6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 254. 



five to six feet high, and which, hke many narrow-leaved 

 Agaves and Yuccas, was called Palmilla by the natives ; un- 

 fortunately, no flowers came along, but, as it seems to be an 

 undescribed Agave, it maj'' be designated as A. angustissima ; 

 leaves, two to three feet long, two and one-half lines wide, 

 convex on the back, filamentose on the margin, narrowed 

 into a short (two and one-half lines), stout, triangular, 

 brown spine. It seems allied to A. filamentosa, Salm., 

 which, however, has much shorter and wider leaves. The 

 form of the terminal spine precludes its being taken for a 

 Yucca." 



Dr. Palmer's plant reaches twelve feet in height. The 

 leaves are numerous in a dense rosette, the flowers, in 

 pairs, as in A. Schottii, yellow, with linear lobes. I sub- 

 mitted this species to Mr. J. G. Baker, of Kew, as probably 

 a new species, who wrote me as follows : " We have noth- 

 ing like this either in the herbarium or the garden ; its 

 nearest affinity is evidently the imperfectly described A. 

 angustissima, of which we have no specimens." 



With this suggestion I applied to Dr. William Trelease for 

 the loan of Engelmann's plant. Through his kindness I 

 have been able to examine the type of this species. I have 

 little hesitancy in referring my specimens here. The type 

 specimens, however, consist of only a few leaves cut off 

 above the enlarged base. With such material, any com- 

 parison is very unsatisfactory, but until specimens can be 

 obtained from the original station, and it is proved to be 

 different, this plant should stand for A. angustissima. 



Dr. Palmer's plant was collected at Manzanillo, Decem- 

 ber I to 31, 1890 (No. 1070). The plant is common, grow- 

 ing among rocks, with little soil, along the margin of the 

 bay. I have some small plants growing in the green- 

 houses of the Department of Agriculture. Seeds, when 

 planted in pans, germinated in seven to ten days. Seeds 

 have been sent to Kew and to the Shaw gardens, but no 

 report has yet been received. We still have some seed 

 remaining, and any person wishing to grow the plant can 

 obtain the seeds by writing to Dr. George Vasey, Botanist 

 of the Department of Agriculture. 



Washington, D. C. 



/. N. Rose. 



Cultural Department. 



Onion Culture in the South. 



I HAVE for years been trying to convince our southern peo- 

 ple that better crops of onions can be grown here from 

 the seed direct, the first season, than by the use of sets. From 

 Maryland southward it has for generations been thought that, 

 while at the north onions can be grown from the seed 

 in one season, everywhere southward the only way to get good 

 crops is to plant the sets raised the season before. So general 

 is this impression that the growing of these sets has been a 

 large part of the seed-growers' business, and immense quan- 

 tities of them are still sold, both in fall and spring, all over the 

 south. The buying of sets for a large crop, or the raising of 

 them the season before, is a very expensive matter and largely 

 reduces the profit of the crop. Of course, the Potato Onion, 

 which is largely grown for early marketing, must always be 

 grown from sets, as this is the only way it reproduces itself. 

 But the Potato Onion only comes in to supply a temporary 

 scarcity of onions in summer. All dealers know it is a bad 

 keeper, and it soon disappears from the markets when better 

 onions come in. The southern market is sfill largely sup- 

 plied in winter with onions grown at the north, while equally 

 good and solid onions can be easily grown here. 



