March 



1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



103 



^ 



ago for the American Exiiibition held in London, and 

 which have since been annually devoted to other exhibi- 

 tions from Germany, Italy, etc. According to the pros- 

 pectus, this exhibition, which is to open in May and con- 

 tinue till October, is to display the state of progress of 

 horticultural science, taste, resources, implements and 

 plant culture at the present date, and, in addition, the 

 various departments and exhibits will serve as models for 

 every one who loves a garden. Examples of the gardens 

 of all ages will be prepared, including restorations of the 

 ancient gardens of Egypt, Greece and Rome ; copies of 

 those in China and Japan, and types of the Baronial, 

 Italian, Tudor, Jacobean, Georgian and Victorian eras. A 

 large sub-tropical garden will also form a feature of the at- 

 tractions offered. The tea-gardens of India and Ceylon 

 will be represented, illustrating the growth of the Tea- 

 plant, etc. Arrangements have also been made whereby 

 foreign countries will co-operate to show the progress in 

 horticulture in their respective lands. Flower and fruit 

 shows, special exhibits of American plants. Orchids, etc., 

 will be held periodically. Lectures on practical gardening 

 will be given regularly. Pictures and photographs and a 

 reference library are being collected. The scheme is am- 

 bitious enough, and if it can be anything like accomplished 

 it can scarcely fail of success. The chairman of the execu- 

 tive is I\Ir. H. E. INIilner, F.L.S., who practices as a land- 

 scape-gardener in England, and whose book upon this de- 

 partment of horticulture was published about a year ago. 



London. W. WalSOU. 



Cultural Department. 



The Hardiness of the Satsuma Orange. 



■LJ AVING been deeply interested in this Orange, the hardi- 

 ■'^ ness of which has been so much talked about, I have 

 from time to time written notes of its encouraging behavior 

 here. I have now|tD record that it has reached the limit of its 

 hardiness with full exposure. My trees were purposely planted 

 on the most exposed spot I could select, a hill-top 400 feet 

 above tide, which has the unbroken sweep of the north wind 

 for miles. In the winter of 1890-91 the lowest temperature 

 noted was nineteen degfrees, Fahrenheit, and no liarm was 

 done to foliage or wood. January of the present year was a 

 cold stormy month, and the trees were subjected several times 

 to this same and a little lower temperature. But on January 

 26th the mercury suddenly fell, with a cloudless sky, to sixteen 

 degrees by the sheltered thermometer, and several degrees 

 lower by a thermometer exposed in the air near the trees. 

 The result is that they are badly cut, and the young shoots 

 killed. It would seem, then, that the extreme cold these trees 

 will endure without harm is from eighteen to twenty degrees 

 above zero, so the hope that they might prove entirely hardy, 

 as has been suggested, " as far north as Delaware," is doomed 

 to disappointment. They seem to be just about as hardy as 

 the Fig. Fig-trees of the same age subjected to the same ex- 

 posure as tliese Oranges are killed-back to about the same 

 extent, while Figs a few yards away south of the hill-top, and 

 protected by Pine-boughs stuck along between the rows, are 

 entirely unhurt. This indicates that the Satsuma may be grown 

 -with complete success here in sheltered places and in our coast 

 country from Morehead to Wilmington and about Newbern. 

 Wherever, as in our coast plain, the Gardenia florida grows 

 into a large shrub in full exposure, there the Satsuma will grow 

 well, especially as the black peaty soil tliere will suit it better 

 than our red clay. We have Gardenias growing unhurt under 

 the shelter of our college walls, but there is little doubt that 

 they would have been killed to the ground had they been in 

 company with the Satsumas. Our trees are on the stock of 

 Citrus trifoliata, and on this stock they will probably remain 

 mere bushes, yet this makes it more easy to protect them, 

 and in any sheltered spot where the Fig and Gardenia stand 

 unharmed I have no doubt they can be grown. 



Not far away from our Satsuma Orang^es, but sheltered by 

 buildings, we have a group of Olives. The largest of these, a 

 Nevadillo Blanco, in tlie centre of the group, is killed outright, 

 while those on the outside have not even lost their leaves. 

 These trees were planted only last spring, and those that sur- 

 ^ vive may be able to endure greater cold hereafter. An Ipo- 

 nKsa from the lower Rio Grande (I. Texana), with a hard 

 woody stem as stout as one's wrist, is killed to the ground, if 

 not entirely dead, while a Century-plant (Agave Americana) on 



the hill-top near the Oranges has lost only its outer leaves. 

