October 4, 1893.] 



Garden and Forest. 



415 



dense, L. elegans and its numerous forms, L. Brownii, L. Ja- 

 ponicum, L. pomponium and L. sulphureum are other 

 Lilies which, in Kew at least, do best in peat. 

 London. George Nicholson. 



Plant Notes. 

 Nymphaea tuberosa. 



NYMPH^EA TUBEROSA has already been figured and 

 described in Garden and Forest (vol. i., p. 368), but 

 the accompanying illustration from a photograph will ap- 

 propriately supplement the botanical sketch. 



As has been noted before, this native species bears very 

 large flowers, only equaled in size among the hardy white 

 Water-lilies by the southern form of N. odorata, known as 

 the Rice-field Lily. In form, however, the flowers of these 

 two species are quite distinct, the latter having more 

 numerous, narrower and pointed petals. All forms of N. 

 odorata are apt to have a more or less distinct trace of 

 pink, especially on the outer row of petals, but no trace of 

 color has been observed on the flowers of N. tuberosa. 

 The flowers usually have merely a faint odor ; the leaves 

 are green on both sides, and are borne usually on strong 

 petioles. The root-stocks are stronger than those of N. 

 odorata, and bear numerous spontaneously detaching 

 tubers, which, while useful in the struggle for existence, 

 are objectionable in a limited water-space, where this spe- 

 cies will quickly take complete possession. For this rea- 

 son, other forms of white Nymphseas are usually favored by 

 cultivators. The English botanists point to N. tuberosa as 

 one of the parents of Marliac's N. chromatella, but this 

 origin is denied by him. While N. chromatella forms very 

 numerous buds, it does not seem to form the peculiar 

 spontaneously detaching, and sometimes compound, bulbs 

 so peculiar to N. tuberosa. 



Cultural Department. 



Autumn Planting. 



AFTER such a protracted dry season it is fair to assume 

 that there will soon be a good deal of wet weather, and 

 the intending planter has, therefore, no time to lose. Thinning 

 out old plantings or making new ones should be attended to 

 at once, and a large majority of herbaceous plants will become 

 established in their new locations before the ground freezes, 

 and will start away better in the spring than if planting is left 

 until that season. 



The autumn planting of Roses in the open in New England 

 is, however, in my opinion, a mistake. Unless the wood of 

 established Roses is thoroughly matured, especially the late 

 growth, even these are liable to be killed down to the roots, 

 as was proved last winter with a lot of year-old plants of 

 Hybrid Perpetual Roses on their own roots. They were well 

 protected with straw, but the shoots were vigorous and imma- 

 ture, and the result was that all died. A similar lot this year 

 will be lifted and the roots placed in sandy soil in the cellar, to 

 be replanted in April as soon as the ground can be worked. 

 About three hundred American-grown Rose-plants were used 

 in our fall plantings in 1890 and 1891, some on their own roots 

 and others budded, according to variety. The plants were 

 earthed up with soil just before frost came, and covered lightly 

 with straw. In each case one-third of the plants were either 

 killed or so badly injured that they had to be replaced in the 

 spring. I have no doubt that others have had the same expe- 

 rience, but a great deal is still heard about planting Roses in 

 the fall, as though it were the most approved season for this 

 work. Believing that orders were filed by the growers in the 

 order of their receipt and that the best plants would go to the 

 first purchasers, our orders were placed early, so as to secure 

 good plants. This plan I should again follow, but on receiving 

 the plants they should be heeled in, either in a cool cellar or 

 cold frame. If in a cold frame, the tops should be covered 

 with dry leaves. In the spring they will come out bright, with 

 the buds just beginning to swell and the roots in good con- 

 dition. 



