May 27, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



217 



charming' panicled cymes of pink flowers are very effective 

 when massed in the front line of the border. The true Gera- 

 niums, or Cranebills, are all attractive, bright and healthy- 

 looking. Our spotted Geranium maculatum is regarded with 

 favor, and where not native is cultivated. G. sangumea, alow- 

 growing European species, is in bloom from spring until frost. 

 G. pratense is a beautiful plant, whether we look at its hand- 

 somely cut palmate leaves or branched panicles of purplish 

 blue flowers. 



Oriental Poppies are, without doubt, the showiest of all border 

 flowers. Their blooms are short-lived, but gorgeous while 

 they last. Among others we have P. pilosum, P. rupifragum, 

 P. nudicaule and P. alpinum, with the annual varieties, P. som- 

 niferum, P. Rhceas and the Shirley Poppies. 



Paeonia tenuifolia is past, P. paradoxa and P. decora are 

 opening, while the Albiflora and Officinalis groups are one 

 week later. Pseonias and German Iris together in bloom make 

 a beautiful effect, as do blue German Iris and blue Columbines 

 in a bed of Ghent Azaleas all in bloom together. Dicentra 

 spectabilis, the Bleeding-heart, is attractive on the shady side 

 of a shrubbery border. Here it is well placed, as in an exposed 

 sunny place it starts early into growth and is scorched by 

 spring frosts. 



Perennial Larkspurs are shooting up fast. There are numerous 

 kinds, mostly of hybrid origin, with Delphinium elatum as seed 

 parent, at least in the original hybrid. D. formosum is among 

 the handsomest. D. Sinensis is a pretty dwarf species, which 

 we have in blue and white varieties. In intensity of blue it is 

 unapproached. Foxgloves make a striking show. They are 

 most effective for the interior of shrubberies, but in full sun- 

 light they die out quickly. Sweet Williams make a distinct 

 display, and usually border the shrubberies. Columbines are 

 abundant, but being biennial in character and coming and 

 going quickly they are not obtrusive. Some garden varieties 

 may run out, but Aquilegia Olympica is as good as ever, and 

 A. Canadensis, we think, has improved. I recently noted pur- 

 ple forms, and to-day I find one with clear yellow flowers, 

 excepting only purple spurs ; in every other respect it is of the 

 A. Canadensis type. In addition to German Iris, we have I. 

 tenax and I. oxysepala, neat native species with attractive 

 mauve-colored flowers. I. oxysepala is sweet-scented. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Tree Paeonies. — These are among the most uncertain of flow- 

 ering plants in latitudes exposed to even moderately late 

 frosts. They are perfectly hardy, and even if they sometimes 

 unfold their leaves early these are seldom injured by ordinary 

 spring cold, but there seems to be a critical time in the growth 

 of the plants just after the unfolding leaves expose the flow- 

 ering buds. At that time these buds seem to be very tender, 

 and a slight frost or even a sudden check some day from a 

 low temperature seems enough to prevent their further growth 

 for the season. The time during which the buds are so sen- 

 sitive appears to be short, and it will sometimes be found that 

 buds which have been exposed a day or two later than others 

 escape damage. To flower these plants with certainty it is 

 evident that we must take care to furnish temporary protec- 

 tion for a few nights when the buds are in this tender condi- 

 tion. There is some difference in time of moving of the 

 Moutan Pasonies, and the only flowers we have this year are 

 on Gloria Belgarum, and this exception is, perhaps, due to the 

 fact that they unfold later than the others. A well-grown Tree 

 Pasony with fine flowers is one of the most beautiful of garden 

 plants, but one seldom sees in cultivation varieties which are 

 comparable in beauty to the modern herbaceous kinds. A 

 few fine single-flowered kinds have been introduced from 

 Japan in recent years, the best of these being the white-flow- 

 ered ones, which are sometimes pure in color and sometimes 

 tinged with pink in the centre. With their golden stamens, 

 and often fringed petals and glaucous foliage, they are the per- 

 fection of form and coloring. But if I were to grow but one 

 Moutan Pseony it would be Reine Elizabeth, a splendid flower, 

 very double, of a very pure salmon-pink color, deepening 

 toward the centre, and of enormous size. Fortunately, it is 

 not a rare plant, but it requires, like all Paconies, a generous 

 treatment and a few years of vigorous growth to make a 

 good specimen. Gloria Belgarum is much lighter in color, 

 an enlarged form of the ordinary light pink type. 



