136 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 265, 



should be used, the smoothing down of the ridges formed by 

 making the drills generally being sufficient. It need hardly 

 be added that careful attention must be given to vvateringwith 

 a fine sprayer, never in large quantities, but sufficient to keep 

 the surface moist. The frame should be kept somewhat close 

 and shaded on bright, warm days. It should never be entirely 

 closed, sufficient vent being required to allow the escape of 

 steam generated by the manure. After the seedlings appear, 

 and as the season advances, more air will be required. These 

 details, relating to management of the frame, after the seeds 

 are sown, are of the utmost importance. 



The earliest spring ffowers with us are Pansies and Violas. 

 They may be classed as perennials, and in the cool, equable 

 climate of Great Britain behave very much as such. Here, 

 however, they are best treated as annuals, or, at most, biennials. 

 Seeds sown in spring germinate very rapidly, and the plants 

 will keep in good flowering condition for nearly two months, 

 untiljuly, when the ffowers gradually grow smaller. The Vio- 

 las and the hybrids, called Tufted Pansies, continue blooming 

 throughout the summer and last until the heavy October frosts. 

 The difference between Pansies and Violas is not very clear 

 in the popular mind, and the botanical distinction is some- 

 what obscure. The Pansy originated from Viola tricolor, 

 and is nearly always parti-colored, and when, as in the case of 

 Emperor William, the flowers become nearly self-colored, it 

 will be generally noticed that there are infused some of the char- 

 acters of the Viola, which are mostly self-colored. It should 

 further be noted that the Violas increase very much from 

 stolons below the ground, which are rare, indeed, in the 

 Pansy. 



Coreopsis Drummondii, yellow, with a crimson centre, is one 

 of the most profuse and continuous bloomers, and one of the 

 most elegant and effective annuals for borders and cut flowers. 

 It is also a very useful winter bloomer in the greenhouse, for 

 which purpose seeds may be sown in August. Few plants 

 give so much satisfaction as the common Celosia pyramidalis. 

 The flowers are borne in long plumes of crimson, yellow or 

 silvery white, and sprays of it are very effective mixed with 

 other flowers in vases. Where a good even strain can be se- 

 cured these plants may be appropriately used for lines in bor- 

 ders or mixed in subtropical bedding. Single Dahlias are 

 preferable to double varieties for cutting. Seedlings flower 

 quite freely during the late summer months. Indian Pinks 

 make very neat bedding-plants. Some of the subvarieties of 

 Dianthus Sinensis Heddewigii are gorgeous, notably the doubl 

 form known as Diadematus, and Crimson Bell and Eastern 

 Queen, which are single. Some of the new varieties from D. plu- 

 marius are excellent for cutting. Gaillardias are unrivaled for 

 the beauty and durability of their large handsome flowers. G. 

 grandiflora, although a perennial, will bloom the first year if 

 sown early. G. Drummondii is an annual and very beautiful. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. H. 



The Hardy Plant Garden. 



'T'HE winter-garden this season has offered opportunities for 

 -*- the study of snow-crystals rather than plants and flowers. 

 A covering of snow lasting almost continuously from early 

 December to nearly the middle of March is a rare experience 

 in this latitude, and only possible under conditions of abnor- 

 mally low temperature, such as have made the winter a nota- 

 ble one. We are so near the sea that our atmosphere is usually 

 humid, and snow quickly disappears. However, the garden 

 has not been a dreary blank. In a warm spot Snowdrops 

 (Galanthus Corcyrensis) put in a belated appearance on January 

 2d, and an occasional bit of soft weather allowed some progress, 

 so that when the snow disappeared on the loth instant, it re- 

 quired few hours of sunshine to gladden the border with a 

 whiter row of Snowdrops, the cheerful Anemones, dainty Irises, 

 gay Crocuses and sombre Squills. 



However fond one may be of the greenhouse it is pleasant 

 at this season to escape its enervating heat and in the free air 

 of the garden note the ever-wonderful quickening of life. 

 Plant-life has in every season some interesting phases, but 

 none so absorbing and charming as in the early garden, when 

 one is not only entranced with the mystery of it all, but with 

 the dainty beauty of flower and exquisite tints of the newly ex- 

 panding foliage. There is a certain pleasure in the uncer- 

 tainty. Old favorites will sometimes disappear, new ones are 

 to be watched, and all so much at the mercy of the elements, 

 so that the time of flowering from year to year is very much a 

 movable feast. Even with considerable plantings, the early 

 garden is not an effective one, but one to be enjoyed especially 

 by those interested in plants for their individual beauty. There 

 is a something— perhaps indefinable— something, at least, that 



one would scarcely care to analyze in the appeal which the 

 flowers of the early year make to the lover of nature. 



