20 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



October, 



The Span-Roofed Frame or Pit. 



A very common form of frame or colrl pit 

 is that in wliich the length of a single sash 

 governs the width of the frame. One of 

 twice this width and having a span roof is 

 employed in some places, and has at least 

 one great avantage over the single sash 

 frame, in that the dead or interior space at 

 the hack of the frame is lessened. 



The frame to which we refer is made ^vith 

 ends, as shown in the engraving. A piece 

 of joist is used as a ridge, and this is sup- 

 ported by stakes driven into the earth. Into 

 this the upper end of the cross- ties that sup- 

 port the sash are mortised, the lower ends 



A Span-roofed Cold Frame. 



being let into the front board as in ordinary 

 frame making. By the use of six-foot sash 

 the bed will be nearly 13 feet wide. Frames 

 thus arranged will with some saving of lum- 

 ber in the making and with no more care 

 to manage, grow considerable more Lettuce 

 or other plants per sash than in the ordi- 

 nary kind. 



This principle of frame making is about as 

 well adapted to pits, hot-beds and other uses 

 as it is to ordinary cold fi-ames. They have 

 been used with good results in wintering 

 half hardy Roses in pots, causing less of the 

 plants to become drawn one-sided during 

 the spring growth than is the case with 

 Roses in the ordinary style of frames. 



Culture of Specimen Fuchsias. 



The English gardeners having long been 

 famous as growers of fine Fuchsias, we take 

 pleasure in giving the following account of 

 the practice abroad as given in a recent issue 

 of Gardening Illustrated. 



The cultural details requisite to ensure 

 success even in growing noble specimens 8 

 feet high 4 feet through, and loaded with 

 handsome foliage and flowers are by no 

 means difficult of accomplishment. But no 

 treatment of the Fuchsia can be more inter- 

 esting than that pointing to the raising of 

 small specimens in .5-inch pots,such as is done 

 so nigh perfectly by the growers of Covent 

 Garden Market. The following simple di- 

 rections may be followed ^^^th confidence. 



Thk Start.— Cuttings consisting of rather 

 soft shoots should be taken off at the end 

 of August, or early in September. Kept close 

 in a frame, they will soon form roots, when 

 they should be potted off singly into small 

 3-inch pots, still using a light sandy soil for 

 them. After this, place them in a rather 

 close, warm position for a time, and gi-adu- 

 ally increase the ventilation as growth pro- 

 gresses; this growth must be regularly 

 pinched in to form a bushy foundation. 



When the plants have filled the small pots 

 with roots, shift again into .5-inch ones; use 

 the compost rather heavier than previously. 

 At all times give plenty of drainage in the 

 pots, iis the Fuchsia, although needing much 

 water, dislikes stagnant moisture about the 

 roots. During the winter but little has to 

 be done beyond keeping the plants clean and 

 free from insects, and .just sufficiently moist, 

 and in a temperature to prevent leaf fall; 

 then the young plants will start growth the 

 next spring with remarkable vigor. 



The Fii;st Flowering Year.— We will 

 now suppose that March has arrived, fresh 

 growth has commenced; the plants may be 

 shifted into pots a size larger than before, 

 using tarty loam, some decayed manure, a 

 little leaf-soil, and sharp sand, this compost 

 answering fur all future stages. If a light 

 house is available with a bed of fermenting 

 material, leaves or tan therein, then place 



the plants on this for the benefit of the 

 genial moisture and warmth, maintain a 

 brisk temperature in the house and ply the 

 syringe freely to the plants. The stopping 

 and arranging the shoots must now be regu- 

 larly attended to. The leading shoot should 

 always be allowed to grow on a bit in ad- 

 vance of the side branches. By the end of 

 April they may go into larger pots compara- 

 tive to the strength of the plants. Keep 

 them growing freely, shading lightly in 

 bright weather. Cold draughts must be 

 avoided, or much of the beauty will be lost. 



By the end of May they should be ready 

 for their final shift into 8-inch or 10-inch pots. 

 Firm the soil moderately at this last potting. 

 Wlien commencing growth again they will 

 probably begin to show buds freely, which 

 must be promptly removed, or growth will 

 be arrested. 



By the first week in .June they should have 

 grown into large plants, and should be placed 

 in their summer quarters. A level spot of 

 ground should be selected that is sheltered 

 from strong winds, but exposed to the sun 

 and air. A firm bed of coal-ashes must be 

 first spread for keeping worms out of the 

 pots. The pots should be plunged in coal- 

 ashes or similar material to prevent evapo- 

 ration. They should have plenty of space 

 between them and be perfectly secured by a 

 stout stake, to which the central shoot and 

 leading side branches can be looped. 



