August i6, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



347 



The cultivation of the Blackberry is comparatively new in 

 this state because in many localities wild berries could be had 

 for the picking. In many parts of the state, howevei', commer- 

 cial Blackberry-growing is coming to be an extensive business. 

 Agawam, Ancient Briton, Early Harvest, Eldorado, Erie, 

 Gainor, Minnewaski, Snyder, Stone's Hardy, Taylor and Wal- 

 lace are all grown, and the Lucretia Dewberry is also grown to 

 some extent. Early Harvest is too tender, except for the 

 southern portion of the state. 



The cultivation of Currants and Gooseberries has been prac- 

 tically abandoned in many sections on account of the ravages 

 of the currant-worm or gooseberry-sawfly. Indeed, it is not 

 yet generally known that so simple a remedy as hellebore 

 dusted on the bushes at just the right time will prevent all this 

 trouble. According to this year's observations, the Fay currant 

 is of good size, but not prolific enough to make it profitable. 

 Moore's Ruby is decidedly the best red currant we have. 

 Wilder is equal to it in size, but not in productiveness. These 

 two, with the old Red Dutch, make a good trio. The Crandall 

 is the best black variety, but it varies so much that it is not 

 always reliable, and many persons do not like the peculiar fla- 

 vor. In fact, I do not know why we want a black currant. 

 Early Orange Gooseberry is the best and most prolific early 

 variety. Champion is about the size of Downing, and more 

 productive. Houghton is very productive but small. 

 Experiment station, Lafayette, Ind. 7". TrOOp. 



Notes on Raspberries. 



'T'HE season, though late, has been a favorable one for fruits 

 -*• and vegetables of all kinds. The berry season is now 

 (July 22d) upon us, and the present hot weather following an 

 early summer, with plenty of rain, is bringing on one variety 

 after another with unusual rapidity. Nothing is more apt to 

 be misleading than one season's experience with any variety. 

 Kinds which are ten days apart one year may ripen almost to- 

 gether the next. A good year like this serves also to bring out 

 the merits of the less popular sorts. Marlboro and Rancocas 

 have done superbly this season ; even Highland Hardy, 

 though discarded from our state catalogue, gave a fine yield of 

 early berries. 



The new Black Cap, Conrath's Early, has given another good 

 crop. It originated here, and while not as early as it at first 

 appeared, being later than either Palmer orSouhegan, it yields 

 good crops of larger berries than those of either of these two 

 varieties. This season its heaviest crop came with the first pick- 

 ing of Gregg. 

 Ann Arbor, Mich. A. A. Crozier. 



The Water-garden. 



^XTILLIAM TRICKER sent me, last week, a specimen of the 

 * * interesting Swedish Water-lily, whose flowering I do not 

 remember to have seen recorded since Mr. Hovey, of Boston, 

 grew it successfully some years ago. Of late years it seems 

 not to have been in cultivation here, and it is the rarest Nym- 

 phaea in American collections. The Swedish Lily, known 

 variously as N. alba. var. rosea, N. alba, var. rubra, N. Cas- 

 pary and N. sphserocarpa, was discovered in 1856 in a remote 

 lake in Sweden, Lake Payer (Payer tarn). It was named N. 

 sphaerocarpa by Professor Caspary, and was originally intro- 

 duced to cultivation by Proebl, of Zurich, in 1877 or 1878, In 

 the latter year it was offered by an English florist at ^5 a root. 

 For some reason, while the rhizomes of this plant seem strong 

 and produce a fair number of buds, it does not appear to be a 

 vigorous grower under ordinary conditions. My plant, which 

 I have had two years, has never given me a flower, and at 

 present is quietly asleep at the bottom of the tank, with no 

 floating leaves. It started off promptly early in the season, but 

 soon dropped its floating leaves and went to rest. At Dongan 

 Hills there has been a more successful result, and the flower 

 sent me shows that this is a most distinct and beautiful variety. 

 While it may be botanically allied to N. alba, or a variety of it, 

 the petals are much narrower and rounded or blunt at the tips. 

 The color, on first opening, is pale pink, later changing to a 

 rose-pink quite blue in tone. This color is not a suffusion, 

 but appears as linings on a white ground. In a good 

 li^ht the flower is effective and charming, though, like all other 

 flowers of this color, rather ugly in a dull light. The stamens 

 deepen to a dark rich orange. If my description is clear, it will 

 be noticed that we have here one of the parents of N. Laydekeri, 

 which has the same coloring and the same peculiarity of deep- 

 ening in color from day to day. Otherwise the characters of 

 this hybrid are all those of N. pygmaea, except that the size is 

 intermediate between the two. The petals are broad and 



pointed, and the root habit is that of Nymphaea" pygmaea, 

 which does not allow of division, and is usually grown 

 from seed. The roots of N. Laydekeri have allowed of 

 no division with me, and lam at a loss to know how it is prop- 

 agated except from seed, from which it apparently comes true. 

