438 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 295. 



care these can be kept well through the winter. What is not 

 wanted until spring may be allowed to freeze, and then be 

 covered with a few inches of leaves. If brought to the light 

 and air gradually, and thawed out slowly, they will appear as 

 fresh as when closed in. Batavian Endive should be packed 

 quite closely in the frames, so as to bleach well, and it is cus- 

 tomary to tie up a few heads for early use. Cauliflowers not 

 yet headed will close in nicely if taken up carefully and stored 

 in sand in a light pit, and will keep well through the winter. 

 From a lot of the Autumn Giant variety wecut some fine heads 

 last February. Brussels Sprouts, Scotch Kale and Cabbages 

 of all kinds come up fresh and clean if stored in this way, 

 which is much better than earthing them up out-of-doors. We 

 keep Celery in the same way, except that the stalks are put in 

 close rows, care being taken to get all of the roots and to take 

 off all useless leaves, and a layer of sand is used between each 

 row for bleaching, and well up to the leaves. Turnips, Car- 

 rots, Beets, Salsify, Parsnips and Leeks — infact, allrootcrops — 

 are buried in moist sand, where they can be conveniently got 

 at, and these come out fresh and crisp. 



Constant surface cultivation is the ruin of old gardens. Rou- 

 tine should include the trenching of a part of the garden every 

 autumn, the whole of it being treated in this way in four or 

 five years. When practicable, sections of the garden should 

 be given a rest by sowing and plowing in a crop of Clo- 

 ver. Worn-out ground may also be renewed with lime and 

 salt, alternately, and there is no better time than this for put- 

 ting it on. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Correspondence. 

 The Winter Care of Water-lilies. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — In your issue of September 27th, Mr. Tricker alludes 

 to his method of wintering Water-lilies. Perhaps he would 

 be kind enough to give the details of his practice. 



Madison, N.J. J • 



[In the first place, one not familiar with the different va- 

 rieties should carefully identify those in his possession, and 

 should know whether they are hardy or tender. This can 

 generally be ascertained by referring to a descriptive cata- 

 logue of aquatics. At this season the tender varieties call 

 for our immediate attention. Such plants as are grown in 

 tubs can readily be taken from the tanks or basins and 

 placed in a greenhouse ; the largest leaves that cannot be 

 placed on the surface of the tub may be cut off; the tubs 

 should be set where they will receive a fair amount of 

 light, and should be kept filled with water. There should 

 be no haste in drying off the plants, since the decreasing 

 light and temperature will allow the plants to rest naturally. 

 Such varieties as Nymphsea Devoniensis, N. dentata and 

 others of the Lotus type will form tubers around the old 

 root as the plant dies off, which should be carefully looked 

 after and put into pots of sand or moss, and kept moist 

 and in a moderate temperature. The tubs can be emptied 

 and stored away. These tubers will keep sound and good 

 until April, when if planted, covered with water and sub- 

 jected to a higher temperature, they will make strong plants 

 to put out again the following June. The case is not the 

 same with Nympheea Zanzibarensis or with the Stellata type. 

 These do not form side tubers as the Lotus varieties do, and 

 ifthe plants have grown large and strong, and have flowered 

 freely during the past summer, the greater will be the risk 

 and difficulty in keeping them over. Under the same condi- 

 tions as the Lotus varieties they retain their foliage a much 

 longer period, provided they have not received a chill or 

 violent check ; otherwise they will rot. These should be 

 kept in tubs filled up with water as long as they retain live 

 green foliage. If new leaves appear you will doubtless 

 find, as the season advances, that the plants will show 

 signs of active growth and give assurance that they will 

 live on and take their places again another summer. 

 Plants grown in large pots or boxes can more readily be 

 taken and placed in tubs or half-barrels of water, and kept 

 under the same condition as above mentioned. 