Elizabeth, N. J. / • N. G. 



Shrubs and Climbers Winter-killed. — Though the past winter 

 was not extremely cold, its effects upon some shrubs and 

 climbing plants in this locality have been very disastrous. We 

 had less snow than in any winter in the recollection of the oldest 

 inhabitant, and, no doubt, this was one reason for the unusual 

 number ot fatalities. One of the oldest of the college buildings 



has been well clothed for years with Ampelopsis Veitchii, and 

 last summer this was in perfect health ; now not more than 

 one-third of the plants are alive. All the plants in a large bed 

 of Diervillas planted three years ago in a moist situation, and 

 uncommonly vigorous last summer, are now killed to within a 

 foot of the ground, while others on higher and drier ground 

 suffered less severely. Some nice bushy plants of Magnolia 

 Soulangeana are killed back almost to the ground. Itea Vir- 

 ginica shared the same fate. A fine specimen of Chionanthus 

 Virginica, standing in a very exposed position, has only barely 

 escaped ; it is now just starting into growth, while others in 

 more sheltered locations are in flower. Some old specimens 

 of Rhus Cotinus have suffered severely where exposed. Many 

 of the evergreens are also badly browned. Last summer was 

 an exceptional season for growth. Some of the Magnolias 

 made shoots over four feet in length, and other shrubs in pro- 

 portion. But the new wood did not ripen and could not with- 

 stand the cold. All the shrubs named are considered perfectly 

 hardy here. 



Solanum citrullifolium. — This Solanum, one of the annual 

 species, is now flowering in the greenhouses here. It grows to 

 about one foot in height. The leaves are about three inches 

 long by two wide, obovate and pinnatifidly lobed, with stem 

 and midrib covered with short prickles. The flowers are bright 

 blue, with yellow stamens, and about one and a half inches in 

 diameter and borne on short racemes. The corolla is deeply 

 five-cleft. I have not yet tried it in the garden, but it looks as 

 though it might prove a good garden annual. We received 

 the seeds from the Munich Botanic Gardens. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J . Canning. 



Correspondence. 



The Elm-leaf Beetle. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have some old and beautiful Elms about my house, 

 and the Elm beetle is already beginning its work on their 

 leaves. Please let me know the most successful way of fight- 

 ing these insects, and I should be also pleased to have some 

 suggestions as to the best way to protect trees on the public 

 streets. 



Springfield, Mass. W. P. C. 



[All the most successful methods of combating the Elm- 

 leaf beetle have been published in this paper from time to 

 time, but the safest way to attack the beetle itself is by 

 spraying with some compound of arsenic. A good formula 

 for a spraying mixture is one pound of London purple, six 

 pounds of lime and four quarts of flour in a hundred gal- 

 lons of water. The lime prevents injury to the foliage by 

 free arsenic, the flour makes the drench somewhat pasty 

 and adherent. Of course, the mixture must be kept stirred, 

 and it must be applied in sufficient quantities and with 

 enough force to touch the surface of all the leaves. On a 

 private place any of the numerous hand-pumps will be 

 found effective, and to reach the top of tall trees an extension 

 pole, such as is used by Dr. E. B. Southwick in the parks of 

 this city, will help to spray any tree that is not more than 

 fifty feet high. The first section of this pole is sixteen feet 

 long and three-quarters of an inch in diameter; the second 

 one is a quarter of an inch in diameter and eighteen feet 

 long ; the third is a bamboo bound to the top of the second 

 one, and it is also eighteen feet long. The second pole has 

 two rings or bands at its base, so that it can run up or 

 down, and is hoisted or lowered by a small rope and pulley. 

 The hose is a quarter-inch orifice and made of rubber-cloth 

 insertion, which is strong and light. For larger trees one 

 man can climb up in the branches, and then by using the 

 pole the entire head of the tree can easily be sprayed. 01 

 course, there are various nozzles like the McGowan, the 

 Cyclone, and almost any of them arc effective. The spray- 

 ing should begin as soon as the beetles commence to work, 

 which is when the leaves are rather more than half-grown. 

 It should be repeated every throe weeks all summer Ion::;. 

 and if the poison is washed off by drenching rain the spray- 

 ing should be made oftener. 



As soon as the larvao begin io climb down the (roe the 

 large limbs and the trunks should be sprayed with the 

 kerosene emulsion. This is made by boiling together six 



