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Garden and Forest. 



[December i8, 1889. 



Propagating. — More or less work of this character is to he 

 done during- the winter months, and therefore it is well to 

 make preparation for it by laying in such supplies as may be 

 needed. Attention given to such details now will save much 

 labor and inconvenience later in the season. For instance, a 

 good supply of clean, sharp sand should be put under cover, 

 so that the weather may not interfere with future opeia- 

 tions. Some Cocoa-fibre, or sphagnum, should be secured, 

 in which to plunge cutting-pots. The Cocoa-fibre is prefera- 

 ble, because more lasting. Potsherds or cinders for drainage 

 shoidd also be provided, and if cinders are used they should 

 be sifted out as clean as possible. A little charcoal will also 

 be found useful, particularly where the cuttings require a con- 

 siderable time in the cutting-pots or pans, for the soil in such 

 cases often becomes sour. 



Among these slow-rooting plants may be classed the Ter- 

 minalias, Theophrasa iinperialis, some of the Aralias, and /?o;z- 

 deletia graiissiina, all of which and many more take a long time 

 to develop roots. 



The cut flower supply of the next season must also be 

 provided for, and, with this in view, the first crop of 

 Rose-cuttings may soon be put in. To secure satisfactory 

 plants, the cuttings should be taken from healthy shoots of 

 medium size, such as rather weak blooming shoots, these be- 

 ino- usually of firm wood which will rootqiuckly. Between blind 

 wood and'tiowering shoots for Rose cuttings I have found no 

 material difference, although the question is still discussed. I 

 saw, this autumn, two houses of American Beauty, the plants 

 in one having been raised from cuttings of flowering shoots, 

 while a second house of the same size and under exactly the 

 same treatment was planted with Roses raised strictly from 

 blind wood. When I saw them I was unable to discern any 

 appreciable difference, either in strength of growth or flori- 

 ferousness of the plants in the two houses, both being in first- 

 class condition. 



Carnation-cuttings should soon be put in, for early-struck 

 cutfings usually make the best plants. A good method with 

 these plants is to prick them off from the cutting-bench into 

 flats filled with soil, in which they may remain until the time 

 for planting out. The advantage of this plan is that the plants 

 so treated seldom become starved and root-bound, and they 

 may be readily separated with a trowel, so that each plant, 

 when planted out in the spring, has a good ball of earth attached 

 to it. Bouvardias should also be put in about the begin- 

 ning of the year, as the root-cuttings generally used take sev- 

 eral weeks to make growth enough to fit them for potting off. 



Holmesburg. Pa. ^V- H. TapUn. 



Chrysanthemums for Stock. — I find from experience that it is 

 quite as important to give close attention to stock-plants after 

 blooming as before. Last year I took care to have my plants 

 in as cool a place as I could give them, free from frost. I kept 

 them in the Violet-house. They were kept free from insects, 

 and watered moderately. Not one of my own stock failed me, 

 but many of the new varieties, or others obtained outside, did 

 poorly. Another experience was that a foul cutting produced 

 the only infested plant I had. Late struck cuttings did as well 

 as early ones. Next season, therefore, I shall not take cuttings 

 until the end of February. Cuttings will strike if the tempera- 

 ture of the propagating bed is not above fifty degrees. The 

 bed is better kept moderately dry so long as the cuttings do 

 not wilt. T. D. H. 



Wellesley, Mass. 



Carnations.— Now that Chrysanthemums are nearly over, 

 there is nothing more interesting to the amateur than a collec- 

 fion of Carnafions, and if in a light and airy, cool greenhouse, 

 they do equally well in pots or planted out. If allowed to be- 

 come waterlogged or are subjected to too much heat they are 

 injuriously affected. A temperature of fifty-five degrees is 

 about right during the night-time. Occasional waterings with 

 liquid manure and tobacco fumigation against the green fly 

 seem to be all the special attention they demand. There has 

 been a steady improvement in American seedlings, so that 

 we not only have varieties of many hues and large, finely 

 scented flowers, but the flowers are borne on long stems, and 

 the calyx does not split and give the ragged look which was so 

 often seen among the sorts grown a few years ago. There are 

 now so many good kinds that it is hardly worth while to make 

 a list of them. First rate kinds can be selected from the cata- 

 logues of any of the leading florists. ^ , -r^, x 



Pearl River, N. Y. John ThorpB. 



Kalanchoe carnea is a new introduction from South Africa. 

 It was received in England in 1886, and seeds have been 

 offered for the first time this season by Messrs. Veitch & Co. 

