208 



THE CANADIAN HORTICCLTmiST. 



will also flower well in glasses of water, 

 like the Hyacinth, and it is desirable 

 to grow a few in this wav, yet nothin» 

 looks so natural and nice as a good 

 healthy plant in a neat pot of earth, and 

 no other method leaves the bulb in a 

 sound, healthy condition for the next 

 season. The Polyanthus Narcissus suc- 

 ceeds admirably in gardens where win- 

 ters are not very severe, and is prized 

 for house culture everywhere. The 

 Chinese, of California, brought over 

 bulbs, and they created a great wonder 

 on the Pacific coast and elsetv^here, 

 and were called the Chinese National 

 Flower, though the same could be had 

 at any respectable seed-house in Ame- 

 rica. — Vick's Floral Guide. 



MELON OULTITRE. 

 An Ohio farmer says : — "During the 

 Winter and Spring I gather together 

 all the fine manure I can, such as hog 

 manure, with the cobs raked out, hen 

 manure, bai-nyard scrapings, etc. After 

 the melons are planted I load this mix- 

 ture on the waggon, and if not wet 

 enough I throw a few pails of water on it, 

 drive into the field and straddle one row, 

 and with another hand take two rows 

 one on each side of the waggon and put 

 a small shovelful of this mixture on each 

 hill. By soaking the seed overnight 

 before planting, it will be necessary 

 then to examine a few hills in the 

 course of five days, to see if they are 

 making their way through the inch of 

 dirt that was first covered over the seed ; 

 if so, then the manure should be shoved 

 to one side with the back of a rake. 

 After the melons are beginning to get 

 the third leaf, I take a mixture of two- 

 thirds of slaked lime, one-third plaster, 

 and dose each hill with about half a 

 Spoonful, getting the greater part on 

 the dirt around the plants. With this 

 method I get 1,000 melons per acre, 

 and always get a premium at our 

 county fairs." 



THK CULTURE OF STRAWBERRIES. 



Messrs. Ellwanger and Barry of the 

 Mount Hope Nurseries, at Rochester, 

 give the following directions in their 

 Strawberry Catalogue : 



Tke Soil and Its Preparation. — ^The 

 strawberry may be successfully grown 

 in any soil adapted to the growth of 

 ordinary field or garden crops. The 

 ground should be well prepared, by 

 trenching or plowing at least eighteen 

 to twenty inches deep, and be properly 

 enriched as for any garden crop. It is 

 unnecessary to say that if the land ia 

 wet, it must be thoroughly drained. 



Season for Transplanting. — In the 

 Northern States, the season for planting 

 in the spring is during the months of ^ 

 April and May. It may then be done 

 with safety from the time the plants 

 begin to grow until they are in blossom. 

 This is the time we prefer for setting 

 out large plantations. 



During the months of August and 

 September, when the weather is usually 

 hot and dry, pot-grown plants may be 

 planted to the best advantage. With 

 the ball of earth attached to the roots, 

 they can be transplanted without any 

 failures, and the trouble and annoyance 

 of watering, shading, <kc., which are 

 indispensable to the succees of layer 

 plants, are thus in a great measure 

 avoided. 



GARDEN CULTURE. 



To Cidtivate the Strawberry. — For 

 family use, we recommend planting in 

 beds four feet wide, with an alley two 

 feet wide between. These beds will 

 accommodate three rows of plants, 

 which may stand fifteen inches apart 

 each way, and the outside row nine 

 inches from the alley. These beds can 

 be kept clean, and the fruit can be 

 gathered from them without setting the 

 feet upon them. 



Culture in Hills. — This is the best 

 mode that can be adopted for the garden. 



