5 88 



Garden and Forest. 



[December 3, 1890. 



according to size, and sufficiently close for the Mowers to form 

 a compact mass when fully developed. They are more im- 

 posing in this way and the plants can more readily receive 

 attention. The object of the cold frame is (1) to keep the 

 plants dry after the maturity of foliaceousgrowth, a state which 

 is found most favorable to the free production of Mowers ; and 

 (2) to keep the bulbs dry and beyond the influence of frost 

 during winter and spring. The early part of the latter season 

 is the most dangerous period, for if the bulbs are not thor- 

 oughly covered with protecting material they are killed, or 

 burst in growth, which is injured by frost so that the plants are 

 of no use that season. All covering should be removed 

 when danger of frost is past, and on the first indication of 

 growth a vigorous development should be encouraged, for 

 unless the plants make sound, healthy growth, and plenty of 

 it, they will not flower well. A free supply of water and liquid 

 manure during the growing period will secure luxuriant 

 foliage. 



A few plants in pots are handy in many places, and this is 

 perhaps the most reliable and convenient method of growing 

 them. They are easily cared for after the brief growing sea- 

 son; and set among Ferns, foliage and other flowering plants, 

 to hide the bare pots and naked scapes, the appearance of the 

 flowers. in arrangements of low tone is extremely beautiful, 

 while their soft shades have a magical effect among warmer 

 tints. It is this power to bring out new beauties in other sub- 

 jects, while improving its own, that has won for the plant the 

 popularity it enjoys. The bulbs do not always flower simul- 

 taneously, and, therefore, in pot culture it is most satisfactory 

 to plant the bulbs singly. This course has the further advan- 

 tage of affording greater facility in moving the plants about, 

 and the pots, being smaller than would be required for sev- 

 eral bulbs, are more readily obscured when it is desirable to 

 keep them out of sight. Pots seven inches in diameter are 

 large enough for average bulbs. It is a strong point to have 

 the drainage perfect, for although the plants like abundance of 

 water at a certain stage, they are injured by anythingapproach- 

 ing saturation. A rich sandy soil is requisite, and this is ob- 

 tained in a mixture of loam, thoroughly decomposed manure 

 and sand in equal parts. It is best to pot the bulbs early in 

 spring, before the new leaves push forth, and it is well to place 

 them at least two inches beneath the surface of the soil. After 

 being potted they should be placed near the glass in a sunny 

 frame or greenhouse, where protection from frost is assured. 

 When they commence to grow water may be given, and as the 

 plants develop the water supply should be increased and air 

 should be admitted freely during warm weather, and growth 

 encouraged by occasional applications of liquid manure. The 

 supply of liquids must be gradually decreased as the leaves 

 attain their full dimensions, and discontinued altogether when 

 they turn yellow. 



The stock may be increased by seeds and offsets. The off- 

 sets are removed from the parent bulbs in spring, and they 

 should receive the same treatment as that recommended for 

 the bulbs. With proper care these offsets may be had in 

 bloom two years later. The large fleshy seeds should be sown 

 in sandy soil when ripe, and only partially covered. They 

 germinate readily in a warm greenhouse if kept moderately 

 dry, and when fit to handle should be potted off and treated as 

 older plants. Seedlings usually flower in their third year. 



The one vexing quality of the Belladonna Lily is its habit of 

 producing flowers only after the leaves have died away. I ts other 

 attractions atone for this defect to some extent, but cultivators 

 have long been anxious to remedy it by crossing A. Bella- 

 donna with Vallota purpurea and other closely allied plants 

 in which foliage and bloom appear together. Whatever 

 these experiments may have proved for the botanist, they 

 have not as yet improved the Belladonna Lily as a garden- 

 plant. 



Cambridge, Mass. 



M. Barker. 



How to Procure Wild Flowers. 



TN cultivating our native wild flowers I believe that many 

 ■*■ amateurs make a mistake in not procuring for themselves 

 from the woods and fields as many of them as come within 

 their reach, or as they could get by a little exertion. To search 

 them out, at least the rarer ones, and know them first in their 

 natural homes; to lift them with one's own hand and note the 

 soil, conditions, etc., in which they grow, and then to copy 

 them as well as may be in some corner of one's garden or 

 grounds, will give more real gratification than the purchase of 

 established plants from a nursery. There are always pecu- 

 liarities in the location and surroundings of wild plants that 

 are not mentioned in catalogues and botanical descriptions, 

 and to see just where they grow naturally and study their com- 



pany, will give one the clearest idea of the place which will 

 suit them best in cultivation. 



