GARDENING. 



Mar. /, 



that you speak of Rosa moschata as a 

 rose for the south. I am inclined to think 

 that it would pro\ e hardy at Philadel- 

 phia with vou. 



"I bought a small plant of the Shady 

 Hill Nurseries in the spring of 1893 that 

 went through the first two winters with 

 only the tips injured, but last winter 

 killed it to the ground; but I am now 

 protecting last summer's growth in the 

 hope of getting another year's bloom 



from it. , . . 



•'Mr. Stiles was very enthusiastic over 

 this rose as he saw it growing in Eng- 

 land at Mr. Robinson's place and I 

 advised him to trv it, although I am 

 afraid that New York may be too severe 



"It proved with me to be by far the 

 finest rose in a small collection of single 

 roses I have at Wellesley, throwing out 

 very long arching stems which were 

 covered with bloom. I have been rather 

 interested in single roses and regret that 

 thev are not more often planted. Rosa 

 serigera is very successful here grown 

 either as a bush or a climber and the 

 single form of the Scotch R. spmosissima 

 I like very much, but I found it hard to 

 buy and had to get it from the Arboretum 



"If the polyantha roses are hardy with 

 vou I should" think thev would be popular. 

 I manage to keep about half of mine alive 

 bv covering them over in winter, and I 

 only regret that the moschata rose is too 

 large to treat in the same way. 



"Hoping that you will try the R. mos- 

 chata at Germantown and that it will 

 prove hardy, I am very truly yours, 

 Henry S. Hunnewell." 



I may add to this that steps have been 

 taken to procure the moschata and give 

 it a trial at Germantown. 



Joseph Meehan. 



The Greenhouse. 



ft NEW USE FOR SULPHUR. 



I made a discovery in taking up gera- 

 niums this autumn that was of consider- 

 able service to me. It may not be new, 

 but it certainly was so to me. 



In cutting old geraniums back before 

 taking up, I rubbed a little flower of sul- 

 phur on each cut surface, and none of 

 those so treated mildewed or moulded, 

 or at least very little, so little as not to 

 amount to anything. Those not so 

 treated would mildew back an inch and 

 often more. 



This is not a theory, but a tact, and 1 

 think entirelv new. I intend to carry out 

 this idea further and will write you 

 results. 



Tennessee. E. 0. Nathurst. 



The above interesting experiment is 

 entirely new to me both in theory and 

 practice, and as the correspondent ap- 

 pears very positive as to results it may 

 be of much practical use. In pruning 

 orchards where large limbs have some- 

 times to be sawed off the wound is cov- 

 ered with a material called grafting wax 

 which prevents decay of the wound, sim- 

 ply I think, because it prevents the 

 atmosphere affecting it. Sulphur may be 

 one of the ingredients of that; I am not 



sure. . . 



Without attempting a scientific knowl- 

 edge in the matter I would suppose that 

 the reason the geranium shoots did not 

 decay back an inch or so after cutting, 

 was this: The sap that exuded from the 

 wound would be attacked by one of the 



low vegetable or animal organisms now- 

 known under the name of bacteria, which 

 covers thousands of species, totally invis- 

 ible to the naked eye, but one or other of 

 them are ever ready to prey on the animal 

 or vegetable kingdom whenever condi- 

 tions are favorable. They, the bacteria, 

 would cause decay of the tissue as de- 

 scribed till the vieor of the plant resisted 

 it, when decay would stop. 



As sulphur is still the best known anti- 

 dote for these minute creatures, particu- 

 larly those that scientists class as belong- 

 ing to the vegetable kingdom (although 

 it puzzles many of them where to class 

 them ) it doubtless prevented the bacteria 

 from getting a lodgment and the decay 

 of tissue did not take place; it was kept 

 healthy till the normal circulation of the 

 sap was restored. We have all seen this 

 dying back of a cut back stem occur 

 many times, and the writer will test the 

 efficac3' of what has been asserted by our 

 correspondent at the earliest opportunity. 

 \v m . Scott. 



GREENHOUSE BUILDING. 



I built a small lean-to greenhouse last 

 fall and I have had so much pleasure out 

 of it this winter that I want to have 

 something a little b tter. 



If the house faces south it can be 20 ft. 

 long, and if it faces east it can be 30 ft. 

 long. What is the best style for all pur- 

 poses? A three quarteror even span, and 

 how wide should it be? Would I get as 

 good results by facing east? What is the 

 best size pipe to use and how many runs 

 should be used? H. 



