44 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 414. 



Peaches and nectarines grown in England, if of good 

 quality, find a ready sale, and suffer nothing from the com- 

 petition of foreign supplies, which are either of inferior 

 sorts, unripe, or too much damaged to find much favor. 

 Expert growers of these fruits contrive to maintain a supply 

 from April to November by cultivating a variety of sorts 

 under different temperatures. Mr. Munro says there were 

 often a thousand boxes of English-grown peaches and nec- 

 tarines disposed of daily last year in Covent Garden. I 

 have tasted here peaches from California which compared 

 favorably with the English-grown fruit. 



Grapes are in greater demand than ever. Enormous 

 * * quantities are imported from the Cape, Spain, etc., yet cul- 

 tivators in this country find this fruit a profitable invest- 

 ment, the acreage of glass devoted to it being largely 

 increased every year. 1 am told that good grapes grown 

 under glass in England pay at one shilling per pound. 

 The varieties cultivated are chiefly Alicante, Black Hamburg 

 and Gros Colman. About one thousand tons of English- 

 grown grapes are now annually marketed in this country, 

 and nearly twice that quantity are received from the Chan- 

 nel Islands, where grape-culture has become a staple 

 industry. Even Belgium sends forced grapes to the English 

 market, about two hundred tons being received from that 

 country last year, a prohibitive duty practically closing the 

 Paris market to them. 



Cucumbers at one time were largely imported from the 

 Continent, but now English growers supply the Continental 

 markets as well as their own. Mr. Munro estimates the 

 supply of this fruit from March to the end of July at about 

 fifty thousand per day. 



The increase in the consumption of Tomatoes in England 

 within the last ten years has been phenomenal. They 

 are a certain source of profit to the beginner with limited 

 capital, being easily grown and marketed and readily sold. 

 The quantity of house-grown fruit that passed through 

 Covent Garden Market alone from March to November is 

 estimated at two thousand tons, and this is probably only a 

 tithe of what is marketed throughout the country. I know 

 a market grower in the provinces who cannot sell apples 

 and pears at any price, while his tomatoes offered direct to 

 the same consumers sold readily at sixpence per pound, 

 the price asked for six pounds of apples. My friend pro- 

 poses to leave the supply of apples and pears to the 

 foreigners, and to devote himself entirely to tomatoes and 

 cucumbers. Tr , ,_.. , 



London. W. Wa/S0/1. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Chrysanthemum, Mayflower. 



THIS plant was raised in 1S92 from seed of Fascina- 

 tion by Mr. John N. May, of Summit, New Jersey, 

 and it was exhibited for the first time in the autumn 

 of 1893, but it received comparatively little notice on 

 account of the fact that it was rather too early for the 

 great exhibitions. It was distributed in the spring of 1894, 

 and at the autumn exhibitions that year it took prizes 

 wherever it was shown, while the flowers sent to market 

 by Mr. May brought higher prices than those of any other 

 variety. The plants had a remarkable sale last spring, and 

 in the autumn the flowers took the leading prizes in most 

 of the great cities of the United States wherever white varie- 

 ties were in competition. It is a first-rate flower for com- 

 mercial purposes, and ranked last year in our leading 

 markets as the best of its season. It is a sturdy grower, 

 with large handsome leaves and remarkably stout stems, 

 carrying erectly massive, though not coarse, blooms 

 of a pure white color and of firm texture. It has 

 the light and somewhat fluffy appearance of many 

 Japanese incurved varieties, and the florets are wavy- 

 twisted, the lower ones being reflexed (see fig. 5, page 45). 

 It was at its best this year during the last week of October 

 and a few days into November, though, with careful man- 

 agement, Mr. May thinks it can be carried well into the 



middle of the latter month. Last year the largest flowers 

 measured eight to nine inches through and from twenty- 

 two to twenty-five inches over from the lower petals on 

 one side to the same point on the other. 



Cultural Department. 



Lily Blight. 



