3i6 



Garden and Forest. 



[July 3, 1889 



■who contributed from his Knap Hill nurseries a bright group 

 of new hardy Azaleas, all highly-bred seedlings, which are 

 very diffei'ent from the old sorts of Ghent Azaleas. But I must 

 give you a special note about this most important race of new 

 Azaleas. Messrs. Veitch showed a good many interesting- 

 things in the way of shrubs in bloom, but there was nothing 

 that calls for notice here except the Japanese Maiiles, which are 

 fast becoming so popular for green-house adornment. They 

 are hardy in a good many places in England, but they must, 

 on the whole, be termed half-hardy shrubs. The most attrac- 

 tive green-house flowers here were the Begonias, single and 

 double, from Messrs. Laing and Messrs. Cannell, two firms 

 who have done most to improve and popularize Begonias. 

 Some say that they are getting the blooms too big. This may be 

 so from an artistic standpoint, but ask the amateur, who is for- 

 ever striving to produce the biggest Begonia-bloom as he is 

 the biggest Gooseberry. Messrs. Cannell claim to have beaten 

 the record with their flowers six inches across, looking 

 more like double Hollyhocks than Begonias. The market- 

 men, too, were in evidence at this grand show, and none 

 more worthily represented this section of gardeners than Mr. 

 May, who is chiefly a Fern-grower, and has raised so many of 

 the beautiful new varieties. He carpeted a large area of the 

 turf with his Ferny growth, which in every instance was the 

 perfection of cultm-al skill. W. Gohh-ing. 



New or Little Known Plants. 



Spir^a Van Houttei. 



THIS is by far the handsomest of all those Spiraeas 

 which produce their flowers from the extremities of 

 short leafy branches of the year, and one of the very 

 handsomest and most desirable of all hardy floAvering 

 garden-shrubs. According to a writer in the Revue, Horii- 

 cole (1866, p. 269), it was raised by a French nurseryman, 

 Monsieur Billiard, of Fontenay-aux-Roses, from seed of 

 Spircea aquilegifolia a form of S. in'lobaia with wliich we 

 are unacquainted. Its relationship with the Siberian ^. 

 trilohala is evident ; it is, however, a much more free- 

 growing plant, attaining in good soil a height of six or 

 eight feet, and forming, with its spreading and gracefully 

 arching branches, a wide bush as much through. The 

 foliage is somewhat paler, especially on the upper surface, 

 than that of S. irilohata, the flower heads are broader and 

 much flatter, while the individual flowers difler from those 

 of the Siberian plant in their larger size and in their color, 

 which is pure, clear white, while those of the parent 

 plant are greenish white. 



Cultural Department. 



Cultivation of the Pecan. 



THE Pecan is cultivated quite extensively now in the 

 southern States, and it may be found growing on river- 

 banks from Indiana to Texas. Although the tree is well 

 known for its delicious nuts, which constitute an article ot 

 considerable commerce, it has not been cultivated systemat- 

 ically for profit until recently, except in a few localities in 

 Texas and Mexico. 



The tree is a species of Hickory [Carya), and grows tall and 

 slender, with a very hard wood. In early days it was held in 

 high estimation in the south on account of its beauty, and 

 many an old plantation is now marked out by a fine growth of 

 these trees. When the trees are confined in the forests they 

 shoot up fifty or sixty feet without branches, but when stand- 

 ing alone they attain a height of from sixty to ninety feet, ^vith 

 straight, symmetrical trunks, and expand into well balanced, 

 ample heads of bold, handsome, pinnated foliage. 



The Pecan-nuts which come from the soutliern States are 

 from an inch to an inch and a half long, smooth, cylindrical, 

 pointed at the heads, and thin-shelled, with the kernels full of 

 delicately-flavored meat. The demand for them in this coun- 

 tiy and in Europe far exceeds the supply, and owners of land in 

 the south bordering on river-bottorns would do well to plant 

 it with the thin-shelled variety of Pecan. This is being done 

 now more or less in many of the states, and plantations or 

 groves of Pecans are annually set out. It is an important ques- 

 tion, not yet satisfactorily decided, whether they will not pay 

 much better than either Oranges or Lemons. In Florida there 

 are many acres of low, rich hummock-land, aptly called here 



" flat-woods," which cannot be put to any profitable use until 

 it has been thoroughly drained. Such drainage, owing to 

 the nature of the soil, is an expensive undertaking, and it 

 is doubtful if, in the end, the land would prove thoroughly 

 dry during rainy seasons. But these "flat-woods" would 

 make fine places for Pecan-groves. The trees do not seem 

 to mind an overflow of water around their stems, for many of 

 the best groves found in Texas and Mexico are situated on 

 rich bottom-land that is often inundated once or twice a year. 