 Pittosporum Tobira shows not the slightest sign of injury, nor 

 do any of the plants in my hedge of Citrus trifoliata. 



Of course it is too soon to estimate the full amount of 



damage tlie winter may cause, as the sudden reverses of our 



spring are now to be encountered, but I think it is evident that 



the Satsuma Orange will come through in a battered condition. 



Raiei^i., N. c. W- F. Massey. 



Pyrethrums. 



■\XriTHIN the past few years both the double and single va- 

 * ""^ rieties of these fine borderperennials have Ijeen improved 

 to such a degree that it is hard to decide wliich ones to choose 

 out of the long lists catalogued by dealers, especially since the 

 new and high-priced varieties are naturallydescribedas the best 

 ever offered. It is always safe, however, to begin with well- 

 tried kinds, and add the newer ones later if they are desired. Py- 

 rethrums liave met with much favor among hardy plant 

 .e^rowers quite recently, as it is not very long since the fact of 

 their hardiness was announced as a discovery in some garden- 

 ing papers. There need be no longer any doubt as to their 

 ability to winter in safety, but the way to insure this is to plant 

 tliem in spring, so tliat they are well established by fail. The one 

 thing Pyrethrums dislike of all else is disturbance of the root ; 

 once established and let alone success is certain. They seem 

 to have little preference as to soils. I have grown tliem 

 equally well in heavy soil and in a very sandy and dry one. 

 The single varieties, especially the colored ones, are most in 

 demand now, and for use as cut flowers they are far preferable 

 to the double kinds. Even for border decoration the double 

 varieties have a somewhat lumpy appearance when in bloom, 

 and the first rain gives them a disheveled air, while the single 

 flowers stand up fresh and bright. For both these reasons the 

 double varieties are gradually making room for their more 

 natural and graceful relatives, which present at the same time 

 the oldest and most recent phases of the development of Py- 

 rethrum roseum. The original is a native of the Caucasus, 

 and is one of the plants from which is obtained the insect 

 powder of commerce. 



Some brief notes on propagating the most desirable varie- 

 ties will explain the system which I have found satisfactorv. 

 By using it 300 plants were obtained from twenty in one year 

 after they had been imported, and each of the 300 was better 

 than the originals at the time of receiving them ; for Pyre- 

 thrums are extremely difficult thing's to import successfully. 

 As soon as frost leaves the ground these plants are among the 

 first to show signs of growth, and when the first small leaves 

 are developed the clumps should be lifted carefully and the 

 soil shaken or washed off the roots, when it will be seen that 

 all these young shoots may be easily severed from the root- 

 stock, many of them with roots attached. Others may have 

 no roots, and these may be placed in the propagating-bench, 

 where they will speedily root, and when they may be potted in 

 three-inch pots and carefully nursed for a few weeks before 

 planting in the open ground. Those shoots that have roots 

 when detached from the parent plant may be potted and placed 

 at once in a cold frame, where they will grow on as if nothing 

 had happened, and will even produce flowers in their season, 

 but these are best pinched off as soon as they show, as this 

 will induce the plant to make side shoots and become a much 

 stronger plant for the next season. This method of propaga- 

 tion is very simple, and with a cold frame even a novice may 

 increase plants in this way if he begins in time — that is, before 

 the plants have made too much growth. If the work is "delayed 

 until the leaves are more advanced, and the sunshine is 

 stronger, the plants will require shading, which will weaken 

 them. The winter cold has few terrors for established Pyre- 

 thrums, but a hot dry summer after first planting them is most 

 trying. 



Pyrethrums, like most other hardy plants, may be easily 

 raised from seed, and is a good way to form a collection 

 quickly where they are required in quantity for cutting pur- 

 poses. Named kinds may be acquired as chances offer. It 

 seems scarcely necessary to name any kinds as being better 

 than others. I have found that both French and English 

 raisers have a set peculiar to themselves, and there is very lit- 

 tle, if any, choice between them. A list taken from all would 

 be too large for the needs of most gardens. It is quite difficult 

 to obtain a good named set without importing them, which is 

 perhaps explained by the fact that the annual demand is so 

 great that growers find it hard to increase their stock rapidly 

 enough to meet it. When the first cost is considered and the 

 usual losses added, it is not surprising that so few are grown 

 to name. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



