3?6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 447. 



reaches a height of sixty or seventy feet. The head is 

 round-topped andshapely ; the ample leaves are yellowish 

 green as they unfold, and at maturity they are a dark 

 bluish green above and pale pubescent below, turning in 

 autumn to bright yellow and falling early. The flowers 

 are insignificant and borne in unisexual catkin-like clus- 

 ters, and the fruit, as is well known, resembles a small 

 blackberry and ripens here early in July. Not much at- 

 tention has been given to selecting trees for the purpose of 

 securing fruit in greater abundance or of better quality, 

 but even in its natural state the fruit is by no means to be 

 despised. We invite attention to this Mulberry now, how- 

 ever, as one of our most desirable native ornamental trees. 

 It is hardy, and when it is placed in rich soil grows 

 rapidly and gives a dense shade. This week our attention 

 has been called to several of these trees which are grow- 

 ing in the churchyards and private grounds of New York 

 and Jersey City. Some of these specimens are forty or 

 fifty feet high, and the dark green foliage of their broad 

 and compact crowns gives them a beauty which few other 

 trees possess. They deserve to be used much more freely 

 in our parks and private grounds, and, indeed, wherever 

 trees of the second size are required. 



Renanthera Storiei. — On page 284 of the current volume, 

 Mr. Watson describes a plant of this beautiful Orchid in 

 flower, which was shown by Sir Trevor Lawrence at an 

 exhibition of the Royal Horticultural Society in London. 

 The spike in this instance was eighteen inches long, and 

 carried fifty flowers each two and a half inches across. 

 Hitherto the plants in cultivation have not flowered regu- 

 larly, but the possessor of one of them will feel rewarded 

 for his years of care if even at irregular intervals it pro- 

 duces a spike as large and perfect as the one which has 

 been sent to this office by Mr. A. Herrington, from the 

 gardens of H. McK. Twombley, Esq , in Madison. New Jer- 

 sey. Unfortunately, the photograph is not sufficiently dis- 

 tinct for the best reproduction. We may say, however, 

 that these flowers appeared here at the same time as those 

 on the plant of Sir Trevor Lawrence. The plant which 

 flowered in New Jersey has been in the collection therefor 

 several years without showing any disposition to bloom. 

 Mr. Herrington writes that it had become lanky and con- 

 sisted of one stem four and a half feet in height, devoid of 

 leaves on the lower- half, but well furnished with aerial 

 roots. As an experiment, early this year it was beheaded 

 eighteen inches above the top of the pot and the severed 

 portion was repotted. Doubtless this drastic treatment had 

 some influence in inducing the formation of a flower-spike, 

 as one was observed within three months after the decapi- 

 tation, and this ultimately developed into a magnificent 

 specimen of its kind. It bore in all seventy-three flowers, 

 every one opening to perfection. The perfecting of this 

 number of flowers proved a considerable strain upon the 

 plant in its semi-established condition, causing it to shrivel 

 perceptibly, so the spike was cut, and it kept fresh in water 

 a number of days. In the whole Orchid tribe there are 

 few so richly and highly colored as this Renanthera, its 

 flowers being uniformly of a bright crimson, varied with 

 transverse bands of a deep dark crimson, velvet-like in 

 richness and texture. The disposition of the flower-spike 

 and its habit of branching are noticeable for almost geo- 

 metric regularity. The main branch of the flower-raceme 

 grew out at right angles with the stem of the plant, 

 and throughout its entire length of nearly two feet main- 

 tained an even horizontal position. Its four lateral 

 branches, two on either side, grew at right angles with 

 the main branch, keeping the same regular rigid poise. 

 The decapitation of the plant, while evidently hasten- 

 ing the production of flowers, proved a double gain 

 in giving another plant, and a latent bud has since 

 started into growth toward the tip of the old leafless 

 stem which was left in the pot in which the plant originally 

 grew. 



