294 



Garden and Forest. 



[June 19, 1889. 



soil perfectly clean and mellow between the rows where I 

 want the plants. Runners are trained out and are in- 

 duced to strike root as soon as possible. Then, as fast as 

 they have made little roots half an inch to an inch long, they 

 are lifted carefully and taken to the potting-shed at the green- 

 house, where they can be potted in good soil and in a com- 

 fortable manner for the operator. I use three-inch pots, and 

 as soon as potted the plants are set on a bed of coal-ashes in 

 a frame, and shaded with screens made of laths nailed an 

 inch apart, so as to give a varying shade and SLuishine. Hav- 

 ing them thus convenient for watering, they grow with great 

 vigor, and soon make better plants than if the pots were left 

 plunged in the garden to take the chances of rain or drought. 

 Plants potted in this way in July, in a rich compost of rotted 

 sods and manure, furnish the best material for setting a bed 

 late in August or early in September, or in fact at any time 

 when the ground is ready after the pots are filled with roots. 

 By raising or buying a new set of potted plants in this way 

 every year, one can always have, with good soil and culture, 

 the finest fruit the variety selected is capable of yielding, and 

 can avoid the nuisance of an old, worn-out, grassy Strawberry 

 bed. These fall-planted Strawljerries will give a moderate 

 crop the following spring, and a full crop the second year, 

 after which they should be destroyed. As to varieties, every 

 one must experiment for himself, for no fruit varies so much 

 with soil and local circumstances. But having a fruit that suits, 

 it is folly to abandon it for some much-advertised novelty. 

 Test promising novelties in a small way, but. depend for fruit 

 upon the sort that has done well in the past. 

 Crozet, Va. iV. F. Masscy. 



Lcelia purpurata. 



THIS magnificent Orchid has been known to cultivators 

 more than forty years, and is certainly deserving of the 

 title "King of the Orchids," which has been bestowed upon it, 

 for it stands without a rival among its congeners on account 

 of the size and beauty of its fiowers. Unlike most other beauti- 

 ful plants, Lcelia purpurata is not rare, and poor, indeed, 

 must be the collection which does not possess a specimen of it. 



It has been stated in various works that this species was first 

 discovered by M. Pays, of Bornhem, near Antwerp, hence the 

 name of Cattleya Brysiana, under which it was formerly known 

 in gardens and figured and described in books. Its real dis- 

 covery, however, is attributed to Frangois Devos, who found 

 it growing in the province of Santa Catherina, in south Brazil, 

 while traveling there in 1847. He sent plants to M. Verschaf- 

 felt, a nurseryman of Ghent, whence they were distributed over 

 Europe. In England it flowered for the first time in the nurs- 

 eries of Messrs. Backhouse, of York, who, at that time, were 

 able to sell small plants of it for the sum of twenty-five guineas 

 each. Now, however, it has become more plentiful, and good 

 plants may be obtained at a very low figure. 



The plants, which grow about two feet high, have spindle- 

 shaped stems, which become furrrowed when old, each bear- 

 ing a single large, leathery, strap-shaped leaf, of a deep shining 

 green, and an erect peduncle, bearing from three to seven large 

 and beautiful flowers, each six or seven inches across. The 

 oblong-lanceolate-acute sepals, and the ovate-oblong wavy 

 petals, are of a delicate white color, while the lip, which forms 

 the great attraction of the flower, is" slightly trilobed ; the two 

 basal lobes are folded over the column, forming a tube 

 (white outside and yellow on the inside), which is traversed by 

 conspicuous radiating lines of a deep crimson-purple. The 

 large anterior lobe, which is crisped and spreading, is also of a 

 very deep velvety crimson-purple, which passes into rose at the 

 apex, and is covered with deeper purple veins. The flowers 

 will remain in good condition for three or four weeks if the 

 plants are placed in a moderately cool and dry atmosphere. 



There are many varieties of this species known, all distin- 

 guished more or less by the difference in color. Among the 

 most distinct varieties are Schrcederiana, with pure white sepals 

 and petals, and a white border around the mauve-purple of 

 the front lobe of the lip ; Russelliana has the white sepals and 

 petals tinged with rose, and a lilac-purple lip with deeper veins; 

 while Williamsiana has the sepals and petals of a deeper rose 

 color, and a very deep purple lip. Other varieties run so near to 

 each other that it is impossible to distinguish them by sight only. 



