5o8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 460. 



These need abundant ventilation on every favorable day, and 

 the sashes should be thrown off' entirely on mild days. 



In some localities such perennials as Helianthus multiflorus 

 plenus, Anemone Japonica, Tritoma, etc., should be lifted and 

 stored in a frame, and a coating of leaves is sufficient protec- 

 tion for them. Here they are hardy, except in the more ex- 

 posed locations, where we protect with partially decayed 

 leaves. A frame is the best place to store Chrysanthemum- 

 stools for next season's stock, and planted out in good com- 

 post they give an abundance of stout fleshy cuttings in spring. 

 They are not injured if frozen stiff for a few days, provided 

 they thaw out in the dark, a rule which applies to all frozen 

 plants. Hard-wooded plants, like Azaleas, Genistas, Diosmas 

 and Chorozemas, can be held in frames if protected, while 

 Deutzias, Hydrangeas, Hybrid Perpetual Roses, and forcing 

 shrubs in variety can be stowed under some of the sashes. If any 

 of the pots are liable to be broken by frost, it is well to pack 

 dry leaves among them. Dutch flowering bulbs placed in 

 frames can be more readily examined, and taken indoors when 

 needed, than if bedded in manure and straw out-of-doors. 



The uses of frames are many. They provide a suitable 

 place for a large number of plants which cannot be kept in 

 heated structures, and in the early spring- they can be utilized 

 for raising crops of Radish, Lettuce, Beets, Carrots, Beans, 

 Cucumbers and other vegetables, to say nothing of flowers in 

 variety. After they are covered with snow it often happens 

 that little attention is given them until spring, and, of course, 

 it is useless to expect any returns when they are so neglected. 

 No watering should be done except on the mornings of clear, 

 bright days, or injury from damp will follow. Ventilation on 

 every favorable opportunity, all possible light, and attention to 

 covering materials are important and necessary during winter 

 for good returns. 



Taunton, Mass. W. N. Craig. 



Sternbergia macrantha. 



'"PHIS interesting plant flowered with me for the first time in 

 -*• late November, or several weeks later than its normal 

 season in European gardens. The species was collected by 

 Mr. Whittall in 1893 and introduced to cultivation the next 

 year. The original bulbs were some unknown specimens 

 brought in by his collectors, and he was pleasantly surprised 

 when they first flowered, unplanted in an odd corner. Like 

 the Colchicums, this Sternbergia flowers in the fall and the 

 leaves appear in late winter. The flowers are large and of a lighter 

 yellow than those of the better-known S. lutea, and altogether, 

 from its shorter scapes and absence of foliage at the time of 

 bloom, it can scarcely be considered as desirable a general 

 garden plant. It is, however, a novel and charming addition 

 to the garden at a time when cheerful flowers are not too 

 plentiful. Under what conditions it will best prosper I have 

 not yet satisfied myself, after growing plants in different loca- 

 tions. It is probable, however, that warm, sunny places in- 

 clined to dryness in summer would suit this species, as they do 

 S. lutea. The " Winter Daffodil " seems to be a capricious 

 plant if not properly located, but a most reliable and indispen- 

 sable one if properly placed, and grown in fair-sized clumps. 

 Bulbs increase with fair rapidity. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. J.N.Gerard. 



Correspondence. 



Early California Oranges. 



Sir.-^The first shipment of California oranges this year was 

 sent to Chicago October 19th. They were described as " Aus- 

 tralian Seedlings " and were grown in the Cahuenga valley, 

 near Los Angeles. It has since been ascertained that they 

 were Mediterranean Sweets and, so far as they purported to 

 be oranges of the crop of 1896-7, were a misrepresentation, as 

 they were oranges of last season which had remained on the 

 trees through the summer. The car was consigned, and it is 

 said netted a loss. 



The first shipment from the Redlands district, which is 

 among the earliest of this season's crop, consisted of two car- 

 loads forwarded to New York City November 17th. The first 

 car-load last year went forward November 30th. These 

 oranges were sold at $2.75 a box, free on board, and thus 

 netted the growers $2 00 a box, a good price, although not high 

 enough, in my opinion, to warrant sending green fruit to mar- 

 ket. Since November 17th several car-loads of Navels have 

 been forwarded, and one firm alone is now sending one car- 

 load every day. The press of California is unanimous in con- 

 demning these early shipments. Oranges which have hung 



upon the trees through the summer are not fair representa- 

 tives of California fruit. Much of their juice has evaporated 

 through the skin, and the result is a flabby, tasteless product. 

