September 16, 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



375 



THE RAISING OF WINTER- 

 FLOWERING BEGONIAS. 



In order to obtain plants of the tu- 

 berous section ofi Begonia for crossing 

 with B. soeotrana, wliich flowers dur- 

 ing autumn and winter, it is neces- 

 sary to make preparation betimes. 

 Good strong growing kinds should be 

 selected and kept in as cool a situa- 

 tion as possible in a cold frame 

 throughout the summer. The plants 

 should be potted up late and grown 

 in moderately small pots. The colors 

 most wanted are a good pure white, 

 yellow, and crimson. The other pa- 

 rent, B. soeotrana, must be started 

 early in moderate heat, and encour- 

 aged to grow on quicklj'. When the 

 plants are coming into flower they 

 should be brought into a dry, airy 

 house, with a night temperature of 

 about 55 degrees. The plants should 

 be so placed that they receive all the 

 sunlight possible, for in such circum- 

 stances the male flowers produce pol- 

 len more freely, and fertilization is 

 effected more easily. It should be 

 noted that, as a rule, the anthers of 

 B. soeotrana do not burst, and to this 

 fact many failures are to be attrib- 

 uted. To get over this difliculty the 

 stamens should be gathered when 

 fully developed, and placed in a dry 

 part of the house. When the anthers 

 seem to be ripe, their tips should be 

 cut in order to allow the pollen to 

 escape. It is sometimes necessary to 

 shake them well, to liberate the pol- 

 len. Generally, however, enough pol- 

 len is produced by one male flower to 

 pollinate two or three female flowers. 

 After the flower has been fertilized it 

 should be staked, and supported with 

 raffia or other tying material in order 

 to keep it from drooping, as it is apt 

 to do so late in the season. 



The seed ripens fairly quickly, and 

 as soon as the seed pods begin to 

 turn brown they should be watched 

 attentively in order thai the seed may 

 be gathered before the pods burst. The 

 seeds should be sown at once, in small 

 pots or pans, and they should pro- 

 duce plants which will flower in the 

 following autumn. 



I had less success with B. soeotrana 

 as a seed parent, for it does not seed 

 freely with pollen of plants of the 

 tuberous section. Of the many winter- 

 flowering varieties which I raised, 

 John Heal and Winter Gem are the 

 only kinds produced from B. soeotrana 

 as the seed parent. 



Of the many varieties raised by 

 making the cross the other way I need 

 not speak now. They include Acqui- 

 sition. Fascination, Mrs. Heal. Syros, 

 Exquisite, Her Majesty, Optima, Rosa- 

 lind — all single flowered — and Ensign, 

 Ideala, Julius, Winter Cheer, Elatior, 

 Success, and The Gem, with semi- 

 double flowers. 



. The only hybrid obtained by cross- 

 ing tuberous Begonias with a winter 

 flowering hybrid was Adonis, which 

 ■was produced by crossing an orange- 

 scarlet tuberous cariety with John 

 Heal. 



None of the new race of winter- 

 flowering hybrids has produced seed 

 either by cross or self-fertilization, 

 and in this' they are in marked con- 

 trast with the tuberous section, which 

 seed freely.— ./oft H Beal. V. M. H., in 

 Gardeners' Chronicle. London. 



EUPHORBIA TRIANGULARIS. 



The photograph from which this 

 cut was made was sent to us by 

 Theodore Outerbridge, proprietor of 

 Sunnylands, Bermuda, and represents 

 a specimen growing there thirty feet 

 high. It is locally known as "Can- 

 delabra. Cactus," but as the botanical 

 name indicates it is not a cactus but a 

 near relative of the popular Poinsettia 

 which also grows freely in the gardens 

 of Bermuda. 



GROWING RHUBARB. 



Editor HORTICULTURE : 



Dear Sir; Can you give me through your 

 columns a little information about rhubarb 

 raising. I am starting in with a small 

 greenhouse. I am told that rhubarb can 

 be sold through the winter with profit and 

 can utilize the floor space under benches 

 for growing it. What I want to know 

 especially is about taking it up from out- 

 side. Should roots be allowed to freeze 

 in the ground before digging? Or. should 

 they be taken up earlier and left lying 

 out until frozen? And how should they 

 be set in the greenhouse and what care is 

 required? -^ SUBSCRIBER. 



