iSo 



• ' ' GARDENING. 



Feb. 



way possible; heat and moisture are 

 sucked out together, the tile floor shortly 

 becomes dry as an Arizona summer, and 

 where the sun strikes its polished surface 

 the rays are reflected to the under side of 

 the foliage, reducing the sources of mois- 

 ture to the flagrantly inadequate capacity 

 of the pots. The plants suffer, and the 

 house is closed. A cold air flue is now 

 arranged, and proves a relief only when 

 the wind is favorable. Cold nights and 

 the register fails to supply sufficient heat 

 —but the list of shortcomings is intermin- 

 able, and thev come high. 



If it is arranged to have the conserva- 

 tory contain as many cubic feet of air 

 space as possible in proportion to the 

 amount of surface exposed to the sun, a 

 right start will be made. Have the out- 

 side walls and roof constructed so much 

 of glass and so little of wood or iron as 

 is consistent with security. Run steam 

 or hot water pipes around the outside 

 walls near the ground, heating by direct 

 radiation. Don't lay a floor or path of 

 any kind of masonry, one of earth or 

 gravel is better and cheaper. If the 

 dwelling is two or more feet above the 

 ground, and it is desired to have the 

 path of the conservatory on a level with 

 the floor of the house, build one ol plank 

 on posts or brick piers, leaving the re- 

 maining space open to old mother earth, 

 the best automatic regulator of heat and 

 moisture, and the least expensive; it 

 absorbs heat and moisture when some 

 can be spared and gives them back when 

 they are needed by the plants— don't shut 

 out the earth. 



After constructing the benches the space 

 underneath can be planted with ferns and 

 many other pretty things which will 

 quickly fill up the hole, even though it 

 be five feet deep. The best walls are made 

 of common brick without finishing. 

 Plant in the ground some pieces of Ficus 

 repens and English ivv; these will soon 

 cover the walls, and they look well at all 

 seasons. Asparagus plumosus will run 

 up a post from the ground beautifully in 

 a house of this kind, and a host of other 

 plants of like utility and elegance will 

 speedily suggest themselves to the inter- 

 ested propri-tor of a conservatory of this 

 character, giving to it in one year more 

 decorative effect than the most skill- 

 ful mechanic or fresco painter could 

 evolve in a lifetime. And this is merely 

 the result, pleasing as it may be, of work 

 which in itself is a joy to the heart. 

 Simple, isn't it! And all for the money 

 ordinarily put in a bay window! 



C. B. W. 



HORTICULTURE IN HOLLAND. 



The following lecture was recently 

 delivered before the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society by Mr. John K. M. L. 

 Farquhar: 



Holland presents to the horticulturist 

 many interesting features of her own. 

 For two hundred years years she has sup- 

 plied the nations of northern latitudes 

 with bulbs from which to raise flowers to 

 brighten their conservatories in winter 

 and their gardens in spring, and she has 

 established a constantly increasing busi- 

 ness, the monopoly of which seems 

 assured to her for ages to come. Her 

 exports of bulbs and nursery stock now 

 aggregate five million dollars annually. 



Such elaborate flower stores as we have 

 in Boston are not found in Holland. As 

 we pass through Rotterdam or Amster- 

 dam we see a flower market where a few 

 men and women do the business, the 

 flowers being chiefly of the more ordinary 

 kinds, brought there in the morning and 

 sold at low prices, and by noon the busi- 



IN THE ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN, ROTTERDAM HOLLAND. 



ness is over. Dutch horticulturists devote 

 most ol their energy to supplying the 

 wants of other nations, their home trade 

 — especially in cut flowers — being exceed- 

 ingly small 



In Holland we find no such gigantic 

 greenhouses as may be seen on large 

 estates in England, such as Chatsworth 

 or Sion House, hardy trees, shrubs, vines 

 and herbaceous plants being more gener- 

 ally depended on for landscape decora- 

 tion. This policy we find successfully 

 exemplified in Boston'snew parks. Many 

 of the residential streets and even the 

 narrow business streets of Rotterdam 

 have valuable space devoted to trees — 

 more, I think, than our citizens would be 

 willing to allot under similar conditions. 



