December 2, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



487 



these can be kept over and grown they make the best plants. 

 This is not an easy task, however, and seems to be understood 

 by few. In any case, it is well to sow a few seeds each year to 

 anticipate losses. 



Where hybrid Roses are grown it is best to bring in a few 

 after the Chrysanthemums are all gone. This is also a good 

 time to buy new plants, when necessary. They should be 

 planted in deep boxes rather than in pots. These new plants 

 must not be forced to come in as an early crop, but kept for 

 later use. It is better if they are allowed to start when they 

 please, and the results for the future will pay for the waiting. 

 When pruning Roses at this time it is well to save the growth 

 which is cut off. If the pieces are cut in lengths of about 

 twelve inches, cut clean at a joint at the base and tied in small 

 bunches with names before they are heeled in soil in a cold 

 frame, it will be found in April that there is a callus at the base 

 of each cutting, only waiting to be planted to strike root and 

 make fine young stock on their own roots at the end of the 

 growing season. When planting the cuttings out it is neces- 

 sary to bury them deep in the soil so as to leave but one or 

 two joints visible above ground. This prevents too rapid 

 evaporation of the stored-up sap and will greatly facilitate the 

 formation of roots. I regret that we did not save all the prun- 

 ings last fall when looking at the young Roses raised in this 

 way. 



Winter is closing in rapidly now, and the cold frames where 

 the stock plants of Chrysanthemums and other half-hardy 

 plants are stored must be, in this latitude at least, well lined 

 with dry leaves, kept in place by rough boards. Many of these 

 frames will be in demand for use as hotbeds later on, and the 

 protection is then indispensable. All plants that are suscep- 

 tible to injury from frost should be placed in a heated struc- 

 ture now. With the best care frames are apt to get a little 

 frost at times when the mats are damp or the cold very severe, 

 and many useful things not easily replaced are lost in this 



wa y- jr n n a , 



South Lancaster, Mass. -C. O. Urpct. 



Notes on Roses. 



HPHE stiff-stem fashion has nearly banished the Mare'chal 

 J- Niel Rose from cultivation as a greenhouse climber at the 

 north. Some wonderful specimens of this Rose used to be 

 grown at the Waban Rose conservatories at Natick, Massa- 

 chusetts, when Mr. E. M. Woods first started Rose-growing. 

 Since under the benching system, with houses of improved 

 construction, more and better Roses can be grown with 

 an almost continuous season of bloom, almost all the older 

 intermittent-flowering varieties have gone out of cultiva- 

 tion. In private gardens, where convenient cross sections 

 afford suitable space, no more useful climber can be planted 

 than this old Rose. Hundreds of fine blooms are cut every 

 year from a plant so situated. The Mare'chal Niel is liable to 

 canker, especially when on its own roots, but, so far, our plant, 

 which is now nine years old, has been free from disease. Of 

 the original plant nothing is left but the root-stock, strong 

 shoots from the base having taken its place long ago. In start- 

 ing a new plant the hardened growth of the original plant- 

 should be dispensed with as soon as possible ; in fact, close 

 pruning, without regard to an immediate crop of flowers, 

 should be continued a year or two, if necessary, or until a 

 foundation of good, vigorous wood is made. We prune twice 

 a year. Our object originally was by autumn pruning to get a 

 crop of flowers during late winter and on toward Easter-time ; 

 by spring pruning in April, to clean out old flowering shoots, 

 reduce the bush to the main stems, and get a fresh growth of 

 strong canes, which would be cut to the amount necessarv in 

 autumn again, for another spring crop. But for the last few 

 seasons our plant has bloomed on all summer, not to any 

 great extent, but never at any time have we been without flow- 

 ers, and some of the finest we ever cut ; the stems, in some 

 cases a yard in length, have grown during summer-time. 



We often see hybrid Roses offered in the salesrooms, and of 

 late years the department stores have been selling plants cheaply. 

 They are imported stock, and often good plants. There is no 

 guarantee given with the names, and these are frequently in- 

 correct. Whether true to name or not, they are for the most 

 part standard varieties, probably the leavings of the nursery. 

 Since the department stores have been selling this stock a 

 great number of plants have been bought by people having 

 small places on the outskirts of the city, who probably never 

 would buy a plant of a regular dealer. The condition of many 

 of these plants when bought gives little chance of their grow- 

 ing, and, besides this, in most cases so little is known by (he 

 buyers of the proper way to treat them after being bought, that 



not one in a dozen has a chance for life. To begin with, the 

 big stores make little effort to keep the plants in good condition. 

