i8 9 7. 



GARDENING. 



103 



when brought in it is likely to drop its 

 buds. Consequently the only way to 

 have the plants in early is to give them a 

 brisk heat while making their growths. 

 As soon as they finish their growth they 

 will form their flower buds, and the ear- 

 liest formed flower buds bloom first. If 

 large flowers are desired they should be 

 disbudded to one terminal bud on each 

 shoot. 



As soon as they are done floweringthey 

 should be repotted in well drained pots, 

 taking care to put a layer of moss or 

 fibrous sod over the drainage. The com- 

 post should consist of three parts good 

 fibrous loam and one part leaf mold, with 

 the addition of some clean sharp sand. 

 Pot firmly as for heaths or azaleas. 



Plunge the pots outside in summer 

 time, putting a shovelful of coal ashes in 

 each hole to keep out worms, and shade 

 them from direct sunlight with a lath 

 screen. While making their growth they 

 should have a brisk heat, especially il 

 wanted for early flowering, with fre- 

 quent syringing overhead and a liberal 

 supply of water at the roots. After they 

 set their flower buds they require less 

 water, but should not be allowed to get 

 over dry. 



Camellias are propagated by taking 

 cuttings of the free rooting single-flowered 

 sorts on which the double-flowered va- 

 rieties are grafted or inarched. One of 

 the best for a stock, says Henry Bird, of 

 Newark, X. J., a florist who raised thou- 

 sands of them and served under Robert 

 Buist, of Philadelphia, thirty years ago, 

 is the old crimson double sort known as 

 Sarah Frost. 



The shades of color in the varieties of 

 this beautiful plant are numerous, from 

 purest white to deepest crimson, and 

 there is no reason why this plant should 

 not once more become popular and 

 brighten up our conservatories during 

 the dull winter months. 



Orange, N.J. Wm. Fitzwilliam. 



THE CELtflR. 



Those amateurs who grow a large col- 

 lection of plants find themselves in the 

 fall at a lo=s to obtain storing room for 

 such of their pets as they wish to keep 

 over for another year. The house cellar 

 is a fine place in which to keep a great 

 many things, providing it is not too cold 

 and not too hot. A cellar with a furnace 

 in it is a poor place for plants, as the air 

 is so dry; but a room with a door open- 

 ing from this will be all right, as the door 

 can be left open when there is any danger 

 of a hard freeze. 



Among the plants the amateurs grow, 

 the oleanders are generally great favor- 

 ites. These can be wintered nicely in a 

 light, frost-proof cellar, and as they 

 are evergreen they should receive water 

 when needed. Care should be taken not 

 to apply too much, however, as they are 

 not required to grow much in winter 

 quarters. Century plants can be kept 

 almost anywhere. They need very little 

 water, about once or twice the whole 

 winter will be sufficient. Orange and 

 lemon trees will do in the cellar, but these 

 should not be allowed to get too dry at 

 the roots or they may dropall their leaves. 

 Hvdrangeas will need little attention and 

 should be kept in a cool part; a little 

 frost will not hurt them, but no water 

 should not be given unless they become 

 too dry, which is not often the case where 

 the cellar is cool. The Abyssian banana 

 (Musa Ensete), if grown in a tub. can be 

 wintered in the cellar nicely, keeping it in 

 a semi-dormant state. Should it be too 

 tall, lay it over on its side and refrain 



from frequent watering. The lemon ver- 

 bena, lantanas, fuchsias and plants of a 

 similar nature, if planted in a box of moist 

 soil quite close together generally come 

 out all right in the spring, and the same 

 can be said of English ivy. Caeti in vari- 

 ety will do all right in the cellar and 

 should receive very little water. Aspidis- 

 tras can be kept over nicely in the cellar as 

 they are plants that stand a good deal of 

 abuse. These are but a few of the plants 

 that the amateur can keep from year to 

 year in his house cellar; they should al- 

 ways have a little air when the weather 

 is warm, and all evergreen plants, olean- 

 ders and the like, should begone over and 

 the foliage washed, as scaleand the mealy 

 bug are generally troublesome on such 

 plants. Orange and lemon trees are very 

 subject to the mealy bug; and the winter, 

 when there is not much to do, affords a 

 good time to get rid of it. 



Bulbs of all sorts will do in the cellar, 

 but the warmest place should be given to 

 gloxinias, aehimenes and fancy-leaved 

 caladiums, keep them quite dry. Can- 

 nas with some soil attached to the roots 

 will need little water, but they should not 

 be allowed to dry up and shrivel for lack 

 of moisture. Gladioli and dahlias can be 

 hung up and kept quite dry. The main 

 point to remember in keeping plants of 

 all sorts in the cellar is to only give suffi- 

 cient water to keep them plump. Do not 

 aim to start them into growth; rathertry 

 to retard them. as growth madein thecel- 

 lar is weak and disappointing. 



David Fsaser. 



results in the final death of the tree. When 

 we take from a cutting the weight of 

 these depressingconditions we give it new 

 life. Wheii the brakes are removed the car 

 oflife moves slowly on. It is the balance 

 which decides the question." 



