/SgS. 



GARDENING. 



187 



were well hardened oft' before planting 

 out, and were good strong bushy plants 

 by the last week of May. There was 

 some cold weather for about a week after 

 the plants were set out. but they did not 

 seem to suffer any set back. As soon as 

 the weather warmed up they commenced 

 to grow and continued to grow and 

 flower all through the season. We 

 had other begonias planted in the same 

 beds that had been flowering in the green- 

 house all winter, and about ready to 

 throw away. Being short of plants we 

 planted them out, and after a little time 

 they made splendid plants and bloomed all 

 summer. They were /(. manicata aurea, 

 B. semperflorens gigantea tosea, B. sub- 

 peltata, and several others. 



For the backol the beds we had French 

 cannas, Carica Papaya, silk oak, Cala- 

 dium esculentum. Cyperus alternifolius, 

 Abutilon Thomsoni, A. Souvenir de Bon, 

 crotons, Antliericum variegatum and 

 Strobilanthes Dyerianus. Thela>t named 

 plant seems to do better in the shade 

 than in the full sun. 



The original soil wasyellow clay. This 

 was taken out to the depth of eighteen 

 inches and replaced with a compost of 

 two parts sandy loam, one part leaf 

 mould and one part decomposed manure. 

 The beds were somewhat below the grass 

 border, so that the water would have a 

 chance to soak through the soil, and not 

 run down the sides as is generally the 

 case when the beds are raised in the 

 center. 



The plants were mulched with a few 

 inches of half-rotted leaves, and watered 

 occasionally when the soil showed signs 

 ot dryness. But 1 noticed that the soil 

 did not get dry very often, as the clay 

 bottom retained the moisture and the 

 mulching prevented the surface soil from 

 drying out. In watering I apply it under 

 the plants, for if watered over-head the 

 force of the water will break the plants 

 and spoil the flowers. Plants grown in 

 shade and under the conditions here des- 

 cribed are very brittle, and may be easily 

 broken with a stream of water. 



In conclusion I would say where the 

 soil is very sandy it would be well to put 

 a few inches of clay in the bottom of the 

 bed and pound it down; it will help to 

 retain the moisture. A mulching of half- 

 rotted leaves or well-rotted manure will 

 to a large extent prevent evaporation. 



Ithaca, N . Y. Robert Shore. 



IRIS KflEMPFERI. 



Editor of Gardening:— I have a bed of 

 Iris Kaempferi which have been in their 

 present situation for about three vears. 

 It has seemed to me that they would do 

 better if I should move them to a bed 

 speciallv prepared with a view to holding 

 the water, which now apparently runs 

 oft" as fast as applied owing to the surface 

 of bed being too high. The following 

 points have presented themselves, which 

 I beg to ref^r to you. 1. If I move them 

 this spring will it interfere with the bloom 

 this season? 2. In moving should the 

 clumps be separated? 3 I have always 

 understood that owing to their moisture 

 loving propensities they should be planted 

 in a bed lower than the surrounding 

 ground so as to holdall the water possi- 

 ble. Now will not this be apt to rot 

 them out during winter? 4. Some of 

 the sorts have so far as I can make out 

 never bloomed. Why is this? 



G H. Chamberlain. 



Theja pan irises should not be moved too 

 frequently. As a rule they will do well 

 for rive or six successive years undisturbed; 



after that time the center of the clumps 

 will make but a weak growth usually, 

 but the younger sprouts around the out- 

 side still send up strong flower stems if 

 the plants do not crowd each other. A 

 moist situation is preferable tor them, but 

 excellent results have been obtained in 

 rather dry soil, where the plants received 

 liberal waterings during the time they 

 were in bud and while flowering. 



Early spring is the best time to move 

 them Division is necessary only when 

 the old clumps are too large, any plant 

 having more than eight or ten growths 

 is better cut in two. Transplanting.no 

 matter how carelully done, will hurt the 

 quality and quantity of flowers for the 

 first season; it is only natural that this 

 should be so, but the new bed with ordi- 

 nary care should give entire satisfaction 

 after the first season. 



Lowering the bed a few inches below 

 the surface of the surrounding ground 

 will do no harm; the winter's water or 

 ice over them will not hurt plants which 

 have made a full season's growth, though 

 it would perhaps Sfriously injure a lall 

 planted bed. But I do not .consider it 

 necessary to lower the bed so much. The 

 fall and winter moisture can not be of 

 much benefit to the -plants. Early in 

 summer and while in flower is the time 

 they need it most, but our summers are 

 usually rather dry and watering must 

 then be resorted to in either case. 



Those ol the plants which have not yet 

 flowered are presumably the weaker 

 growers. All varieties are not alike in 

 constitution and the more vigorous have 

 outgrown the weaker ones, depriving 

 them of the necessary air and light, or 

 else the bed was planted too close from 

 the beginning and the plants did not get 

 an even start. 



It is a common mistake when laying 

 out a bed to form a mound, raising the 

 center more or less. This is decidedly 

 wrong and should be discontinued not 

 only with moisture loving plants but in 

 all cases. When such a bed becomes thor- 

 oughly dry once, it will require a week's 

 continuous rain to moisten the earth in 

 the higher portions of it, and but few of 

 our plants can succeed under such trying 

 circumstances. All beds should be level 

 with the surrounding ground so that 

 water when applied or the rain as it falls 

 may not run off to the sides, but must 

 enter the soil evenly in any and all parts 

 of the bed. 



I would suggest to G. H. C. to dig up 

 about one-third or one-half of his plants, 

 wherever they are crowding each other 

 most, in the rows or any other way; 

 leave the remainder undisturbed, adding 

 a liberal quantity of well decaj'ed manure 

 to the bed, making a new bed with those 

 plants which are taken out. The old bed 

 would give him abundanceof flowers this 

 summer and the newly planted one might 

 take its platv another year if he does not 

 care to retain both of them, for it is more 

 than likely that the older plantation will 

 grow with renewed vigor afier thinning 

 out and be highly satisfactory for some 

 vears to come. K. 



Wisconsin State Horticultural 

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 (. Coe, Fort Atkinson; corresponding 

 secretary, W. J. Mayle, Yorkville. Tne 

 sum of $500 has been appropriated to 

 make an exhibit at the Omaha exposi- 

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