 I have seen them brought from the city as dry as dust and 

 shriveled beyond hope of recovery. When the packages are 

 opened, plants at all dry should be dipped in water and laid 

 in moist sand (this would be clean to handle), and kept in a 

 cool place until ready for the sale. They would have time to 

 plump up. All plants offered should be kept in moist sand 

 until sold. If nothing better could be done in the way of pack- 

 ing the plants for delivery to customers, a little cheap absorb- 

 ent paper might be put about the roots as a first covering, and 

 finished on this in the way of ordinary parcels. These simple 

 precautions would place the plants in the buyers' hands with 

 some chance of living. 



Roses ought not to be planted until spring. I would rather 

 buy my plants now and care for them myself than trust to a 

 later shipment and find the plants started in transit, which means 

 destruction. I should not do any pruning until time toset them 

 out. Until then they might be kept in boxes, with a little soil 

 about the roots, in a cool cellar, hut it is hardly possible that 

 any but a barn cellar would be cool enough, f would rather 

 set the boxes of plants outdoors, where they would not be 

 swamped with thawing snow, and cover the whole lightly with 

 meadow hay, pine needles or stable litter. When spring comes 

 I would prune them and plant firmly, covering the union of 

 stock and scion, or up to the point where the branches diverge. 



Wellesley. Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Desirable Bulbous Plants. 

 HTHE well-known Cyclamen Persicum is one of the best of 

 -*- its class for the greenhouse, and for window culture if 

 properly watered and the room is not too warm. That Cycla- 

 mens can be raised from seed and grown on to perfect flower- 

 ing specimens in a living-room is doubtful ; but when grown 

 to flowering size in the greenhouse and brought into the house 

 in bud they will continue to flower for two to three months. 



A few nice specimens of Eucharis grandiflora and E. Can- 

 dida will prove useful in the conservatory, and with little 

 management may be had in flower at almost any season. By 

 successive periods of growth and rest it is not unusual to get 

 two or three crops of flowers from E. grandiflora within twelve 

 months, though this is sometimes a strain upon the bulbs. To 

 secure large specimens a number of bulbs should be planted 

 together in a ten-inch pot in a rather coarse compost of 

 fibrous loam, with some peat and sharp sand or crushed char- 

 coal to make the mixture more open, some dried cow-dung 

 and a small portion of bone-dust tor fertilizer. After potting 

 they should be kept in a night temperature of about sixty-five 

 degrees and watered rather sparingly until the plants become 

 well rooted. When well established they should lie freely 

 watered and syringed. A short season of comparative rest is 

 necessary to secure a good crop of bloom. This can be pro- 

 vided by keeping the Eucharis somewhat cooler, and partially 

 withholding water for a time. Care must betaken not to let 

 the plants lose their leaves. Frequent repottings are not 

 needed, but a top-dressing of new soil should occasionally be 

 given, and also occasional waterings with liquid-manure or 

 soot-water. 



The hybrid Amaryllis (or Hippeastrums, as this section is 

 now termed by botanists) include some of the most showy 

 bulbs for the conservatory, andean lie readily brought into 

 bloom in succession throughout the winter and spring. They 

 should not be disturbed after the growth is completed for the 

 year, and repotting should be done immediately after the 

 flowers are over, during active leaf and root growth. Good 

 loam, including a little bone-dust, forms a suitable soil, 

 and plenty ot water, with a growing atmosphere at about sev- 

 enty degrees, provides the conditions for rapid progress with 

 these plants. Alter the leaf-growth is completed, rest is nec( s- 

 sary in a low temperature, with only water enough to keep the 

 bulbs from shriveling. 



Griffinia hyacinthina, another pretty Amaryllid, while long 

 in cultivation, is not by any means common. This plant 

 thrives under similar treatment to that needed by Eucharis. 

 Like the latter, it is evergreen, and requires only moderate 

 drying during the resting season. It lias broad, dark green 

 leaves, somewhat resembling those of Eucharis grandiflora, 

 but more flat and with peculiai ly netted veins. The umbel ot 

 flowers is thrown up on a stou . The individual flowers 



are about three inches in diameter and pale violet in color. 



Some of the Crinums and Pancratiums can also be used to 

 advantage in the conservatory, and have the additional merit of 

 not needing high temperatures to bring them into bloom. 

 Crinum amabile, C. Kiikii and C. Moorei are among the 1 



