6o The Canadian Horticulturist. 



Manure Water 



May be prepared from hen, cow, or sheep manure ; after mixing it should be 

 allowed to settle and only the clear liquid applied. Great care shou'd be 

 observed in applying all forms of liquid manure, to avoid an over dose. A good 

 plan is to begin with quite a weak solution and gradually increase it as the plant 

 becomes accustomed to it. Its use may be commenced as soon as the final or 

 blooming pot is well filled with roots and continued until the buds begin to 

 show color, after which nothing but clear water should be used. The use of 

 manure water is objected to by some, being sometimes unpleasant to apply. 

 However chrysanthemums demand strong food, and the best results cannot be 

 obtained without a stimulating diet. 



Albert's Horticultural Manure. 



We have found this to be an excellent fertilizer, not only for chrysanthe- 

 mums but for all blooming plants. After having carefully tested its merits with 

 those of several other well-known fertilizers we have found none to afford us as 

 good results. 



Hamilton, Ont. Webster Bros. 



WHITE CANNAS- HUMBUG. 



^^^^^^^^HERE is no class of people on earth who are more the victims of 

 misrepresentation and humbug than the confiding, unsuspecting, 

 and great hearted tiller of the soil ; from the agriculturist with 

 his broad acres, to the amateur in his garden plot and green- 

 house. Every year brings the wish and hope for some meritori- 

 ous advance in favorite lines, so where such advance is not 

 possible, the '•novelty" must be provided just the same, the fakir gets in his 

 annual work, reaps his harvest, and injures the grand cause of progressive 

 horticulture. 



Some years ago I tested the Hedychium coronarium as a possible white 

 companion to the canna. It was obtained from Florida at a trifling cost ; but 

 after two years of failure to induce bloom, I threw it into the " dump," and have 

 since learned that it failed in Washington, under the care of one of the leading 

 experts of America. 



The coming season of 1896 already sees offered to the trade and amateur, 

 the old hedychium — but under the new name of Myriosma cannaefolia, and 

 urged as a companion to the canna, which is absurd, for with successful treat- 

 ment it will only bloom under glass, and that in the autumn at the time when 

 bedded cannas are affected by the frost. 



So-styled " true " white cannas, — in truth sun-bleached yellows, are com- 

 mon among hybrid seedlings of the new dwarf strain, this " novelty " in color 

 showing the second day, shortly before the bloom falls. 



There is a pure white canna, Canna lilifloria, a species growing wild in 

 v^eragua. Central America, long known to botanists ; it is, however, of weak, 

 slow growth, under the most favorable greenhouse treatment ; and of no practical 

 value except to the hybridist, crosses having already been obtained with the 

 dwarf hybrids, the utility of which is not yet claimed. 



H. H. Groff. 