THE Lily blight, which has not troubled plants in this 

 locality to any extent for a number of years, was noticed 

 here last season on a good many species. It seems to attack 

 Lilium candidum first, and spreads from it on to the other 

 early sorts. I have noticed the blight on the fall growth of the 

 leaves of L. candidum, and have wondered if it did not winter 

 on ihese and spread in spring from them. It was noticed as 

 late as December, after cold weather had set in. Of course, 

 one's opinions formed from a single year's experience may 

 not be correct, but, from what I have seen, I am led to believe 

 that a timely and thorough application of the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture will overcome it to a great extent, if not entirely. I was 

 surprised to note that our native Lilies were among the first to 

 be troubled. L. Canadense, L. superbum and L. Philadelphi- 

 cum were troubled, but it did not apparently injure their bulbs. 

 It may be that, though the mixture was applied to these after 

 the disease had made considerable progress, it prevented its 

 descending to the bulbs. L. Humboldtii and L. croceum bulbs 

 seemed to suffer more than any others noticed. L. Parryi was 

 cut down by it, but the bulbs were left apparently sound. L. 

 giganteum and L. cordifolium both were injured. A bed of 

 the two or three varieties of L. speciosum, which had come 

 up very early and had been nipped by the late spring's 

 trost, were cut back by the disease, while other lots of this 

 same Lily were not touched. The bulbs of L. speciosum 

 were not apparently injured, except that they did not make 

 any growth. The blight had made a good foothold before I 

 was prepared to apply the remedy, and on this account I 

 believe that if I had 'taken it in season very little damage 

 would have been done. It had gone so far that the flower- 

 buds of L. Leichtlini began to droop and they seemed past 

 help. I was surprised to see these recover after the first appli- 

 cation and develop good-sized blooms. A friend who had 

 been troubled with the disease, in another state, had advised 

 me to cut down at once all stalks that had been affected. I did 

 so with every plant of L. croceum, and they were injured in 

 the bulbs the most of any. I believe if I had not cut them down, 

 but had used the mixture on them, I would have saved all of 

 the bulbs. I noticed that some species could be entirely cut 

 to the ground with the blight and still no apparent damage 

 was sustained by their bulbs. Others, like L. Humboldtii and 

 L. croceum, would be affected. A bed of L. Nepalense had 

 been planted very late, the bulbs having been brought that 

 same year from Burma. As soon as these began to form 

 leaves of any size they were attacked by the blight. I applied 

 the remedy several times very thoroughly, and saved nearly 

 all. They gave very fine blooms and were the last Lilies to 

 Hower, some buds opening after the leaves had frozen turning 

 dark. 



I think the best time to apply the remedy is before it shows 

 itself, or immediately after. It will not do to wait long after 

 the first spots are noticed. The mixture should be applied in 

 a fine spray to the upper surface of the leaves and also to the 

 stalks, so as to. completely cover them. I found that the mix- 

 ture was more effectual when used soon after it was prepared. 

 To facilitate the application of the mixture I prefer to have my 

 Lilies in rows, two or three abreast, and the rows far enough 

 apart to admit a narrow cultivator. In beds it is almost impos- 

 sible to touch all of the leaves and stems in the centre of the 

 bed with the mixture. Of the Tiger Lilies, the variety called 

 Splendens seemed free, or nearly so, while both the common 

 Tiger Lily and the double Tiger Lily were affected. 



The blight was noticed more or less on about every species 

 I had, but on some of them it was very light. I noticed that 

 L. Henryi seemed least affected, although it was near plants 

 of L. candidum. This species, if it will stand cold weather, is 

 one of the,surest to succeed. Young Lilies, too small to 

 bloom, were soon cut back. The blight seems to prefer their 

 more tender leaves. A lot of small L. Canadense cut back in 

 this way very early in the season were transplanted and the 

 bulbs seemed to be perfectly sound. Young bulbs of L. Wal- 

 lacei were affected, and when these were reset many had to be 

 discarded. These had been entirely killed down to the ground 

 before the mixture was applied. 



