496 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 407. 



ler of an inch long, borne in a spreading- panicle of one- 

 sided drooping racemes at the end of the leaf-branches of 

 the year, and, from their shape, arrangement and color, 

 the Oxydendrum is often called the IJly-of-the-valley Tree. 

 In autumn, among the glowing foliage, the racemes of 

 yellow fruit add to its general interest. The tree was 

 grown in England as early as the middle of the last cen- 

 tury, and yet it is a comparatively rare inhabitant of 

 American gardens, although there is no reason for this 

 neglect. It is easily raised from seed ; it is not difficult to 

 transplant and it is hardy as far north as Boston. Its leaves 

 are subject to few injuries by insects or fungi ; its flowers 

 appear at a season when few other trees are in bloom ; 

 the splendor of its autumn colors is unsurpassed so that 

 there are few of our small trees which better deserve atten- 

 tion. It is often sold in nurseries as Andromeda arborea. 

 O.xydendrum is a monotypic genus, consisting of this sin- 

 gle American tree. The generic name was given to the 

 tree on account of the pleasant acid taste of the leaves. 



Tecoma C.\pensis. — This is a useful greenhouse climber, 

 and it is especially valuable because it can be kept low 

 and bushy when this is desirable. It flowers at different 

 seasons of the year, but particularly during late winter and 

 early in spring. The bright color of its flowers renders it 

 particularly attractive at this season when highly colored 

 flowers are scarce. They are produced in clustered racemes 

 from the apex of ripened side-shoots, measuring more than 

 two inches in length, and are of a bright orange-scarlet 

 color, with a more slender tube than those of T. radicans. 

 The foliage is evergreen, but resembles that of our native 

 Trumpet Flower, and a bright shining green in color. This 

 plant should be grown in comparatively small pots, so that 

 the ripening of the flowering branches will be hastened 

 and the plant become sturdy and bushy. It is possible to 

 grow it as a climber, but it is more profitable to shorten 

 all long branches during the growing season, thereby en- 

 couraging the formation of flowering side-shoots. The 

 best soil for it is a rich fibrous loam, with an addition of 

 well-rotted manure. During the summer the plants may 

 be placed in the open air with the pots sunk in the ground 

 in an open and sunny position. During this period water- 

 ing should be carefully attended to, but not overdone. This 

 Tecoma is propagated by cuttings of ripe wood in a shel- 

 tered position out-of-doors in summer, or by herbaceous 

 cuttings which root in a few days when placed in bottom- 

 heat and kept moist at any time of the year. For many pur- 

 poses this is one of our best greenhouse and house plants. 

 The foliage in itself is very pleasing, and when the beauti- 

 ful flowers appear the effect is highly ornamental. When 

 grown in a house the sunniest window and the most airy 

 apartment is best for the development of its full beauty. 



Begonia Saundersii. — None of the shrubby Begonias sur- 

 pass this species in grace of form. It is tall, with slender 

 stems and obliquely cordate leaves of a deep glossy green 

 on slender petioles an inch long. The flowers are borne 

 in immense cymes on very long and slender peduncles 

 from the axils of the upper leaves. Male and female flowers 

 are produced on separate cymes. The former have six 

 petals, almost obovate in outline, half an inch or more in 

 length ; the male flowers have only four petals and are 

 rather smaller. The color is a very bright rose, and the 

 effect of a good specimen in full flower is exceedingly 

 pleasing. It flowers late in summer and continues in 

 bloom during autumn and early vi'inler. 



MiLTON'iA Clowesii. — Among the dainty Orchids known 

 as Miltonias, this is, perhaps, the most picturesquely beau- 

 tiful. It is a tropical Brazilian plant, and should be grown 

 in the vi'armest section of the Orchid-house in a half-shady 

 position. During the growing season, like all other Mil- 

 tonias, it requires plenty of water, and it does not resent a 

 little manure-water now and then. It is generally grown in 

 shallow pans or pots in peat and sphagnum, preferably with 

 an addition of charcoal. The flowers are borne on long nod- 

 ding peduncles in loose racemes. They measure three 

 inches or more across. The petals and sepals are spread- 



ing, long, linear or slightly lanceolate, with the edges turned 

 back in the middle ; yellow, barred with rich brown, well- 

 marked blotches. The lip is entire, cordate ; purple, with 

 a conspicuous white apex. The leaves are long and grace- 

 ful, produced from ovate, smooth pseudo-bulbs, from the 

 base of which a number of white, thread-like aerial roots 

 add, in their way, to the beauty of the plant. It flowers 

 during the autumn months. 