Haarlem is the largest city of North 

 Holland, and the tradecenter of the bulb- 

 growing district. If we proceed by steam 

 train from Haarlem by way of Yogelen- 

 zang we pass through extensive bulb 

 fields, towards the Lake of Haarlem. 

 There is, however, no Lake of Haarlem 

 now; only a great canal, surrounded by 

 seventy square miles of lowland that fifty 

 years ago was lake. Here on the western 

 side of the canal we find the finest hya- 

 cinth ground in Holland. The soil is of 

 various kinds— peat, clay and sand; the 

 last being what is chosen for hyacinth 

 culture. It is prepared by giving it a 

 heavy application of cow manure, which 

 is brought to the fields in boats from 

 Leyden, Amsterdam or Rotterdam. 



Hvacinths, narcissuses and tulips are 

 set in trenches six inches deep; crocuses, 

 scillas and snowdrops in trenches three 

 inches deep. Before the cold sets in all the 

 planted fields are thickly covered with 

 reeds, which grow along the edges of the 

 canals, and are cultivated in the north of 

 Holland for this purpose. Great care is 

 taken to prevent frost from reaching the 

 bulbs, for as they are planted early in 

 autumn they soon make long roots, and 

 frost reaching the bulbs would raise them 

 up and detach them from their roots. 

 Spring flowering bulbous plants are rapid 

 growers, requiring a large supply of 

 nourishment, and unless their roots are 

 well developed in advance of the top and 

 kept in good condition, they will be 

 unable to furnish the needed food, and 

 failure, or partial failure, will result. 



Large growers are prepared to furnish 

 from four to five hundred sorts of hya- 



cinths. Now, we prefer the single varie- 

 ties, and the list of sorts is not as long as 

 formerty. The propagation of hyacinths 

 is by offsets, which form at the base of 

 the bulbs. The largest bulbs are cut 

 across the base several times or hollowed 

 out, to increase the number of offsets 

 which are formed. More of the single 

 pink variety, Norma is grown than any 

 other. One grower's trade requires 80,000 

 of them annually, the product of about 

 two acres. 



The average grower must cultivate in 

 all about four hundred and fifty varieties 

 of tulips. Of these about four hundred 

 are varieties of the ordinary garden 

 species. Tulipa Gesneriana, which was 

 introduced to Western Europe from 

 Turkey in 1554. Tulips are propagated 

 by offsets, each root producing two, or 

 sometimes three, salable bulbs, and per- 

 haps one or two of smaller size, which 

 require another season's growth before 

 they are fit for market. They are also 

 easily raised from seeds, the seedlings 

 coming at first self-colored; while they 

 remain so they are known as breeders. 

 These have been made very popular 

 recently under the name of Darwin. 

 After a few years of cultivation they 

 break away from their original color. If 

 a white tulip comes striped or marked 

 with another color, it is called a bybloe- 

 men. Of this class the rose or red-tinted 

 bytfloemens known as "roses" are per- 

 haps the most desirable. A tulip having 

 a yellow ground marked with another 

 color is called bizarre. 



In the early part of this century tulips 

 having variegated flowers were most 

 esteemed. To-day such self-colors as Gold 

 Prince, the beautiful rose-carmine Proser- 

 pine, Vermilion Brilliant and the white, 

 yellow and scarlet Pottebakkers aremost 

 esteemed. There are, of course, excep- 

 tions; the most conspicuous is the noble 

 Keizerskroon, crimson with a wide edge of 

 yellow. The tulip has become with us the 

 most popular of the spring flowering 

 bulbs. We use from a milion and a half 

 to two millions here in New England 

 annually. 



Daffodils are now receiving more atten- 

 tion from hybridizing than any other 

 class of bulbs. Although the largest and 

 finest bulbs come from Holland, they are 

 extensively grown in England, Ireland, 

 the Island of Guernsev and France. 



