4o8 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 398. 



be shaken out and divided, the divisions being placed in a 

 propagating-bed among sphagnum moss where they can 

 have the benefit of a genial bottom-heat. They need to be 

 syringed lightly two or "three times a day, so that the moss is 

 kept moderately moist. 



As soon as they have made sufficient new roots they should 

 be lifted with the moss adhering and potted up. An open 

 fibrous compost is necessary ; this may consist of fibrous loam 

 peat, rough leaf-mold and a little sharp sand. We have some- 

 times seen sphagnum added to the compost, but this is only 

 necessary when the loam and peat lack fibre and the compost 

 is apt to be too retentive. In this, as well as in subsequent 

 pottings, it is important to provide sufficient drainage and to 

 fill the pots well up with the compost to avoid stagnation. 



The varieties of Maranta are numerous and varied, ranging 

 from a few inches to about three feet in height, and differing 

 considerably in form of leaf, style of marking and variation of 

 color. A few of the best varieties in general cultivation are 

 M. Chimboracensis, M. Kerchoviana, M. capitata, M. Lindeni, 

 M. Leitzei, M. media-picta, M. rosea-picta, M. virginalis major, 

 M. exima, M. Veitchii, M. Wallisii discolor, M. Warscewiczii, M. 

 Massangeana and the old, but indispensable, M. zebrina. 



Tarrytown, N. Y. William Scott. 



Ipomoea imperialis and Imperial Japanese are the dealers' 

 names for some very charming new Morning-glories intro- 

 duced this season. They appear to be selected hybrids, 

 probaljly Ipomcea hederacea and some other large-t^ower- 

 ing species. The leaves vary between three-lobed forms 

 deeply cut to Ivy-leaved. In some varieties they have 

 bright silvery variegations very clearly defined and attrac- 

 tive. This seems to be a novel feature in this strain. As 

 some varieties have been named, we are enabled to make 

 some notes as to the colorings, premising that they are all 

 strong growers with thrifty foliage and produce freely flow- 

 ers of the largest size and fine substance. Antigone has varie- 

 gated leaves and blue flowers with a pink throat ; Aglaia, with 

 the same leaves, produces rich crimson flowers with a white 

 throat ; Aseria, with green leaves and flowers of most 

 curious dull copper-red. Some of the plants supposed to be 

 of this variety gave other eccentric colors, mostly dull mixtures 

 of reds and blues difficult to describe. Ceres is very like 

 Aglaia, but with a broad white margin to the carmine flowers. 

 One of the most exquisite varieties is Euphrosyne, with varie- 

 gated leaves and the purest white flowers with dainty pink 

 throats. Other varieties have flowers of royal blue with white 

 borders, and others still are light blue, ranging through the 

 most delicate shades. The seeds of this strain germinate as 

 readily as the ordinary Ipomoeas, and, no doubt, they will 

 prove a satisfactory addition to our long list of attractive 



climbers. _ ,^ ^ , 



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



The Golden Pocklington Grape. — I never knew the full value 

 of this grape until the present season, when early ripening has 

 brought it into perfect condition. It bears enormously heavy 

 crops, and the fruit keeps in good condition for a long time. 

 Its flowers are self-fertilizing, and they furnish abundant pollen 

 for other varieties. The color of this grape is singularly beau- 

 tiful, although its translucent yellowish white is rarely seen in 

 perfection in the fruit as marketed. The bunch is large and 

 finely formed; the berries are very large and never drop, nor 

 do they decay and lose their flavor as soon as they are ripe. 

 The flavor is slightly musky, but very rich. Best of all, it has 

 a character which gives it a certain distinction among the 

 many tame-flavored grapes. 



Clinton, N. Y. 



E. p. Powell. 



Correspondence. 



The Palm-houses at Washington. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The low roofs of the Palm-liouses in the Botanic Gar- 

 dens and Agricultural Department at Washington have made 

 it necessary to sacrifice many rare and beautiful specimens for 

 lack of space. In nearly every case the plants were in the 

 best of health and could only be duplicated by long patient 

 years of cultivation. A few years ago a specimen of Livistonia 

 Chinensis, at that time the largest in tliis country, had to be 

 thrown out for lack of head-room. A fine specimen of Cocos 

 butyracea was thrown out of the Palm-house of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture for a similar reason. In the Botanic Gar- 

