128 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



June, 1908 



The China Aster 



John Cavers, 



THE China Aster {Callistephus hor- 

 tensis), is one of the best 

 of the annual garden flow- 

 ers. The plants are easily grown, 

 the bloom is profuse, and the 

 forms and colors are various and pleas- 

 ing. It is comparatively free from dis- 

 ease and insect enemies. Its season of 

 bloom is from the end of July until frost, 

 the finest varieties being at their best in 

 the latter part of August and in Sep- 

 tember. The plants are inexpensive. 

 There is no flowering annual that will 

 yield so much in pleasing bloom for its 

 cost as the China Aster. It is worthy 

 of a place in every farmer's garden as 

 well as in village, town and city gardens. 

 The plant is a native of China, and 

 was introduced into Europe nearly 200 

 years ago. It has been well known to 

 American gardeners for a hundred 

 years. The fine forms — variations of 

 the Comet type — that are making this 

 flower popular, have been introduced 

 within twenty years. 



Like the dahlia and chrysanthemum, 

 the China aster is a late-flowering plant. 

 It does not give satisfactory results 

 from forcing or from too early planting, 

 but this development has been at the 

 expense of size and quality of bloom. 



PLANTING AND CARE 



A good, friable loam soil with mois- 

 ture retaining quality is best for the 

 China aster. If the soil be at all in- 

 clined to sourness, a light dressing of 

 quick lime should be given, and well 

 raked in before planting. In such soils, 

 two or three light applications of wood 

 ashes applied during the growing sea- 

 son and cultivated in will also be bene- 

 ficial to the plants. It is not desirable 

 to replant asters in the same ground 

 year after year. Plant . early varieties 

 twelve by fifteen inches ; late varieties, 

 fifteen by eighteen inches. 



In planting, firm the soil well around 

 the roots ; then cultivate often, and as 

 soon as possible after a rain to preserve 

 moisture. As the plant is shallow -rooted, 

 cultivation near it should be light. 



DIS-BUDDING 



If the plant be grown simply as a 

 bedding plant, no disbudding other than 

 taking out the leader bud is necessary. 

 If it is grown for cut flowers, the num- 

 ber of buds should be reduced to eight 

 to twelve ; if for exhibition purposes, two 

 or three only should be allowed to de- 

 velop. In any event, the leading bud 

 should be removed. 



The selection of plants for seed and 

 the sowing of it is a business by itself. 

 Much of the development of this flower 



Oakville, Ontario 



is owing to the production of its seed 

 being specialized by a few men. In 

 this connection the best known names 

 are, in the ' United States, Vick and 

 Semple ; while in Ontario, we have Man- 

 ton and Lock, who have done some 

 good work on this line, but on a much 

 smaller scale than that of the twb 

 former named. 



The following are a few of the best 

 knoVn varieties : Early — Queen of the 

 Market, in white and pink ; Snow-drift, 

 the best early white, and Lavender Gem, 

 pale lavender; second early — Mikado, 

 white; late — Miss Kate Lock, in white 



Selecting Astert for Seed 



Garden of Mr. W. Spendlow, Ottawa. See next page 



and pink ; Royal Purple, a rich color ; 

 Violet King, large and fine, and Branch- 

 ing, in white and pink. 



Lilium Auratum 



Frank Wise, Peterboro, Ont. 



The queen of all lilies is Lilium aura- 

 tum, "the gold-banded lily of Japan." 

 In a partially shaded place, with good 

 soil conditions, and proper treatment, 

 this lily will thrive and grow, and will 

 sometimes reach a height of six feet, 

 bearing quite a number of very large 

 handsomely marked flowers. 



There are several well-defined varie- 

 ties of this lily. In L. a. rubro-vitatum, 

 the band running from the base to the tip 

 of each petal is crimson, the petals being 

 spotted with lake ; this is the most gor- 

 geous flower of them all. The largest 

 is L. a. platyphyllum ; this variety has 

 a much wider leaf than the other three ; 

 the band in the flower is yellow, and 

 the spots crimson. The other two varie- 

 ties are L. a. Wittei, petals pure white, 

 with the exception of a band of yellow 

 in the centre or each ; and L. a. virgin- 

 ale, a deep yellow band, with petals very 

 sparingly spotted. 



So much for the varieties ; now for 

 conditions of soil and treatment. In the 

 first place, select a partially shaded, well- 



drained aspect, sheltered from strong 

 winds. Dig out the soil for a depth 

 of from two to three feet, and fill in 

 with a good fibrous loam mixed with 

 about one third leaf mould which can be 

 obtained from any hardwood bush. 

 Plant the bulbs about six inches below 

 the surface. Do not allow the bed to 

 become dry and the soil baked. Water 

 frequently and well ; thoroughly soak 

 the soil, not merely sprinkle. 



Staking must be looked to as, owing 

 to the great weight of the flowers, the 

 slender stem is apt to break off at the 

 bulb. Do not make the mistake of plac- 

 ing animal manure in your lily bed as 

 lilies are seldom benefitted thereby, but 

 more often damaged. This lily has been 

 known to stand our winters in Peter- 

 boro with a protection of dry leaves 

 placed on in the fall. 



Calves in Orchard 



I have a young- orchard about .'ten 01 

 twelve years old. It has been plowed and 

 manured for four successive years and is 

 troubled with weeds, i. Would it be prof- 

 itable to sow rape on it for calves and how 

 many calves would it pasture ? 2. At what 

 time would it be ready for pasture? 1- 

 rape sown early or late? 3. Could the whoh 

 piece be sown to oats, then fed to dairy 

 cattle and afterwards sown to rape ? 4. 

 At what rate is rape sown, where could 1 

 get the seed and what is it worth a bushel? 

 Is it a good nurse crop. — T. L. L., Leed 

 Co., Ont. 



You might expect to be able to run 

 four or five calves per acre. The number 

 it will be possible to pasture, will be very 

 materially influenced by the character of 

 the season ; that is, of the same area, in 

 a wet season, there will be very much 

 more feed than in a dry season. In any 

 case it would prove profitable to cultivate 

 the land, and sow rape thereon, for this 

 purpose. 2. Rape may be expected to 

 be ready to pasture anywhere from four 

 to six weeks after sown. It may be sown 

 as early as suits the convenience of the 

 faimer, or anywhere up to the end of 

 August. 3. The orchard might advan- 

 tageously be sown to peas and oats early 

 in the spring, the peas and oats cut for 

 green feed, then the land worked up 

 again, and sown down to rape in July. 

 4. When sown broadcast, it will be found 

 necessary to sow from four to five pounds 

 an acre. The seed may be procured 

 from any reliable seedsman. — .Answered 

 by J. H. Grisdale, Ottawa. 



A durable black ink for zinc labels, is 

 made as follows: Verdigris, one ounce; 

 sal-ammoniac, one ounce ; lamp black 

 half an ounce ; rain water half a pint. 

 Mix it in an earthern vessel. Keep in" 

 a bottle. Shake before using, and use a 

 clean pen, (a quill pen is best), on bright ^ 

 zinc. 



