i888. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



117 



indispensable. Adam and Madame Mai'Kot- 

 tiii are the thriftiest and most fluriferons of 

 tlie larger and more beautifully formed 

 flowers of the present class. 



When we touch the sub.iect of color, the 

 number of Hoses worthy of a place in the 

 choicest selection is so large that it isdiflicult 

 to place a limit to their number; but the fol- 

 lowing list contains only the darker Koses 

 and those in which the combination of colors 

 is rich and beautiful: Jean Ducher, I-etty 

 t'oles. Mad. Margt)ttin, La Chamois, Duchess 

 of Edinburgh, Homer, Mad. de Vatry, Marie 

 Duchess. Several requests 

 have l)een made for a list of r 

 thehardiest Tea Roses, those 

 which endure severe winters 

 with the least injury. So 

 many circumstances of loca- 

 tion, condition of the plants 

 and the character of the 

 season affect the hardiness 

 of Koses that no two persons 

 would be apt to agree on 

 this subject, but a list is 

 appended of those that have 

 been known to survive hard 

 wintei's here and farther 

 north: Homer, Somljreuil, 

 Comtesse de Labarth, Marie 

 Ducher, Madame Viniberoz, 

 Marie Van Houtte, Adam 

 and Bougere. No where 

 south of here are Tea Roses 

 seriously injured by frost 

 except in the case of un- 

 usually severe winters. 



In making a selection 

 from among the Hylirid 

 Perpeluals one of the first 

 questions which arises is: 

 Which are the most constant 

 bloomers? There are a few 

 kinds that tlower almost as 

 freely as the Teas or Bour- 

 bons, but these are invari- 

 ably dwarfer than the other 

 Hybrids, of weaker habit, 

 and not quite so hardy. 

 Mad. dialers Wood, Gen. 

 Washington, (iiant of Bat- 

 tles, and the white hybrid 

 Xoisettes Boule de Xeige, 

 Cocinette des .\lps and Perle 

 d e s Blanches, bloom 

 throughout tlie season with 

 more or less freedom. Of 

 the strong, sturdyhybrid per- 

 peluals, Paul Neron, VictorVerdier. Gen. Jac- 

 queminot, Souvenier de Charles Montault, 

 .\ntoine Moutoii. Touruville and Gabriel 

 Tournier, are the lufist inclined to produce 

 flowers during July and August, and their 

 fall flowering is usually good. It will be 

 observed that Gen. Jacqueminot alone of 

 the dark Roses is included in the above 

 lists. Those gram! Roses Chas. Ijcfebre, 

 .lean Liabaud, Mad. Victor Verdier, and 

 Ijouis Van Houtte seldom bloom from June 

 to September, but their every blossom is a 

 treasure. Mabel Morrison and Merville de 

 Lyon are the best whites. 



.\grippina, a Bengal variety, is a perfect 

 gem in the fall. In the hot summer months 

 its blooms lose color, but as cool weather 

 conies on they assume a rich, velvety crim- 

 son, and frost always finds its bushes loaded 

 down with clusters of dark, rich flowers, 

 beautifui both in color and form. 



verfed into nitrate before the plant can use 

 it, and the nitrate formed from ammonia or 

 from stable manure is as readily leached onf 

 of the soil as that which is applie<l in the 

 form of nitrate of soda. 



N. Y. L. says, " Nitrate should be applied 

 only when there is a crop or will immediately 

 be a crop to use them." 



Certainly no one pays :i"cents a pound for 

 nitrate of soda and sows it on land for the 

 fun of it. If fertilizers are not wanted to feed 

 the plants, it is folly to use .soluble nitrates. 



Nitrateof soda will not leach mit of the 



nitrate of soda, or sulphate of ammonia, or 

 fertilizers of all kinds, find that, as a rfile, 

 fheygeta better resull from .sowing early 

 than from sowing lafe, 



.My answer to N. Y. L.'s question there- 

 fore is, sow the M) pounds per acre early in 

 si)ring, and if you lose it from leaehings, 

 sow enough more to make good the loss. 





How to Apply Nitrate of Soda. 



JOSEPH HARKIS. 



" Don't you think," asks N. Y. L. on page 

 113, "it would be more economical. Mr. 

