J46 



FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



surface tends only to aggravate its 

 condition, as the ground soon becomes 

 parched. By laying two or three 

 inches of stable litter on the surface 

 of the ground for a distance extending 

 farther than the roots of the tree you 

 will prevent . evaporation from the 

 ground. It will keep the ground cool 

 and moist, and when you do water no 

 baking of the ground will ensue; the 

 tree or shrub will get the benefit of 

 the watering for many days. This 

 mulching of newly-planted trees is of 

 the utmost importance. Many a young 

 tree, evergreen or deciduous, shrubs 

 and fruit trees, all alike, are saved 

 from death by the simple and inex- 

 pensive operation of mulching. 



It is also the only way we can fer- 

 tilize our hardy herbaceous plants. An 

 inch or two of manure laid between 

 the rows in early spring prevents dry- 

 ing out, feeds the roots, and can, 

 later in the fall, be lightly cultivated 

 into the soil. 



MUSA. 



The banana plant is of the easiest 

 possible culture; a rough, rich loam, 

 an abundance of water, heat and room 

 to grow, are all that is required. Occa- 

 sionally we see a bunch of M. Caven- 

 dishii in our northern hot-houses, and 

 if I had the chance of some million- 

 aires I would raise my own bananas. 

 That would be as reasonable as Levi 

 P. Morton producing his own cream, 

 which costs him the same price as his 

 champagne. 



To those who have only tasted the 

 bananas picked green in the West In- 

 dies and ripened in the hold of a ves- 

 sel or heated warehouse and finished 

 off in the sleeping apartment of Giu- 

 seppe Garibaldi, the fresh yellow fruit 

 ripened on the plant is as Mr. Mor- 

 ton's Jersey cream to a very thin 

 sample of skim milk. You are not, 

 however, likely to embark in the ba- 

 nana industry, and as our government 

 will soon own a large part of the world 

 suitable to their culture we will leave 

 that to the new office which will be 

 known as "Secretary of the Tropical 

 Fruit and Tattooing Department." 



Musa ensete, from Abyssinia, and 

 M. superba, from the East Indies, 

 make very ornamental plants for the 

 sub-tropical garden and for specimens 

 on the lawn. You can raise them from 

 seed, or buy young plants at a very 

 low cost. They should always be 

 planted out where a good, fast growth 

 is wanted. 



Though a tropical plant you can 

 store them during winter in a cool 

 house with little water, or they can 

 be lifted, the ground shaken off the 

 roots and laid under a bench, or they 

 will keep in a root-house or cellar 

 when not below 40 degrees, but 50 de- 

 grees is better. 



In sheltered places they make fine 

 specimens on a lawn with their broad, 

 tropical leaves, especially M. ensete, 

 but in windy places their leaves rip 

 and tear, giving the plant a very rag- 

 ged appearance. 



MYOSOTIS. 



We are always asked for some 

 plants of these in early spring. They 

 do not last long in our hot, dry sum- 

 mers. M. alpestris makes a compact 

 little tuft, full of flowers in the 

 spring. 



You can sow the seed in August and 

 plant in cold-frames, where they will 

 winter all right, but if you have any 

 stock it can be divided quite easily 

 and planted in cold-frame in Septem- 

 ber, a few inches apart. 



For years we grew a very useful 

 species of myosotis for cutting in win- 

 ter. It was planted in fall along the 

 edge of the carnation benches, and 

 as it grew entirely outwards and hung 

 over the sides of the bench it did no 

 harm to the carnations except what 

 strength it took from the soil, and 

 that we could afford. We propagated 

 a few dozen by cuttings in late spring, 



bon borders, but are more valuable as 

 a vase plant, for which their graceful 

 but free growth and free flowering 

 qualities are well adapted. They can- 

 not be called a drooping plant, yet 

 their slender but wiry growths have 

 a fine effect in the edge of a vase or 

 veranda box. 



Any good loam will grow them. Lift 

 a few plants in fall and cut back hard, 

 and keep in a cool, light house. In 

 January start with a little heat and 

 you will get plenty of cuttings. Or 

 if you prefer, take off some cuttings 

 in the fall, but they don't root freely 

 unless the cuttings are of recent 

 growth. 



NEPENTHES. 



These remarkable plants are little 

 handled by the commercial florist, but 

 are so striking and curious that all are 

 interested in a knowledge of them. 



Nepenthes. 



kept them in 3-inch pots during sum- 

 mer, and after the carnations were 

 planted we put in a plant of myosotis, 

 not too thickly, one about every three 

 feet. From them we picked sprays of 

 their beautiful flowers all winter. I 

 am not positive, but the species was, 

 I feel sure, M. azorica. M. dissitiflora 

 has large, deep blue flowers, fine for 

 borders, but not as good for cutting 

 as azorica. 



NASTURTIUM. 

 See Tropaeolum. 



NIEREMBERGIA. 



The species of most use to the florist 

 is gracilis, which has slender growth 

 with pretty white and light purple 

 flowers. They were formerly used 

 sometimes for flower beds or long rib- 



They are an important genus in that 

 family of plants which are now known 

 as insectivorous and to which the 

 great Darwin devoted a volume as the 

 result of his marvelous research. The 

 Dionaea muscipula (Venus' fly trap), 

 from Carolina, is the most familiar of 

 the insectivorous plants. Others are 

 its close relation, the drosera, of our 

 northern swamps, and again the fa- 

 miliar sarracenia. 



The nepenthes, are called "Pitcher 

 plants," because the extension of the 

 leaf terminates in the perfect form of 

 a pitcher, lid and all. If they were 

 not called pitcher plants they would 

 remind you much of the large Ger- 

 man pipes, five or six inches in the 

 bowl, which usually have a cover. 

 What part the pitcher bears to the 

 economy of the plant is not fully de- 



