6d 



GARDENING. 



N 



ov. /. 



Before hard frost sets in cut back the 

 plants a little just to enable you to 

 handle them easier than yon could were 

 they left uncut and lay them flat on the 

 ground, holding them in place with pegs 

 or weights, and now spread over the 

 whole bed and so as to completely bury 

 the rose bushes from four to six inches 

 deep, loam or sod. In very severe weather 

 in winter so tie straw or leaves, or other 

 littery stuff may be placed over the loam 

 to help exclude frost; remove it, however, 

 when the weather gets mild, for over- 

 covering is apt to rot the plants it meant 

 to save. In outdoor covering don't cover 

 up 100 early in the fall nor uncover too 

 earlv in spring Be sure that the rose bed 

 is so thoroughly well drained that no 

 surface water can lie about it at anytime 

 in winter. In gravelly or sandy soils it 

 is far easier to winter somewhat tender 

 roses than i is in clayey soils; and while 

 s-andy or free loam makes an excellent 

 winter mulch, clay is poor covering. 

 Sawdust makes a good mulch; put it on 

 6 to 10 inches deep over all and in a 

 deeper mound over the crown \ of the 

 plants. Sand and spent tan bark also 

 make excellent mulching, so too have we 

 found hard coal ashes. In the case of 

 these roses we have found that manure is 

 not a safe mulch, it is very well as a part 

 protection, and a good forkful of litte y 

 manure in about the crowns of rcses 

 saves them from wind, sunshine, and 

 severe frost in winter. Spread in the 

 rows between the rows we can put it on 

 thick with safety. Tree leaves are a good 

 covering too, that is, oak leaves are, and 

 we can pile them on deep, but maple, 

 linden, or other soft leaves are apt to get 

 wet and weld themselves into a thick 

 rotting wet mat which is often as much a 

 menace as a safeguard to our plants. 



Orchids. 



ORCfllDS. 



During this changeable fall weather 

 watchfulness will be required with orchids 

 that are pushing up their flower stalks; 

 gradually give them a little artificial 

 warmth, but above all things do not give 

 them a very high temperature for any 

 lengthened period. If possible, as near 

 70° during the day, and 58° to 60° at 

 night with a fair amount of atmospheric 

 moisture, and only watering at the root 

 when plants are quite dry. In fact the 

 plants should have been potted in the 

 condition that they will become dry once 

 in twenty-four hours; this does not mean 

 that the plant such ascattleya, Uelia.and 

 evpripedium, should be watered by hose 

 or pot every time it becomes in this dry 

 condition, but it must be understood, 

 that atmospheric moisture must always 

 exist when you are using artificial heat. 

 Our cattleya house gets now about two 

 waterings per week directly applied by 

 hose over leaves, potting material, and 

 often times the flowers too in their early 

 stage get a good bathing, and I have 

 never found injury from this treatment; 

 of course we always choose a sunny da}- 

 when we can ventilate freely, so that they 

 will soon become dry again Our rule is 

 to remove to a cooler show house plants 

 when flower are fully out and fit for cut- 

 ting; on those we are careful not to sub- 

 ject then to undue moisture In the case 

 of C. Trianie (this being the one we grow 

 in much larger quantity than the others) 

 the plants are allowed to take a rest in 

 this house for a few weeks at a tempera- 

 ture 55° of to 60° and often much lower 

 than this at night. 



Cypripedium insigne will now be better 

 in quality of flower if placed in a tempera- 

 ture of 65° or 70° till the flowers are 

 fully expanded, and then if you so desire 

 remove it to a cooler house for keeping. 

 All the hothouse cypripediums should 

 now have much of the summer shading 

 removed and the plants spread out so as 

 to give them a good airy space between 

 the pots; wash the pots and remove all 

 decaying leaves from the plants an ' care- 

 fully attend to the watering. C. Lowii, 

 C. Stonei and such like varieties do not 

 like too much water over their leaves 

 especially in dull moist weather. 



Keep a good lookout on your Uendro- 

 bium Phalsenopsis and after the flowers 

 are cut and the plants have made good 

 solid stems, remove them to a cooler and 

 dryer house with a temperature of 55° to 

 60°; even a little cooler at night will not 

 damage them Ke:p them on the dry 

 side during their rest and they will pusli 

 with much more vigor than if kept at 

 stove temperature during the resting sea- 

 son. Vanda ccerulea after flowering can 

 be rested at 55° in a good airy place keep- 

 ing it on the dry side for a couple of 

 months during the heavy winter weather, 

 but it must be carefully attended to as 

 soon as February comes and the waterings 

 and moisture can then be increased. 

 Many of my plants are pushing very 

 strong spikes for the second time this 

 year and quiteafew havetwospikeseach. 