 The early shipments of this season's crop are of green fruit, 

 and it is difficult to understand why anybody should want to 

 eat a green orange, which is no more pleasing in taste than a 

 green apple or a half-ripe peach. Certainly those who buy 

 and eat these oranges must form a poor opinion of California 

 oranges. 



I have been riding among the Redlands Orange groves 

 everyday for the past three months. October 19th, when the 

 first shipment went forward, an orange here and there among 

 the trees of these groves was just beginning to show tinges of 

 yellow, in little spots about as big as a twenty-five cent piece. 

 To-day, in the locations where oranges ripen the earliest, much 

 of the fruit is still perfectly green ; some of it is half-yellow, 

 and some a pale, sickly, lemon color. Here and there a tree 

 ripens its fruit earlier than the others, and this early fruit is 

 culled from the whole orchard. On some trees all shades, 

 from deep green to a pale yellow, are seen. Two months 

 from now this fancy fruit, if left on the trees, would have a 

 bright reddish yellow color, burnished like bronze, and the 

 sour, insipid, unwholesome juice which it now contains would 

 be ripened into nectar. Not the least unfortunate thing about 

 these early shipments is that they diminish, by their volume, 

 the amount of fancy fruit which might be sent later to estab- 

 lish a reputation for the California product in the markets of 

 the east. 



Experience has shown that the portion of this early fruit 

 which reaches the market between Thanksgiving and New 

 Year's sells usually at satisfactory prices. After the first of 

 January there is a lull in the demand for California oranges 

 until the first of February or later. And those shipments 

 which have reached the eastern markets just too late for the 

 holiday trade have invariably netted losses. This shows that 

 consumers buy these oranges for holiday decorations, and not 

 because they consider them fit to eat. and the fact is that no 

 California oranges are fit to eat before the first of February. 

 So long as growers can command two dollars a box, net, for this 

 early fruit they will doubtless continue to sell it, regardless of 

 the ultimate effect upon the reputation of their product. This 

 is a short-sighted policy, especially as the best of these Navels 

 netted the growers last year $1.75 a box as an average for the 

 season. It seems, to outsiders, hardly worth while to impair 

 the strength of the later demand for a gain of twenty-five 

 cents a box on a few early car-loads. Furthermore, it is un- 

 derstood in California that the Mexican and Jamaica oranges 

 now in the eastern markets are far superior to the unripe Cali- 

 fornia fruit, and the latter must be sold, if at all, upon the 

 reputation of the Navel orange, which reputation these par- 

 ticular specimens tend to injure. The newspapers of Cali- 

 fornia are justified in discouraging these shipments and in 

 giving the fullest possible publicity to the facts in the case. 



Redlands, Calif. William M. Tisdale. 



Meetings of Societies. 



Vermont Horticultural Meeting. 



'"PHE first important horticultural meeting ever held in this 

 *■ state met at Burlington on December 3d, when the Ver- 

 mont State Horticultural Society was permanently organized, 

 with a large membership. Mr. T. L. Kinney, the largest apple 

 grower in Vermont, was made President, and Professor F. A. 

 Waugh, of Burlington, was elected Secretary. 



Mr. Charles A. Hinsdill, speaking on "The Farmer's Fruit 

 Garden," said that few farmers in southern Vermont supply 

 their own families with fruit. They even buy berries to can, 

 which are frequently shipped up from the New York market. 

 The few who have undertaken small-fruit culture have thus 

 found the local markets exceptionally good. There are num- 

 bers of summer visitors from the city in the vicinity during the 

 fruit season who consume quantities of berries which now 

 come mostly from the city markets. 



Mr. L. M. Macomber, in speaking on Plum-culture in Ver- 

 mont, said that the hardiest varieties of the Domestica class 

 may be depended on for a full crop of plums about once in 

 three years, and a light crop one of the two intervening years. 

 He recommends the improved native Plums, especially those 

 belonging to the Americana group. Of these he has grown 

 numerous seedlings in addition to standard varieties. The 

 Americana Plums bear a full crop practically every year if 

 proper cross-pollination is assured, and Mr. Macomber thinks 

 that the best of them, such as De Soto and Wolf, are equal to 

 Lombard in quality. Pottawattomie, of the Chickasaw group, 



