January 6, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



The heat must be applied very gradually. The plants to be 

 forced, moreover, should be grown in pots, plunged in the 

 ground during the growing season, and not torn from the soil 

 when they begin to show flower-buds. Grown outdoors in 

 pots, they should be taken up early in autumn and again 

 plunged in the earth of the frame or greenhouse where in 

 time they are to have artificial warmth. The object of this 

 second plunging is to maintain coolness and moisture about 

 the roots until the flowers are developed. Plants under glass 

 should always have an abundant supply of air, especially when 

 under heat, and at no time should they be allowed to lack 

 water. Not infrequently good forced specimens are killed 

 completely by transferring them directly to the garden again. 

 Hardening-off demands as much patience and judgment as 

 inuring the plants to a high temperature, and without this the 

 chance of retaining the stock for another year is very remote. 

 The species and varieties may be multiplied by dividing the 

 roots in spring, when the plants are starting into growth. 

 Select only strong portions for this purpose, and plant them in 

 a rich %oil. The pieces that have an unhealthy look always 

 make sickly plants, when they grow at all. The plump, clean 

 portions, no matter how small, grow vigorously and form 

 good plants in a single season. Seeds can be used for propa- 

 gation, but this is a tedious and uncertain proceeding. The 

 seeds should be sown in a well-prepared cold frame, remov- 

 ing the plants to the open garden when large enough, which 

 is generally from a year to eighteen months after sowing. The 

 seedlings make slow progress at first, and they seldom 

 flower before they are three years old. New varieties are not 

 easily obtained in any other way, and it is the only resource of 

 hybridizers ; but, for" all other purposes, propagation by divi- 

 sion is by far the better method. It should be remembered, 

 too, that a large proportion of the seedlings raised are quite 

 unworthy of perpetuation as garden-plants. 



Cambridge, Mass. 



M. Barker. 



Auriculas. 



PRIMULA AURICULA is known as the Alpine Auricula to 

 distinguish it from the fancy or exhibition kinds which 

 have originated from the same source, but are the result of 

 many years of careful cultivation and selection. Of the fancy 

 Auriculas we have no need to speak here further than to say 

 that they are not in commerce in this country, and probably 

 never will be, as their constitution is much less vigorous than 

 that of the parent P. Auricula, and, as a result of a generation 

 or two of coddling, they are less hardy and much more liable 

 to insect pests than the original stock. Fortunately for us the 

 species has been preserved, and we still can cultivate it and 

 enjoy its distinct beauty and fragrance. The best way to se- 

 cure a stock of Auriculas is to get seed of a good strain, for 

 there are mai-ked differences in the quality of the flowers and 

 the germinating power of the seed. The best time to sow 

 the seed is the present month, for, as the seedlings are of 

 rather slow growth in their earlier stages, it is much better to 

 get them up to a good size before the heat of summer is upon 

 us. Weak plants melt away under a hot sun, and the efforts 

 of a whole season are lost. 



If seed be sown now the plants will be large enough to pot 

 oft' in March, and by May or June they can be planted out in a 

 frame, where they can be shaded in the hottest part of the 

 day, as heat is much more trying to them than cold. If 

 the young plants have partial shade they will grow more or 

 less all summer, and in fall will make rapid progress during 

 the cool nights, and by the time winter sets in they should be 

 thoroughly hardened off to withstand the cold. They will be- 

 come hardened naturally, unless kept covered with sashes 

 when there is no necessity for them, and when cold weather 

 sets in a few dry leaves or Pine-needles may be spread among 

 the plants, and shutters may be put over until spring, when 

 the plants will start to grow, and flower as soon as the cover- 

 ing is removed. The plants are not hard to suit in the matter 

 of soil. Loam, with leaf-mold and a little fertilizer, will be 

 found satisfactory. Auriculas are fond of moisture, and dur- 

 ing the growing season must have plenty of water, hence the 

 difficulty of growing them in pots. When the foliage is large 

 and thick the pots are covered and water difficult to apply, 

 so we prefer to plant them out in frames, from which they 

 may be lifted and potted in the flowering season, if wanted for 

 indoor decoration, for which they are well adapted, as they last 

 well and have exquisite color and a pleasing fragrance. 