 dens there are now three monarchs of the jungle awaiting 

 their sentence. The first of these is a Phcenix sylvestris, a 

 perfectly developed specimen fifty feet high, with a trunk six 



feet in circumference. It was sunk in the ground a few years 

 ago, but has grown since until its leaves are now pressing 

 against the roof of the house. It is considered the handsomest 

 specimen of the species in cultivation. A noble specimen of 

 the rare Sugar Palm, Arenga saccharifera, is the second plant 

 which has outgrown the largest house, and has been kept 

 within bounds by cutting off the ends of the leaves, in the hope 

 that it would flower and ripen seed ; but the plant is in too 

 robust a condition, for this species begins to flower only when 

 enfeebled by age or other trying conditions. It then begins to 

 flower at the top and keeps on producing a bunch in the axil 

 of each leaf one after another downward, until the plant is 

 exhausted. This season one of the immense leaves has broken 

 through the glass and now towers twenty feet above the roof 

 outside. The third tree, which will soon have to be removed, is 

 Acrocomia sclerocarpa. It is impossible to do anything more 

 with this one, as several years ago it was sunk about six feet 

 in the ground to give it increased head-room, and it has now 

 filled all the space above. 



Botanic Garden, Washington, D. C. 



G. W. 0. 



Lake Keuka Vineyards. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — The grape crop of the lake region of central and west- 

 ern New York is considerably below the average this season, 

 owing to the unexpected and unusual freeze of last May. The 

 greatest damage was done in the Chautauqua district. There 

 the yield this season is estimated at 12,000 tons, or, about one- 

 half of last year's crop. 



The grape crop of central New York — that is, of the vineyards 

 of Keuka, Seneca, Canandaigua and Cayuga lakes — was esti- 

 mated last year at 20,000 tons, whereas this season it is doubtful 

 if there will be above 17,000 tons. It was expected that the de- 

 crease in yield would result in better prices, but thus far there 

 has been no advance over last year, when the crop was large. 

 About two cents a pound is received for Concords, and two 

 and a half cents for Catawbas. The majority of grape-growers 

 complain that there has been but little profit in the business 

 during the past four or live years, due to overproduction. 

 Some have pulled up their vines, burned their grape-posts for 

 firewood, and are raising other crops on lands that a few years 

 ago were bearing grapes. 



The shores of Lake Keuka are well adapted for viticulture, 

 owing to soil, climatic conditions and other natural advan- 

 tages. The lake itself is a lovely sheet of water about twenty- 

 four miles in length, with sixty miles of shore-line banked by 

 rows of trellised Grapevines. Keuka is the Indian name for 

 crooked, and Keuka Lake is shaped like the letter Y. At the 

 base of the Y, in what is called Pleasant Valley, is the village 

 of Hammondsport, now the headquarters of the wine-making 

 industry, there being no less than eight wine cellars within a 

 radius of ten miles. At the end of one of the arms of the Y is 

 the thriving village of Penn Yan, from which more table 

 grapes are shipped during the season than from any other 

 place in the state. 



The grape industry began along the shores of Lake Keuka 

 almost fifty years ago. It is said that the first grapes grown 

 out-of-doors which found their way to the New York City mar- 

 ket were raised at Hammondsport, and were sent about 1850 

 by the way of the Erie Canal. The pioneer grower is said to 

 have forwarded 200 pounds the next year, and the New York 

 market broke under so heavy a shipnient. About i860, how- 

 ever, the Lake Keuka grape industry was fairly established, 

 and it continued to prosper, so that in 1890, when the statistics 

 of viticulture were collected for the first time in the United 

 States, it was found that there were about 10,000 acres of vine- 

 yard in the lake country, or 15,000 acres in the entire district. 

 In that year the crop amounted to 20,000 tons, or 40,000,000 

 pounds of table grapes, while 10,000,000 pounds were used by 

 the wine-makers. 



The surface of the Lake Keuka hillsides is gravel and shale 

 on calcareous rock. The soil seems poor, and even weeds find 

 no encouragement, but it produces the finest and sweetest 

 Catawba grapes. The vines flourish in dry, loose gravelly, 

 porous soil, where the air and warmth can penetrate to the 

 roots. In early spring the crust of ice on the lake makes the 

 air cold enough to retard the opening of the buds until the 

 usual danger of frost has passed. In autumn the water exerts 

 a similarly favorable influence by retaining summer's heat, and 

 the warm breezes from its surface protect the fruit from early 

 frosts in September. This difference in temperature is shown 

 by the fact that vineyards a mile or two back from the lake do 

 not do well, and are often ruined by cold waves or frosts. 



The climatic conditions are favorable to the ripening of late 



