January 23, 1S95.] 



Garden and Forest. 



37 



in September. They can remain in the ground, however, and 

 will continue to increase until heavy frosts about the tirst of 

 November, when they should be brought into a light cellar 

 where the temperature never descends to the freezing point. 

 If they are set on the ground close together and watered well, 

 the roots will take hold and keep them fresh. Celeriac is good 

 in soups and dressings, and makes a delightful salad when 

 boiled and sliced. 



New Yxirk. 7^. 



Lilium elegans.— This Lily, with its various forms or varie- 

 ties, makes one of the best groups of the whole genus. All of 

 them will thrive in ordinary garden soil, with less care than 

 most species. With me the bulbs take hold the first year and 

 seem quite free from decay. L. elegans is a native of Japan, 

 and, thus far, has proved hardy here. The bulbs increase in 

 size so that moderately small ones, if well fed the first year, 

 become large by the second autumn. The price, too, is much 

 in their favor for general use, as most of its varieties can be 

 had at reasonable rates. There are, however, so many forms 

 and synonyms for this group, that one is lost in making a 

 selection from some of the lists. One house in Europe offers 

 no less than thirty-four forms under various names and prices, 

 which, no doubt, might better be reduced to ten or twelve. 

 One variety, called Elegans semiflore-pleno, is a half-double 

 form, while there is recently offered, among novelties 

 from Japan, a double-flowered variety called Elegans flore- 

 pleno. L. Thunbergeri, L. umbellatum and L. Batemanni, 

 together with their sub-forms, all belong to this species. The 

 variety Alice Wilson is said to be one of the best, but unfortu- 

 nately the price is still quite high. Although there are promi- 

 nent distinctions between many of the forms of this Lily, such 

 as shades of color, height, time of flowering, etc., yet, of the 

 five or si,\ which have been tried here, there is little dift'erence 

 so far as their disposition to thrive with common care. Even 

 in dampish ground, where only such kinds as the L. superbum, 

 L. tenuifolium or L. tigrinum would be expected to prosper, 

 these forms of L. elegans have increased and bloomed. 

 Charlotte, vt. F- H. Horsford. 



Correspondence. 



Carnations in Flatbush. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Among the most extensive growers of Carnations for 

 the New York market are Messrs. Dailledouze Brothers, of 

 Flatbush, Long Island, who have 36,000 feet of glass. In con- 

 nection with Carnations, they grow a strain of large-flowering 

 I\'[ignonette, which they have established by long continued 

 selection until it is quite distinct, although unnamed. A week 

 ago, when ordinary Mignonette was bringing $3.00 to $4.00 for 

 a hundred spikes in New York city, this stock commanded 

 $10.00 to $12.00 for seconds. The choicest heads at the same 

 time brought $3.00 a dozen at wholesale, and the largest trusses 

 were sold by them just before Christmas for as much as $6.00 

 a dozen, a price said to be higher than has ever before been 

 realized for Mignonette. These selected spikes were ten 

 inches long, with a good diameter, and were very compact. 

 The stems are stiff and the foliage heavy and flowers close. 



The seed is sown about the first of September in solid beds, 

 and in rather heavy soil. Tlie plants are thinned out after 

 they show four good leaves, which is about five weeks after 

 the time of sowing. They are tied up and watered sufficiently 

 often to keep them moist. After they start to flower, liquid 

 stimulant is applied once in two weeks, chemical mixtures, 

 cow and sheep nianure and other fertilizers being used in turn, 

 since Mignonette likes a change of food. Strong plants bear 

 six to eight spikes each. The seed is gathered about the 15111 

 of April, the best plants being saved for seed. 



Carnations are, however, tlie main crop here at this time. 

 In houses devoted to the older sorts are long stretches of the 

 variety William Scott, which is considered here the best all- 

 around pink Carnation for commercial purposes. It grows 

 strong and produces freely large pure pink flowers with crisp 

 petals. The later-flowering Madame Diaz Albertini, with its 

 strong clove fragrance, also bears large flowers of good color, 

 the outer petals being a lighter pink than the rest of the flower. 

 Emily Pierson, originated by A. N. Pierson, of Cromwell, Con- 

 necticut, is here a good scarlet ; it is late, not being ready to 

 cut until after the holidays, but is better than Portia, being a 

 continuous bloomer, with larger flowers and stiffer stems. 



The yellow Bouton d'Or, which originated in France in 1889, 

 has been tested in this country without much success and has 

 been given up by most growers. L'nder the hands of Messrs. 

 Dailledouze, however, it grows strongly and blooms freely 



for a yellow Carnation, and is the only variety of this color 

 which flowers abundantly enough to make it a commercial 

 success. It is just beginning to furnish flowers for cutting. 

