92 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 209. 



as the destroying fungus. The differences between tliese need 

 not concern tlie practical grower. 



The wholesale loss of cuttings of Abutilonsinsomepropagat- 

 ing-houses is also to be traced to diseased wood and to a fungus 

 that is similar to, if not identical with, the CoUetotrichum of 

 the Carnation. Experiments were made in growing cuttings 

 of the Abutilons of several varieties and inoculating them 

 with the fungus. In a few cases the transfer was successfully 

 made, and there seems but little doubt that the dying of 

 the cuttings of even such woody plants as the Abutilon may 

 be due to germs which pass from one plant to another. 



Nasturtiums, in the same way, are frequently attacked by a 

 CoUetotrichum, and when cuttings are made of plants thus dis- 

 eased they damp off and because of the succulent nature of 

 the cuttings, they almost entirely disappear. Clematis, Jessa- 

 mine and Passiflora cuttings behave much like those of the 

 Abutilons, and are attacked by the same or by a similar 

 anthracnose. The inference from it all is to be careful and use 

 healthy wood. 



Rutgers College. Byron D. Halsted. 



The Veggtable Garden. 



A GREAT many new Beets are continually offered, but, 

 for family use, my own opinion is that the old Extra 

 Early Bassano is as good as any. Some object to its light 

 color ; but this is only a fancy, for in quality it is vastly supe- 

 rior to the dark Egyptian. Its big top makes it objectionable 

 to the market-gardener, but as I am writing mainly for ama- 

 teur gardeners, I would say use the Bassano and Eclipse for 

 early sowing, and sow a few seed a little earlier than you con- 

 sider safe. Once fairly above the ground, they will stand some 

 frost ; but if caught just as they are coming up, they are easily 

 killed. Here we sow the first in February and early March — 

 a month, at least, later for latitude of New York. 



Some gardeners sow Salsify and Parsnips very early be- 

 cause of their hardy nature, but I have found that this is an 

 error. The early sowings get into a stunted condition about 

 midsummer, and later on begin to grow again. In this lati- 

 tude Salsify makes its best crop sown in July, while at the 

 north seeds sown in June will make better roots than those 

 sown earlier. The Sandwich Island Salsify is so much better 

 than the old sort that we use it altogether. If the Cabbage- 

 plants in cold frames are properly hardened off by gradual 

 exposure to the air, they may in this section be set out the 

 middle of P'ebruary, and in New York and New Jersey in 

 March. This refers to the plants raised under glass in January 

 and February. The fall-sown plants are out long ago here. 



While spring-sown Spinach does not amount to much, it 

 can very well be allowed to occupy the land intended for Snap 

 Beans later on. The Beans can be sown between the rows of 

 Spinach, and by the time they need work the Spinach will 

 be over. 



Onions sown now in a cold frame and transplanted later on 

 to the open air, we find to make a much heavier crop than if 

 sown and thinned out where they are to grow. The cold 

 frames can now be used also to good advantage in growing 

 early Radishes and Early Horn Carrots. Here, Radish-seed 

 can be sown on a :-unny border, and covered with straw when 

 a cold wave threatens. 



Raleigh. N. c. W. F. Massey. 



Anemone Japonica. 



IN order to have good specimens of this handsome plant for 

 blooming in early autumn it is necessary that they should 

 be potted and placed in a cool house early in March. By so 

 doing nearly a month is gained in tlie blooming season. They 

 will commence to grow almost at once, and bv the middle of 

 May, after a little necessary hardening, can be plunged out-of- 

 doors. This should not be done until all danger of frost is 

 passed, as I have found from experience that the foliage is very 

 easily scorched. Foliage thus disfigured remains on the plants 

 the whole of the season, and spoils their appearance. 



We use good rich loam, which is packed quite firmly, leav- 

 ing more than the ordinary space for water. All the soil is 

 shaken away and the small roots cut off. Nothing but a clump 

 of twelve to fifteen crowns is left, and these are kept about the 

 centre of the pot. If for no other reason than the removal of 

 the young roots, I should repot them every year, as every 

 piece of root is so prolific in the production of young plants 

 that if left unpotted a second year about all we should have 

 would be a forest of suckers or young plants, completely im- 

 poverishing the soil. 