 The low " flat-woods" can be obtained for a trifle, and the cost 

 of a Pecan-grove is thus materially lessened. In the case 

 of Oranges .and Lemons the land to be selected must be 

 of the best, and the prices are usually correspondingly high. 

 Land along the river-bottoms and bayous all over the south- 

 ern States is comparatively cheap, owing to destructive over- 

 flows of water, which may rise any season and flood the fields. 

 Rice and Sugar-cane are about tiie only crops that can be 

 made to thrive here, and it is not always desirable to grow 

 either one of them along river-banks or in flat-woods. 



The prospect, therefore, is that much of this waste land 

 must be taken up by Pecan-groves, which will well repay the 

 planter eight or ten years after the trees are put out. Several 

 of the young groves that were planted two or three years ago 

 in low flat-wood, as an experiment, are now doing finely, and 

 from present indications they will repay the owners. 



The period of waiting for a Pecan-grove to bear fruit is long, 

 and often this proves a- serious drawback to the cultivation of 

 the trees. The time after planting for the trees to begin to bear 

 so that they will ptiy expenses has been placed variously 

 from ten to twelve years. The first few years the trees grow 

 slowly, but as they increase in size and age their growth be- 

 comes rapid. Their bearing also increases, and the crop 

 nearly doubles itself every year of two. 



It is not desirable to raise the tree from seed, as it is not 

 likely to be as good as the seed. Young nursery-trees are 

 the best, or if one b.as time he can raise his own trees from 

 the seed, and then bud them with the large, paper-shell va- 

 riety. This is the most successful way here of propagating 

 the Pecan. After the trees ai-e once started they need Httle or 

 no care. An occasional plowing between the rows and gen- 

 eral stirring of the soil would tend to improve their growth ; 

 l.)ut such labor is really unnecessary. The trees, however, 

 do not stand transplanting very well. They should be put in 

 the place at first where they are intended to grow. If the land 

 is not too low and wet, vegetables can be grown successfully 

 between the rows of trees. Some persons plant the trees 

 thirty or forty feet apart, but fifty or seventy feet is better. 

 When the trees once begin to bear the only expense attached 

 to tlie grove is the cost of picking, packing and shipping the 



Fort Meade, Fla. GeO. E. Wcllsh. 



Celery Growing. 



THERE is little doubt but that the method of growing Celery, 

 which is practiced from Baltimore southward, could be 

 profitably extended further north, particularly in private gar- 

 dens and where space is valuable. I refer to the plan of grow- 

 ing it in beds five feet wide and of any desired length. Celery 

 kept where it is grown is certainly superior to that wliich has 

 been lifted, and when grown in beds it can be covered and 

 kept through winter, which is impracticable in single rows. 



In planting these beds we use a board six feet long and one 

 foot wide. A garden-line is tightly stretched along one side 

 of the bed, and the square end of the board is kept parallel to 

 this line, so that the rows run straight across the bed one foot 

 apart. Notches are cut on the edges of the board six inches 

 apart, beginning six inches from the end, making eleven 

 notches. In using the board it is laid perpendicular to the line, 

 as before described, and the planter, standing on it, sets a plant 

 at each notch on both sides of the board, and so continues the 

 whole length of the bed. All that is now necessary is to keep 

 the bed well cultivated unfit it is necessary to add some earth 

 to keep the leaves erect. The earthing is done with a pair of 

 boards ten inches wide and about seven feet long, a foot or 

 more at each end being tapered to form a handle. In using 

 these boards they are set on edge between two rows of plants, 

 and kept nearly upright by pegs stuck in the ground on the 

 outside at each end. Two men work together standing one on 

 either side of the bed, and shovel the soil from the space left 

 on the sides of the bed, placing it between the boards until 

 level full. Then grasping the handles at the ends of the board 

 they bring their upper edges together with a few sharp raps, 

 then each man throws up the end of the board in his left hand 

 and catches the one in his right, inserting it in the next row of 

 plants. 