The hardy varieties if planted out will be best left alone, 

 provided there is sufficient water above the crowns of the 



plants, so that frost cannot reach them. Where the native 

 Nympheeas will grow, other so-called hardy varieties will 

 survive under the same conditions. In shallow tanks, where 

 there is danger of the masonry being broken by the frost, 

 this should be covered with branches, leaves or salt-hay 

 after cold weather sets in. This is preferable to taking the 

 tubs out and storing in a cool cellar or other building, for, 

 keep the plants as cool as we may, it is very difficult to 

 hold them back in the spring, and by the time the tank is 

 ready to receive them the plants will have made con- 

 siderable growth, which is very apt to get cut off, and give 

 them some check. This will not happen to plants left 

 out all winter in the tank. Where the winters are not 

 severe, and not more than twelve to fifteen inches of ice 

 are formed, it is not necessary to cover tanks all over if they 

 are more than twelve feet in diameter. Branches of trees 

 and salt-hay on the rim are sufficient to save the masonry, 

 which is all that is necessary. Plants grown in tubs, and 

 not submerged during the summer season, must of neces- 

 sity be wintered in cellars or other buildings. A good cov- 

 ering of sphagnum-moss will help to keep the plants in a 

 uniform condition and retard growth in spring. — W. T.] 



Mildews as Influenced by Climate and Variety. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — One of the vital questions connected with Grape-cul- 

 ture in North America is how to control its diseases. Destruc- 

 tive fungi prevail everywhere, but some of them are more 

 abundant on the Atlantic coast than in the north-west. Thus, 

 black-rot, Lsestedia Bidwellii, is much more abundant from 

 New York to Virginia than it is in the states of Iowa, Minne- 

 sota and Illinois. In the west we are especially troubled with 

 downy mildew, Plasmopara viticola, and powdery mildew, 

 Uncinula necator. 



I have carefully watched these diseases since 1889 in central 

 Iowa, and am prepared to say that climatic conditions bear 

 a very important relation to these mildews. We had some ex- 

 ceptional weather during the seasons of 1892 and 1893. The 

 seasons of 1889, 1890 and 1891 were exceptionally dry. The pre- 

 cipitation occurred at intervals during the entire summer, but 

 the rainfall was not abundant. During the present season and 

 in 1892 we had not only frequent rains, but the precipitation was 

 large during the months of May, June and part of July. We 

 had scarcely any rain in August and September. So far as the 

 mildews are concerned, the month of September may be left 

 out of account, as the leaves are so far advanced and the 

 grapes so nearly mature that the fungus can do little injury. 



We observed little injury from downy mildew during the 

 comparatively dry years. In fact, the fungus appeared more 

 commonly during the month of August. When not abundant 

 it hastens the maturity of the leaves, as they are very numer- 

 ous on cultivated forms of Vitis labruscse and V. riparia. The 

 case, however, is very different in years like the present. The 

 numerous rains in June and July brought on an abundance of 

 mildew. So common has it been this year that varieties like the 

 Concord and Worden, which, as a rule, are not affected se- 

 verely here, were much injured. This was especially notice- 

 able in places where the vines were in low grounds. I know 

 of one vineyard, partly on low ground, and the leaves here 

 were more badly mildewed than they were on the upland 

 vines. Looking over a large number of varieties of culti- 

 vated Grapes on the College-grounds, I find that the follow- 

 ing varieties have suffered severelyfrom this disease: Jessica, 

 Carlotta, Beauty, Noah, Missouri Riseling. The leaves had 

 fallen by the ist of September, and two-thirds of the grapes 

 were dried and shriveled. As a result none of these grapes 

 have ripened properly. It is especially worthy of note that at 

 no time since 1889 have the Rogers hybrids been severely af- 

 fected with this mildew. I have not seen a leaf affected this 

 year, when Concord-vines near by were badly diseased. From 

 my observations I am inclined to believe that, for their great- 

 est development, the Peronosporeje require considerable 

 moisture. 



With the powdery mildews moisture is not so iinportant. It 

 is rarely common to find them on grape well developed before 

 August, and the powdery mildews in general are not in such 

 profusion early in the season as later. We always get them in 

 abundance for class-work in August. The powdery mildew of 

 the grape is abundant on the Rogers hybrids, like Agawam 

 and Salem. On these varieties it develops somewhat earlier 