Abundance of water is needed to produce bold, handsome 

 specimens, and no plant 1 know, except, perhaps, the Chrysan- 



themum, sooner shows the want of it. When the flower-stems 

 appear in July I begin to give manure-water, and continue it 

 weekly until the flowers begin to open. I have often wondered 

 why florists do not grow this plant. All admit its value forcut 

 flowers. It is easy to grow, and no pest or disease, as far as I 

 know, troubles it. All that would be necessary is a cold frame, 

 with a little litter at the sides and mats and shutters for cover- 

 ing. They could be planted in ordinary loam about six inches 

 apart, and one foot from the glass. All the attention required 

 during winter would be occasional airings on bright days. 

 After the ist of March they should be opened regularly and 

 the sun heat stored, whenever possible, by closing early in the 

 afternoon until they are well started into growth. Gradually, 

 and whenever the weather permits it, the sashes may be re- 

 moved, and when danger of frost is over altogether, plenty of 

 water and good feeding should be given until the flower-buds 

 begin to open, and then a slight structure ought to be erected, 

 so that a light waterproof covering of oiled cotton cloth could 

 be stretched over merely to prevent rain spoiling the flowers. 

 There are several varieties, but two only can be recom- 

 mended for trade or private purposes. These are the white 

 variety, known as Alba, and sometimes called Honorine Joubert, 

 and the pink one, known as Hybrida, which resembles the 

 white variety in everything except the color of flowers. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. H. 



Solandra grandiflora. 



A LTHOUGH introduced more than a hundred years ago, 

 ■^*- this plant is still rare ; so rare, indeed, that I have never 

 seen it grown anywhere outside of botanical gardens. This 

 is not due to any lack of good qualities on the part of the 

 plant, nor to any real difficulty about its cultivation, but rather 

 to the erroneous impressions that it is difficult to manage. 



The genus Solandra difters considerably in general appear- 

 ance and some important characters from the typical genus of 

 the Solanaceae. It was founded by Swartz in honor of Dr. 

 Solander, and S. grandiflora is undoubtedly the best of the 

 four or five species. It is a semi-scandent shrub of free growth 

 and handsome appearance. The bright green shining leaves 

 are deciduous, oblong, tapering both ways, at the base to a 

 short petiole. The large funnel-like flowers, about seven 

 inches in length by some five inches in width, are usually 

 borne singly at the extremity of the young branches, and they 

 remain upon the plant from four to six days atter full devef- 

 opment, the corolla being still perfect when it drops. The 

 calyx is green, and when the flowers first expand the corolla 

 is of a very pale green color, almost white in the locality of the 

 lobes, changing gradually to a beautiful deep buft' tint. It is 

 not uncommon for as many as three flower-buds to appear 

 on the extremity of a single shoot, but it is quite exceptional 

 for more than two of them to survive the bud-stage. 



A plant of this species flowers freely every winter in the 

 Palm-house of the Harvard Botanic Garden, and at that time 

 it is to the casual visitor a never-failing source of such wonder 

 and admiration as is e.xcited by a first glimpse of the Victoria 

 regia in bloom. This specimen is grown in a pot of rather 

 poor loamy soil, and the roots are never molested except 

 to receive a slight top-dressing of similar material every 

 autumn. Some of the roots have escaped from the bottom of 

 the pot and seem to revel in the sandy gravel of the bench. 

 The branches are trained to wires close to the glass, where 

 they enjoy full exposure to sunshine all the year round, and 

 the night temperature of the house seldom exceeds sixty 

 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Little or no water is given the 

 plant from the fall of the leaf onward until growth commences 

 again in early autumn, from which time the supply is un- 

 stinted, necessitating ample drainage. S. grandifolia inhabits 

 rocky situations in Jamaica ; and cuttings of the half-matured 

 wood root readily in sandy soil with the aid of a little bottom- 

 heat. 



Cambridge, Mass. J^'- Barker. 



The Kaffir Lily, botanically known as Schizostylis coccinea, ■ 

 is a beautiful plant of the Iris family, and the only one of its 

 genus known in gardens. It is said to occur on the shores of 

 rivers in Kaflirland, South Africa, whence it was introduced in 

 1863 by the Messrs. Backhouse, of York, England. The erect 

 stems proceed from spreading roots, best described as half 

 bulb and half rhizome, and are about two feet in height. They 

 are furnished with long, sheathing, bright green, sword-shaped 

 leaves, which lessen in size and number as the length of the 

 stem increases, and terminate in a spicate. Gladiolus-like in- 

 florescence. The narrow tube of the flower is greenish and 

 about an inch in length, the regular, spreading, six-lobed limb 

 two and a half inches in diameter, and of bright crimson-scar- 



