356 



•Garden and Forest 



[Number 287, 



No garden is complete without the sweet Pepper-bush, or 

 Clethra ahiifolia, with its numerous erect spikes of fragrant 

 white flowers. It is much to be preferred to the more south- 

 ern Clethra acuminata, which also shows its best inflorescence 

 about mid-August, although both species may continue flow- 

 ering into September. 



The Button-bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis, still flowers 

 freely, though it is not generally considered an ornamental 

 plant ; and, among climbing floweringshrubs, there are none 

 which at this season give such satisfaction as the Trumpet 

 Creeper, Tecoma radicans, and Hall's Honeysuckle. 



Arnold Arboretum. 7- G. Jack. 



Summer Treatment of Carnations. 



IF we plant our Carnations in the open field in rich loamy 

 soil, and about the same culture as is given garden crops 

 by first-class market-gardeners, nippmg out the flower-shoots 

 as they break into bud, up to, say, August ist, we may reason- 

 ably expect to produce good plants for lifting by August 25th. 

 There is, however, a marked difference between carefully 

 grown and carelessly grown field-plants. The summer treat- 

 ment of Carnations really commences with the first pinching 

 back, which we deem the most important of all, lor the condi- 

 tion in which the plant is left by the first pinching determines 

 its condition when it comes into flower. With most varieties 

 our method is to pinch pretty well back at the first pinching, 

 leaving the leader to grow well up and to show signs of bud- 

 formation before cutting it out. We then cut it out well down, 

 leaving four to five, and sometimes six to eight, strong base- 

 shoots, which should start up free from the ground, so as to 

 enable us to work close around the plant without bruising the 

 under sides of the branches in weeding and hoeing. These 

 side branches are again left to grow to nearly the bud-forming 

 state, and are again cut back, leaving four to eight strong base- 

 shoots on each branch. 



This should be the last pinching back, since by starting our 

 plants into an even growth now, allowing the new shoots to 

 break well into growth and commence to elongate, and then 

 lifting with as little check as possible, we can grow larger, 

 longer-stemmed and more perfect flowers than when the plant 

 has been subjected to three or four or more pinchings. We 

 believe that errors in pinching back lie in both directions, and 

 that too close pinching, as well as pinching too high up, is not 

 as satisfactory as the medium-close plan. In some varieties, 

 where the tendency is to grow too rank and dense at the base, 

 we find it advantageous to break or cut out the weaker shoots, 

 leaving the entire strength and growth to five or six of the 

 strongest. By doing this we gain in size of flowers, strength 

 and length of stem, and also in earliness of blooming. 



In setting plants in the open ground we prefer not to set out 

 before May ist, and not later than May 25th. On Long Island, 

 April-set plants, as well as those set out in June, have not 

 given as good results as those planted in May. Our plants are 

 set ten inches apart, in rows which are three feet apart, to ad- 

 mit of horse-cultivation. We commence cultivating as soon 

 as the plants have struck, and run the cultivator through after 

 each rain, or in dry spells as soon as weeds start, and the plants 

 are hoed as often as weeds show or the ground needs stirring. 

 In hoeing we do not stir the ground more than an inch deep 

 at first, gradually reducing the depth of hoe-cultivation as the 

 plants advance in growth. In cultivating with the horse we 

 use an adjustable Planet, Jr., machine, reducing the width of 

 the cultivator at each working, so that at the last only eighteen 

 inches of the centre between the rows is horse-hoed, the re- 

 mainder being left for the hand*hoe. The entire surface soil, 

 for half an inch deep, should be kept loose and free from 

 weeds, but the under soil, especially near the plants, should 

 remain undisturbed. 



The insects that are liable to trouble us in the field are cut 

 worms, thrips, green fly and red spider. A solution of Paris 

 green, sprayed on the plants with a knapsack sprayer, twice a 

 month from the beginning will tend to keep cut worms and 

 green fly, and even thrips, from getting an injurious foothold. 

 The solution recommended is a teaspoonful of Paris green to 

 a knapsack full of water. 



With red spider the case is different, especially in extreme 

 dry seasons, for this little pest seems as near iron-clad as any 

 insect we have. Paris green does not seem to affect it. It does 

 not like whale-oil soap, but thrives even in the face of that com- 

 pound. Concentrated lye in a solution will kill it when the spider 

 is young, but the old ones don't mind that very much. Con- 

 stant forcible syringingseems to be the only effectual remedy, 

 and in cases where the spider has got a firm foothold even 

 that will fail. Our advice would be, if you have a variety 



thoroughly infested with red spider, to carefully gather up all 

 the plants, transport to a safe distance and burn them up and 

 syringe the adjoining rows with a solution of whale-oil soap or 

 concentrated lye. If you have any spare pipe, lay pipes through 

 your Carnation field and connect up to your pumping- 

 engine or tank and spray your plants very forcibly with a fine 

 spray. 



