I89I. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



233 



Rubrorum, a splendid scarlet variety; PHncess 

 Alexanch'Ui, of dwarf habit, crimson flowers bor- 

 dered with gold. 



In later double sorts, the following are worthy 

 of note: Xhifcc of Yurk, rose-colored with white 

 margin; La Candettr, fine double white; Ln Cita- 

 dellc, fine red, large, having a distinct yellow 

 margin; Miirillo, white, shaded rose, large; Mar- 

 riage clc Ma Fille, white ground feathered with 

 bright crimson, a variety that has long been cul- 

 tivated, but stiU one of the handsomest; PcEony 

 Gold, rich golden yellow; PcBony Bed, deep red; 

 the flowers by their fulness are well entitled to 

 the name— they resemble Pseonies. 



Dealers in bulbs state that their patrons seem 

 content usually to order 

 mixed collections of Tulips, 

 notwithstanding that named 

 sorts are so reasonable in 

 price. Perhaps it is on the 

 assumption that the mixtures 

 contain of the best named 

 sorts. This is only true in 

 measure. Many of the choicer 

 kinds increase with such ditti- 

 culty, that they seldom can 

 be included in the mixtures. 



The Golden-banded 

 Japan Lily. The impression 

 prevailing widely, that this 

 Japan Lily (L auratum) de- 

 teriorates year by year after 

 planting, is not confirmed on 

 these grounds. In a selection 

 of a dozen or more species of 

 Lilies set out early in the 

 spring of 1889, there was a 

 strong bulb of this species, 

 and several of Lancifolium 

 roseum and album. The 

 Auratum flowered well the 

 same season, throwing up a 

 single stem. Last year two 

 stems appeared, each of 

 which produced several hand- 

 some, perfect flowers. At this 

 writing, August 18, the bulb 

 has extended to a clump of 

 four stems, together carrying 

 fourteen flowers, and the 

 plant is in first-rate color and 

 vigor. Of the fifteen species 

 set at the time, the present 

 kind has shown itself not a bit 

 behind any other as a good, 

 healthy grower. Judging by 

 the appearances here, a casual 

 observer would, at the third 

 flowering season after plant- 

 ing, pick out the Auratum as 

 one of the more robust kinds 

 of the lot. The treatment has 

 been simple. The bulb was 

 planted in sandy loam, in a 

 crowning bed, where no 

 water ever stands. The soil 

 is not very rich, no manure 

 having been applied to it 

 since planting, except a light 

 top dressing each autumn. 

 The only fertilizer given at 

 planting, was the sod (two 

 parts) and manure (one part) 

 compost, described under 

 these notes last month. 



Hedchera Sanodtnea. We 

 had hoped to have been able 

 to report bloom on our little 

 tuft of this "Alum Root" the 

 present season, but in this we are disappointed. 

 A plant was set out two years ago, and while it 

 has held its own and gained somewhat in size, it 

 still is small and without bloom. This is a Mex- 

 ican plant, which has received high praise at the 

 bands of cultivators in Europe. 



Monorda or Crimson Balm. This brilliant 

 summer-flowering perennial is not well enough 

 appreciated by flower lovers. Grown in a mass, 

 either in an isolated bed, or in the hardy plant or 

 ehrub border, it .shows a surface of fine, deep- 

 scarlet flowers from June until through August. 

 A bed of it will, during that period, compare 

 favorably with scarlet Geraniums for showi- 

 ness, while the Balm requires but once planting, 

 with an occasional dividing and resetting. Its 

 peculiar merit consists in its perfect hardiness 

 and vigor, neatness of giowth, and the striking 

 beauty of the flowers. It is not coarse or 

 weedy-looking, but suited to adorn the finest 

 lawn. It is a fine type of the Old-fashioned 

 Flowers. It can be bought of any of the hardy- 

 flower nurseries for about 25;cents per plant. 



Green Peas. It is an often mentioned fact 

 that there is very little difference between the 

 various "First and Best" Extra Early Pea varie- 

 ties of the different seedsmen. It takes a sharp 

 eye to recognize any of the new "improved" 

 sorts, Rural New Yorker and Alaska among 

 them, from among a lot of these first-early 

 smooth sorts. They all have the Dan O'Rourke 

 character. 



Yet there is considerable of a difference be- 

 tween different lots; but this difference is due 

 more to the feed than to the breed. Ou ordi- 

 nary soil, and with ordinary treatment, the early 

 smooth sorts are not vigorous, n(jr the pods 

 filled, nor the quality good enough to make their 



sm 



BRANCH OF HEROINE PEA— HALF NATURAL SIZE. 



culture profitable, either tor market or home 

 use. This we noticed to be the case also on New 

 Jersey sandy loam, where gardeners find the 

 production of good Peas of almost all kinds so 

 extremely simple and easy, even with no other 

 but concentrated commercial fertilizers. 



