AMERICAN BLIGHT. 



AMERICAN PLANTS. 



A. Belladonna blanda. 



A. Formosissima (Sprekelia formosissima), 



rich crimson. 

 A. Ipngifolia alba (Crinum capense alba), 



white, sweet-scented. 

 A. longifolia rosea (Crinum capense alba), 



rose, sweet-scented. 

 A. lutea (Sternbergia lutea), yellow, flowers in 



autumn. 



Others must always be started in a hot- 

 bed ; 



A. aulica, reddish-brown with greenish stripes, 



flowers very large. 

 A. cleopatra, dark red, margined with white, 



of great substance and very showy. 

 A. crocea grandiflora, vermilion. 

 A. crocea superba, bright orange, large flowers. 

 A. Johnsonii, scarlet, with pure white stripes, 



very showy. 



A. Johnsonii striata, striped. 

 A. Prince of Orange, bright orange, large and 



handsome. 



Culture. When heat is not required, 

 place the bulbs in front of a wall facing 

 south, at least six inches under the surface, 

 giving them a little winter protection : 

 should the growing season be dry, water 

 freely till the plant blooms, but when at 

 rest the bulbs should be kept as dry and 

 warm as possible. When heat is required, 

 use six or .seven-inch pots, placing at the 

 bottom a handful of potsherds and cover- 

 ing them with turfy peat, filling up the 

 pot with a compost of rich loam, leaf soil, 

 and silver sand, leaving only the neck of 

 the bulb uncovered ; the pots should then 

 be either placed in a stove-frame or any 

 other root - temperature, such as the 

 modified heat of a tank or flue, and a 

 few weeks will develop the flowers : 

 immediately the leaves appear, give abun- 

 dance of water, and encourage a vigorous 

 leaf-growth. When the plant has done 

 blooming, gradually withdraw the water, 

 and give the bulbs an entire cessation from 

 growth for eight or ten weeks, when they 

 may again be re-potted and forced as 

 before. 



American Blight. 



A woolly looking substance found on 

 apple-trees and other trees of the same 



class, proceeding from a species of insec' 

 called by some Eriosoma lanigera, and 

 by others Aphis lanigera. The insect L 

 subject to rapid increase, and infests the 

 bark entering the cracks and piercing the 

 sap vessels from which it extracts, the 

 juice, causing wounds which canker, and 

 ultimately destroy the branch. In the 

 winter it retreats to the bottom of the 

 trunk, where it lies dormant during the 

 winter, reascending to the branches in the 

 spring. The trees should be brushed with 

 a stiff brush, and a lather of soft soap 

 applied in the winter, and on any reap- 

 pearance of the insect in spring after this, 

 paraffin or petroleum should be freely used, 

 and well rubbed into the bark with an 

 ordinary paint-brush, which penetrates the 

 cracks and crevices in the bark all the 

 better if half worn out. 



American Plants. 



Under this general name are included 

 Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Kalmias, Le- 

 dums, Andromedas, and others, which 

 are supposed to require what is called 

 bog earth. This, however, is not abso- 

 lutely necessary to their successful cultiva- 

 tion. 



In the following list some choice plants 

 broadly distinguished as American plants 

 are named, which will be found useful in 

 the shrubbery, or in any collection of trees 

 and shrubs. Generally speaking, they will 

 thrive in any good soil, but will do best in 

 peat earth, or in soil with which peat earth 

 has been plentifully mixed. Rhododen- 

 drons, Azaleas, Kalmias, and Daphnes were 

 long supposed to require bog earth for their 

 culture, but they are now found to bloom 

 well in a stiff clay, and such a soil, with a 

 moderate admixture of bog peat and brick 

 and lime rubbish, is found to be admirably 

 adapted for theii growth. If in a garden 

 there happen to be a north wall, or wall 

 which faces north and looks towards the 



