3i8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 389. 



a great seed-bearing plant, and will soon be more available. G. 



aurantiacus, G. Leichtlinii and G. Crucutus have individually 



pretty flowers, but require careful cultivation to show their best 



form. G. dracocephalus luteus is a more pronounced yellow 



than the old type, but is more vigorous than beautiful in 



flower, ft is rather a plant for the hybridist. G. sulphureus 



has flowers of a greenish yellow tint, and these are not as 



pretty as those of the form of G. tristis, which is often sold by 



plantsmen as G. sulphureus. G. platyphyllus has 'liowered 



here, but it is only a collector's plant. G. Eckloni and G. Papilio- 



auratus have shown no flowers during their two seasons' 



growth in my garden, and under ordinary conditions appear 



to be of only moderate vigor and height. G. purpureo-auratus 



has been so much overshadowed by Monsieur Lemoine's 



hybrids that probably only a few growers still retain this odd, 



hooded flower species. There are numerous other African 



species among which there are possibly attractive things. My 



collection of other sorts has mostly perished from hardships 



before flowering. ~ a; /- j 



Elizabeth. N.J. J . DJ . LicrarU. 



Notes on Onions. 



ONIONS maybe grown by three different methods — by sow- 

 ing the seeds in the open ground in spring, by planting 

 sets, or by starting the seeds under glass and afterward trans- 

 planting the seedlings out-of-doors. The first two ways are 

 more commonly practiced, but the third is undoubtedly more 

 profitable, although entailing more trouble and labor. This 

 has been called the new Onion-culture, but the method is by 

 no means new. It has been practiced in Great Britain for a 

 number of years for the production, principally, of exhibition 

 specimens. Grown under any circumstances, however. Onions 

 are far more reliable as a crop on this side of the Atlantic 

 than in England, where the Onion maggot is such a per- 

 sistent and destructive enemy. We grow Onions here un- 

 der all three methods, and each has its advantages. Those 

 sown in spring are used in a green state ; the sets which mature 

 early we depend on for general summer use, whfle the others 

 are kept for fall and winter. The first two methods are so gen- 

 erally known that cultural directions here would probably be 

 of little service, but a description of the third method may be 

 useful to some who have not tried it. We sow the seeds thinly 

 in flats early in March in ordinary potting-soil, and place them 

 in a greenhouse with a night temperature of fifty-five to si.xty 

 degrees. We keep them only moderately moist until they are 

 well started, when plenty of water is given. In April they 

 are removed to cold frames and gradually hardened off, and 

 in May they are planted in the open ground. Sowing in flats 

 is most convenient where only a limited supply is needed, but 

 if grown on a large scale it is better to sow them in a hot-bed, 

 from which they can be transplanted quite as conveniently. 

 Hardening off must in no case be neglected. The ground must 

 be well tilled and liberally manured. The young plants should 

 be set in rows one foot apart and eight inches allowed between 

 the plants. An impression should be made just large enough 

 to insert the roots ; the small bulbs should not be covered. 

 When the roots have a good hold of the soil, which will be in 

 about a week after planting, it is well to go along with a foot 

 on each side of the line and tread the soil firmly, choosing a 

 dry day, when the surface of the soil will not be cloggy. All 

 that will be required after this is to keep the surface well 

 stirred with the hoe, so as to suppress the weeds and help to 

 retain the moisture in the ground. By the measurements of 

 a sample grown by each of the three methods the following 

 results are shown ; Those sown in the open ground now average 

 seven inches in circumference, and may swell just a little yet ; 

 the sets average eight inches, and are done swelling ; those 

 sown inside and transplanted average ten and a half inches, 

 and look as if they would grow quite a little more. It is use- 

 less to grow many varieties by this latter method. Prizetaker 

 and Yellow Globe Danvers are two that are most reliable, and 

 they are also excellent keepers. 



Tarrytown, N. Y. 



IJli'liani Scot/. 



Peas.— Bliss's Abundance and Stratagem have proved 

 two good varieties for summer use. These are wrinkled 

 varieties of the highest table quality. As compared with the 

 Champion of England they have a longer season of bearing 

 and are less liable to mildew, a disease most ruinous to the 

 Pea crop at this season, and as they are more dwarf tliey 

 require less support. We sow Peas every week throughout 

 the season, and if the weather continues as favorable as it has 

 been we shall have a continuous succession until frost. Peas, 

 as a summer crop, succeed best on a moist subsoil. Drought 

 quickly shortens their growth, wlien they become an easy prey 



to mildew. We always plant deeper in summer than in spring, 

 puddle the seed in and leave a depression for later waterings. 