Lalia purpurata and its varieties thrive, when grown in a 

 temperature of 60° to 65° Fahr., in a compost of good fibrous 

 peat and sphagnum moss. The plants generally produce their 

 flowers during May and June, and a short time after they are 

 over the growing season begins. Any plants requiring it 

 should then be re-potted, but they should be kept an inch or 

 two higher than the rims of the pots, so that the roots may be 

 able to creep over the surface of the soil. The plants should 



be placed in such a position that they may obtain plenty of 

 light, as this will induce them to develop and ripen good 

 strong bulbs, without which it is impossible to expect a good 

 crop of flowers when the proper season arrives. When grow- 

 ing, the plants may be freely watered, and a syringing in the 

 latter part of each day is also beneficial. The plants should be 

 slightly shaded when the sun is exceptionally hot, otherwise 

 the leaves would become brown and shrivelled. During the 

 winter months the plants should be considered at rest, and 

 consequently require very little water, and when in flower, the 

 less water given the better. 

 St. Aiiians, May ist. 1889. John Weathers. 



Papaver Caucasicum. — This handsome perennial Poppy is 

 flowering with us for the first time. It was received last year 

 from southern Germany, and has proved to be quite hardy 

 and worthy of cultivation. In general appearance the plant 

 resembles a Meconopsis, the leaves being of a glaucous green 

 and covered with hair-like prickles. The flower-stems are two 

 to three feet high and branched from base to apex, each 

 branch producing numerous flowers of a delicate salmon 

 color, and measuring two inches across. P. Caucasicum is 

 easily raised from seed, which is freely produced, and it 

 usually flowers the second year from sowing. 



Alstromerias. — These lovely Amaryllidaceous plants are too 

 seldom met with in gardens, and the reason is not easily ex- 

 plained. There are at least two species that are perfectly 

 hardy here in the Eastern States — namely, A. Peruviana and 

 A. aurantiaca. These two we have grown for several years, 

 and find them to do well artd increase rapidly when planted in 

 a warm, sheltered corner of the garden, near brick-work, or 

 on a sloping bank, where there is no danger of moisture accu- 

 mulating in winter. Alstromerias are gross feeders, and when 

 planted need plenty of well-decayed manure worked in with 

 the soil, the more so as their fasciculated masses of fleshy 

 roots bear disturbance badly. Our plants have been in bloom 

 several weeks, and will continue to produce their bright 

 orange flowers on successional growths until frost stops them. 

 Seeds are produced freely, and should be sown as soon as 

 matured, otherwise they will remain dormant until the second 

 year from sowing. As soon as the young plants are large 

 enough to handle they should be potted, and in spring planted 

 in their permanent beds. There are two other species said to 

 be hardy, but these we have not tried. 



Passaic, N. J. t/. 



Sweet Peas. — The secret of having these beautiful flowers 

 during the whole season does not lie in successive plantings. 

 The earlier the seed is inthe groimd after it is in fair working 

 order the better, and later plantings will never succeed as well 

 as the first. To insure continuous bloom it is only necessary 

 to cut the flowers as they are fully formed. The tendency of 

 the plant is to produce seed, and if this is prevented by plucking 

 the flowers others will be thrown out quickly to supply the 

 loss. If the cutting is neglected a crop of pods will be pro- 

 duced at once, and the flowering will very shortly come to an 

 end. By this constant cutting of the flowers I have kept Sweet 

 Peas in bloom until October. The plants should not be hoed 

 after they begin to form flower-buds, but after the last hoeing 

 it is good practice to mulch the ground with some coarse Ht- 

 ter. This will keep the roots moist in dry weather and hold 

 the small weeds in subjugation. It may be worth mentioning 

 that I have grown Sweet Peas for seven successive years on 

 the same spot, and do not observe any deterioration in their 

 quality. Every year I plant a few in some other part of the 

 garden, and the difference between the two lots, if there is any, 

 is in favor of those grown in the old Sweet Pea corner. 



Boston, Mass. M- B. FaxOtt. 



Dwarf Pears. — It is commonly said that Dwarf Pears are so 

 short-lived as to be unprofitable, but such is not of necessity 

 the case. There are three requisites to longevity of Dwarf 

 Pears and to success in their cultivation:, (i) A perfect union 

 with the Quince; (2) Systemadc heading-in, in order that the 

 top may not become too large and heavy for the root; (3) Good 

 care always. Varieties which unite permanently with the 

 Quince are comparatively few. Angouleme is undoubtedly 

 the best, and Anjou is excellent. The best old Dwarf Pear 

 orchard which I have ever seen is a ten-acre plot belonging to 

 T. G. Yeomans and Sons, Walworth, Wayne County, New 

 York. It was set in 1853, and notwithstanding its thirty-six 

 years is still in prime of vigor. Two-thirds of the new wood 

 is cut back every spring, and a fair-sized man can pick every 

 pear on the trees without a ladder and without climbing into 

 the trees. As I write the fruit has set profusely, and it has 