The Double Golden Rudbeckia. — This is the garden 

 name of one of the latest additions to the list of our attrac- 



tive hardy perennials. Mr. Gerard reports that a second 

 season's test proves it to be a plant likely to become gen- 

 erally popular, though we are supplied with almost a sur- 

 plus of yellow flowers in midsummer and later, among 

 which the single Rudbeckias, or Black-eyed Susans, have 

 always been favorites. The plant introduced as the double 

 Rudbeckia has a distinct habit, being tall, growing three to 

 four feet, with unbranching stems and pinnate or palmately 

 parted smooth leaves. The six or more flowers which are 

 borne from each stem on long peduncles are nearly three 

 inches in diameter and pretty double, showing no centre, 

 in color a golden-yellow, but not quite a perfectly satisfac- 

 tory clear shade. They may be rated with the double 

 Sunflowers, Zinnias, etc., useful for bold effects in the gar- 

 den or decoration. The plant is probably a sport or 

 variety of R. laciniata. Mr. Gerard suggests that the 

 flowers resemble in form those of a Cactus Dahlia, but 

 their somewhat muddy color is against them. 



Cultural Department. 

 Fall and Winter Care of the Vegetable Garden. 



HPHERE is one particular in winch many gardens, even 

 -*- those in which their owners take great pride, are sadly 

 neglected, and that is in their treatment during the fall and 

 winter months. After a crop is gathered no further attention 

 is given the soil until it is wanted the next spring, and many 

 a garden, which, during the spring and early summer, is well 

 cared for, neat and attractive, is a waste of bare ground or of 

 rank weeds and scattering vegetables for the remainder of the 

 year, making it anything but attractive. There is not only no 

 need of this, but it lessens very materially the productive 

 capacity of the garden. The farmer finds it absolutely neces- 

 sary to occasionally seed down his fields. Why? So that the 

 soil may be lightened, loosened and filled with fine roots, giv- 

 ing it what Professor Bailey aptly calls "fibre," but many of 

 our gardens have been in cultivation for years, utterly regard- 

 less of conserving this quality which the farmer finds so neces- 

 sary, and in consequence we are forced, in order to get a crop, 

 to use an excessive quantity of manure, to the detriment of 

 the quality of our vegetables. This deterioration of the soil 

 can be prevented and our gardens be made attractive, or at 

 least not repulsive, through the whole year by the use of soil- 

 ing crops. As soon as a crop of Lettuce, Radish, Peas, Beans 

 or Corn is past, let the ground be immediately cleaned, culti- 

 vated, and sown with Crimson Clover, Rape, Peas, Rye, Tur- 

 nip or some other crop. It mav be that from the want of 

 moisture the seed will not start immediately, but if not the 

 spot will not look untidy, and after the first rain the plants will 

 soon cover the ground, shading it from the injurious heating 

 by the sun, filling the soil with roots, catching and holding 

 fertility which otherwise would be lost, and, by no means 

 least, making a spot which would otherwise be unattractive, 

 beautiful. We know of one case where the growing Clover 

 was so beautiful that the owner could not bear to spade it 

 under and sacrificed one season's crop of vegetables to its 

 beauty. We think there is no way in which manure can be 

 made so available for the next season's crop as by applying it 

 to such a soiling crop in the fall or early spring. It there is 

 much trouble from insects we can do much to rid ourselves 

 of them by spading or plowing the crop under, the day before 

 the final freeze-up in the fall, thus breaking up their winter 

 quarters and exposing them to frost and ice ; but we think the 

 greatest benefit to the soil would result from leaving the crop 

 until a few days before the ground is wanted in the spring. 



Detroit, Mi 



Small Fruits. 



Will. IV. Tracy. 



"TOURING the month of September preparations should 

 *-^ commence for another season, and upon the treatment 

 now given the supply of fruit will largely depend. The 

 old canes of Blackberries and Raspberries should be cut 

 away and a requisite number of the strongest of the young 

 ones tied to the wires or stakes, the weaker ones being 

 removed to concentrate the vigor of the plants and allow free- 

 dom of light and air to those that are left. 



If left untied the young canes are sure to be more or less 

 broken or injured by storms. Frequent hoeings will be re- 

 quired to keep down weeds, and all suckers should be dug up 

 as they make their appearance, unless the making of a fresh 



