June ii, 1890.] 



Garden and Forest. 



289 



Columbines are scarcely exceeded in grace and beauty by 

 any family of hardy plants, and it is almost superfluous to 

 dwell on their value for small and large gardens. From the earli- 

 est, Aquilegia Siblrica, to the latest, A. chrysantha, there is a long 

 season of bloom, and in most soils the plants are long-lived. 

 They naturalize well in semi-wild places, and even hold their 

 own in not too dense grass. While the blooms are not very 

 lasting, they are good as cut flowers for a couple of days. Cut 

 with long stems, and with their foliage arranged at the base, 

 they make graceful bouquets. Stock is readily increased from 

 seed, from which they bloom the second year. ' If special 

 varieties are desired, seed should be secured from very relia- 

 ble source, as the flowers are very attractive to insects, and it 

 is impossible to secure reliable seed where varieties are culti- 

 vated together. Where one is not very particular a German 

 "assortment" such as is offered by the seedsmen will produce 

 an endless variety. 



Aquilegia dichlora, from Portugal, is now in bloom. As its 

 name implies, this is a two-colored variety, the sepals being a 

 turbid light purple, with white-tipped petals; flosvers medium 

 size and spurs about one inch long. The plant is about two 

 feet high ; foliage small and triternate. This variety is not 

 sufficiently attractive for ordinary garden purposes. 



Aquilegia alba grandiflora, Munstead variety, is a fine dwarf 

 growing White Columbine, with charming cream-white flow- 

 ers of a rather delicate texture. Spurs are an inch long and 

 foliage light green and attractive. 



Elizabeth, N. J. Lr- 



Sowing Seed. — Seeds of herbaceous Calceolarias, Cinerarias 

 and Chinese Primulas should be sown at once thinly on fine 

 soil, and not covered with soil. A good way to treat these 

 seeds and seedlings in the summer-time is to select a north- 

 eastern exposure under the lee of a building where a small 

 platform can be erected about a foot from the ground. In 

 this the seed-boxes are set. These are covered over with paper 

 first, over which panes of glass are placed, and over all is a 

 glass roof made of ordinary hot bed sash. This gives control 

 of light, air and moisture at all times. 



Ten Weeks Stocks.— At this moment I have a fine display of 

 these most beautiful and deliciously scented flowers. The 

 seed was sown on March 15th; when large enough the plants 

 were pricked out in boxes one and one-half inches apart, 

 transferred to cold frames and on the first week in May they 

 were planted fifteen inches apart in soil that was well manured 

 last year for potatoes. In transplanting, none but those showing 

 double flowers were planted. The colors are red, white, purple, 

 and a buff or chamois shade. They are from twelve to eighteen 

 inches high, with several spikes to each plant. Gladiolus 

 will be planted among the Stocks about the 15th of June so as 

 to keep the bed occupied. 



Pearl River, N. Y. JohllTllOrpe. 



Correspondence. 

 The Fruit Outlook. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — The crop predictions now current in the papers are 

 generally most flattering. The business prospects of the 

 country are cheering, the farmers and fruit-growers are con- 

 gratulated on the promise of a bountiful harvest. The motives 

 behind these inspiring forecasts are various, but they do not, 

 as a rule, emanate from practical farmers themselves. It is a 

 common practice among superficial observers to conclude 

 that an abundant bloom is a sure forerunner of a bountiful 

 crop. I have heard several persons remark this season on the 

 full bloom of fruit trees, that it was bearing year, and there 

 would be a full crop of all fruits except peaches. But the prac- 

 tical cultivator, while he knows that blossoms must precede 

 fruit, also knows that these appearances are often deceitful. 



There is probably no fruit crop so subject to the caprices of 

 temperature and climate as the Peach. The mild, late fall of 

 last year sent the trees into winter -quarters full of fruit buds, 

 but winter was a continuation of autumn. This mild and 

 genial weather aroused the dormant buds and caused them to 

 swell beyond their ability to withstand a low temperature. 