 They area good clearyellow in color, with carmine markings 

 on tlie edge and through the midLlle of the petals. 



Daybreak proves a good standard commercial variety, and 

 has been cut since last fall. It is healthy, with good stem 

 and calyx and of large size, and has good keeping qualities. 

 The fragrant Tidal Wave is considered the best carmine, and 

 has done well for ten years. It has been in bloom since the 

 middle of September. Lizzie McGowan is esteemed the best 

 white. The flowers need to remain long to develop and 

 mature, and ten days from the time they open is not too long 

 to leave them on the plant. 



The newer Carnations included Annie Pixley, originated by 

 Albert M. Herr, and sent out last year. It is a tall grower, a good 

 rosy pink of solid color, and is of medium size. Helen Keller 

 grows to extra-large size, and brings the highest price of any 

 Carnations grown. It is considered by the Messrs. Dailledouze 

 to be the best variegated Carnation. Adalina Kresken, sent 

 out in 1894 by Peter Herb, has been a disappointment, the 

 calyx bursting badly. ^The pink Nicholson does not do well 

 here, and seems to need .a lighter soil. Sweet Briar, some- 

 times called the Sleeping Beauty, resembles Annie Pixley, but 

 is a deeper pin!:. It stands up well here, although a mile to 

 the south, on lighter soil, it " sleeps " badly. The color is a 

 good pink. Jacqueminot is a glowing bright crimson, sent out 

 by Fisher & Sons. It is small, a fairly good bloomer, and has 

 a good stem. The new white, Uncle John, is a failure here. 

 It kicks constitution and is subject to rust. The Stuart, which 

 took the gold medal in Indianapolis a year ago, is inconstant, 

 too many of the flowers being streaked and poor in form. The 

 few perfect ones are a fine scarlet, with a rich metallic lustre. 

 This variety is not likely to become a standard. 



The cuttings of Carnations are made in March, and are 

 planted out the first week in May. In September they are 

 planted in the benches, and the flowers come in salable quan- 

 tity about the 15th of October. First varieties ready to cut are 

 William Scott, Daybreak, Portia and Lizzie McGowan. Among 

 the latest are Emily Pierson and Madame Diaz Albertini. The 

 earliest cutting varieties, with Tidal Wave, are the most con- 

 tinuous in flowering. 



Brooklyn, N. Y. M. B. C. 



Orchids at Short Hills, New Jersey'. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — This is not the season of the most profuse bloom in 

 Orchid-houses, but flowers are never lacking at the United 

 States Nurseries, and just now a large house filled with plants 

 of Cattleya Triana? produces as pleasing an effect of soft colors 

 as one would wish to see. I have no idea how many thou- 

 sands of plants there are here, but every bulb and leaf seem 

 to rejoice in perfect health, while the flowers are of the largest 

 size and of the richest color. C. Trianae is one of the com- 

 monest and most popular of Orchids, but there is a wide dif- 

 ference between plants of the best varieties which have been 

 treated to the most intelligent cultivation on the one hand, 

 and the ordinary run of the plants which are allowed to 

 bloom as they will, on the other. I never saw together so 

 many plants of this Cattleya which were really of such high 

 quality. Of course, there were some large specimen plants, 

 one of them showing fifty flowers, but the charm of the col- 

 lection did not come from these conspicuous individuals, but 

 rather from the unusual health and vigor of the entire lot. The 

 firm is cutting these flowers every day by the hundred, and 

 they often have more orders than they can fill. For choice 

 flowers they have realized at wholesale as much as lifty dol- 

 lars a hundred, which, perhaps, means nearly twice as much 

 at retail, when the expenses and inevitable losses are taken 

 into account. Mr. Pitcher finds that' it pays him well to sell 

 Orchid-flowers in connection with the business of selling 

 plants. The demand for them seems to be strong and 

 unflagging, and I saw letters from as far west as St. Paul, and 

 even from Denver, acknowledging the receipt of large con- 

 signments of CattleyR.-flowers in excellent condition. C. Per- 

 civalianais just passing out of bloom, but the flowers, although 

 they are smaller than those of C. Triaiue, have brought good 

 prices, since they come when few other Orchids can be found 

 in the flower market. After the season of C. 'rriaiuE is over, 

 C. Mossite, with which another house is flilod, C. gigas and 

 C. Mendelli and others will keep up the succession. Many 

 of these plants are showing luids and are making larger and 

 better pseudo-bulbs than they oiiginallv grew in their n;itivc 

 habitat. 



One of the most iiiferestiiig of the group of (hchid-hoiiscs 