The three-quarter span houses are only 

 used for a special purpose and are sup- 

 posed to be the hest houses for rose grow- 

 ing. For a general plant growing house, 

 where a mixed collection is kept, the 

 house that is known as a three-quarter 

 span is out of the question. There is also 

 another style of house which for the past 

 five or six years has been built indifferent 

 parts of the country known as the short- 

 span-to-the-south, and which is the re- 

 verse of the three-quarter soan. Neither 

 of these are suitable for the amateur or 

 the professional where a mixed collection 

 of plants are grown, and it is a question 

 to-day whether the equal span is not the 

 best for all purposes. Light comes from 

 the north as well as the south. 



I would strongly advise "H." to build 

 the house with the ridge running north 

 and south; the sides or slope of the glass 

 would then be east and west. If the 

 glass is not too small (12x12 is a good 

 size, and 14 inches wide is better) this 

 house will grow any flowers, and for a 

 mixed collection of plants is much better 

 than a house whose broadside faces 

 south, and is not so hot in summer. 



Nineteen feet wide is a good convenient 

 width. It allows two paths of 2 feet 9 

 inches each, two side benches of 3 feet 

 each and a middle bench that is conveni- 

 ent to reach from both sides. It is cheaper 

 to build in proportion to the bench room 

 you obtain than an 11 or 12-foot house. 

 It "H" will let the editor knowhow large 

 the house will be information on how 

 best to heat it, and perhaps some hints 

 on construction, will be given. 



Wm. Scott. 



BEGONIA FR0EBBLII INGOMPflRflBILIS. 

 We raised a number of plants of this 

 new begonia from seed last March and it 

 flowered very well in late summer and 

 fall. It is a hybrid between B. Froebelii 

 and B.polypetala. It is of dwarf growth 

 but has very large foliage. The flowers 



are scarlet, one to two inches in diame 

 ter, and carried on stout stalks nine to 

 eighteen inches high. It is easily raised 

 from seed, requiring the same treatment 

 as the tuberous begonias. It goes to rest 

 about the end of December, and can be 

 stored away under the benches till spring. 

 It is a begonia that is well worth grow- 

 ing, flowering as it does in the fall when 

 selections of flowering plants are scarce. 

 For cut flowers it is of very little use, 

 although the flowers last for some time 

 on the plant. David Fraser. 



Mahwah, N.J. 



SflGO PALM. 



1 have a small stem of a sago palm and 

 I would like to learn how to start it to 

 grow. It has no roots. H. K. 



1 in all stems of Cycas revoluta (fre- 

 quently called sago palm I can be started 

 as follows: Pot them in as small pots as 

 can be conveniently used; for example, if 

 the stem is about three inches in diameter 

 pot it into a 4-inch pot, if four inches in 

 diameter use a 5 or 6 inch pot, burying 

 the stem about half its length in the soil. 

 A lmost any light sandy soil that is not 

 too poor will answer forthe purpose, and 

 it should be pressed firing' into the pot. 



I lace in a temperature of 70° and keep 

 moist, and from one to four leaves will 

 usually start out in the course of six 

 weeks to two months. Do not be disap- 

 pointed if onty one leaf appears during 

 the first year, forthe growth of theyoung 

 cycas is frequently a verv deliberate 

 matter. W. H. Taplin. 



KEROSENE EMULSION. 



The following conies from Wenona, 111.: 

 "I have some scale bugs on my palms, 

 etc. Will you be kind enough to* send me 

 the receipt for the kerosene emulsion to 

 spray them with." 



Take one-half pint of kerosene and stir 

 in one pint of new milk, it must be 

 stirred and mixed continuously and 

 thoroughly for half an hour and if you 

 will do that you will have an emulsion. 

 When using add a quarter of a pint of 

 this to two gallons of water, and it is 

 well when using this to spray to keep the 

 water well stirred. For a "small collec- 

 tion of palms it is best, safest and most 

 thorough, to saturate a sponge with the 

 mixture when diluted, and wipe off the 

 scale. It does not take long and is far 

 more effectual than spraying. 



Wm. Scott. 



TREB FERNS. 



I have several tree ferns with trunks 

 two feet high but cannot get them to 

 produce large fronds. Only small ones 

 are produced and few at that. The plants 

 are not pot bound and the temperature 

 is maintained at 60° to 70°. What is the 

 trouble? C. T. L. 



Pennsylvania. 



An omission of some importance is 

 noted in the communication of our corre- 

 spondent, in the fact that he does not 

 state what species of tree fern is referred 

 to. This naturally makes it more diffi- 

 cult to give a definite answer to the 

 question. 



Assuming, however, that Dicksonia 

 antarctica is the plant in question, as 

 this is the tree fern most common in plant 

 collections, it may be stated that a tem- 

 perature of 60° to 70° during the winter 

 months is rather too high for the perma- 

 ment welfare of the plant, 45° to 55° 

 being a more suitable range of tempera- 