The introduction of the Italian and Spanish onions first 

 demonstrated the fact that Onions properly treated would 

 make a good crop here from the sowing of the seed. Of 

 course, Onions sown here in April, as is done at the north, 

 will only make sets, as the season of cool weather needed 

 for their growth is then too short. But when the seed is put 

 in the ground here in February, the success is as certain as 

 is that of almost any other crop. To demonstrate this plainly 

 for the benefit of our people, I sowed on our station grounds 

 last spring a variety of Onion-seed both of the Italian varie- 

 ties and of some of the sorts commonly grown at the north. All 

 made a good crop, notwithstanding the fact that the only land 

 I had, available for the purpose, was a dry hill-slope of hard, 



red clay of very moderate fertility, which had never before 

 been used for vegetable culture. This land was liberally 

 dressed with stable manure and about 700 pounds of ammo- 

 niated superphosphates, distributed in furrows under the Onion- 

 rows, the soil being then bedded over the fertilizer by throw- 

 ing a furrow from each side over the first furrow, making a 

 sharp ridge, which was flattened down nearly level, and the 

 seed-rows laid out upon it. This bed, slightly elevated above 

 the surrounding surface, made the first cultivation more easy 

 than if the seed had been sown on the level surface, and 

 made horse culture possible from the start. This is the most 

 economical plan with most garden vegetables raised from 

 seed where land is the cheapest thing that enters into the 

 problem, as in most parts of the south. The seed was sown- 

 early in February, and was scattered quite thickly, the inten- 

 tion being to transplant all thinnings. At the same time seed 

 was sown in a cold frame, under glass, in order to have plants 

 ready for transplanting earlier. The result showed but little 

 advantage in this. Had the seed in the frames been sown 

 January ist, the result would have been quite different, we 

 think, as we should have had sets ready to transplant before the 

 end of February. While all made a fair crop, the transplanted 

 onions were larger than those not so treated. This was true 

 not only of the Italian and Spanish sorts, but also of the New 

 England varieties, which are not usually thought to be bene- 

 fited by the process. 



The varieties sown were White and Red Bermuda, Mam- 

 moth Pompeii, Queen, Giant Rocca, Large White Italian 

 TripoH, Giant White Garganus, Barletta, Southport White 

 Globe, Yellow Globe Danvers, New Opal, Early Flat Red, 

 Wethersfield Large Red and White Portugal. The Barletta 

 grew as large as the Queen, and seems to differ very little 

 from it. The White Portugal made the finest bulbs of any of 

 the flat white sorts, with the White Bermuda nearly as good. 

 The Red Bermuda grew to the largest size of any of the flat red 

 sorts, but the New Opal is heavier and more solid, and prom- 

 ises to keep better. Of the Globe sorts the Southport White 

 Globe made the most handsome bulbs. The Giant Rocco, too, 

 was very fine, particularly the transplanted ones. The Red 

 Wethersfield made fair-sized bulbs of great solidity, and prom- 

 ises to keep well. None of the white sorts promise to keep 

 well except the Southport White Globe. We believe this va- 

 riety will be found very valuable in the south. We were very 

 much disappointed at not being able to get the Prize-taker 

 Onion at the time our seed was sown. We are now pursuing 

 this investigation further by sowing the seed in October very 

 thickly for the purpose of transplanting in February. Unfor- 

 tunately, the intense drought which has prevailed this fall has 

 interfered with this, and we fear the plants will not get start 

 enough to do well. We will make a further sowing in frames 

 about Christmas, so as to make sure of plants for February 

 setfing. 



At our State Fair in October we exhibited all the varieties of 

 onions grown, and it was amusing to hear the expressions of 

 surprise on the part of farmers and gardeners when they were 

 told that all had been grown from seed the first season. We 

 venture to predict that more Onion-seed will be sown here the 

 coming spring than ever before. Had our seed been in more 

 open and fertile soil I feel sure the crop would have been sur- 

 prisingly large, and in the mellow coast-lands of this state, 

 where the trucking interest prevails, the crop ought to be made 

 a very profitable one. 



Raleigh, N. c.- f^- F. Massey. 



Cape Oxalis. — IV. 



T^HE last of, this series of notes upon Cape Oxalis is to de- 

 ^ scribe those kinds which cannot be said to form a group 

 of species which resemble each other in any noticeable de- 

 gree. Oxalis ceruna is, perhaps, the best known of these, 

 either under its own name or as O. lutea of most of the cata- 

 logues, or as O. caprina, under which name it is figured by 

 Burnett. This is so common as to need no description, though 

 it may be worth while to advise those who are about to buy 

 dry bulbs of it to test them by pressure with thumb and fin- 

 ger, for the interior of these bulbs often shrmk in drying, 

 owing to too short a growing season. There is thus left a 

 shell of fair size, while the living part is no larger than a 

 millet-seed. This condition is betrayed by the cracking 

 of the bulb under the pressure of thumb and finger. The 

 hollow bulbs may also be told by their dull appearance, the 

 sound bulbs being somewhat glossy, but it takes an experi- 

 enced eye to detect the difference. This species has also a 

 double form, not by any means as attractive as the single one, 

 and not as easy to get, for most of those who advertise the 



