MARCH 9, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



117 



stiffer and harder growth for budding. This is better done in 

 tlie spring' in a greenhouse, where the plant can be Icept in a 

 moderate temperature and partially shaded. If no cm-rents 

 of dry air are admitted — that is, if the house is not too freely 

 ventilated— the buds will " take " in about two weeks. When 

 union is effected, the growth of the stock should be restricted, 

 pinched and kept back, to throw strength into the new growth 

 of the buds, but it should not be stripped of leaves until the 

 buds have made considerable growth, so that the roots are 

 kept active and no check is given the plant. Such plants will 

 make good specimens for the next winter. Eclipse is of 

 better habit than A. vexillarium and forms a bushy top. If 

 any shoots are straggling pinch them back, and they will break 

 and become more bushy. The plants may be kept in pots or 

 planted out during the sunniier and potted in the fall. During 

 tlie winter months they will produce profusely axillary flowers 

 in clusters to the tips of the branches and make a striking dis- 

 play. The plant is also an excellent one for bedding out, and 

 it makes a good edging to groups of large plants. For baskets 

 or vases it cannot be surpassed. Cuttings of the young wood 

 strike readily at any season. The ordinary soil for greenhouse- 

 plants will answer well for this Abutilon. When the pots are 

 full of roots an occasional watering vv'ith liquid-manure will 

 prove beneficial. 



Dongan Hills, N. Y. 



Wm. Tricker. 



C)qDripediuni Leeanum and Varieties. 



OF the many tine hybrids which have been obtained artifi- 

 cially by'fertilizing one species of Cypripedium with the 

 pollen of another the subject of this note is one of the best 

 and most generally useful. There is hardly a flower-show 

 throughout the year, at which it is customary to exhibit Orchids, 

 where C. Leeanum is not represented by numerous varieties. 

 This is sufficient evidence of the free-blooming quality of this 

 plant, and the flowers when cut will keep a fortnight. 



Like many other fine hybrids, C. Leeanum was produced in 

 the nurseries of IVIessrs. Veitch, of Chelsea, the parents being 

 C. insigne and C. Spicerianum. The flowers first expanded in 

 January, 1854, and were exhibited at the Royal Horticultural 

 Society in the same month. A glance at the flowers suffices 

 to show that both parents are represented in their offspring, 

 which for size and beauty of color surpasses both. The upper 

 sepal, which possesses the peculiar fan-shaped overhanging 

 properties of C. Spicerianum, is almost entirely pure white, 

 with the exception of a bright green blotch at the base, from 

 which radiate upward and outward rows of mauve-purple 

 spots. The lower sepal is much smaller, but still of a fair 

 size, and is pale green with two rows of dark red spots run- 

 ning more than half-way down the inner surface. The petals 

 partake of the characters of those of C. insigne and C. Spiceri- 

 anum, the upper margin being for half its distance wavy. The 

 surface is greenisli yellow with a conspicuous purple-brown 

 line down the centre, while there are numerous dark spots at 

 the base. The lip is a deep glossy purple-brown, exhibiting a 

 reddish tinge here and there, according as the light strikes it. 

 The incurved lobes, however, are a pale buft-yellow, as is also 

 the large crinkled staminode, in the midst of which is a lemon- 

 colored knob surrounded by numerous minute warts, the tips 

 of which sparkle in the light. 



Of the numerous varieties the most worthy of notice are 

 Superbum, Giganteum and Masereelianum. The first is tol- 

 erably well known by its large upper sepal and distinct 

 blotches ; the second is a still larger form, with the same 

 characteristics, while the third — Masereelianum — is the most 

 distinct of all, and may at once be recognized by the conspicu- 

 ous ivy-green blotch at the base of the upper sepal, which is 

 decorated in the same way, only with larger spots, as the variety 

 Superbum. 



The same treatment accorded to C. Spicerianum will suit C. 



Isleworth. London. JoJiii Weathers. 



Insects in the Soil of Greenhouses. 



