iS 9 7. 



GARDENING. 



249 



they were covered up with a few strips of 

 burlap; when cold weather came some 

 long manure was put over this and when 

 they were uncovered this spring they 

 were found to be in fine shape. They be- 

 gan to flower about the loth of March 

 and to day you could pick flowers by the 

 thousands as the plants are a perfect 

 sea of blue. David Fraser. 



Mahwah, N. J. 



Grape being grown for Table Center Piece. 

 AN AMATEURS GREENHOUSES. 



quite low, say 18 inches at the back 

 and 10 inches in front, the surface of the 

 soil 6 to 8 inches below the glass. The tall 

 growing ones, such as the California, 

 should be planted at the back and the 

 dwarfer ones in front. Don't try to force 

 them but give as much air as possible 

 and keep the ground worked up around 

 the plants. Cover up at night and put a 

 little long manure around the frame to 

 help keep the frame warm. A little frost 

 won't hurt them much, but if it can be 

 kept out so much the better. Towards 

 spring when the days begin to lengthen 

 the violets will come along fast and from 

 March till the end of May you will 

 always have some flowers. 



Among the varieties we have in flower 

 one of the best and freest bloomers is 

 Lady Hume Campbell. With us this is a 

 clean violet and we regard it as superior 

 to Marie Louise, the latter variety some- 

 times having the disease very bad though 

 in spring it generally outgrows it and 

 flowers well. Duchess of Edinburgh is 

 a little lighter in color than Lady Hume 

 Campbell, the flowers are large, the plants 

 of dwarf, compact growth and a very 

 free bloomer. Marie de Savoieis a lovely 

 dark blue violet and has the largest 



flower of any we have. As this is the first 

 year we have had it we only have a few 

 but next spring we will grow as many as 

 we can get, so well do we like it. Tricolor 

 plena has very small flowers and is 

 scarcely worth growing except for 

 varietv's sake. Glorie de Bourg la Reine 

 is a fine dwarf with single, dark blue 

 flowers, very large and highly scented; 

 one of the best singles. California is the 

 freest flowering single we have; a tall 

 grower with fine foliage, and a good 

 point about this violet is its fine long 

 flower stems. The Millet is another good 

 dark blue single, very free flowering, and 

 in every way a splendid violet. A few 

 other varieties in the frames are doing 

 nicely but the names have been lost and 

 as they were imported from France only 

 last spring we cannot name them. 



The new double hardy English violet is 

 giving a wealth of bloom in a sheltered 

 nook in the garden. The flowers are very 

 dark and quite large. It stands the win- 

 ter without any protection and is well 

 worth growing. Another fine sight is a 

 few hundreds of the Millet that were left 

 over in the garden; while filling the 

 frames we found we had too many and as 

 they were giving a few flowers in the fall 



BONE MEAL-WOODBINE. 



Mr. M. E. Pollard asks: "Is bone meal 

 a good fertilizer with which to top dress 

 roses? I have read that it should be 

 worked into the soil long beforeit is used." 



If your roses are grown in a greenhouse 

 planted out on the benches, a very light 

 coating of bone meal will help them 

 greatly. Some of our largest rose grow- 

 ers use this altogether and with fine suc- 

 cess. Put on only enough to cover the 

 soil and stir it well into the soil, so that 

 when watering it will not be washed over 

 the sides of the benches. If your roses 

 are in pots we would not advise using it 

 as a top dressing. Liquid manure in 

 some form is far better. Pulverized sheep 

 manure makes a fine safe liquid for ama- 

 teurs to use; one pound to five gallons of 

 water; it can be had quite cheaply from 

 any of the seed stores. 



"My woodbine grows nicely in the 

 early part ot summer but about the first 

 of July the leaves begin to turn brown as 

 if bitten by an insect. What is the cause, 

 and is tbere a remedy?" 



No doubt your vines are infested with 

 red spider, a little insect scarcely visible 

 txcept on close inspection. The only 

 iemedy is water, and a good force at 

 that. If you have a hydrant put the 

 hose on and give the under side of the 

 leaves a good drenching. As these insects 

 are always on the under side of the leaves 

 it may be a hard job to get at them and 

 some insecticides may have to be used. 

 A pound of whale oil soap dissolved in 

 six gallons of water makes a good and 

 safe wash. Apply with a syringe or force 

 pump. David Fraser. 



SOMETHING FOR VASES. 



A subscriber from Devonshire street, 

 Boston, says in a well written communi- 

 cation in which he fully describes his 

 veranda, etc., that he has two vases ex- 

 posed to strong winds during summer. 

 He has stopped up any drainage from the 

 vases because they are the cause of rust. 

 He has tried pandanus and a few other 

 plants with not satisfactory results and 

 now wants suggestions as to what will 

 do well. 



If the writer knew how large these 

 vases were he could write somewhat 

 more to the point. I can scarcely be- 

 lieve that anv winds in Boston during 

 summer are strong enough to hurt the 

 ordinary plants that are used for summer 

 decoration. A pot that will just go in- 

 side the vase can be used and kept off the 

 bottom by a few bricks or blocks of wood 

 and the water emptied out once a week 

 or so as has been done by ourcorrespond- 

 ent. One of the best plants to stand the 

 wind is Dracicna indivisa. It is graceful 

 in appearance, as hardy as an artificial 

 plant of tin, and is difficult to kill with 

 either a drought or a deluge. A good 

 variety of geranium, one color in each 

 vase, would look very well. So would 

 the Crozy cannas. Of all the palms that 

 will stand the sun and wind the best is 

 Phoenix reclinata or dactylifera. 



Wm. Scott. 