Take, for example, the wild Violets, of which almost any 

 New England town contains six to a dozen varieties. The 

 time to distinguish the various kinds one from another best is 

 when they are in flower, and they may be successfully trans- 

 planted at this season. Go out into the woods and fields in the 

 middle or last of May and look for them. The work may be 

 novel, but one who sets about it in earnest will soon learn just 

 where to look for them. Lift the finest plants, with plenty of 

 their home soil about their roots, using care that they do not 

 wilt. Keep them moist and shielded from the sun, and when 

 planted out in the garden they may need shading and water- 

 ing for the first few days until their roots get a firm hold of the 

 soil. Such plants well cared for, set at this season, make 

 strong flowering stock by the next spring. If they are inclined 

 to wilt when first lifted, a third or half of the leaves should be 

 removed, which will considerably retard evaporation, so that 

 the roots can keep up a full water supply. At this early sea- 

 son, when Violets are in bloom, many other fine things will be 

 found, such as Anemones, Trilliums, Spring Beauties, Lady 

 Slippers and Ferns. One who begins to collect will be sur- 

 prised at the number met with, the pleasure each new find 

 gives, and if properly cared for the small per cent, of losses. 

 There is a pleasure in finding for the first time in bloom, in its 

 natural condition, a strange and interesting' plant, which can- 

 not be compared to the enjoyment it gives when first viewed 

 in a garden or greenhouse. 



But spring is not the only season to collect these wild plants. 

 Scarcely a day passes from May until December when some 

 of them may not be successfully transplanted. On excursions- 

 for plants one is apt to overload with implements. A small 

 and light pickaxe about a foot in length, with a handle fifteen 

 inches long, is the only implement needed for most plants. 

 Of course, there are cases where such a tool would not answer, 

 but they are rare. A tin collecting case with a tight cover will 

 keep plants fresh a long time, but a closely woven handle- 

 basket will in most cases answer just as well, and is much 

 lighter to carry. A wet cloth spread in the bottom and another 

 over the plants will keep them cool and moist a long time. 



There will always be many desirable things which can be 

 best procured by purchase, but the grower who buys every- 

 thing regardless of what is within his immediate reach will 

 lose much pleasant and profitable experience. 



Soutlnvick, Mass. F. H. Horsford. 



Transplanting Onions. 



AN experiment in transplanting Onions was made last 

 season by Mr. . W. J. Green, Horticulturist of the 

 Ohio Experiment Station, the results of which are set forth 

 in the paper which follows, and which was read by him 

 before the Columbus Horticultural Society : 



The practice of transplanting Onions when young is not 

 common with gardeners, but it has many advantages which 

 seem to have been overlooked. Seed under forty different 

 names, including about thirty varieties, was sown in the Ex- 

 periment Station greenhouse February 25th, 1890. The seed 

 came up promptly, and the young plants advanced rapidly in 

 growth, being six to eight inches in height by the middle of 

 April. As soon as practicable two beds or plats of ground 

 were prepared side by side, in one of which the young Onion- 

 plants grown in the greenhouse were planted. 



In the other bed seed of the same varieties was sown in the 

 ordinary manner. In all respects, except that of transplanting, 

 the plants in the two beds were treated exactly alike. Both 

 were manured and cultivated alike, and twice during the sea- 

 son, when the weather was dry, both were irrigated. At the 

 proper time the plants in the bed where the seed was sown 

 were thinned, so as to stand the same distance as those that 

 had been transplanted, which was three inches apart in the 

 row, the rows being one foot apart. 



The difference in the two beds was very marked from the 

 start. Those that were transplanted commenced to grow at 

 once, none, so far as observed, dying in the operation. Not 

 only were the transplanted Onions much larger at all times 

 during the season, but they had a healthier appearance, be- 

 sides being more uniform in size. A conservative estimate at 

 any time during the season would have placed the yield of the 

 transplanted bed at more than double that of the other bed. 



The difference in cost of cultivation was considerable, the 

 ratio being about one to two in favor of the bed of transplanted 

 Onions. At the first weeding both beds were weedy, but while 

 the weeds were as larg^e as the Onions in the bed where the 