Now is the time to commence fighting rust, spot or other 

 fungal diseases. You may use an ounce of sulphide of po- 

 tassium to ten gallons of water, or two or three ounces of con- 

 centrated lye or the Bordeaux mixture half-strength, or the 

 ammoniacal solution of carbonate of copper. A knapsack 

 sprayer is necessary to properly apply the fungicides, and the 

 plants should be sprayed at least once a month. During Au- 

 gust, and up to planting in and ever after, watch for the first 

 sign of rust and destroy by burning every infected plant. Rust 

 is like the cholera — you can keep it out by vigilance and 

 thorough preventive measures, but once the germs are estab- 

 lished in your stock you will find them very difficult to erad- 

 icate. 



Perhaps some growers will exclaim, "Oh, pshaw ! that is too 

 much bother and labor to waste on growing Carnations. I get 

 lots of flowers any way." Well, that is true, if you are grow- 

 ing for numbers of flowers regardless of size, price received 

 and quality ; but there are some florists who think their success 

 is measured by their net cash returns rather than by a large cut 

 of flowers sold at barely living prices. — C. W. Ward, in Flor- 

 ists' Exchans'e. 



Notes on Beg-onias. 



■DEGONIA SEMPERFLORENS is rapidly coming to the 

 *-^ front again, after some neglect, owing to several new breaks 

 produced by the French florists. The typical plants are highly 

 useful, as they have an abundance of bright glossy leaves and 

 produce attractive flowers in abundance during the greater part 

 of the year, most freely in summer and in autumn. The plants 

 are rapidly propagated by cuttings, making it possible to se- 

 cure a sufficient stock of desired colors for bedding, or they 

 may be rapidly grown from seeds, which are produced in 

 great quantities. Plants with white, pink and various shades 

 of red flowers have long been grown, but the new strains are 

 departures in the way of modifications of foliage-coloring. 

 B. semperflorens atropurpurea (B. Vernon) has already been 

 mentioned as an attractive bedding plant, with bright dark red 

 flowers and leaves, which, in the open, take on ruddy hues. 

 B. semperflorens foliis aureis, the golden-leaved Begonia, is 

 the more recent introduction of Messieurs Vilmorin, and is a 

 fitting companion of B. Vernon. The leaves of this variety 

 are light greenish golden in color, pure and attractive in tone'; 

 the plants make capital bedders, as the sun does not dull or 

 burn their leaves. The flowers are a delicate rose-color, with 

 white centres. A fair proportion come true from seed, but for 

 effective bedding selection would be necessary. For popular 

 bedding plants they are far ahead of any hybrid tuberous Be- 

 gonias, being vigorous in growth, subject to no blight ; they are 

 not scorched in the hottest sun, and in all weathers bear a pro- 

 fusion of bright flowers. They require no staking, and only 

 that minimum of care which is so comfortable to the culti- 

 vator. 



In spite of the occasional person who still holds that tuber- 

 ous Begonias are fine bedding plants, the fact remains that they 

 do not make any headway in that direction, for the simple rea- 

 son that the hybrids and the species from which they are de- 

 rived are not adapted to the exigencies of an American sum- 

 mer. They require special care, such as few people are pre- 

 pared to give to bedding plants, to make them at all successful 

 in the open, and even then are only a moderate success in 

 some seasons. The first year that I grew them in any quantity 

 we had a mild damp summer, and I beheve I remarked 

 after that season that tuberous Begonias were fine bedding 

 plants, a conclusion which, after further experience, has been 

 considerably modified. I now grow tuberous Begonias under 

 glass, with slight shading, and they are kept as cool as pos- 

 sible. My experience is not different from that of others. 

 Visiting a well-conducted nursery this spring, I found a large 

 piece of ground being planted with tuberous Begonias, which 

 seemed in excellent condition. The plot had a fine southern 

 exposure, and this experiment seemed intended to produce a 

 sensafion, as a carriage-road ran in front of the bed. The plants 

 disappeared, however, weeks ago, and the cultivation of tuber- 

 ous Begonias in the sun has been given up by this firm. An 

 object-lesson such as this overthrows a great deal of theory. 

 Elizabeth, N.J. J-N. Gerard. 



