February 5. 1S90.] 



Garden and Forest. 



67 



dition, it will not be hard to judge the kind of treatment it 

 requires under culture. The plants arc generally grown in 

 baskets, as more convenient for hanging up, and the compost 

 used is rough peat and chopped moss mixed with crocks or 

 charcoal. Of course the drainage must be good. From 

 March until August or September, when the plants are grow- 

 ing vigorously, they may be well watered every day almost, 

 and receive as much 

 light and air as pos- 

 sible, but not allow- 

 ing the sun to scorch 

 them by means of the 

 glass roof, as would 

 inevitably happen on 

 hot days if slight 

 shading were not 

 used. Afterthis period 

 the Hower-spikes push 

 up, but do not produce 

 flowers for a month 

 or two longer. The 

 supply of water must 

 then be diminished 

 little by little until the 

 flowering season is at 

 an end, which is gen- 

 erally about the mid- 

 dle or end of January. 

 The plants should 

 then enjoy a thorough 

 rest until growth again 

 begins. The temper- 

 ature in winter may 

 sink as low as 50 

 Fahr. during the 

 night, but may reach 

 as much as 6o° or 70 

 during the day. In 

 the summer these 

 figures will naturally 

 be some degrees 

 higher — especially in 

 the day-time — in both 

 cases. 



John Weathers. 



St. Albans, England. 



Chives. 



THE bulbs of this 

 vegetable increase 

 by offshoots, or bulb- 

 lets, which multiply 

 rapidly during the 

 growing period. It is 

 not generally cultivat- 

 ed, a rather surprising 

 fact when its ease of 

 culture, hardiness and 

 vigorous growth are 

 considered. It will 

 grow even in partial 

 shade, and with the ex- 

 ception of the Onion- 

 maggot, "which will 

 sometimes work 

 among the roots, it 

 has no dangerous in- 

 sect enemies. It is 

 perfectly hardy in all 

 soils not filled with 

 water. It grows at a 

 low temperature, and 

 hence is used for early 

 salads in spring, and 

 can be cut almost as 

 soon as the frost is out 

 of the ground. It 



responds promptly to heat and careful culture, giving a con- 

 stant and rapid supply of its tender leaves, which are most 

 acceptable wherever the flavor of Onion is desired. My first 

 plants, a clump of perhaps fifty of the small bulbs, were di- 

 vided into ten parts and set in the ground in spring. Here 

 they grew rapidly, increased in size, "till fall, when I had ten 

 bunches as large as (he one divided in spring. These re- 



Fijj. 16. — A Branch of Picea Breweriana. — See page 63. 



mained out all winter without protection, and during the sec- 

 ond season made clumps of roots six inches across. In the fall 

 three of the roots were lifted, with the ball of earth attached, 

 and carried into the cold cellar, and here the tops disappeared 

 and the roots appeared to die. In the month of February 

 these roots were brought into the warmth of the greenhouse, 

 and placed in the soil at a temperature of about fifty degrees 



at night and seventy 

 by day. They started 

 at once, and in six 

 weeks from the time 

 of setting in the 

 ground the tops were 

 large enough for use, 

 and were clipped close 

 to the ground. The 

 roots sent up a new 

 growth, which was 

 ready for cutting again 

 in another six weeks. 

 As soon as the sup- 

 ply on the open 

 ground appeared the 

 cutting was stopped 

 from the roots in the 

 house, and when set- 

 tled weather came 

 these roots were agai n 

 planted out-of-doors, 

 where they again grew 

 with vigor. At the 

 close of the season 

 they were well estab- 

 lished, and in the fall 

 the roots for forcing 

 were taken from those 

 undisturbed the pre- 

 vious year. 



The plant under 

 consideration is the 

 smallest member of 

 the Onion family in 

 cultivation. It makes 

 a nice appearance, 

 continuing green all 

 the season, and in 

 midsummer has a 

 seed-stalk crowned 

 with a purplish 

 flower cluster, not un- 

 like a Clover-head. 

 The plants grow very 

 evenly to "a height of 

 six or eight inches. It 

 rarely develops seed 

 in this latitude, and 

 consequently is best 

 propagated from the 

 roots, which bear 

 transplanting well 

 and grow in all soils. 

 The roots grow fairly 

 well in pots, and if 

 plunged in the ground 

 in summer and rested 

 awhile in fall, can be 

 grown and flowered 

 in the window. 



W. H. Bull. 



West Springfield, Mass. 



Laelia albida. — This 

 charming little Orchid 

 will be seen in bloom 

 in nearly every collec- 

 tion about this time, 

 and is justly valued for 

 its spikes of delicately- 

 tinted and fragrant tlowers. It is well adapted for cut flower 

 or bouquet work, and lasts a considerable time in water. L. 

 albida is found very abundantly in the southern part of Mexico, 

 generally at considerable elevations. It was introduced nearly 

 sixty years since, and has always been a popular Orchid. Its 

 cultural requirements have not as yet been thoroughly under- 

 stood, for no matter how good and strong the imported plants 



