December 23, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



517 



plant them, perhaps, farther north than this with the prospect 

 of gaining in time some novel and striking effects, as these 

 great Grasses are full of character. 



Some five years aero I imported a number of species. To 

 be exact, Bambusa Castillonii, B. angulata, B. aurea, B. nigra, 

 B. Ouilioi, B. Ragamoskii, B. Simonii, B. viridi-glaucescens 

 and B. palmata, and thought at the time that I had secured 

 some treasures. Here were noble Grasses, normally varying; 

 in height from three feet to twenty, and even thirty feet, and 

 they ought to add some novel and striking features to my 

 commonplace garden. The garden is still waiting for the bold 

 effects, my best cultural ability having failed to help the tallest 

 of them to make canes over six or seven feet in height, under 

 which conditions the tall kinds are not at all in character, 

 though, of course, they have some attraction as bold Grasses, 

 and excite some attention on account of their rarity. The 

 cause of their failure to mount and show their true character 

 was rather perplexing at first, but I think it is owing entirely 

 to the dryness of our atmosphere here during the summer. 

 Their native Japan has a warm humid atmosphere during the 

 growing season, and the leaves of the Bamboos are adapted 

 exactly to such conditions, and they do not modify themselves 

 to suit others, as is the case with many plants under cultiva- 

 tion. Bamboos start rather late in the spring and make rapid 

 growth for a few weeks, but as soon as dry weather comes the 

 leaves transpire so freely, the transpiration being unchecked 

 by humidity as in their native habitat, that the nutritive 

 processes are stopped, and the plants fail to make any further 

 important gains. The reason ot the failure was not suggested 

 to me until I thought to use some of the growing canes for 

 bold decorations, when it was soon seen that the leaves dried 

 up within an hour or two, though the canes were in water, 

 which would seem to prove excessive transpiration. If any 

 one has grown these plants to specimens in a dry climate it 

 would be interesting to have the details, for it would be a 

 pleasure to be taught that my failure with them is due to 

 some cause or condition that can be remedied. 



Bambusa Ragamoskii, being a dwarf plant, was first planted 

 outside, and later removed to a greenhouse, in the humid 

 atmosphere of which it soon took on its true character and 

 broad leaves. No doubt, the taller ones would under similar 

 conditions assume their proper and distinctive features, but 

 this is not hardy-plant gardening. 



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



Fertilizers for the Orchard. 



A T the recent annual meeting of the Indiana Horticultural 

 ■**■ Society, a paper read by Mr. W. W. Stevens on the Feed- 

 ing and Care of Orchards contained many valuable thoughts. 

 As to the relation between fertility of soil of the best crops, he 

 said that when a bearing orchard begins to decline in 

 the quality of fruit, lack of fertility is indicated. Orchards 

 should be fed before the fertility is exhausted and the trees 

 become stunted. It is a simple matter to understand that 

 orchards must be fertilized for precisely the same reason that 

 our grain fields and gardens are manured. The fruit removes 

 the phosphoric acid, nitrogen and potash from the soil just 

 the same as cereals and root crops do, and we must keep a 

 liberal supply of available plant-food in the soil for the orchard 

 if we expect profitable returns. In fact, it is more necessary 

 to fertilize the orchard than it is our grain fields, for the reason 

 that on most farms much of the grain produced is consumed 

 by the stock, and through the manure-heap finds its way back 

 to the land, while there is little or nothing that goes back to the 

 soil from the fruit crop that is harvested year after year. We hear 

 the question asked quite frequently, why is it that our orchards 

 are not vigorous and long-lived as they used to be ? It is chiefly 

 because they are starved to death. Even the new lands we 

 now clear up are not as rich in vegetable-mold and the min- 

 eral elements of the plant-food that make tree-growth as they 

 were a half century ago. In fact, much of our woodland is 

 now pastured until it is half-exhausted before the trees are 

 taken off, or rather die off. 



It requires about the same elements of plant-food to make 

 an Apple-tree that it does a Pear or Peach, but when the fruits 

 are analyzed we find quite a difference in their composition. 

 For example : 



Phos. acid. Potash. Nitrogen, 

 ioo bushels apples contain .. 1 lb. 10 lbs. 7 lbs. 



100 bushels pears, about 1% lbs. 4 lbs. 5 lbs. 



100 bushels peaches, about.. iy z lbs. 13 lbs. 6 lbs. 



Thus we see that potash is the predominating element in 

 apples and peaches, while nitrogen leads in pears. Apples 

 need zy z times and Peaches 3 times as much potash as Pears. 