 Harris, to make at least two applications of 

 those -iflO pounds of nitrate per acre :•■ " 



It depends on the weather. Farmers and 

 gardeners always have to take more or less 

 risk. In applying ammonia it has to be cou- 



THE JAPAN ARALIA, FROM A SPECIMEN GROWN IN A ROOM FOR FIVE YEARS, 



soil unless there is water to carry it out. 

 On this farm there is a main drain laid with 

 ten-inch tiles, into which a series of under- 

 drainson forty or fifty acres of land discharge 

 the water. During the winter and spring 

 the ten-inch pipes run to nearly their utmost 

 capacity, but the How gradually le.s.sens and 

 about June 1st stops entirely. In March or 

 April a very heavy rain will increase the 

 How, but I think we have never had a rain 

 in May or June, or July, or August, or Sep- 

 tember, or Octolier, or November that affects 

 the niulerdrains. The drains run in May. 

 A heavy rain at that season rarely, if ever, 

 increases the How of water. The water that 

 is discharged comes from springs or from a 

 saturated subsoil, not from the surface .soil. 



On this farm, therefore, after the land is 

 ready to plow and work in the spring, there 

 is very little risk in sowing nitrate of soda. 

 It wili;not leach out of the soil, for the simple 

 reason that the surface water sinks to the 

 subsoil or to the underdrains. On a side hill 

 some of it may be washed into the valleys, 

 and as I said before we have to take some 

 risk. We are used to it. 



If we sow all the nitrate at once, we may 

 occasionally lose a little: if we sow at twice 

 the soil may be so dry that the second appli- 

 cation can do no good. And I think those 

 who have had more experience in using 



The Japanese Aralia as a House 

 Plant. 



We this month present an engraving of 



one of the most admirable window plants in 



cultivation, namely, .\ralia 



, (or as the botanists now say, 



Katsia) Japonica. Our en- 

 graving was made from the 

 photograph of a plant that 

 ; hail for five years been 

 ; grown in a drawing room. 

 No better proof could be 

 adduced of its ability to en- 

 dure the unfavorable con- 

 ditions peculiar to window 

 gardening than this picture. 

 From the grower of the 

 ])lant we have the following 

 particulars: 



"It was bought, quite a 

 youngplant, from a nursery- 

 man's greenhouse, and aj)- 

 peared none the worse for 

 the sudden change from the 

 moist atmosphere of the con- 

 servatory to the much dryer 

 one of the drawing-room. 

 Fire-heat and gaslight seem 

 to do it little harm as long 

 as the roots are kept well 

 supplied with moisture. An 

 occasional pinch of fertilizer 

 helps to keep it in condition. 

 "This plant has only been 

 re-potted once since I got it. 

 The pot which directly con- 

 tains the roots is not shown 

 in the engraving but an 

 outer one, and between this 

 and the other a layer of 

 Moss is kept. The lloss is, 

 I think, an advantage: as 

 besides making a very 

 pretty fringe of green round 

 the pot, it helps to keep the 

 moisture from evaporating 

 loo rapidly. Had the photo- 

 graph been taken a month 

 later, when the young leaves 

 at the to)) were fully developed, the plant 

 would have looked much better. 



"This plant has never Howered, Inittwoof 

 my friends have Aralias in flower, one of 

 winch has been kept constantly in a sitting- 

 room, and the other, though in agreenhouse 

 over winter, is now flowering in theopen air." 

 " To our correspondent's remarks we may 

 add that the absence of flowers in a plant 

 capable of showing the magnificent leaf de- 

 velopment of the Aralia should be no objec- 

 tion to the plant. At best the flo^\ ers of this 

 species are not remarkably attractive. In a 

 glance over a number of florists' catalogues 

 we observe that the plant is advertised by 

 John Saul, Washington, D.C. Other florists 

 may also be able to furnish stock of It. 



_->--.ii,ij 



The Importance of Good Seed. 



\VM. H. YEOMANS, TALLAND CO., CONN. 



Every grower ought to feel the importance 

 of possessing good seed for the production 

 of his crops. It should possess that quality 

 of vitality that not only makes sure the ger- 

 mination of a large proportion but that ahso 

 gives a vigorous start to the y(juug plant. 



This idea is best illustrated by taking a 

 piece of corn; suppose that the seed is so 

 wanting in vitality that where four or five 

 kernels are dropped in each hill, one at least 