Cultural Department. 



Irrigation in New England. 



UNCOMMONLY dry seasons, like the one we have lately 

 experienced, naturally suggest the subject of irrigation, 

 and some persons have come to feel that although this may 

 not be a necessity among the hills of the north-east as it is 

 in the plains of the west, nevertheless some method of arti- 

 ficial watering would often pay in the middle and New 

 England states. Mr. J. H. Hale has asserted that the 

 time will come when the streams of New England will be 

 of more value to agriculture than they ever have been to 

 manufacturing, and in the late number of the Hartford 

 Coura7it he describes a project for using a little brook that 

 runs among the hills in a distant part of his farm to help 

 out his crops in time of drought, as follows : 



The main features of the plan are a small reservoir up 

 among the hills, which forms a sort of pocket for a lively 

 brook which has never been known to go dry, and a line of 

 pipe of a little over 5,000 feet, practically a mile, with a fall of 

 107 feet from the reservoir to the house. Instead of carrying 

 the main by the shortest and most direct route, as soon as the 

 grade will permit it is turned off and follows along the ridges 

 of the farm, which form a sort of backbone all the way down 

 to the street. About every two hundred feet along this line 

 hydrants are being put in, and from tliese water can readily be 

 carried on the surface of the ground in two or three directions 

 in every instance, and it is believed that there is sufficient water 

 to thoroughly irrigate trom twenty-five to thirty acres of land 

 by surface irrigation in this way, the contour of the land and 

 the character of the soil l)eing such that water can be run down 

 between the rows of plants and trees, so as to give a very even 

 and satisfactory distribution. An enterprise of this kind, of 

 course, is quite an expense for a single farm, but through 

 neighborhood cooperation a very much larger pipe could have 

 been put down in the same ditch, and by building a heavier 

 dam and a greater storage reservoir there is no reason why 

 just such a little stream as this might not be made to irrigate 

 a halt-dozen or more farms in its immediate vicinity. 



Grapes under Glass. 



A S a general rule, the black varieties of grapes are prefera- 

 -'"*- ble to the white ones for growing indoors and especially 

 for market, where they usually bring ttie fop price. Neverthe- 

 less, no black grape has yet been introduced which excels the 

 White Muscat of Alexandria in flavor and general good quali- 

 ties as a table grape. But, assuming that the same price could 

 be obtained for such varieties as Black Hamburg, it would not 

 pay the market grower to grow Muscat of Alexandria, as it is a 

 much harder grape to handle, being shy both of setting and 

 stoning, and is never such a certain cropper. It requires, too, 

 a higher temperature all through to bring it to perfection. We 

 often see these two above-named varieties grown together in 

 an early house, where the black does fairly well, but for early 

 work, if a white grape is really desired, I should prefer to sub- 

 stitute Buckland Sweetwater, as it ripens from two to three 

 weeks earlier than the Muscat, and this means a great deal at 

 the beginning of the season. Although the Buckland Sweet- 

 water is a very good grape, it does not possess the high quali- 

 ties of the oilier, and in substituting it we sacrifice several 

 points in quality for the sake of earliness. For the second 

 house we should commend Black Hamburg for market, but 

 for private use we would adtl a few rods each of Muscat Ham- 

 burg and Manderstield Court for black, and Muscat of Alexan- 

 dria for white. Mandersheld Court is an excellent grape, but 

 it bursts badly, a trouble wliich can be prevented either by 

 girdling with a stout string or cutting the shoot half through a 

 little below the bunch. This bursting takes place when the 

 berries are nearing ripeness, and when the first signs of it are 

 observed some means must at once be taken to check theffow 