This year we planted the Alaska on rich clay 

 loam, heavily manured with barnyard compost, 

 and such flrst-early smooth Peas we have never 

 picked in any previous season; the vines were so 

 large and thrifty, the pods so numerous and 

 filled as if ready to burst. In quality also we 

 found our Alaska to be almost equal to any of 

 the wrinkled Peas. And all this due to heavy 

 feeding! We shall not hesitate, hereafter, to 

 plant the Alaska for earliest, when we have rich 

 soil to plant it on. Plenty of nitrogenous matter 

 is needed to bring out the leaf-growth, which 

 must be the foundation of well-filled pods. Of 

 course, when thus grown, some sort of support 

 will be necessary for good results. 



For a wrinkled Pea, to follow closely upon 

 Alaska, or any other flrst-early smooth sort, we 



have not yet found anything better than Litlle 

 Gem (McLean's). This, in a wet season, and un- 

 der ordinary soil conditions, we can grow to per- 

 fection with only concentrated commercial fer- 

 tilizers; but if soil is too poor and heavy. Little 

 Gem can stand considerable barnyard [manure. 

 On very rich soil it will need support of some sort. 

 Another of these early Peas, that have done 

 exceedingly well this year, is NotVs Excelsior, 

 which Mr. J. J. H. Gregory had sent us for trial. 

 It also was well filled and of fine quality, on soil 

 of the same character. The test, however, was 

 made on too small a scale to be final. We will 

 have to plant it again, but shall do so with en- 

 tire confidence' in the final result. 



With the AtnencanWomler 

 we have made test after test, 

 and failure after failure. It 

 is much lauded as one of the 

 standard early sorts, suit- 

 able alike for home use and 

 market. The only place 

 where we have found it to 

 do well, however, was in 

 rich old gardens. On soil of 

 only medium fertility, even 

 with most liberal use of con- 

 centrated fertilizers, we have 

 never been able to produce 

 any kind of crop. It is em- 

 phatically a garden Pea, and 

 even when grown under the 

 stimulus of an abundance of 

 nitrogenous plant food, it 

 remains dwarf enough to 

 dispense with brush or other 

 support. It seldom grows 

 more than eight inches high, 

 while on poor soils it may 

 not reach four inches, pro- 

 ducing only few pods, and 

 these as dwarfed and crip- 

 pled as the plant itself. We 

 have done with it forever. 



Of medium and late wrin- 

 kled Peas we have a great 

 number that are really good 

 and reliable; among them 

 Bliss' Abundance and Ever- 

 bearing, Burpee's Quality 

 and Quantity, Stratagem, 

 Teleplwne, Champion of 

 England, and others. 



A really fine Pea of this 

 class is the Heroine, a branch 

 of which, as growing ou our 

 grounds, is shown in an- 

 nexed illustration. Pods 

 and Peas are enormously 

 large, and the latter crowded 

 into the pods, up to twelve 

 in number, as we have 

 seldom seen it in Pea kind. 

 The variety is certainly 

 promising, so far as we can 

 judge from a single and 

 rather limited trial. Seed 

 was received from the in- 

 troducers, Peter Henderson 

 & Co., New York. 



All these later, wrinkled 

 sorts are remarkable for 

 their thrifty foliage. If 

 overstimulated by organic 

 manures, this growth is lia- 

 ble to become excessive and 

 subject to mildew and 

 blight. For best results, 

 therefore, we would recommend the use of only 

 medium fertile soil, and of mineral fertilizers, 

 such as wood-ashes, bone dust, and high-grade 

 commercial manures. No harm is to be feared 

 from even heavy dressings of such fertilizing 

 substances. We usually apply them in the 

 drills, either before or after sowing the Peas. 



In the foregoing we have given the principles 

 which govern us in managing the Pea crop. It 

 only remains to be said that people will find It a 

 hard task to grow good Peas of any of these 

 later, heavy-leafed, wrinkled sort on soils very 

 rich in organic matter, without giving them 

 some sort of support. 



The Gbeen MonNTAiN Grape. We are favor- 

 ably impressed with this new variety. Appar- 

 ently it is one of the earliest sorts in the lot, 

 berries beginning to soften at this writing. 



This talk about the identity of the Green 

 Mountain and Winchell Grapes induced us to 

 send to the introducer of the Winchell for a sec- 

 tion of cane with fruit and leaves. This, when 

 received, was carefully compared with the ■Green 



