them, 

 thus reducing the vigor of the plant. 

 This in turn affects the size, color, and 

 beauty of the bloom. Consequently 

 the "mum" grower receives less for 

 his flowers on the market. 



Two ways have been found to elim- 

 inate the gall fly — burning tobacco 

 paper in the greenhouses and spraying 

 the plants with nicotine sulphate. 



The entomologists have found that 

 fully 95 per cent, of the gall flies 

 emerge from the galls as adults after 

 midnight. Consequently where to- 

 bacco stems are burned as a means 

 of control, the work must be done 

 after midnight, since the fumes are 

 effective for only a few hours, due to 

 leakage. Most greenhouse men have 

 been in the habit of fumigating about 

 6 o'clock in the evening. This prac- 

 tice is not effective against the chrys- 

 anthemum gall fly unless the house 

 is absolutely tight. However, where 

 nicotine sulphate is sprayed on the 

 plants, the work may be done in the 

 late afternoon or early evening. This 

 ^application should be repeated every 

 second or third day for a period of a 

 month or more. 



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INSTRUCTION IN GARDENING 



Practical Instruction la offered In 1 

 = vegetable, flower and fruit gardening, = 

 _ greenhouse and nursery practice, to- = 

 = gether with lectures, laboratory, field I 



and shop work In garden botany, ioo- i 

 = logy, pathology, landscape design, soils, I 



plant chemistry and related subjects. i 

 The curriculum Is planned for the I 

 = education of any persons who would = 

 = become trained gardeners or fitted to s 

 = be superintendents of estates or parka. 1 

 ^ Students may be admitted at any time. = 

 = Circulars and other information will = 

 | he mailed on application. 



The New York Botanical Garden I 



I Bronx P»rk ICRVT YORK OITT 1 



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