The only real difficulties in the culture of these Auriculas 

 are the heat of summer, for which shade is an easy remedy, 

 and the freezing and thawing of the winter season. If kept 

 dry overhead frost does not injure them, but frost and wet 



combined often rots them, hence the need of covering and a 

 space for the circulation of air, when the plants will winter well 

 and flower the spring after they are sown. 



Those who have only the convenience of a cold frame will 

 find great pleasure in cultivating Auriculas, as there are almost 

 always some in flower where plants are grown in any quantity. 

 Unfortunately, few attempt to grow them. I can sympathize 

 with those who are discouraged, for some of the seed I used 

 last spring proved disappointing. It is a great point gained if 

 the seeds are authentic. We are told by dealers that Auricula- 

 seed has a trick of waiting a year, or oftener two years, before 

 it germinates, but I find that if the seed is good', all that has 

 not given plants ready to prick off at the end of three months 

 is not worth waiting for any longer. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



The Thrifts. 



AS a class of free-blooming perennials of neat habit the 

 Thrifts, or Armerias, are possessed of much merit. 

 All are tufted in growth, forming dense, hemispherical 

 masses of evergreen foliage, while the flowers are borne in 

 round heads on clean, long, wiry stems. Their season of 

 blooming extends over most of the summer and early au- 

 tumn, and in several of the varieties it is almost continuous 

 throughout the growing season. Used in groups in mixed 

 borders, in rockeries or as edging plants, they are clean, and 

 give a variety of foliage and flower. Soil is a matter of small 

 importance to them, provided it is not excessively wet. 



A. vulgaris, the most common form, makes broad, slowly 

 spreading tufts of dark green, linear foliage, and bears its pur- 

 plish lilac flowers in loose heads on stems averaging six inches 

 high. The variety Alba is very desirable, with lighter-colored 

 foliage and pure white flowers in more compact heads. The 

 variety Lauchiana is its best-colored form, with clear, deep 

 crimson flowers, and is a very constant bloomer when seen in 

 masses. Some time since Herr Max Leichtlin, of Baden 

 Baden, sent out seed of A. undulata, and it has proved an ac- 

 quisition, with unusually long, narrow, undulated foliage, and 

 bears pure white flowers in nodding heads on bending stems 

 ten to twelve inches long. It is an almost continuous bloomer 

 with me and very hardy. A. plantaginea, with its broader foli- 

 age in dense rosettes, produces larger heads of pale rose or 

 lilac flowers, often fading to white on stems often eighteen 

 inches long. The variety Formosa is decidedly good, with 

 showy, clear, deep pink flowers in large heads, and with 

 us in a bed of fifty plants is never out of bloom from early 

 June to killing frosts. Its long-stemmed habit and contin- 

 uous blooming quality renders it especially valuable as a cut- 

 flower. A. cephalotes, though the largest-flowered species, 

 with us does not seem worthy of recommendation, owing to 

 its objectionable habit of dying out the second or third year. 



Reading, Mass. J ■ Woodward Manning. 



The Whorl-flower, Morina longifolia, has proved hardy 

 with me in a variety of soils and exposures for the last three 

 years. It is a plant of Indian origin, being a native of the 

 Himalayas in Nepaul at high elevations, and its flowers and 

 foliage are striking. The leaves are narrow, about a foot 

 long, deep, shining green in color, deeply cleft with wavy, 

 margined lobes, thickly set with thistle-like spines, rendering 

 careful handling a necessity. The flowers are tubular, with a 

 broad, open mouth. In the bud and early stages of opening 

 they are white, but soon change to rose and finally deep car- 

 mine in the throat, lightening in color to pale pink or white on 

 the outside. They are borne in clusters or whorls at the base 

 of the stiff, spiny upper leaves, together forming a leafy and 

 floriferous long spike. The peculiar and unique change in 

 color in flowers and the showy, thistle-like foliage, together 

 with the glistening color of the latter, combine to render the 

 plant fit for any collection and worthy of association among 

 the best of hardy perennials. Until entirely proved for hardi- 

 hood in moist or stiff soils, it would be well to give slight pro- 

 tection the first winter. 'r 'w M 



Norwood, Mass. J • ^' ^'^' 



Correspondence. 

 In the Shore Towns of Massachusetts.- 



-V. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Orleans is a town of beautiful landscapes and attractive 

 building-sites, and the summer people are beginning to 

 appropriate them. A wise foresight would provide a large 

 area here for out-of-door rest and recreation, a pleasant reach 

 of shore-land, where thousands of inland people might bathe 



