24 



GARDENING. 



Oct. /, 



the bushes with Bordeaux mixture sev- 

 eral times during the season, commencing 

 as soon as the leaves are fully developed. 

 Both fruit and leaves are affected by it. 

 It is very similar to the fungus which 

 disfigures the foliage of pear trees, and 

 causes the cracking of the fruit. 



DOWNING MULBERRY. 



Of the many mulberries in cultivation 

 the Downing's Everbearing is the best of 

 all that I know. The European, Russian 



PRUNING PEAR TREES. 



Where a pear tree, pruned last winter, 

 has thrown up a great many suckery, 

 non-bearing twigs, closely placed between 

 the cut and the main wood, how should 

 they be treated on this winter's pruning? 



Mass. S. H. C. 



You speak of the pear shoots as non- 

 bearing ones. There are no such shoots. 

 If above the graft, all will bear in time. 

 If too close together, cut some out. 

 Those left may be pruned or not as the 



I 



Orchids. 



ODONTOGLOSSDM CRISPDM. ALBINO VARIETY. 



and Japanese seem very much alike both 

 in their fruit and botanical characters. 

 Their fruit is far too sweet for most tastes. 

 In many lists the Downing's Everbearing 

 is classed as a variety of the European, 

 but this is certainly a mistake. It is, evi- 

 dently, a variety of our native rubra, 

 having the same large, coarse leaves, 

 strong growth and large fruit of that spe- 

 cies. It differs chiefly in having black 

 fruit when ripe and in itsever-bearing char- 

 acter. 



A tree of it under observation this sea- 

 son had ripe fruit on it in the latter part 

 of June, and to-day, September 10, there 

 are still a few on it. It is this character 

 that gives it its chief value. Besides this 

 it has a pleasant tartness which none of 

 the others, save its parent, rubra, pos- 

 sesses. The rest are far too sweet. The 

 Japanese bears rather large fruit, but it 

 is solt and sweet and not to the liking of 

 many persons. The fruit of the Down- 

 ing is very firm. 



As an expeditious way to gather mul- 

 berries it has been reccm mended to spread 

 a sheet under the tree and shake the 

 limbs. If quite ripe, the fruit will fall 

 with but a moderate shaking of the 

 limbs. 



In the south the common native mul- 

 berry is a favorite shade tree, making 

 there a tree of some size. I have seen 

 them wild here of quite tree size; and 

 when voting trees are set out to allow of 

 unrestricted growth, a spreading, beau 

 tiful tree is the result. Nurserymen usu- 

 ally send it out in bush shape, but if cut 

 down almost to the ground, it will make 

 a strong shoot, the foundation of a future 

 tree. Joseph Meehan. 



Philadelphia. 



necessities of the tree as regards bushiness, 

 etc , seem to demand. 



Bulletin No. 41 of the Florida Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station is devoted 

 to a description of "A fungous disease of 

 the San Jose scale." Following is a sum- 

 mary of the contents: 1. It has been defi- 

 nitely established that insects are subject 

 to diseases. 2. Diseases of insects have 

 been, and a-e being employed to destroy 

 insect pests. 3. Some diseases of insect 

 pests may be disseminated artificially 

 with a profit. 4. This disease of the San 

 Jose Scale is present on at least three con- 

 tinents and in many countries. In sev- 

 eral instances it is recorded as an impor- 

 tant factor in controlling scale insects. 

 5. It is doubtless native to Florida as it 

 occurs on a native scale (Aspidotus ob- 

 scums) in our hammocks. 6. This fungus 

 may be transferred to trees affected with 

 San Jose Scale and a disease produced 

 among the scales. 7. Large quantities 

 of material may be produced in the labor- 

 atory in a short time and at slight ex- 

 pense. 8. The laboratory-grown mate- 

 rial may be applied successfully by fruit 

 growers. 9. This fungus cleared the 

 orchards more effectively of San Jose 

 Scale than could have been done by many 

 sprayings. 10. It is now being tested in 

 the north and west. Copies may un- 

 doubtedly be had by addressing the 

 Director of the Experiment Station, Lake 

 City, Fla. 



The College of Agriculture and Me- 

 chanic Arts of the University of Mis- 

 souri has issued an announcement of the 

 courses in agriculture for the year. 

 Copies may be had by addressing H. J. 

 Waters, Columbia, Mo. 



ODONTOGLOSSUM GRISPUM. 



This odontoglossum has been aptly 

 described as the "Queen of Orchids" by 

 one who has done more for orchid culture 

 than perhaps any other man, and while 

 it may be taken exception to by some, if 

 applied literally, it certainly does not 

 overpraise this beautiful species. Fickle- 

 ness is not usually regarded a virtue, but 

 the term might almost be applied to this 

 fine old orchid in that no two have yet been 

 imported that were alike. The spotting 

 on the flowers varies on each individual 

 bloom on the spike, and some varieties 

 that come pure white one year will be 

 spotted the next year, but all these uncer- 

 tainties add to the interest to the culti- 

 vator, especially if his plants be newly 

 imported from the woods in which they 

 grow. The specimen flowers illustrated 

 are from a plant that has invariably 

 proven pure white, and while this is not a 

 rare occurrence it adds to the value of the 

 plant considerably. 



Odontoglossum crispum is from the 

 Andes of South America and requires the 

 coolest possible treatment under cultiva- 

 tion in summer. A house with a north 

 exposure, such as one devoted to propa- 

 gating in winter and ferns in summer, 

 w;ould grow them well with plenty of 

 air and moisture nearing the saturation 

 point, with a temperature in winter of 

 about 50°, for as the growth is mostly 

 made in winter they must be kept mov- 

 ing, and the crop of flowers is produced 

 in spring and early summer. E. O. 0. 



VflNDfl GOERULEfl. 



This lovely orchid is often seen in bad 

 condition I think through being kept in 

 too warm a house. I find by experience 

 that during the winter months they do 

 finely in a temperature of 55° to 60° in a 

 house well sunk in the ground and that 

 is always charged with natural moisture 

 sufficient for their wants without water- 

 ing them at root only on very suony 

 days. When winter sets in I remove all 

 potting material of sphagnum, etc., leav- 

 ing the drainage and basket or pot only, 

 hang them in the roof of a moist house, 

 scarcely ever over 60° in winter. Aoout 

 the first of April I look them over, re- 

 moving any drainage that is dirty, place 

 a lot of fresh broken potsherds to" round 

 up from rim of pot, and over this place a 

 thin layer of growing sphagnum, which 

 gives them a nice appearance. Water 

 sparingly, or about enough to keep the 

 sphagnum in growing condition, increas- 

 ing the watering as the season advances. 

 When fine weather is established venti- 

 lation should be given both top and bot- 

 tom and kept open day and night. The 

 plants should be well syringed once or 

 twice a day. 



During the summer season the plants 

 are grown 3 or 4 feet from the glass, on a 

 bench over which is placed a rack so that 

 circulation at both bottom and top is 

 free. I find this rule of management is 

 also good for Vanda Kimballiana and 

 many of the aerides. The latter I have 

 grown much better with odontoglots 

 from 45° to 55° than others in house at 

 60° to 70°. The plants were more robust 

 and in every way better. Too much heat 

 and moisture during the dark winter days 

 is very detrimental to many orchids, and 

 I think the cause of spot and rot some- 

 times seen in collections. W. M. 



