THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



125 



Ornamental Beds of Hardy Grasses 





HAVING had several letters from 

 readers of The Horticulturist, 

 enquiring as to the best varieties 

 )f hardy grasses to plant in beds on the 



wn and the position in which they 



ould be placed, I submit the follow- 

 ing: The varieties mentioned should be 

 planted in circles, one around the 

 other, and having a common centre, 

 the whole making a round bed. Num- 

 bering the circles from the outer edge, 

 or grass margin, the distances apart for 

 large or small gardens for good results 

 would be as follows: 



No. one is six inches from the grass 

 margin and planted thick to form a mat. 

 No. two is eight inches from No. one 

 and planted six inches apart in the row. 

 No. three is eight inches from No. two 

 and planted six to eight inches asunder 

 in the row. No. four is 10 inches from 

 No. three and planted six to eight inches 

 apart in the row. No. five is 12 inches 

 from No. four and planted eight inches 

 apart in the row. The centre plant will 

 cover two feet in diameter. 



Thymus vulgaris coccinius may be 

 planted in No. one. This plant forms into 

 a dense mat or cushion, and is covered 

 with scarlet sweet-scented flowers during 

 the summer. It holds its foliage during 

 the winter, and turns to a beautiful 

 bronze purple color on the approach of 

 cold weather. 



The second row I would make almost 

 white. To get this color plant it with 

 Poa trivalis alba vittata, a beautiful, 

 hardy, variegated grass that grows about 

 four inches high. Clip the flower stalk 

 off. 



The third row or ring plant with 

 Armeria, va. ccESpitosa sea (Pink,Thrift). 

 It forms dense cushions of green or 

 grass-like leaves, and throws up numer- 

 ous wiry stems all summer, producing 

 bright rose-colored flowers. 



The fourth row or circle I would plant 

 with Festuca glauca, Fescue Grass. 

 This is often grown as an ornamental 

 grass in conservatories, and few know 

 what a grand bedding plant it is. It 

 is as hardy as an oak tree, and has bluish- 

 green leaves. It grows about six inches 

 high. 



The fifth row plant with Arrenathe- 

 rum bulbosum folia variegata. It is 

 a pretty, bright, variegated grass, grow- 

 ing in tufts, one to two feet high, and 

 quite hardy; not common. 



The sixth, or centre, should be planted 

 with Eulalia Japonica zebrina (zebra 

 grass), named zebra on account of the 

 yellow stripes or bars across the leaves. 

 This plant grows to five feet high, and 

 is the best of the Eulalias, of which 

 there are a number of varieties, natives 

 of Japan. The above arrangement 

 makes a verv ornamental bed. 



Vegetable Diseases 



THE CANADIAN HORTICUL- 

 TURIST has obtained the follow- 

 ing information from Professor 

 Lochhead, of Guelph.in regard to several 

 jjoints debated at recent meetings of 

 the Toronto Branch of The Ontario 

 Vegetable Growers' Association. 



ONION SMUT 



This is one of the most widespread 

 diseases of onions, and every year does 

 a great deal of damage. In every case 

 it is well to practise a rotation of crops, 

 for smut spores may live several years 

 in the ground. Where possible and 

 practicable the transplanting of the 

 seedlings of onions will bring about a 

 crop that is smut-free. It has been 

 found that the young plants are at- 

 tacked during the early part of their 

 seedling stage soon after they germinate, 

 and if the seedlings can be grown in soil 

 that is smut-free there is very little risk of 

 their being inoculated after being trans- 

 planted. 



Many growers of onions, however, 

 object to the transplanting idea and 

 maintain that it would not pay. Never- 

 theless, some of the New York onion 

 growers have taken to transplanting 

 and find that it does pay in bigger 



yields and in little smut. The New 

 York Experiment Station obtained very 

 successful results by spraying a mixture 

 of sulphur and air-slaked lime in the 

 drills with the seeds. They used 100 

 pounds of sulphur and 50 pounds of air- 

 slaked lime per acre. This material 

 was sprinkled in the rows along with the 

 seed and very successful results were 

 secured. 



CORN SMUT 



Corn smut may remain for several 

 years in the soil and when present is 

 liable to infect young corn plants. It 

 differs from the smuts of wheat, rye and 

 oats in that any portion of the young 

 corn plant can be inoculated at any age 

 where growing tissues are present. While 

 it may be of advantage to treat seed 

 corn with formalin before planting, such 

 treatment will not prevent the smutting 

 of corn. 



As it is impossible to spray the young 

 corn plants for the prevention of this, 

 the only thing left to the grower is to 

 remove the boils of smut as they ap- 

 pear, and destroy them. Careful atten- 

 tion along this line from year to year, 

 and a rotation of crops will do much to 

 lessen the ravages of this trouble. 



THE BLACK SPOT ON BEANS 



Bean anthracnose appears first as 

 small dark spots usually bordered by a 

 line of purple. The spots gradually in- 

 crease in size, run together, and form 

 large irregular blotches, that produce 

 depressions in the pod. It sometimes 

 attacks the stems. The method that 

 has been adopted on a large scale with 

 considerable success is to soak the seed 

 in formalin solution for an hour and a 

 half, (this solution is made by dissolv- 

 ing one-half pint of formalin in 15 

 gallons of water) and when the plants 

 are two or three inches high, to spray 

 with the regular Bordeaux mixture, 

 4-4-40 formula. The spraying should 

 be repeated twice or three times at in- 

 tervals of 10 or 12 days. 



ASPARAGUS RUST 



It is interesting to observe the opin- 

 ions of different experimenters regard- 

 ing the treatment of Asparagus Rust. 

 The Germans recommend the burning 

 of the affected asparagus plants late in 

 the autumn after the plant has laid 

 its stock of food for the season. The 

 Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, 

 and New Jersey Station experimenters 

 recommend the same treatment. A 

 Rhode Island experimenter later ques- 

 tioned the advisability of burning the 

 brush in late summer. As late as 1900 

 an Iowa experimenter recommended 

 burning as undoubtedly the best method 

 of preventing the rust. Whatever views 

 we may hold regarding the importance 

 of this treatment, asparagus plants 

 should be carefully cut and burned at 

 the end of the season. It is possible, 

 however, that at this time many of the 

 spores have fallen from the plants. 



Good results were secured on a large 

 asparagus plantation in New York 

 State by spraying with the Resin- Bor- 

 deaux mixture. The sprayings were 

 made August 5 and 17, and September 

 1. The Resin-Bordeaux mixture was 

 prepared by first making the Bordeaux 

 mixture in the usual way, and adding 

 two gallons of stock solution of resin for 

 every barrel of the Bordeaux. The 

 stock resin solution was prepared ac- 

 cording to the following formula: resin 

 5 pounds, potash lye 1 pint, fish oil 1 

 pint, and water 15 gallons. The whole 

 should be boiled until the solution will 

 mix with cold water, forming an amber- 

 colored solution. 



Celery Blight is due to a fungous 

 disease that can be controlled by spray- 

 ing with Bordeaux mixture. At the 

 Central Experimental Farm we have 

 had excellent results by keeping the 

 plants covered with Bordeaux mixture 

 from the time they are set out until 

 autumn. Most injury occurs in dry 

 weather. The usual formula for Bor- 

 deaux mixture is 4 pounds sulphate of 

 copper, 4 pounds lime and 40 gallons of 

 water. This should be applied in a fine 

 spray. — W. T. Macoun, Ottawa. 