While the conditions of the winter have set back the very 

 earliest flowering plants, they have not apparently been deter- 

 rent to those which follow hard after these. At present Iris reticu- 

 lata is nearly ready to flower quite at the normal time, while I. 

 Bakeriana and I. histrioides have just expanded their petals 

 three or four weeks later than the average. Elwes' Snowdrops 

 may be depended on to flower usually during the first January 

 thaw. At presenttheyareatthe heightof theirbeauty. Forsize, 

 earliness and availability these may be considered the best 

 Snowdrops for the garden, though complaints are made that 

 they do not do well in all gardens and they do not appear to 

 increase very rapidly. They have been collected largely, how- 

 ever, and the price for stock is moderate. Snowdrops when 

 closed are specially pleasing, and in this condition I do not 

 fancy the globose form of G. Elwesi as well as those with nar- 

 rower buds, G. Imperati Atkinsi having an especially long bud 

 of this character. Still such points are minor matters of indi- 

 vidual taste. 



As is well known. Snowdrops are exciting much interest 

 among hardy-plant gardeners, and many varieties are now 

 known in gardens, though comparatively few of them are 

 available. Garden and Forest lately contained an interest- 

 ing article describing the better-known kinds, though the best 

 description cannot convey a very lucid idea of differences seen 

 as the varieties grow side by side. G. Forsteri has improved 

 this year, but, I think, does not compare in beauty with Mr. 

 James Allen or Charmer. G. Melvillei major is also a fine 

 form of great purity and vigor. G. Caucasicus is a favorite both 

 for purity and beauty of form. However, one can scarcely go 

 amiss with these plants, though to secure some of the varieties 

 one has to depend on his garden friends. The Snowdrop is 

 now inseparably connected with the name of Mr. James Allen, 

 of Shepton Mallet, who sees wonders in them, and by his 

 studies and courtesy has been the principal agent in exciting 

 special interest in their cultivation. 



Apparently this has been a fortunate season for hardy flow- 

 ers, as they have not been exposed to many changes and the 

 snow has covered them with a dry mantle during the excessive 

 cold. Low temperature, however, does not cause the loss of 

 so many plants as the winter rains and constant freezings and 

 thaws. Unless I wish to experiment I class my plants as hardy 

 and not hardy. The latter, if worth saving, are lifted and stored 

 in some suitable place ; the others get no protection, except in 

 exceptional cases, and this mostly incidental to a needed mulch 

 of manure. For plants with soft evergreen foliage a covering 

 is a detriment as well as a hiding-place for slugs. It seems 

 useless to cover hardy bulbs, unless the ground needs enrich- 

 ment for the following season. The flowers are already 

 formed and the manure has a trifling effect on their growth, 

 while hardy bulbs generally are the hardiest of subjects. 

 Sometimes, when they are planted late, it is beneficial to cover 

 warmly to keep out frost and allow them to make progress 

 during the winter, but the covering should not be one in which 

 mice care to live. One cannot, however, always depend on 

 late-planted bulbs making progress during the winter, even 

 though well covered, as I found this season. I had a lot of 

 late-planted Narcissi in pots and flats cached under mats and 

 boards and these covered with snow, and they have made 

 practically no progress. This was the surprise of the season 

 to me, quite contrary to any previous experience. A gardener 

 is apt to have many such warnings, and, conning his lesson, he 

 learns to speak with modesty and caution. The slight shading 

 even'of a picket-fence will prevent much thawing during the 

 winter, and in many cases an equally effective protection can 

 be secured by a slat-screen tilted to the north over plants which 

 it is required to keep dormant. <>. ,7 ^ 



Elizabeth, N.J. /• -V. G. 



Correspondence. 



Forestry in the West. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — My attention has been called to a paper on forestry 

 published in Kansas some time ago. The writer of the article 

 claims that their lands are becoming more fertile owing to in- 

 creased rainfall. He calls attention to the old school-books, in 

 which the land west of the Missouri River was called the Great 

 American Desert, and says that the railways — or, to use his 

 own words, "the iron bands crossing the continent attract 

 electricity and increase the rainfall." I can find nothing to 

 prove that the rainfall has increased, but there is abundant 