It would not be good judgment to use precisely the quantities 

 indicated in the above table to get an additional hundred 

 bushels of fruit. The new wood-growth and foliage must be 

 accounted for, as wellas an allowance for some losses through 

 fermentation, bleaching, etc. It is also impracticable to dis- 

 tribute any fertilizer so perfectly as to bring all of it within 

 reach of the feeding rootlets of a tree. I would always advise 

 a liberal use of such plant-food as we are sure our trees need, 

 for a year lost in an orchard by failure to feed it is gone irre- 

 trievably. 



Whatever we use to fertilize the orchard should be in readily 

 available form, so that the trees can profit from it from the 

 moment it is worked into the soil. Barn-yard manure is not 

 the best thing to use by any means. Its nitrogen is partly 

 available, but the potash and phosphoric acid are not. When 

 barn-yard manure is applied, new wood will be formed in 

 abundance, while the aim of the orchardist should be to have 

 as little new wood as is consistent with bearing spurs, and 

 these spurs will not form satisfactorily when there is too much 

 nitrogen in the soil. Besides, fruit from orchards fed with 

 improperly balanced manures not only keeps and ships badly, 

 but also lacks flavor. The following formulas are suggested 

 for bearing orchards : For Apples, ammonia, four; potash, 

 six ; phosphoric acid, two per cent. For Peaches, ammonia, 

 four; potash, five, and phosphoric acid, six per cent. For 

 Pears, ammonia, four ; potash, two, and phosphoric acid, four 

 percent. Acidulated tankage is preferable for the ammonia, 

 or fish scrap, if more convenient. The cheapest potash would 

 be the muriate. The phosphoric acid is most useful as acid 

 phosphate. From 500 to 600 pounds of fertilizer to the acre 

 should be applied and worked well into the soil every year, 

 whether the orchard bears or not. 



When these available fertilizers are used the application 

 should be made in early spring, and then there can be no loss 

 of fertility during the winter from surface drainage or leach- 

 ing. Clover can be grown and plowed under to supply the 

 orchard with ihe nitrogen it needs, but the potash and phos- 

 phoric acid must be spread upon the land, having been 

 obtained from whatever source is cheapest. 



When orchards are on very rolling land, or land that washes 

 badly, seed down to Clover and Orchard Grass and cultivate 

 about the trees with the hoe for several years, or until they 

 are old enough to bear. Such an orchard should never be 

 pastured with any kind of stock, and the ground will remain 

 loose and offer a nice mellow bed for the feeding rootlets of 

 trees. 



Mr. Stevens does not think it pays to renovate old orchards. 

 The time and labor spent to get them into any sort of satisfac- 

 tory condition will suffice to start a new orchard that will be 

 a source of profit and satisfaction for half a lifetime. 



Experiment Station, La Fayette, Ind. J- Troop. 



From the St. Louis Botanic Garden. 



THE so-called Mexican House here might be termed the 

 Show House, since its permanent winter contents are 

 usually in flower, and plants from the adjoining East India 

 House are generally placed in it while blooming because its 

 lower temperature lengthens their flowering season. The 

 prettiest thing in it now is a plant of Passiflora racemosa prin- 

 ceps. It was planted out about a year ago in what looks a 

 cramped position, being in a little border barely six inches 

 wide; but the narrow root-space has been mellowed and en- 

 riched to a depth of two feet, and the vine has responded by 

 sending out a stem fully thirty feet long and with numerous 

 branches. It is now beginning to flower on the older part of 

 the wood, the racemes "being twelve to twenty inches long. 

 The distinct trilobed foliage is ornamental, and the long, 

 gracefully drooping racemes of hanging, bell-like coral buds, 

 headed by sharply rayed flowers, are very effective. It will 

 continue to flower throughout the winter. A thrifty vine 

 of Bougainvillea glabra promises well for a good show oi 

 its fine blossoms in spring. Other vines in flower are Stig- 

 maphyllon ciliatum, which has for some time been gay 

 with bright clusters of Oncidium-like flowers ; and Antigonon 

 leptopus, that has been flowering for a long time, and still 

 shows dense clusters of rose-pink, oddly shaped, little flowers. 

 To the rafters of the southern side ( Missus discolor clings, and 

 seen from below the under side of the leaves is almost as 

 brilliant as blossoms. The dwarf-growing Allamanda Wil- 

 liamsi is blooming, and will continue to do so all winter. It is 

 planted out here in summer and flowers freely. In the East 

 Indian House Strobilanthus Dyerianus is planted out under the 

 middle bench, and throws up thick stalks that are tied to the 