 Peach-blossoms in December and January are not calculated 

 to stand severe weather, and when these were met by the cold 

 waves in the Carolinas and Virginia they were an easy prey, 

 and the swelled, though unopened buds in Maryland and Dela- 

 ware were largely killed. The fact that a few buds escaped on 

 some of the late varieties was due to their more dormant con- 

 dition, probably, than to their more hardy nature. When I 

 announced the loss of the crop here I was told that the condi- 



tion of things was probably not as bad as I thought, and there 

 would be more peaches than expected. Since then these con- 

 fiding ones have changed their views, and have concluded to 

 do without peaches this year. 



Of the other standard fruits the bloom was unusually abund- 

 ant, never more so; some trees were complete masses of flow- 

 ers, with hardly a green leaf visible. Years of observation 

 have taught me that superabundant blossoms are not sure in- 

 dications of a full crop of fruit, but on the contrary quite often 

 result in a light crop. Ordinarily if one blossom in ten sets 

 a fruit that arrives at maturity the crop will be abundant. 

 This season, if one blossom out of a thousand produces fruit 

 I shall be disappointed. The cause or causes that are respon- 

 sible for such unexpected results are not altogether clear. 



Possibly the trees in attempting to produce an extraordinary 

 amount of pollen have had their ability overtaxed so as to be 

 unable to impart to it the vigor necessary for the effective fer- 

 tilization. An excess of moisture in the form of rain or fog 

 will also seriously interfere with this work. I think, however, 

 a low temperature is a more potent agency in preventing fruc- 

 tification than is generally suspected, and is really the respon- 

 sible factor even if the atmosphere is clear and dry and bees 

 are as active in making their accustomed visits. 



It is to this cause, perhaps, that we owe the loss of our fruits 

 this season; at all events fruit-growers in this part of New Jer- 

 sey need not study the markets as sellers or count on much 

 income from their Apple, Pear or Cherry crop. 



Of the small fruits Currants are about half set. Strawberries 

 promise well for a full crop now. Grapes are not yet in bloom 

 here, hence it is too early to speculate in regard to them, and 

 both Strawberries and Grapes have yet to incur the chances of 

 attacks by insects and fungi. These fictitious forecasts are 

 detrimental to the producer and consumeralike as far as their 

 influence extends, and their publication ought to be discour- 

 aged. An honest, truthful statement of the condition of crops 

 as they develop, rather than speculative theories in advance, 

 would be far better for all concerned. 



Montciair, N.J. E. Williams, 



The American Association of Nurserymen. 



Fifteenth Annual Meeting. 



THIS meeting was held in the hall of the Park Avenue 

 Hotel, in this city, and its sessions occupied three 

 days last week. About two hundred members were in at- 

 tendance, and all sections of the country were repre- 

 sented. An admirable programme had been prepared by 

 the Secretary, Mr. Charles A. Green, of Rochester, and 

 carefully written papers were followed by animated and 

 instructive discussion. The President, Mr. G. A. Sweet, of 

 Dansville, New York, took a somewhat discouraging view 

 of the immediate prospects of the nursery business, and 

 he declared that no other industry employing the same 

 capital and labor has been so poorly paid during the last 

 fifteen years. The individual members, however, did not 

 seem to be in a gloomy frame of mind, and altogether one 

 rarely sees a representative body of business men whose 

 appearance indicates greater prosperity. Mr. Sweet him- 

 self seemed to express the general sentiment when he said 

 later that while the large profits which came to a new 

 business in a new country can no longer be realized, there 

 is no reason why the nursery business should not stand 

 abreast of other legitimate industries and realize a fair re- 

 turn for capital and labor invested. The hope was 

 expressed that since the Association had accomplished so 

 much in securing equitable rates for freight, expressage 

 and postage, something further might be accomplished in 

 the way of combination against adventurers who demor- 

 alized the market by planting for temporary speculation. 

 Mr. Sweet wisely added that it was for the interest of 

 nurserymen to help on every movement which opened new 

 markets for fruit, new appliances for safe transportation 

 and new processes for preserving fruits, as well as to en- 

 courage the production of new varieties of fruit which would 

 prolong the season, and to aid in increasing the general 

 knowledge of trees and shrubs, and promoting the public 

 taste for ornamental planting. 



Among the subjects considered was the method of se- 

 curing to the originators of new fruits and plants some 



