1 48 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 424. 



the standard carries an almost black-purple boss. These hand- 

 some flowers are borne on five-angled stems proceeding from 

 the axils of the leaves in clusters of four or five, and they are 

 individually four inches long by one inch wide. The pinnate 

 foliage is pale green, covered with a silvery down. The plants 

 should be propagated by seed sown singly in four or five inch 

 pots, which should be well drained. The soil is better if pre- 

 pared of about equal mixtures of loam, leaf-mold and sand, 

 with a little charcoal to prevent its becoming sour before the 

 roots have filled the pots. If sown in smaller pots the roots 

 are liable to be hurt in transplanting, and any injury happening 

 to them while young means sure death to the plant. Neglect 

 of caution in this particular has given the Glory Pea the repu- 

 tation of being difficult to cultivate, but when treated as recom- 

 mended above it is not a very untractable plant. Seeds sown 

 at this season will germinate in a temperature of sixty degrees, 

 and if properly cared for the plants flower well in the green- 

 house late in the following winter or spring. 



Northampton, Mass. -£• J • C. 



Hippeastrum Ackermanni. — The Hippeastrums are espe- 

 cially adapted to the American climate. Whether grown in- 

 doors as conservatory or house plants, or in the open ground 

 in the southern states, they grow and flower very profusely. 

 The above old-fashioned species is one of the most common 

 plants now seen in windows and apartments. The plants are 

 generally large and robust, with two or three scapes, each 

 bearing several very large and showy crimson flowers, which 

 last in perfect beauty for several weeks, if kept in a moder- 

 ately cool place. The culture of this species is so simple 

 that anybody ought to succeed in growing it with very moder- 

 ate attentions. The growing season begins early in spring or 

 late in winter, and from that time until September abundant 

 watering is necessary. Afterward water should be given more 

 sparingly, and in the bright autumn months the bulbs will 

 ripen thoroughly. The leaves should not be allowed to die 

 for want of water, even when stored away beneath the benches 

 in a greenhouse. H. Johnsoni is a less common species with 

 a white band down the middle of each segment of the peri- 

 anth. It is of equally easy culture. All species require a rich, 

 fibrous soil. 



Wellesley, Mass. 7 . D. H. 



Hardiness of Aspidistra lurida.— Some remarks on Aspidistra 

 lurida which I recently saw in Garden and Forest remind me 

 to say that it is quite hardy in Philadelphia. Your correspon- 

 dent, Mr. E. J. Canning, found it hardy when living in this 

 vicinity, and I have recently seen a large number of plants 

 used in a narrow border, close to a building, and they have 

 withstood the winter perfectly. It may be hardy much farther 

 north than this, and if so it will prove a most useful dwarf 

 evergreen, and quite unlike any other which we now have at 

 command. It is a Chinese plant, and possibly plants from seed 

 gathered in the extreme northern part of its natural range might 

 endure New England winters. 



Germantown, Pa. JoSfph Median. 



Correspondence. 



Nurseries at Bay Ridge, New York. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — A visit to the nurseries at Bay Ridge, an outlying 

 suburb of Brooklyn on the Bay shore, cannot fail to be inter- 

 esting to the flower lover and highly instructive to the practi- 

 cal cultivator at this season. Here, in the three large estab- 

 lishments of John Dean, James Weir's Sons and John M. 