 The price has rapidly declined, which seems to indicate that it 

 increases rapidly, as do most Nymphagas. In fact, tliere are 

 so many species and varieties of these plants, mostly requir- 

 ing ample space to develop their full beauties, that one has 

 never sufficient surface-room in the water-garden for many of 

 them. Tlie end of varieties is not yet, for they hybridize freely, 

 and one is apt to find his tank or pond full of young seedlings 

 with unknown possibilities. Many of these are lost, of course, 

 where ponds are crowded with well-developed leaves of estab- 

 lished plants, but it only requires slight care to transfer them 

 to permanent quarters where they may have light and loom 

 to develop. Now that so many kinds are grown we may ex- 

 pect often to find new natural hybrids. N. Zanzibarensis seems 

 to increase in ruder conditions than was thought possible. 

 Two of my friends had young plants this season from seeds 

 which were exposed in their tanks all winter. It is not aston- 

 ishing that seeds of tender plants should survive this ordeal, 

 but it has been the practice to germinate this tropical variety 

 at a high temperature, and it is noteworthy that such practice 

 is apparently not essential. However, seedlings of such varie- 

 ties thus germinated would probably not make sufficient 

 growth the first season to become useful plants. They may, 

 however, be grown on and starved for the production of 

 tubers, which can be wintered more easily and safely than flow- 

 ering plants,and which the succeedingseason give several strong 

 growths from each tuber. It is a peculiarity of Nymphaeas 

 that starvation tends to increase of stock. A starved' rhizome 

 will produce usually many more buds than a strong-growing 

 plant. A starved or checked tuberous Nymphaea seems to de- 

 vote its efforts to the production of tubers. The production of 

 tubers is not only advantageous for the safe storage of stock, 

 but it offers the only feasible way to propagate species whose 

 seedlings, like N. Zanzibarensis, are very variable in color. 

 Seedlings of this species will often run in shading from light 

 reddish purple to dark blue-purple, and are most esteemed the 

 nearer they approach an intense rich color. Given a satisfac- 

 tory variety, it will be seen that to cause it to form tubers 

 from which numerous breaks will give young plants, is a cer- 

 tain means to propagate true stock. N. rubra and N. Devoni- 

 ensis are also propagated in the same way, but these form 

 tubers more quickly and naturally than N. Zanzibarensis. N. 

 flava and N. Mexicana form cone-like tubers, and throw out 

 many runners, on which are formed clusters of thong-like 

 tubers, which quickly form new plants. There is not much 

 vigor in the old tubers of these Nymphaeas, though I have had 

 them exist in an out-of-door tank through the winter. The 

 young tubers retain their vitality perfectly, though I should 

 prefer to store them in warmer quarters. 



The care of water-plants at this season consists in keeping 

 them free from aphides, removing decaying growths and keep- 

 ing in check the more vigorous and rapidly increasing plants. 

 Bare water-spaces are more attractive in a water-garden than 

 such masses or breadths as many of the minor plants rapidly 

 make if allowed to grow unchecked. Among plants to be 

 avoided, except in special positions, and never to be used with 

 Nymphfeas, I should include the dainty floating plants, Azolla 

 Carolinensis, Salvinia nutans and Trianea Bogotensis. These, 

 while individually pretty and interesting by their masses, make 

 a pond untidy and shade the Lily-roots. Limnanthemum 

 nymphagoides is a hardy plant, which becomes a troublesome 

 weed, difficult to exterminate. The cucumber-like yellow 

 flowers are not attractive enough to recommend it. Eichhornia 

 ccerulea has much handsomer flowers than the better-known 

 E. crassipes major, but it grows rapidly and vigorously and will 

 smother any plant which it overtakes in its straightaway course. 

 E. crassipes major, while growing as vigorously, is more readily 

 kept in check. One has to reduce its masses almost daily, but it 

 is a plant to be grown for its curious habit and abundant flowers. 



With few exceptions, the most satisfying minor aquatic 

 plants are those which are not of wandering habit and do not 

 occupy much water-surface, which is always valuable. A 

 water-garden, to be most effective, requires ample vacant 

 water-spaces to serve as a setting to the plants which may or 

 may not be acquisitions, but certainly will not appear so if 

 crowded together. 



Elizabeth, N. J. £. N. Gerard. 



Liparis liliifolia.— While not characterized by brilliancy of 

 coloring or striking peculiarity of form, L. liliifolia is by no 

 means destitute of quiet beauty, and, in common with other 



