July 31, 1895.] 



Garden and Forest. 



307 



cheaply supplied from the abundant water-power of our 

 mountahi lakes and streams. These will be rapidly con- 

 structed, to the great advantage of our hill farmers. 



It is important that the facts above noted should be widely 

 known, because such knowledge will materially aid in the 

 selection of suitable sites for orchards, where the trees, care- 

 fully cared for, may be expected to survive and yield a profit to 

 those who plant them for a long series of years. Pioneers 

 like myself, having nearly reached the limit of human exist- 

 ence, can only hope to aid, by their long experience and many 

 mistakes and failures, to make the way easier for those who 

 will come after them. That our northern border states will 

 hereafter yield an increasing supply of tree-fruits to the mar- 

 kets of the country can no longer bedoubted. But this will not 

 be achieved without careful study of all the conditions, which 

 must be carefully allowed for. • 



Newport, vt. T. H. Hoskins. 



Cupheas. 



'X'HE genus Cuphea contains a number of showy perennial 

 ■'- and annual plants. Some of the evergreen perennial spe- 

 cies are quite well known in gardens, but the annuals are sel- 

 dom seen outside of a botanic garden. The perennial species 

 are very easily raised from cuttings made of the young growth 

 in March or April. If the cuttings are inserted in a propagat- 

 ing-bed in clean sharp sand, with a good bottom-heat, they 

 root in about two weeks. When rooted they should be put 

 into two or three inch pots and then placed on a hot-bed, 

 where they soon make neat dwarf bushy plants. About the 

 middle of May they may be planted out into the beds, where 

 they will flower all summer ; in fact, we can hardly ever find 

 them without flowers. When there is danger of frost in the 

 fall some of the plantsshouldbepotted and put into the green- 

 house, where they bloom all winter. From these plants we 

 raise our stock for the following year. 



The annual species are very interesting, and some of them 

 are showy when in bloom. They are raised from seed, which 

 is sown in April, and the plants are grown along until May, 

 when they are planted out. They soon begin to blossom, and 

 continue flowering until they are destroyed by frost in the fall. 



Perhaps the best-known perennial species is Cuphea ignea, 

 which is also often found under the specitic name, platycen- 

 tra. It is a neat half-shrubby plant eight to twelve inches high, 

 and its stems are thickly set with opposite, nearly glabrous, 

 glossy green, lanceolate leaves. The plant bears a profusion 

 of flowers, which are produced between each pair of leaves. 

 The tubular apetalous flowers are about one inch long, of a 

 bright scarlet color, and have a black and white expanded 

 limb. This Cuphea is well adapted for small beds m the flower 

 garden. It is a Mexican plant, and was introduced here in 

 1845. The common name of this plant is the Cigar-plant. 



Cuphea lanceolata is a hispid, clammy Mexican annual, 

 which grows about one foot and a half high. Its stems are 

 thickly covered with long brown clammy hairs, and are clothed 

 with opposite oblong-lanceolate leaves, which taper at the base 

 into short petioles. The flowers of this plant are rather large 

 and showy, and are in racemes on the branches. The calyx is 

 of a purplish color, about one inch long, and the petals are 

 bluish, the two upper ones being the largest and showiest. 

 This plant begins to flower when not more than six inches 

 high, and keeps on blooming until late in the fall. 



The Clammy Cuphea, C. viscosissima, is an annual, found 

 growing in sandy fields from Connecticut to Illinois. If 

 conditions are favorable for its growth it will soon attain a 

 height of two feet. It is. curious that this is not numbered 

 among insect-catching plants. A small branch a foot long- 

 now before me has no less than eighteen small insects cap- 

 tured on its clammy hairy stem. It is a branched plant with 

 alternate branches and opposite leaves. Its flowers are of a 

 rich purple-violet color, and when massed together they are 

 very showy. 



Cuphea hyssopefolia is a dwarf perennial from Mexico, 

 which is grown in the greenhouse in the winter and used in 

 the summer for borders of small beds. It is about six inches 

 high, and its stems and branches are thickly covered with 

 small linear oblong leaves. The flowers, although small, are 

 plentiful, and are of a pinkish color. 



Another Cuphea in bloom now is C. mimafa. It has pale 

 vermilion solitary flowers, which are abundant until October. 

 The height of this Mexican annual is about two feet. 



The showiest Cuphea in bloom now is C. Llavea. It 

 is a perennial species that was introduced from the moun- 

 tains of central Mexico in 1830. Its flowers are large and 

 showy, and are in few-flowered short racemes. The two 



large petals are the showiest part of the flower, and are of a 

 deep red color. This Cuphea grows about a foot high, and it 

 makes a neat bedding-plant, with plenty of flowers all summer. 



