78 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 355 



Star of Eisenach (A. subcaer ulcus) Dr. Eckner {A. novae-angliae) 



Wonder of Stafa {A. Thomsoni) Mt. Rainer {A. novae-angliae) 



King George {A. amelhts) Charles Wilson {A. novi-belgii) 



General Pershing {A. amellus) Skylands Queen {A. novi-belgii) 



Silver Spray {A. cordifolius) Helen Durward {A. laevis) 



Harrington's Pink {A. novae-angliae) Remembrance (A. novi-belgii) 



Mr. Everest (A. novi-belgii) Campbell's Pink (A. oblongifolius) 

 Burbank's Charming (hybrid of unidentified parentage) 



A form of the rather rare white novae-angliae sent by an amateur in Wash- 

 ington State to Waltham for trial proved superior to the type and has been named 

 Mt. Rainier by the investigator. This Aster was shown at Horticultural Hall 

 and received the Award of Merit of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



By popular acclaim the most attractive fall-blooming Aster in the collection 

 was Harrington's Pink, a novae-angliae discovered in a small nursery in Cedar 

 Point, Iowa. It is the only true pink Aster in cultivation and promptly received 

 the Award of Merit of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. This variety 

 has been crossed with several others in an attempt to produce some clear pink 

 dwarfs of which none exists at present. 



The long stalks of such varieties as Dr. Eckner, Ryecroft Purple, Red Cloud, 

 and certain others are unattractive. It was found that these plants, which usually 

 grow to six feet, can be pinched back advantageously June 1 and again July 1, 

 reducing the height and greatly improving the appearance. 



If exhibition plants of novae-angliae and novi-belgii are desired, only one shoot 

 from a clump should be allowed to grow. 



Amellus varieties, of which King George, Rudolph Goethe, and Jacqueline 

 Genebrier are examples, flowered best as two-year-old plants. On the other hand, 

 the novi-belgii group, which have given more garden varieties than any other 

 species, should be divided each year. 



With the exception of subcaertileiis and alpinus, which should be planted in the 

 spring, it made little difference whether Asters were set out in April or September. 

 Planting after growth is well started in mid-May will result in stunting. October 

 planting does not allow plants sufficient time to establish themselves before 

 freezing weather. Many varieties will survive after delayed autumn planting 

 but it is a practice uncertain of success. 



Carl Frikart's splendid Aster, Wonder of Stafa (Switzerland), a seedling of 

 Thomsoni, has failed to survive at Waltham three winters out of five. 



Attempts to cross several species and varieties have resulted in very few viable 

 seeds. Most of the popular named hybrids are sterile. 



Clematis Propagation. (George Graves, Waltham.) Whole-stem, summer- 

 made internodal cuttings from potted plants of various hybrid varieties indoors 

 showed considerable variation in rooting time. This variation was due, appar- 

 ently, to age and time of cuttings, or to auxin treatment at time of making. 

 Rooting media, humidity, and moisture control or other cultural particulars were 

 applied generally and cannot be looked to for variables. 



Since single-node internodal Clematis cuttings are awkward to handle, auxin 

 was applied in dust form (talc or charcoal impregnated with naphthalacetic, 

 indoleacetic, or indolebutyric acids) to bases of individual cuttings. Results in 

 these beginning tests were mixed. On the whole, talc seemed to be a better 

 carrier than charcoal. Easy-rooting varieties such as Mme. Edouard Andre or 

 Countess de Bouchard were much accelerated in rooting by auxin treatment. 

 On the other hand, some of the stem-rooting varieties which do not seem to root 

 at the extremity of the cutting did not show such speeding up. In fact, check 