DURING the present winter much complaint has been 

 made that the soil in many greenhouses is so completely 

 infested by insects that plants fail. This not only in private 

 conservatories, but among gardeners who raise flowers for 

 market and in the forcing-houses of truckers. From a con- 

 siderable number of samples of soil seen, I find that theinsects 

 are nearly always either podurids, maggotsorfly larvse, ormyria- 

 pods. The podurids are minute insects, usually brown in 

 color, furnished with a pair of anal styles, by means of which 

 they leap about quite actively. They sometimes occur in the 

 soil in perfectly astounding numbers. In one case, where on 



a warm sunny day the house was opened, they crowded the 

 surface one-quarter of an inch thick, and about two ounces of 

 specimens were brought me. As the specimens are less than 

 one-sixteenth of an inch in length, and of no perceptible diam- 

 eter, the number can be only guessed at by millions. These 

 insects feed on decaying vegetable matter in moist, warm 

 places. They are lowly organized, and of a scavenger char- 

 acter. The lly larva was that of a muscid, not one of the root- 

 maggots, and was always associated with rotting manure. The 

 myriapods, finally, were either cylindrical forms like lulus, or 

 somewhat flattened forms like Folydesmus, and in all cases lov- 

 ers of warm moist places, and, normally, feeders on decaying 

 vegetation. These creatures were usually described as wire- 

 worms, while the podurids figured as lice, and much of the 

 failure of plants was charged to them. The podurids and fly 

 larvae were innocent ; but there is good evidence that the 

 myriapods did some gnawing of Rose-roots, and perhaps of 

 those of other plants as well. It will be noted that all of these 

 insects are, primarfly, feeders on decaying matter, and this 

 decay is provided in any quantity by the manure used to en- 

 rich the soil. This abvmdant nourishment, combined with an- 

 equable warm temperature and a moist atmospliere promot- 

 ing decay, furnishes ideal surroundings for these insects, and 

 they multiply accordingly. When the soil becomes filled, every 

 injured root and every dying rootlet becomes a point of attack, 

 and they promote decay by keeping bare and irritated every 

 point of injury. The remedy is simple. Apply some of the 

 needed nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda, and some of the 

 needed potash in the form of kainit. Put the kainit into the 

 ground before you set out your plants, and your nitrate when 

 you want the plants to do best. Both these substances are 

 soluble in water, and can be put into pots in solution. None 

 of the insects mentioned can live in a soil impregnated by 

 these minerals, while as fertilizers they are worth all they cost. 

 In other words, reduce the amount of decaying matter in the 

 soil, and add the needed elements in some directions by using 

 the minerals themselves. It is the salt in its combination in 

 the nitrate and kainit that has the insecticide effect ; but com- 

 mon salt is not as effective in the form in which the chloride 

 is combined as it is in the kainit. „ r. ■ , 



Rutgers College. John B. Smith. 



Sowing Celery-seed. 



IV/r ANY amateur gardeners have so much difficulty in get- 

 -'-'-'■ ting a good germination of Celery-seed that they have 

 abandoned the effort and buy their plants. 



This may be the best course when only a few plants are 

 wanted, but it is easy to get the plants from seed with proper 

 treatment. My plan, which has never failed, even in hot- weather 

 sowing, which is essential here, where early sown plants would 

 run to seed in fall, is as follows : Celery-seed, being quite small 

 and their first growth delicate, will not bear heavy covering of 

 earth, and a light cover in our brilliant sunshine soon becomes 

 so dry that germination is retarded ; I therefore sow on a well- 

 prepared border on the north side of a board-fence. The 

 rows are barely traced across the bed, and the seed scattered 

 thinly on the lines. The whole bed is then beaten over with 

 the back of the spade, which gives sufficient cover. I then 

 cover the surface with old gummy sacks or cotton baling. 

 This prevents the drying of the surface and insures a uniform 

 germination. As soon as the seeds sprout the cover is raised 

 on sticks and gradually removed as they show green leaves 

 and can bear exposure to the light. 



As soon as the plants are large enough to handle easily I 

 transplant them to a cold frame and cover the frame, in lieu of 

 sashes, with screens made of laths tacked an inch apart. This 

 gives a varying shade, and the plants thrive wonderfully and 

 will need to have their tops sheared once or twice before final 

 transplanting. 



The time for sowing the main, or winter, crop would be late 

 in March in latitude of New York, and in late May in North 

 Carolina, and the final transplanting in July and September 

 respectively. ^„ „ „ 



Raleigh, N.c. W. F. Massev. 



Aster acris.— This is one of the most useful of the dwarfer 

 forms of perennial Aster, or Michaelmas Daisy. It is a delight- 

 ful plant to produce a gay mass of color, and should be used 

 freely to color the garden-scenery in the fall months. The 

 habit of the plant is quite dwarf, and even in rich soil the 

 growth does not rise more than two and a half feet, the leaf- 

 age in the autumn, from the middle of September until early 

 October, being hidden beneath the mass of light purple flow- 

 ers. I have seen this variety produce beautiful pictures in the 