Upon the attention they receive at this 

 stage depends in a large degree success in 

 producing perfect specimens. Growth must 

 be encouraged, and being in the open air 

 it will be sure to be of firm texture. All 

 bloom-buds should be removed until about 

 si.x weeks before the specimens are wanted 

 to be at their best. Turn the plants round 

 once a week to prevent rooting into the soil 

 and to maintain a good form. The pots will 

 be full of hungry roots, which wUl demand 

 much attention in watering and syringing, 

 and should frequently receive clear, weak, 

 liquid manure; that made from a solution 

 of soot and cow manure mixed is the best. 



Once cease to pluck off the bloom buds, 

 and speedily the whole plant wUI bristle 

 with them if all has gone well. To finally 

 prepare for the show encourage the flowers 

 to the utmost, and give the final training to 

 the main branches. 



About a fortnight before the show, remove 

 to a cool, shady, well ventilated house, there 

 to expand their flowers. And at the end of 

 that time they should be loaded with large, 

 highly colored blossoms and handsome 

 foliage, and be from .5 feet to H feet in height, 

 with a diameter in proportion. The bloom- 

 ing period can with care be prolonged far 

 into the autumn. 



Looking to the Second Year. — When 

 that is over they may be placed in any cool 

 greenhouse and be kept rather dry at the 

 roots during the winter; cut them back in 

 early spring, shake out of the old soil, and 

 repot and grow precisely as in the first year; 

 only in this case they will bear larger pots, 

 will flower earlier, and the plants be much 

 larger than in the first season. 



Healthy specimens will make satisfactory 

 exhibition plants for several years. A stock 

 of young ones should, however, be coming on 

 to take the place of any of the older ones 

 showing signs of a want of vigor. 



The Umbrella Pine, Sciadopitys 

 Verticillata. 



This remarkably distinct and handsome 

 Japanese evergreen is already working its 

 way into popular estimation, proving as it 

 does perfectly hardy where many other fine 

 conifers fail. As far north as Boston it is pro- 

 nounced absolutely hardy, fine specimens 

 being seen at the Cambridge botanic gar- 

 dens, and in Prof. C. S. Sargent's grounds of 

 that vicmity. 



The Umbrella Pine is of slow growth at 

 first but in time makes a large tree. It is 

 claimed in Japan that they reach the age of 

 800 years. Even in that land of strange 

 growths and forms it is regarded as a rare 

 tree, being planted in the grounds of many 

 of the temples. 



In habit this tree is decidedly upright as 

 to trunk, but with horizontal branches, 

 which bear the whorls of singular looking, 

 shiny, very broad, flat, needles lined with 

 white on the under side. These needles, as 

 may be seen by the accompanying engrav- 

 ing (which we are permitted to insert here 

 by the kindness of the Meehan Nurseries, 

 German to\\-n. Pa.), are of great size, and be- 

 ing arranged in umbrella-like tufts give the 

 tree that unique and elegant appearance 

 which renders it so desirable. 



We learn from Mr. Meehan that at their 

 nurseries they have a plant five feet high, of 

 which not a leaf has ever been injured in the 

 winter, and it is the admiration of all. 



Suggestions Concerning Imperfect 

 Fertilization of the Grape. 



D. S. MARVIN, BEFORE THE AMERICAN POMOLOQICAL 

 .SOCIETY AT BOSTON. 



CHANC4ES I!Y NATURE AND CULTIVATION. 



Grape-vines, like other plants, have fi-om 

 many causes been subjected to changes of 

 natural development. These natural causes 

 have recently been much modified by culti- 

 vation. One of the marked natural changes 

 has been toward a separation of the sexual 

 functions. We see this exemplified in the 

 sexual organs, for no one of our fifteen or 

 twenty species is now perfectly bisexual 

 throughout. The Delaware is, perhaps, as 

 perfect in its bisexual organs as any variety. 



UMBRELLA PINE, SCIADOPITYS VERTICILLATA. 



Vineyardists have suffered from this ten- 

 dency to a difl'erentiation of the sextial 

 functions, but originators of new seedlings 

 more. Our vines have all been selected with 

 reference to their dual se.xual organs and 

 functions; but, notwithstanding all efforts 

 for many generations, seedlings still assert 

 a tendency to a final separation of the sexual 

 functions. 



Two crops a year— one of pollen in the 

 spring, another of fruit in the fall, each of 

 them containing large amounts of nitrogen 

 and other costly germ elements— exhaust 

 the vital energies of the vine and invite the 

 attacks of sporadic diseases. Whatever 

 former conditions may have prevailed, na- 

 ture seems to be curing those inherent 