 Our last sowing will be made early in August. American 

 Wonder sown on the loth of August have matured. Only 

 early varieties should be-selected for late sowings, and Kent- 

 ish Invicta has proved one of the best round-seeded kinds 

 here. I made an examination of all my pea seeds before 

 planting this spring and marked the quality on the outside of 

 the seed bag. So far I find the varieties most free from de- 

 fects, principally in the integument, were the healthiest growers 

 and had the fewest misshapen pods — Admiral, Horsford's 

 Market Garden, Paragon, Nott's Excelsior, American Wonder, 

 Bliss's Abundance and Stratagem and the Chelsea were all 

 well formed and developed. Champion of England (though not 

 usually so). Telephone, Heroine and Shropshire Hero were 

 poor. 



Strawberries. — The only varieties not injured here by late 

 spring frosts were Bubach No. 5 (early) and Timbrell (late). 

 Sharpless and Michel's Early were completely blasted. Haver- 

 land and Parker Earle bore less than half a crop. Our Mar- 

 shalls were planted late last autumn ; the crop was poor, but 

 we do not consider that we put it to a fair test as to hardiness. 

 Perhaps some of your readers who have tested it fully would 

 give its merits in this respect. Our best Strawberries have 

 always been from new beds, planted the previous August. If 

 our plants have looked thrifty we have carried them over for 

 another season, but have generally regretted doing so. Where 

 runners are plentiful, plants, three in a hill, and from two to 

 two and a half feet apart, will give a good crop of excellent 

 berries. If a large quantity of medium-sized berries is wanted, 

 it is probably better to make plantings in rows three feet apart, 

 from held-over plants, in spring-time, and allow these to make 

 matted beds for next season's bearing. This plan is followed 

 largely by market-growers. In preparing our ground we dig 

 in a liberal supply of barnyard-manure and air-slaked lime. 

 After this, Bowker's special Strawberry fertilizer is put on at 

 the rate of about half a ton to the acre and lightly pricked in 

 with forks. If^the ground is dry we give it a good soaking 

 the day before we plant and use boards in preference to walk- 

 ing on the sodden ground. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Correspondence. 



Plant breeding. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Professor Goff's plea for greater attention to plant- 

 breeding at the experiment stations (page 292) represents a 

 general attitude of mind toward the question of the origina- 

 tion of varieties of plants. Inasmuch as he cites me as one 

 who has introduced a variety which has been dignified 

 with a name, I may be allowed, perhaps, to express my own 

 convictions upon the subject. I cannot agree that the origina- 

 tion of varieties, as the phrase is ordinarily understood, should 

 be a leading thought with the scientific experitnenters. This 

 conviction proceeds from the fact that man does not have it 

 in his power to summarily produce a new variety with any 

 degree of certainty. The varieties which appear year by year 

 are what we term chance productions, and they must always 

 be so to a very large extent. The term plant-breeding is bor- 

 rowed from the animal industry, and persons generally assume 

 that because there is something like scientific exactness in the 

 breeding of animals, there ought to be a similar exactness in 

 dealing with plants. But there is and can be no definite plant- 

 breeding in the sense in which there is animal-breeding. The 

 analogy is only superficial. A full statement of the funda- 

 mental dissimilarity between animals and plants, as I under- 

 stand it, will be given in a small work which I am now send- 

 ing to the press. 



The true method of improving the vegetable kingdom is 

 that pursued by nature — the slow unfolding of one form into 

 another, the carrying forward of the whole body of cultivated 

 forms of any species. There are, probably, few varieties of 

 plants which are habitually grown from seeds which retain 

 their original forms more than a decade. Through the influ- 

 ence of selection and cultivation, the progeny constantly de- 

 parts from the parent type, although we fancy that we still 

 liave the same variety because we retain the same name for 

 all the descendants. The Ignotum Tomato, which Professor 

 Goft' is kind enough to mention, was introduced by me in 18S9 ; 

 liut tlie form which I introtkiced is probably nowhere in cuhi- 

 vation at the present time; it has passed out by variation into 

 poorer and probalily into better forms. Now, the person who 

 centres his attention upon the mere production of new varieties, 



