July 26, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



317 



tion other than a dry one. A plant with about twelve flower- 

 stems and a quantity of the brilliant orange-colored flowers is 

 just now very striking, the more so as it is too early for the 

 majority of the Compositse. If this Senecio flowered later 

 it would be eclipsed by the Sunflowers and Silphiums. 

 Another name is also attached to the Senecio Japonicus ; it is 

 the Erythrochaete palmatifida of many Dutch plant lists. Last 

 summer every flower was carefully allowed to remain on the 

 plant in the hope of obtaining seeds, but out of the quantity 

 saved only about one good seed was obtained from each 

 flower head, and though this was sown at the time of ripen- 

 ing only one plant came up and that six months after the seed 

 was sown. It is easily increased by division and is perfectly 

 hardy. 



Morina longifolia is a beautiful garden-plant, seldom seen, 

 and usually considered tender in northern latitudes, but we 

 have had it for three years in the garden without the least pro- 

 tection, and it is now in flower. The plant itself is quite Thistle- 



known in gardens and as they are sold to gardeners, but one 

 thing is fairly certain that A. aurea (or aurantiaca) will be sure 

 to survive and grow apace without special care if the soil it 

 grows in can be kept dry in winter. It is a most beautiful sub- 

 ject for cutting, as it lasts so long and is altogether so different 

 from most garden-plants. A. pelegrina, the true Inca Lily, is 

 not hardy, but will well repay pot-culture, especially the white 

 form. These two kinds only grow about eighteen inches high, 

 and die down at midsummer. We had a nice lot at one time, 

 but they all died in the frames in winter when subject to only 

 a few degrees of frost. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



GREEN and Moss-curled Endive may be sown now and 

 until the middle of August. Later sowings may be made 

 in frames. The Batavian variety can be sown as late as the 

 first week in September. These curled Endives may be nicely 



Fisr. 48. — The Hybrid Multiflora Rose, Dawson. — See page 314. 



like, but the flowers are arranged in whorls on the stems. The 

 flowers, on opening, are pure white, but gradually turn to a 

 deep crimson before they fade. It is a very interesting plant 

 for a border of really choice things. It is often called Morina 

 elegans in seed lists and is a native of Nepaul. The herba- 

 ceous Spiraes are just now very showy ; the dwarf kinds are 

 past and the tall kinds are at their best. S. ulmaria and the 

 two variegated silver and golden varieties are good garden- 

 plants, also the S. Kamschatica, or gigantea. S. palmata is a 

 pretty bright rose-color, but the best of them all is our native 

 S. lobata, or Queen of the Prairies. This is also soft rose-col- 

 ored and grows about five feet high. It is the best garden 

 Spiraea we have that has colored flowers, but, strange to say, it 

 is very seldom seen in gardens, though why not it is hard to 

 understand. 



Alstroemeria aurea is the only hardy species of those I have 

 tried, and all the available kinds have been tested, including 

 A. Peruviensis, A. psittacina, A. pelegrina and its white va- 

 riety, A. Brasiliensis, A. hsemantha and A. Chilensis. There 

 is a decided uncertainty about Alstroemeria names as they are 



blanched by tieing up the heads. They are excellent for mix- 

 ing with Lettuce in salads, giving an agreeable Chicory-like 

 flavor. The leaves are often used for garnishing. The Ba- 

 tavian variety is used almost exclusively as a winter vegetable, 

 cooked in the same way as Spinach. They are grown outdoors 

 until the middle of November and then earthed in frames 

 very closely together, where they bleach without any further 

 trouble. The bleached parts are equally as good as Lettuce 

 for salad, and by many people preferred. 



Lettuce, which has run to seed, is not at all unpalatable, when 

 cooked, to people who are fond of Spinach, Beet-greens and 

 kindred vegetables. Ground cleared of Snap Beans, or other 

 early vegetables, will give a good crop of summer Spinach. 

 The ground should be forked over lightly and sprinkled with 

 salt at the rate of one pound to one hundred square feet. Seeds 

 of Cucumbers, to be held over for autumn use, should be 

 sown in frames now ; and if a few young Tomato-plants, just 

 setting fruit, can be put where they could have the protection 

 of a few sashes, fruit could be had from them well into 

 November. 



