1 86 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 270. 



quirers are evidently practical florists who are acquainted with 

 the demands of the trade. Some of these can offer only skill 

 and experience, and wish to be employed by growers. Want 

 of capital is the great difficulty in the way of our own people. 

 The growers of Tuberoses in the eastern part of the state 

 have become somewhat discouraged by low prices for bulbs, 

 and they are not inclined or able to buy other bulbs in suffi- 

 cient quantities to make a profitable business, though a few 

 are experimenting in this way. What is needed is a combina- 

 tion of capital and skill to develop the capacity of the state for 

 this industry. This will probably be done by persons interested 

 in the wholesale bulb trade in the northern cities, as in the 

 case of the Bermuda Lily. 



While I ani satisfied that the deep peaty soils of the coast 

 region south of Hatteras will grow as good Lily-bulbs as 

 those grown in Bermuda, it is hardly likely that we can 

 compete with Bermuda in the production of bulbs ripe enough 

 for early forcing in autumn. For later use I feel sure that 

 these lands will produce Lily-bulbs of a superior quality. 



I have been asked what bulbs could be most profitably 

 grown here. I am not prepared to answer with certainty, and 

 my own experiments at Raleigh will hardly be conclusive as 

 to the capacity of the true bulb soils, as our soil here is of a 

 clayey nature. There will also be found a great difference in the 

 suitability of different localities for the various sorts. In Raleigh 

 we can produce good bulbs of Roman Hyacinths, while Narcis- 

 sus-bulbs grown here would hardly compare with those grown 

 eastward or in the thermal belt of the sand-hill country. The 

 sandy soils about Southern Pines, Fayetteville and elsewhere 

 in the eastern section will grow Gladiolus to great perfection, 

 and will produce blooming corms from seed a year sooner 

 than Long Island. Our soils here will produce superb Ama- 

 ryllis-bulbs, but while Lilies do well here we cannot grow such 

 bulbs as the black lands of the east will produce. A gentle- 

 man in the section where Tuberoses are cultivated bought 

 Lily-bulbs about the ist of June last. Having been out of the 

 ground so long the bulbs were hardly first-class, but he 

 stripped the scales and planted them in the open ground. Not 

 much could be expected from such a venture, but, to my sur- 

 prise, he wrote me last fall that all his scales had grown good 

 bulblets. If this is the case with unseasonable and unskilled 

 treatment, what may we not expect of Lihes in this soil and 

 climate ? 



The unexampled cold of last January made the blooming of 

 all spring bulbs later than usual, and tested the resistant 

 powers of some of them more than ever before. Roman 

 Hyacinths began, according to their usual custom, to throw 

 up fiower-spikes just before Christmas, but the cold and snow 

 put a check upon them. At the beginning of February the 

 snow and frost disappeared, and they soon began growth 

 again, and continued to throw up spike after spike until 

 April. My own Roman Hyacinths, from which the flow- 

 ers are constantly cut for the sake of the bulbs, will aver- 

 age eight spikes to the bulb. Narcissus of some varieties 

 usually begin to bloom here in late January. This year their 

 flowering was delayed until late in February, and now the varie- 

 ties are succeeding each other in full beauty. The Chinese 

 Narcissus have survived the winter, but are slower in getting 

 into bloom than the old occupants of our borders. The flow- 

 ering stems of Ascension Lilies had well started more than a 

 month ago. These bulbs can doubtless be ripened off in this 

 latitude, ready for lifting, a month earlier than in the latitude 

 of Baltimore. They would, therefore, make their autumn 

 leaves and be ready for forcing earlier. 



Gladioli are usually well above ground by March 15th, and the 

 bulbs of such sorts as are used for forcing can be ripened here 

 early. Bulblets taken off in autumn and planted at once, with 

 a mulch of fine manure to guard against possible cold, will 

 start very early and make a surprising growth the first season. 

 My present opinion is that the Gladioli, most of the Narcissi 

 (probably all of them), Lilies of all sorts and Roman Hyacinths 

 may be successfully grown here. When the cheapness of land 

 is taken into consideration, I am convinced that, with sufficient 

 capital and skill, the cultivation of bulbs in North Carolina can 

 be made highly profitable. 



Raleigh, N. C. ^- F- Massey. 



Plants in Flower. 



Russian Violets. — Under this name nurserymen have lately 

 been offering a variety as perfectly hardy and with fragrant 

 flowers. It would be interesting to know, the true name of this 

 Violet, for it seems to be a good garden-plant, with stout, firm, 

 dark-colored foliage and with abundant very fragrant double 

 flowers, very dark purple in color. If one can judge from its 

 behavior last winter in an exposed border with heavy soil, it is 



very hardy. It passed the summer without spot or mildew, 

 and, altogether, is a very desirable plant. 