As to the value of budded plants, compared with own-root 

 plants, it has always seemed to me that the best and quickest 

 residts are obtained from budded plants. The wild Brier has 



to be looked out for, but shoots from the Brier-root can be 

 detected at a glance and removed, and as long as these intru- 

 ders are under the soil they will do no harm. We grow sev- 

 eral hundred Hybrid Roses for forcing; all the best are kept 

 in flats about six inches deep. Some are on their own roots, 

 others budded, and others again grafted on the roots of the 

 Baltimore Belle. Those on their own roots are the weakest, 

 and the last-named are by far the strongest, making growths 

 over six feet high. These are now thoroughly ripened by 

 keeping the soil rather dry when growth is finished, and in 

 rainy weather the boxes are stood on edge. The plants treated 

 in this way are started when the Chrysanthemums have fin- 

 ished flowering. We get one crop of excellent Roses in March, 

 and as they are not pruned low down the lower buds start and 

 give a second fine crop later ; sometimes a scattering of good 

 blooms is gathered later in the season from the plants treated 

 in this way. These Roses require considerable care during 

 the summer as to moisture, but the results are so satisfactory 

 that we shall grow fewer in pots in the future, and then only 

 for later crops. The growing of Roses in boxes has much to 

 recommend it, for few private establishments can spare a 

 house for hybrid Roses the year round, when there are so 

 many uses for a glass structure in summer. To have good 

 Chrysanthemum-blooms, these also must be grown entirely 

 under glass. The culture of Violets in frames may also be 

 counted among the lost arts unless some better means can be 

 devised for fighting the dread disease than those we now 

 possess. 



South Lancaster, Mass. 



E. O. Orpet. 



Single Dahlias. 



THAT single Dahlias are more graceful than double ones 

 cannot be denied, but grace is only one quality of a flower, 

 and there are others in which the double varieties excel to 

 such a degree that I marvel when I find persons condemning 

 them altogether. I do not see how any one can examine 

 closely a well-grown flower of such double varieties as, for 

 example, A. D. Lironi or Pre-eminent, without thinking the 

 couplet wrong which declares — 



Whoever thinks a perfect piece to see, 



Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be. 



Almost everybody knows that the doubling of a composite 

 flower is not the transformation of a part of the floral organs 

 into petals, but is the addition of a petal to each of the small 

 florets of the disk ; so that a double Dahlia is as complete in 

 all essential parts as a single one. The single kinds are usually 

 freer bloomers than the double ones, and the quality of the 

 flowers seems to be less affected by the weather, yet it should 

 be remembered that not until the nights grow cool and the 

 droughts of summer have passed, do Dahlias of any class appear 

 at their best. A July Dahlia-flower is almost always worthless ; 

 if it ought to be double it comes semi-double; if single, one 

 or two petals will be undeveloped, or they will be curled at the 

 edges or they will be irregularly set on. It is often said in gar- 

 dening papers that single Dahlias are best treated as annuals, 

 that is, raised from seed every year, but with this I do not 

 agree. I raise scores of them annually, and though 1 use seed 

 of the best kinds only, very few of the seedlings yield good 

 flowers. Poor ones will be showy at a distance, it is true, but 

 there is no pleasure in seeing them at the farther end of the 

 garden, knowing that there is not one among them that would 

 please you if near at hand. It is a very easy matter to raise 

 any quantity of seedling Dahlias, but it is not easy to raise a 

 good one. 



A single dahlia shoifld not be too large ; White Queen, 

 which was long the best white, had this fault ; a diameter of 

 three inches is large enough ; its color or colors should be clear 

 and unmixed ; many of the yellow, pink and white varieties 

 are not so, but are disfigured by small dots or lines ; its petals 

 should be broad enough to make a smooth outline, as little 

 notched as possible. 



It is easy to laugh at these requirements, but I am sure that 

 everybody would acknowledge the superiority of such flowers 

 as I have described, if they were to see them side by side 

 with others which lacked these features. Some florists in 

 England have of late endeavored to introduce "Single Cactus 

 Dahlias," having long, narrow, twisted petals. I have not yet 

 tried them, but I have noticed that though these have been 

 exhibited at shows they have not, so far, received certificates 

 of merit. 



For general purposes, whether for garden adornment or for 

 cutting, flowers having only one color are, I think, preferable, 

 but a few of two or more colors will add interest. There are, 

 as far as I have observed, three types of parti-colored flowers ; 