W. C. Ega.n. 



PROLONGING PLANT LIFE. 



Many of the handsomest forms of trees 

 and shrubs in our gardens to-day are 

 what are termed "sports." Some part of 

 the type, generally a branch, has pro- 

 duced characteristics widely different from 

 the true form of the species. It may be in 

 color, or in the habit of its branches, as in 

 most of the weeping trees. If the varia- 

 tion or "sport " assumes a desirable as- 

 pect, that portion of the plant possessing 

 this abnormal growth is layered, that is, 

 bent down and allowed toroot in the soil 

 and eventually severed from the parent 

 stock, or is cut off, thus forming what is 

 termed a slip or cutting, which has its 

 cut end placed in light soil, and being 

 properly treated, soon produces roots of 

 its own. 



There are other methods also of perpet- 

 uating the freak. These plants form what 

 are know as stock plants, from which are 

 propagated moreof their kind. Cuttings 

 or buds from these are also used for graft- 

 ing or budding on similar species of nor- 

 mal form. Cuttings and buds may in 

 years afterwards be taken from these now 

 old specimens and youngplants produced. 

 This process may be carried on indefinitely, 

 but in all instances a part of the original 

 sport is preserved; that is, the life cells 

 that in the original sport produced a 

 varied character in its matured product, 

 have continuously reproduced themselves, 

 and the tree of to-day may, properly 

 speaking.be considered apart of the orig 

 inal, although that tree died a natural 

 death years before. 



Prof. Thos. Median, in touching upon 

 this subject says: " After all, what is the 

 plant? 'tis but a single cell. Nearly- all 

 portions of a tree are practically dead 

 after they get to be a year old, though 

 we usually regard wood as dead only 

 when it commences to decay. This de- 

 cay will effect parts not so far ad- 

 vanced, and it is the increasing bulk of 

 inert matter acting upon the compara- 

 tively smaller aggregate of active life that 



GULTURE OP GOOD STRAINS OF SEED. 



As regards the value of best strains of 

 seed I would like to mention a striking 

 illustration of the effects of culture on a 

 single strain. About a year ago I pro- 

 cured directly from a leading European 

 grower a quantity of Chinese primrose 

 seed. It was distributed to one private 

 and two commercial greenhouses. 1 >ne 

 sowed in November, another in February, 

 but the private house not till June. The 

 last sowing was not much later than the 

 othersincominginto bloom. In every case 

 the flowers were finer than those I have 

 generally seen in private or commercial 

 greenhouses; but the difference in favor of 

 those grown bv the private gardener, a 

 man of marked success with everything 

 that comes into his hand, was such as to 

 make one think they had come from an 

 entirely different strain of seed. They 

 were magnificent. To a casual observer 

 the culture of the last differed from that 

 of the others in these respects; unchecked 

 growth from germination to flowering, a 

 lower and more constant temperature, 

 ampler pots, less crowding of plants, 

 clean pots, and a better prepared soil. 

 The lesson of the experiment is at least 

 two-fold. First, the value of culture in 

 reaching the finest results; secondly, the 

 importance of equal conditions in com- 

 parative tests. Observer. 



Plainfield.N.J. 



[That sort of thing is veey common 

 even in our own daily practice. Take 

 stocks and asters in spring: We sow in 

 February, prick off into flats in March, 

 and keep knocking them around in frames 

 till it is safe to plant them out in April or 

 May, and they are invariably poorer than 

 those of later sowings, say of April or 

 May, because more stunted and cramped 

 in their early lite. Our intentions to be- 

 gin with were good; we meant to pot 

 them on or box them on and have fine big 

 stock in bloom on Decoration Day, but 

 our best intentions often get crowded 

 aside by shortness of room and greater 

 favorites. Take cosmos, for instance; 

 late grown cosmos was always finer with 

 us, when we grew and flowered it out of 

 doors, than eaily sown plants. And as 

 regards private and commercial growers. 

 The latter depend largely on their work- 

 men, who seldom take much interest in 

 plants other than what are included in 

 the limited cash-making stock. The pri- 

 vate grower is broader and grasps alter 

 greater variety, and oftentimes like ama- 

 teurs themselves he has a decided love for 

 all plants and where hisheartis his hands 

 will be also, hence the extra care he be- 

 stows on new plants — Ed.] 



Winter Mulching. — We are now hav- 

 ing a good stiff freeze and can cart over 

 the grass without any injury to the lawn, 

 so we are hauling tree leaves to mulch 

 under the rhododendrons, stable manure 

 on to the cut over grass beds, fine rotted 

 manure on to the hyacinth and tulip 

 beds, and to spread over and between the 

 hardy perennials anywhere in the garden. 

 A good mulching of manure on the rose 

 beds is not only a welcome protection to 

 the roots, but in the case of somewhat 

 tender sorts by heaping the manure well 

 up against the base of the plants it so pro- 