Primula obconica grandiflora.— I refer to this hybrid 

 again to say that some of the plants survived the winter in the 

 border, a "fact which seems to indicate an infusion of the 

 blood of P. cortusoides, which was claimed as one of the 

 parents. If by selection we can secure a race of hardy Pri- 

 mulas with the free-flowering character of P. obconica, which 

 is not at all hardy, it will be a great gain. In the open the vile 

 spicules would not be so objectionable as in the closer quar- 

 ters of the greenhouse. Of course, one winter is a poor test of 

 the hardiness of a plant, for often plants will live through a se- 

 vere winter like the last and perish incontinently in a milder 

 one, conditions being really less favorable for some reason. 

 Hardiness is a comparative term as applied to plants, but there 

 is nothing comparative about the "occasional helper," who, 

 with spade and pruning-knife, usually spoils more plants than 

 the severest frost. Those of us who cultivate hardy plants, 

 and especially the smaller ones, are forced to give them per- 

 sonal supervision and forbid the helper to trespass on the bor- 

 der, for the bedding mania seems to have left them all with a 

 firm conviction that everything must be replanted each season. 

 The colored brother who favors me occasionally breaks his 

 bonds. As he dug among my fine grasses the other day, 

 and carefully transferred the labels to some seedling Plantains, 

 I thought, among other things, that the race was not advancing 

 very rapidly. I was glad he saved the labels. 



Hardy Primulas. — These are charming plants easily had 

 from seed. I find that a stock can be gotten up for spring 

 flowering by sowing seed in August or September, which is 

 usually the time the new crop is received by the seedsmen. 

 These seedlings should be kept in a warm frame or cool house, 

 where they will gradually make progress, and will come into 

 flower in March or April. My crop this year flowered early in 

 March, and are still in flower, but I should have retarded them 

 to plant out before they bloomed. Dean's hybrids are a very 

 satisfactory strain with large well-colored flowers. 



Eranthis Cilicica, for which I was indebted to Mr. Whit- 

 tall last year, is a good companion to E. hyemalis, which it 

 succeeds. It has flowers of rather deeper color, and the leaf 

 is more finely cut and elegant than that of the better-known 

 species. 



Anemone Cypriana alba, introduced by Max Leichtlin, is a 

 distinct variety with greenish white flowers, but as a garden- 

 plant not as attractive as A. blanda, a clump of which is yet, 

 when the sun shines, the brightest and most attractive thing in 

 the garden. A. blanda is slow to become established sometimes, 

 but is indispensable in the early garden. Mr. Whittall has col- 

 lected two new forms, but they have as yet not made much 

 progress here. The Taurian plants collected by Mr. Whittall 

 prove perfectly hardy here and well adapted to the climate. 

 They include Chionodoxas, Scillas, Fritillarias, Anemones, 

 Snowdrops, Irises, Gladioli, Eranthis, Cyclamens, Crocuses, 

 Narcissi, Tulips, Colchicums, Ornithogalums and Alliums, 

 among which, being collected bulbs, there are often to be 

 found specially interesfing varieties. ^ »7 ^ 



EUzabeth, N.J. /•A'. Gerard. 



Sowing Annuals. 



ONE of your correspondents lately advised the sowing of 

 the annuals on a hot-bed. A hot-bed is certainly very 

 useful when it can have constant care, but dangerous to trust 

 to the changes of our spring weather without close super- 

 vision. The common annuals, grown in gardens, scarcely 

 require special forwarding, and for most of them the forcing 

 of a hot-bed is rather a detriment than otherwise. In this lati- 

 tude I find the most simple and satisfactory way to sow ordi- 

 nary annuals and perennials, which flower tfie same season, 

 is in a frame. About the 20th of April, usually, making up a 

 seed-bed in a warm corner, I surround it with a frame made 

 of four boards, nailed at the corners. Over this is placed a 

 screen, made by tacking cheese-cloth or waterproof-shading 

 to a frame made of narrow strips. After two or three bright 

 days the ground will have warmed up sufficiently and the 

 seeds of all the annuals, tender or otherwise, from Asters to 

 Zinnias, may be planted with safety and will germinate 

 promptly. If there should be a very heavy rain-storm it may 

 be necessary to place some sloping boards to shed the water, 

 but otherwise such a frame is perfectly safe. Most of the seeds 

 of the favorite annuals will germinate in a week or ten days, 

 and at this time the screen should be lifted and as much air as 

 possible given. By taking advantage of dull days the seed- 

 lings may be soon inured to fuU exposure. After the screen is 

 off it will be the part of prudence to lay some brush over the 

 seedlings to discourage cats and chickens. 