 Coeloygnes will now like a little light 

 liquid once or twice a week, carefully 

 washing off the foliage and bulbs with 

 clean water from the hose after its use 

 Keep a good look out for snails. Bran in 

 which Paris green in mixed is a great 

 destrover of this pest. 



Wm. Mathews 



Utica, N. Y., October 10, 1896. 



The Fruit Garden. 



NUT CULTURE. 



Your notice in Gardening of October 

 15 of the "Nut Culturist" reminds me of 

 my pleasant correspondence in years past 

 with its gifted and greatly lamented 

 author, the late Andrew S. Fuller. 



In the department of nut culture he 

 was unquestionably the highest American 

 authority. His modesty, however, and 

 his persistent aim to publish only the 

 results of completed experiments, delayed 

 the publication of his work during his 

 lifetime. 



He used to speak with enthusiasm of 

 his success in raising the English nut 

 from seed supplied from a friend's garden 

 in New Haven. He also had much faith 

 in the possibility of obtaining new hybrids 

 by crossing with our native hazel nut. 



The subject of nut culture is one of spe- 

 cial interest and importance to American 

 cultivators for two reasons, first, because 

 we have such a variety of native nuts, 

 and second, because our vast stretch of 

 territory and variety of climate and soil, 

 makes possible the successful cultivation 

 of every species of edible nut which finds 

 its habitat in the temperate zone of both 

 hemispheres. 



During the last 4-0 years I have grown 

 on Long Island the Maderia nut and the 

 pecan, three varieties of hickory nut, the 

 black walnut and butternut, Spanish and 

 Japan chestnut, also the large sweet Jer- 

 sey chestnut, the chinquapin, and the 

 beech nut. I am satisfied that much may 

 be accomplished by careful selection of 

 seed and judicious planting. 



As Mr. Fuller says in one of his notes: 

 "By gradually acclimating the southern 

 nuts to endure a lower temperature than 

 they have been accustomed to, the chances 

 are very good for securing hardy and 

 productive trees." This of course re- 

 quires much time and patience and no one 

 man's life is sufficient to reach a full meas- 

 ure of results, but the time will come 

 when combined and persistent effort will 

 tell, the end will richly pay for all the 

 outlay, and thus add to the rich variety 

 and va ue of our native fruits. 



Who will take up the work wdiere our 

 lamented friend has left it and prove a 

 worthy successor to Andrew S. Fuller in 

 the interests of nut culture? 



In the recent agricultural exhibit at he 

 Fair of the American Institute, at Madi- 

 son Square Garden, W. Parry, of New 

 Jersey, showed a w nderful variety of 

 nuts all raised on his grounds, and those 

 interested in seeing how much can be done 

 in this department of arboriculture did 

 well to spend a half hour in examining 

 his specimens. J.W. Barstow, M. D. 



New York, Oct. 29, '96. 





Vegetables. 



THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 



At tliis s ason of the year most of the 

 crops of the vegetable garden are past; 

 those remaining will still need some 

 attention. 



Cabbages: Towards the end of the 

 month, or before the next issue oi Gar- 

 dening reaches its readers, these will 

 require to be lifted and stored away for 

 winter use. They may be kept in a cool 

 cellar or inverted in beds three rows wide 

 with two other rows on top of these. 

 Cover at first with a little earth, as the 

 weather grows colder add more, and 

 finally, when this is frozen, finish off with 

 a covering of sedge or marsh hay or some 

 such material. 



Celery will need earthing up as it grows. 

 That intended for use before the holidays 

 may be finished up, while what is wanted 

 later needs to be only half bleached when 

 putting away in trenches. The trenches 

 for storing should be nearly the depth of 

 the celery, giving room to raise the 

 ground slightly on either side ot the 

 trench, so as to shed the water. Ten 

 inches at the most is wide enough to dig 

 the trenches, as too great a bulk of celery 

 will cause it to heat and rot. When the 

 trenches are full thecelery maybe covered 

 with boards nailed A shape. As the 

 weather grows colder, earth and other 

 covering may be added. The nearer 

 celery can be kept to the freezing point 

 the longer it will stand; even if the tops 

 are slightly frozen in the trenches it will 

 not hurt. This should be the guide in 

 adding to the covering. If it is too warm 

 it will surely rot. 



Lettuce plants intended for spring use 

 should be transplanted into the cold 

 frame two inches apart. 



Parsnips should be lifted before the 

 ground freezes up. They are much bene- 

 fited by a little frost. A few may be 

 stored in earth or sand in the cellar, the 

 rest in a shallow pit outside where they 

 can be got at when wanted. 



Rhubarb, where there are facili ies for 

 forcing a few stools may be lifted towards 

 the end of the month, and laid away in 

 some sheltered place until wanted. Cover 

 them with earth and any coarse rubbish, 

 not to keep them from freezing, but so 

 that thev can be got at later. If a new 