 Plants are now in bloom here from early sown seeds, and 



prove to be very attractive. The plants are fleshy, nearly 

 resembling the scarlet Kalosanthes in size and form of flowers 

 and character of inflorescence. The flowers are four-petaled, 

 delicate pink, shading to deeper pink on the margins, and 

 appear in corymbose cymes. The^'are slightly fragrant, with a 

 honey-like odor. The leaves are light brownish green, fleshy 

 and smooth. The plant flowers from the termination of the main 

 stem, also from the axils of the leaves. It is now pushing new 

 growths from the base, and, no doubt, it will continue in 

 bloom for a long season. As this is an attractive dwarf-grow- 

 ing succulent of the easiest possible culture, rapidly propa- 

 gated by seeds or cuttings, and giving handsome bloom in early 

 winter, it seems a desirable addition to the green-house and 

 probably will prove a good window plant. Aside from need- 

 ing little pot-room and requiring a mixture of sandy loam and 

 brick rubbish or similar material, it seems to require no spe- 

 cial treatment or extra care. ^ 

 Elizabeth, N.J, J. A. Gerard. 



Correspondence. 



December in California. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — Owing to tlie heavy rains in October, and the warm 

 weather, with showers, ever since, the gardens and orchards 

 show some interesting freaks. The double Spircea priinifolia 

 usually sheds its leaves, in this locality, about November ist, 

 and blooms, on the bare branches, in spring. It is in full 

 bloom now, December ist, while the beautiful leaves, red and 

 yellow, are all on the branches, and show no tendency to fall ! 

 A neighbor has Lilacs in bloom now — not large clusters, but 

 small bunches of flowers. They never bloom from any other 

 buds. The crimson Japanese Quince hedge shows a great many 

 blooms at present, fully two months before the usual season. 

 The beautiful Magnolia stellata, which is a great favorite here, 

 is blooming freely in the midst of its leaves, a thing which I 

 never saw before in fifteen years of watching its fragrant blush 

 pink flowers. They do not usually show until New Year's or 

 later, and then on leafless stems. 



The Persian Walnut-trees, the " Kaghazi," imported from 

 Cashmere, still retain all their leaves as if it were August. 

 The English Walnuts have lost their leaves. The foliage of 

 the Cherry-trees in the orchard is, for the most part, as green 

 as it was three months ago. The Paiilownia iinperialis , forty 

 feet high, shows, as yet, no sign of dropping a leaf. The 

 Italian Chestnuts have lost only a few leaves from the upper 

 branches, but many are still green and closely adherent. The 

 general aspect of over 100 acres of orchard and ornamental 

 grounds is that of late summer, except for the leafless Apple, 

 Pear and Peach-trees. 



Judge Blackwood, of Haywards, eiglit miles from here, told 

 me to-day that he had an Apple-tree in full bloom, and that 

 his Cherry-trees would be in blossom in a week. Professor E. 

 W. Hilgard, of the State University, told me that several Apple 

 and Pear-trees are in bloom in the grounds there. Some Apri- 

 cot and Almond-flowers are reported from other districts. 

 Here, at Niles, the Cherry-buds appear almost ready to come 

 out, but other fruit trees are more backward than in the cases 

 mentioned. The opinion among fruit-growers is that all the 

 orchards will be in bloom two months earlier than usual. 



The brilliant orange Eschscholtzias are in full bloom in a 

 field near by — hundreds of them. February is their usual 

 season here. The California wild Mustard is also in bloom by 

 the roadsides. The grass on the hills and in the pastures is as 

 tall and thick as it is in ordinary seasons by the end of March. 



Niles, Cai. Charles H. Shinn. 



Trees and Telegraph Wires. 

 To the Ed'itor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir. — In passing along one of our streets the other day I was 

 shocked to find that a row of fine shade trees had been used 

 for telegraph or telephone attachments, and that the linemen 

 had ascended them as they do the poles, by means of sharp 

 spikes in the heels of their boots, mutilating the bark, of 

 course, and inviting attack from the rot fungus. Two well 

 known citizens who were passing said in reply to some ques- 

 tions that nobody seemed to have any power to stop such 

 outrages. 



Are we, then, wholly at the mercy of any corporation who 

 cares to peril our lives, or destroy our shade trees, or drive us 

 crazy by wires vibrating against the tin roofs of our houses ? I 

 am growing callous to many things, but for the trees there is 

 " a corner of my heart that is sorry still." What wearegoing to 

 do I do not know, but I send this growl where I think it may 

 meet with sympathy. 



Brown University, Providence. W. Whitman Bailey. 