 Keller, seventy-five glass houses were last week closely filled 

 with Easter plants. Many of these structures are 200 feet long, 

 a few stretching 230 feet, with a span of twenty-two feet. As 

 much as 60,000 square feet of glass and four acres of ground, 

 perhaps, is in use in each one of the places. The enormous 

 trade in cut flowers and plants in cities the year through can 

 scarcely lie conceived by the occasional buyer of a corsage 

 bouquet or a plant in the holiday season. At Weirs', for exam- 

 ple, there are twenty-five greenhouses. For the Easter trade 

 these were largely planted with Lilies, as many as 2,600 pots 

 of this seasonable plant extending 200 feet through the 

 middle of several of the houses. A house of equal length was 

 a continuous bed of the delicate Maiden-hair Fern, Adiantum 

 cuneatum, the plants in five-inch pots. Another was given up 

 to climbing Asparagus, one to Smilax, another to Palms, 

 Araucarias, Rubber-plants and the like, and the most brilliant 

 effect of all was a house of General Grant Geraniums, some 

 2,200 of the plants being in full glow. Besides 30,000 bulbs of 

 the Bermuda Lily in different stages of forcing, some being 



brought on for use as late as Decoration Day, there were im- 

 mense collections of Azaleas and Hydrangeas, at least 1,000 

 plants of each being covered with bloom, the latter very fully 

 flowered and with unusually thrifty foliage. On the side 

 benches in these houses were bedding-plants for the spring- 

 planting trade, as Geraniums, Coleus, Ageratum, Vinca, Lan- 

 tanas and rosy stretches of Alternanthera. One house was 

 given over to propagating. Marguerites occupied 100 feet of 

 space, and Spineas as much more, while there were 5.000 

 Hyacinths forced into flower. This great establishment is 

 exclusively devoted to plants for the Easter trade, to spring- 

 bedding plants and Chrysanthemums. An idea of the quan- 

 tity of stock handled in the city retail flower-shops may be had 

 when it is realized that in the two stores of the Messrs. Weir in 

 Brooklyn, besides all that is grown at Bay Ridge, as many as 

 5,000 to 20,000 roses alone, and some thousands of other cut 

 flowers, are each day bought in New York City, and also during 

 the planting season a great van-load of bedding stuff. 



In each of these great nurseries Lilies were in greatest 

 abundance, Azaleas following in numbers. In Mr. Keller's 

 twenty-eight houses Genistas of both the two common market 

 varieties, Cytisus racemosus and C. Canariensis, were conspicu- 

 ous, and, besides the standard plants of the season, there was a 

 large and interesting variety in which were forced Rhododen- 

 drons, Lilacs, the beautiful broad-leaved Kalmias, Andromeda 

 speciosa, with its dainty bell-shaped white flowers, which are 

 disguised by retail dealers under the name of Canterbury 

 Bells ; Metrosideros, the striking Bottle-brush plant, and beau- 

 tifully berried plants of Ardisia crenulata. In one large space, 

 fifty by eighty feet, obtained by the removal of the dividing- 

 walls of three houses, seven broad benches of Hydrangeas 

 gave an impression of rude vigor, the roof being utilized for 

 baskets of Cattleya TrianaH and Oncidiums. 



In Mr. Dean's houses Azaleas were the most striking feature. 

 The best specimen plants were comprised in about a dozen 

 selected sorts. Niobe, a large double white flower, with lemon 

 tinge at the baseof the upper petals and almost bud-likecentre, 

 was the best white shown, while Bernhard Andrea alba, of 

 snowy whiteness, was also attractive. Dr. Moore was the best 

 pink, a single flower with closely twisted centre, of clear bright 

 solid rose-pink and satiny sheen. Another good flower of this 

 color was Madame Van der Cruyssen, less even in tint, the 

 upper petals distinctly splashed with crimson, and the flower 

 more open at the centre. Empress of India was a delicate true 

 pink with a white edge. The richest color in the entire collec- 

 tion was that shown in the clear rich crimson of the flowers of 

 Le Flambeau. These were rather small, single, almost en- 

 tirely free from spots, with only a faint marking of a deeper 

 shade. Vervasneana showed immense flowers with the inner 

 petals twisted, the outer edge of the petals white, the middle a 

 bright splash of pink. Other notable sorts were Mademoiselle 

 Marie Vervaene, distinct red and white stripe, resembling the 

 Helen Keller carnation ; Czar Alexandre III., brick-color, 

 splashed with red; Souvenir du Prince Albert, clear medium 

 shade of pink, irregularly edged with white, double, small ; 

 Hermione, rich deep pink, very double ; Versicolor, a large 

 single flower of most distinct effect, the petals greenish white, 

 boldly striped and splashed with brick-red, this color some- 

 times occupying a solid quarter of the flower. Besides these, 

 varieties having special merit were Simon Mardner, Louise 

 Pynaert, Sakuntala, Comte de Chambord, Madame de Greve, 

 Antigone and Etandard de Flandre. These varieties were all 

 free from unpleasant tints, the 3,000 plants having an average 

 size of fifteen inches in diameter and eighteen inches in height, 

 in six-inch pots. Of course, there were specimens of much 

 larger size. Easter being a movable feast, the same sorts are 

 not the best for all years, but these were the best kinds this year. 



This season of trade, the largest of the entire year, preced- 

 ing, as it does, the regular spring business, needs long prepa- 

 ration. Indeed, the work tor Easter laps over more than a 

 year. The Lily-bulbs are ordered immediately after Easter 

 and delivered from Bermuda in July, when they are at once 

 potted and placed out-of-doors ; in the fall, after the Chrysan- 

 themums are removed from the houses and severe frost is 

 threatened, the Lilies are brought indoors and kept in a night 

 temperature of forty to forty-five degrees until Christmas or 

 New Year's, when they are urged forward in a higher temper- 

 ature. One bulb is planted in a six-inch pot, and beautiful 

 effects are produced by grouping five or six plants in twelve- 

 inch pots. These masses are three to four feet high and carry 

 thirty-five to forty flowers, the rich foliage being almost as 

 strikingly decorative as the flowers. The Bermuda Lily is 

 grown in preference toLilium longiflorum, because its flowers 

 are more easily produced in abundance under less favorable 

 treatment, and they last longer. This Lily is sometimes called 



