i8gS. 



' * GARDENING. 



135 



less helped in giving size to the flowers, 

 but not substance or toughness to their 

 petals. Of this strain Italia and Austria 

 were among the first, and have now 

 become widely distributed but some of 

 the later varieties, among which are Alle- 

 mannia and others, are even larger and 

 finer, and outdoors have given flowers 

 fully seven inches in diameter, and the 

 inner petals being much more developed 

 than those of former varieties, gives the 

 flowers better form 



Thise varieties being strong growers, 

 take up quite a lot of space and wdl also 

 need strong soil for thtir full development, 

 but for conservatory use they can be kept 

 in pots or tubs of moderate size and fed 

 with liquid manure when well established. 

 A two-fold object is attained by the win- 

 ter use of the improved cannas in the con- 

 servatory, namely, the adornment of the 

 latier and the better preservation of the 

 canna tubers, for some varieties are given 

 to rotting of the tubers when stored 

 away under the benches or in a cellar. A 

 fe* pot carnations and Paris daisies are 

 very useful for cutting from, and will sel- 

 dom (ail to lurnish some flowers, but to 

 insure a succession of flowers it is well to 

 keep a little reserve stock of such plants 

 10 be brought in from time to time as 

 needed. Swainsona galegifolia alba is 

 also very useful for this purpose, but 

 gives the best results when planted out, 

 for example, at the cool end ot a rose 

 house, or in any light house with a tem- 

 perature of 50 to 55 degrees. Various 

 begonias are included in the reliable win- 

 ter stock of every well-furnished estab- 

 lishment, those of the incarnata type 

 being among the most satisfactory, while 



B. rubra and the forms ot B. nitida are 

 scarcely ever without flowers. 



Eueharis Amazonica will produce a 

 good winter crop of flowers if prepared 

 by a certain amount of rest, this being 

 accomplished by giving a lower tempera- 

 ture and less water for a period of six 

 weeks or more, but such treatment should 

 be stopped before loss of foliage occurs, 

 else more harm than good may be done. 

 Statice Halfordii is also quite a decora- 

 tive species for the conservatory, bearing 

 large branching spikes of flowers, the 

 light blue calyx being much more endur- 

 ing than the small white corolla. This 

 statice is increased by means of cuttings, 

 or by seeds when obtainable, and grows 

 well in rich loam in a temperature of 55 

 to 60 degrees I" a warm house the vari- 

 ous forms of Anthurium Andreanum are 

 very seldom out of flower, and the plants 

 are at all times interesting, but these 

 being quite rampant growers under fa- 

 vorable conditions sometimes occupy too 

 nn:ch space for a small house, and in such 

 case Anthurium Scherzerianum would 

 perhaps givemore satisfaction, the showy 

 spathes of the latter species lasting fully 

 as well as those of A. Andreanum. Clivia 

 miniata is not by any means confined to 

 summer for its flowering season, and 

 helps much in brightening the dull days 

 of winter with its showy orange and yel- 

 low flowers, and with the c\clamens and 

 Chinese primroses that should now be 

 coming in we can have a succession of 

 pleasing forms and bright colors, without 

 including the many winter -flowering 

 orchids that may be used with more or 

 less success in the ordinary conservatory. 

 W. H. Taplin. 



NOTES ON THE JAPANESE CHESTNUTS. 



The Japanesechestnuts.as a group, pre- 

 sent some striking features which make 

 them a valuable acquisition to chestnut 

 culture, and which give them a promis- 

 ing future for the work of nut breeders. 

 The writer has been able to compare the 

 group on a large commercial scale with 

 the Europeans and Americans. In 1897 

 the Japanese group showed the following 

 prominent features: Earliness in ripen- 

 ing and large size, which at present are 

 the controlling factors in profitable nut 

 culture; freedom from hair on the nut, 

 which vendors prefer; freedom from leaf- 

 blight, which turned the Europeans and 

 Americans yellow in September in large 

 orchard blocks in New Jersey, and reduced 

 their crop fully 50 per cent; perfect unions 

 with American stocks on stump land; and 

 great prepotency in the group, as shown 

 in the similarity of a large numberofseed- 

 lings to the parent variety. 



The greatest objection to the Japanese 

 is their poor quality, but in this there is 

 also wide variation. The Extra Early 

 Japan, opening about September 3d, is 

 nearly as good as Paragon, and Early 

 Reliance has not the usual astringency of 

 the Japanese. There is no reason to be- 

 lieve that varieties of Japanese chestnuts 

 cannot be made as good as the Europeans 

 by judicious plant breeding. Among the 

 most valuable varieties are the Alpha, 

 Extra Early Japan, Early Prolific, Killen, 

 Early Reliance, Parry's Giant, Kerr and 

 Colonel Martin. 



There are many more varieties, and 

 doubtless the new interest in the culture 

 of nuts of all kinds will bring all their 

 good qualitiesto light. G. H. Powell. 



A JAPANESE GARDEN 



