316 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



and fine truss, foliaged beautifully, zoned with 

 darkdiocolate. PolarStar, the purest white and 

 very hirj:,e cluster. Rose Reudaller, brightest 

 rose, s{)()ttc(l with white, very beautiful. Su- 

 perba, l)riglit searlet, with white eye. Victo- 

 ria, violet crimson, white centre. All of these 

 varii'ties are particularly choice, and will of 

 thciusehes compose a brilliant garden of un- 

 numbered dyes. Verbenas are easily raised 

 from seeds, and they excel in rapidity of 

 growth, and profusion of flowers those that 

 are obtained from cuttings; but one is not 

 as sure of choice and brilliant coloi-ing, so 

 it is always well to supply oneself with both 

 seedlings and plants. The flowers raised fi'om 

 seedlings are nmch more fragrant than those 

 j>ro(iucc'd from cuttings. In a natural state 

 the verl)ena is usually fragrant, but after hav- 

 ing been rooted again and again, it loses this 

 attribute. The more delicate colors are al- 

 ways the most fragrant. Properly cultivated, 

 seedlings Avill give better satisfaction than 

 plants. They will not grow on the same lo- 

 cality, year after year; if so planted, they 

 will be liable to attack from the root lice, which 

 soon kill the plant. They require a sandy 

 soil, — two or three inches of pure sand scat- 

 tered over the surface of the bed will keep 

 the heat of the sun, and make them bloom 

 profusely. Soap suds given once a week will 

 also increase their growth. They seed very 

 abundantly if not far removed from the mother 

 plant, and in mild climates will often sow 

 themselves if straw or hemlock boughs are 

 thrown over the bed in the autunni. The tiny 

 leaves, when they first start, resemble weeds, 

 and they should not be touched until the rough 

 serrated leaves of the plant have developed 

 themselvf's. 



Among all the numerous varieties of bedding 

 out plants upon which we can always de- 

 pend for a gay and brilliant garden, the ver- 

 bena takes first rank. Every year sees a 

 great increase in new varieties, which excel 

 in size and brilliancy and in variety of color- 

 ing all that have lieen produced in former 

 years. Thev are all raised from seed, and Pe- 

 ter Henderson grows thirty thousand plants 

 yearly, from which he selects one in a thou- 

 sand to present to the trade as No. 1 [)lants. 

 Among those that were produced last season 

 are Annie, pure white, striped with crim- 

 son ; Black Redder, very dark maroon ; 

 Conspicua, ruby searlet, white eyes ; Cupid, 

 large white, tinted with pink ; Distinction, 

 solferino, dark eye ; Fire Cloud, fiery scarlet, 

 yellow eye ; Formosa, large pink, white eye ; 

 Monarch, large bright scarlet ; Punctata, spot- 

 ted and striped with carmine ; Ruth, lilac 

 blue ; Sensation, waxy white, carmine eye ; 

 Snow Storm, purest white ; Tricolor, carmine, 

 crimson and orange ; Unique, Avhite carmine 

 spot. 



All these varieties are distinctive and beau- 

 tiful,-5-some of the separate flowers meas- 

 ure an inch in diameter, and the whole truss 



or cluster is enormous. For many years the 

 culture of the verbena has been a specialty 

 with Air. Henderson, and the j)lants he selects 

 are sure to excel in profuse flowering and 

 great beauty of coloring. 



Verbenas will g»ow and bloom with very 

 little care, but they flourish nuich better if 

 their desires are attended to. In August, cut- 

 tings must be struck for the winter, and snuiU 

 pots can be sunk in the beds, and the thrifty 

 branches pinned into them with hair pins. 

 They will not bloom in winter unless plenty of 

 light and air is aflbrded them, and they do 

 not reijuire a great supply of water, — often 

 one fails to grow them on account of wa- 

 tering too freely, (ireen lice — aphidas — are 

 their great pest, but they can be brushed off 

 with a chicken wing, or the plants can be 

 placed under a tub with a saucer of hot coals 

 and some twbacco and smoked. Lice cannot 

 live where plants are daily showered. The 

 root lice are more formidable enemies, and if 

 they once take possession of your plants, it is 

 best to pull them up and throw them away. 

 If the j)lant is very valuable it may be saved 

 by taking it up and washing all the roots in 

 tepid soap suds. The lice fasten themselves 

 directly about the stem and suck out its life. 

 Fresh soil rarely engenders these plagues. It 

 requires much care and daily attention to cul- 

 tivate a beautiful garden. No fanner grows 

 a crop of corn or cabbages M'ithout some la- 

 bor. Since it was decreed that man should 

 eat his bread by the sweat of his brow, toil 

 and care have been required of him, if he 

 would make his land support him. So it is 

 with flowers, — it does not do to plant out our 

 flowers and then let them alone ; nor to care 

 for them assiduously one week and neglect 

 them the next. They demand of us daily at- 

 tention, if we would have tliem grow in grace 

 and beauty. In the drought of summer they 

 must have water, or they will give you no 

 tlowers, — it must be given them nightly or they 

 will dry up. Irrigation is cpiite as essential 

 upon many a New England farm and garden, 

 as it is upon the fruitful fields of Utah. We 

 should raise much larger crops, much finer 

 fruits and a much more abundant supply 

 of flowers, could we pull up the sluice Avay at 

 our door and let the refreshing, cooling wa- 

 ters flow among our crops and flower beds, as 

 do the JNIormons. The time is coming when 

 more attention will be paid to this method of 

 fertilizing. Last summer's intense heat showed 

 us its necessity, and this season threatens to 

 teach us another lesson. So, fair friends, let us 

 set hogsheads under the eaves to catch the rain 

 when it will condescend to fall, and let us give 

 the thirsty flowers a good drink of it every 

 nightfall. Tubs of water can be drav/n from 

 the acpieducts or pumps every morning and 

 allowed to warm in the sun, and when it has 

 gone to rest we can plentifully besprinkle the 

 lovely flowers which so fully repay us for all 

 the toil and care we give them. s. o. j. 