Harvard Botanic Garden. R. Cameron. 



The Flower Garden. 



pERENNIAL plants especially have reveled in the recent 

 ■^ showery weather and have made rampant growth. The 

 increasing popularity of old-fashioned hardy plants is more 

 evident each year ; less carpet-beddmg is seen, and where 

 tender plants are largely used mixed tropical beds or beds of 

 flowering plants, as Cannas, are replacing the formal, and 

 often grotesque, color designs. 



At this season the perennial borders are well filled, and 

 not much bare ground is seen. Many of the taller-growinn- 

 sorts, such as Helianthus, Rudbeckias, Heliopsis and Asters, 

 will need to be securely staked for protection agauist wind and 

 heavy rains. Many plants which have finished blooming 

 should have the old flower-heads removed before the seed 

 ripens. Some plants like Papaver orientale are little better 

 than noxious weeds if their seeds are scattered over the bor- 

 ders. This is a good time to make note of the heights of 

 various plants and to mark for removal in the fall those not 

 properly placed and any which may be overcrowded. Weeds 

 must be kept down by the hoe or by hand. They often grow 

 inside the clumps of flowering plants, and can only be re- 

 moved by hand. 



A sowing of Pansies may now be made. We use a frame 

 with a northern slant for this purpose, and keep it shaded until 

 the seedlings appear. Trimardeau and Bagnots proved the 

 best of several strains tested this season. Hollyhocks should 

 also now be sown. With slight protection these stand the 

 winter here, but we keep a number in four-inch pots in a cold 

 frame and plant them out in the spring to make certain of a 

 crop. Seeds of Sweet William, Canterbury Bells, Digitalis, 

 Antirrhinum, Wallflowers, etc., are now showing above ground, 

 and when large enough to handle will be pricked off in a nur- 

 sery-bed. Antirrhinums make capital winter-blooming plants, 

 and a number of these placed in five-inch pots in October and 

 held in a cold frame until the new year will prove useful in the 

 conservatory later on. 



Cannas are benefited by having the seed-pods removed as 

 they form. These are the foremost tender bedding plants, as 

 their increased cultivation testifies. The following are the 

 best sorts now in bloom here : Madame Crozy, Alphonse 

 Bouvier, Queen Charlotte, F. R. Pierson, Gloire de Montetand 

 Eldorado. The first two kinds are still the best we have. 

 Tuberous Begonias require staking where they have made 

 good growth. A mulching of well-rotted cow-manure and 

 plenty of water, with partial shade, are essential to their suc- 

 cessful cultivation in the open. Geraniums should be gone 

 over once a week and decaying flower-stems removed. Noth- 

 ing spoils the appearance of a Geranium-bed so much as the 

 neglect of this simple operation. Coleus, Stevia, Achyranthes 

 and similar plants with colored leaves, as also Alternanlhera, 

 Santolina and other carpet-bedding plants, now make rapid 

 growth, and a good deal of pinching is required. After heavy 

 rains the hoe should be used to loosen up all bare ground. 

 Grass verges need cutting weekly during weather such as we 

 have lately had. A flower-bed loses half its beauty if the 

 verges are not well kept. 



Sweet Peas are helped by an occasional soaking of liquid 

 manure, and it is best to give this after heavy rain. Seed-pods 

 should not be allowed to form if a prolonged blooming season 

 is desired. A good syringing on the evenings of hot days 

 helps to keep down red spider and refreshes the plants. Our 

 latest batch of Stocks and Asters has just been planted out. 

 These are kept well watered ; if allowed to become dry, aphis 

 usually attacks the plants and ruins them. We have found 

 watering with moderately strong tobacco- water the best 

 remedy for this foe. A sharp lookout must be kept for the 

 black Aster beetle, which usually makes its appearance w-ith 

 the first flowers. Killing by hand is the only safe remedy we 

 know of for these destructive pests. Dahlias now require stout 

 stakes well drivensinto the ground and should be looked over 

 every ten days. After the main crop of roses is past the beds 

 usually receive scant attention. Seed-pods should be removed, 

 and if the plants are budded on the Briar, Manetli or De la 

 Grifferaic stocks, suckers from these are sure to appear here 

 and there and should be rubbed off or cut out. Marguerite 

 and summer-flowering Carnations of the greenhouse kinds 

 are now flowering freely. A little chemical fertilizer scattered 

 between the rows and hoed in will be found helpful, and 

 watering in dry weather is essential to success. 



Taunton, Mass. ■ W. JX . CraiiT. 