It is better to lift the roots before 

 ■frost and leave the clumps outside 

 covered with about an inch of hay or 

 loam until they get ten or fifteen de- 

 grees of frost. Then remove them to 

 a cellar or under greenhouse bench 

 where they can have a temperature 

 of 55 to 60 degrees. Place them close- 

 ly together filling the spaces with • 

 earth. In commercial rhubarb cellars 

 they use a 6-inch compost of two- 

 thirds horse manure and one-third 

 loam. This should be composted and 

 turned over in the heap outdoors, 

 several times for a period of two days 

 Take up large clumps, say one to two 

 feet across, as good results can not 

 be had from small or inferior roots, 

 and leave all the soil possible on 

 them. After having been forced once 

 they are useless. Light is not needed 

 — in fact, the stalks produced in dark- 

 ness are preferable in quality and 

 color. After they have started to 

 grow they will require plenty of 

 moisture. 



ADVANCING PRICES— WHY NOT? 



The Easter lily when in condition 

 previous to Easter Sunday will bring 

 8c. or 10c. per flower and bud. After 

 Easter they can hardly be given away 

 for the hauling. This is well known 

 to all growers, yet the grower buys 

 bulbs at prices of $35 to flOO and up- 

 wards, pays ?30 for his pots— grows 

 the stock tor 6 or 7 months and if he 

 has made a good guess as to weather 

 conditions previous to Easter he will 

 get lOc. per flower. Should the guess 

 be wrong, he will have to accept much 

 less. 



Here is a condition where the grow- 

 er makes or breaks himself as far as 

 lilies are concerned; but why not 

 make it right? The bulb and other 

 supply men have to get their money 

 anyhow, and with poor weather the 

 whole winter's work on lilies has been 

 at a loss. Coal has advanced, fertil- 

 izer has gone up, because of scarcity 

 of the chemicals used in the manufac- 

 ture. Labor has increased almost 

 ■out of sight" and the only fixture we 

 have is sunshine and even that was 

 rather scarce this spring especially. 

 Now a partial solution to this is a 

 slight advance in the selling price,— a 

 cent or two should be added— less 

 stock grown and grown better, and 

 more attention paid to the costs in- 

 volved in running the house. 



I recently had a talk with a grower 

 who states that it pays him to have 

 an expert accountant one or two days 

 each month and this accountant has 

 so far paid for himself by showmg in 

 dollars and cents just which stock has 

 made or lost money during the month- 

 Iv periods. I expect in a short time 

 to have his figures to look over and 

 will trv to pass them on for the bene- 

 fit of all. He tells me that during 

 June he lost money on bedding plants 

 and that next June he will increase 

 his prices. Now this grower has been 

 losing money for years on bedding 

 work and like many others did not 

 know it. How about your owti profits? 

 P. JI. Read. 



Sharon Hill, Pa. 



A HEMLOCK HEDGE. 



At all seasons of the year, whether 

 mantled with snow in winter, tipped 

 with light green new growths m 

 spring or in the more sombre green 

 of late summer, this most graceful of 

 all the conifers has no superior for 

 evergreen hedge purposes, all through 

 the northern United States. -A. hedge 

 of Tsuga Canadensis, any height from 

 three to fifty feet is a thing of beauty. 



A WALK THROUGH THE WOODS. 



A walk through the woods in Septemlnr 



Is bliss I can never define; 

 The red leaves that glow like an ember 



Mtke gorgeous the tree and the vine. 

 With earth and the sky for my teacher. 



I worship with sun and with sod. 

 Forgetting the priest and the preacher. 



For now I am walking with God. 



The hills are as hymns of high pleasure. 



The vallevs as rosaried rhyme. 

 Viid set to the loftiest measure. 



The forest an anthem sublime. 

 No more on man's teaching dependent. 



From cant and from creed I am rre.'; 

 \nd Beautv and Truth are transcendent. 



For God now la walking with me. 



—Boston Traveler. 



