152 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 214. 



For forwarding the numerous tender annual seeds nothing 

 is better than a gentle hot-bed. When the fermenting mate- 

 rial used is four to five feet thick and covered with about six 

 inches of soil, the pots and pans may be plunged in it and re- 

 ceive a gentle warmth that will greatly help germination, 

 and afterward serve as a place for forwarding the young seed- 

 lings when pricked out until time for planting out. Those who 

 have only a cold frame in winter should excavate within it to 

 the required depth, and fill this in the spring witli fermenting 

 material that has been mixed with leaves a day or two and 

 allowed to become warm. It can then be trodden firm in the 

 frame and used at once for sowuig seeds if six inches of soil 

 has been placed on top. This is the best place for sowing 

 seeds of Asters, Stocks, Zinnias, Tomatoes, Peppers, Egg- 

 plants and many more of a like character. The frame may 

 be used in summer for Cucumbers or Melons in places where 

 these do not thrive in the open, as, for example, in this 

 section. r- ^ ^ 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



The Cultivation of Bulbs in the South. 



IN the January number of the Americati Agriculturist Mr. 

 Thorpe called attention to the fact that the production of tu- 

 berous bulbs and plants for the American and European markets 

 has become centred in one or two localities in eastern North 

 Carolina. He also speaks of the great adaptability of the warm 

 coast plain of North Carolina to the production of bulbs that 

 are now imported by the million from foreign lands, just as 

 the Tuberose was brought from Italy thirty years ago. There 

 is a wonderful future for this favored section in the hands of 

 skillful cultivators. Of Narcissus alone varieties by the hun- 

 dred and bulbs by the million are imported annually from the 

 south of Europe, all of which could be grown to better advan- 

 tage in eastern North Carolina at much lower prices than they 

 now cost, and it will be just as easy for growers here to ino- 

 nopolize this culture as they have that of the Tuberose. Many 

 of these Narcissus are too tender for the open air in the north- 

 ern states, but all can be grown here to sell to the northern 

 florists for forcing purposes. The gorgeous family of Lilies, 

 too, would find here a congenial home. Lilium longiflorum 

 is diseased in the north, while here, it grows in perfect health. 

 In the black peaty soils of eastern North Carolina the Bermuda 

 Lily, I feel sure, can be grown to a greater perfection of bulb 

 than in the thin soils of Bermuda. Our native Amaryllis, 

 which grows so profusely in a wild state, can also be profitably 

 cultivated for the northern wholesale trade. All the gorgeous 

 tribe of Amaryllis, which^are nursed in pots at the north, can 

 be grown here in the open air, and many of them sell now at 

 prices which would make their culture profitable to the intelli- 

 gent grower. Roman Hyacinths in this peaty soil develop 

 bulbs of great size and vigor, and they continue to bloom pro- 

 fusely much longer than at the north. The plants begin to 

 bloom here about the 20th of December, and throw up spikes 

 of flowers without intermission till late in March, a season 

 of bloom unsurpassed elsewhere. Here, too, the popular 

 Tuberous Begonias find a long season for perfect develop- 

 ment, and their tubers rest unharmed in the ground all winter. 

 Gladiolus will ripen two crops on the same land in one season, 

 and make corms of enormous size. Sternbergia lutea, the 

 yellow fall-blooming Amaryllid, develops a magnificent growth 

 in our mild winters (their season of growth). Cannas keep 

 perfectly in the ground where they grow, and can be dug for 

 shipment all through the dormant season. Caladiums of all 

 kinds make superb tubers, from the chopped up rhizomes, in 

 our long seasons. 



In fact, then, in the whole list of bulbs and tubers now used 

 so extensively, and imported from abroad, there are none that 

 cannot be better grown in the coast region of North Carolina, 

 where the soil is that of Holland and the climate that of Italy. 



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



Earl}- Irises. 



T RIS HISTRIOIDES is one of the latest additions to the list of 

 -*■ early-flowering bulbous Irises. It is a native of Palestine, and 

 has been introduced to cultivation by Herr Max Leichtlin. We 

 are again indebted to the great Baden-Baden gardener for a 

 first-rate plant for the early garden. I. histrioides is one of the 

 reticulata group of Irises, and follows I. Bakeriana closely in 

 time of flowermg, coming into bloom in my garden early in 

 March this season. In this latitude the weather in early Ma'rch 

 is a very variable quantity, and it is somewhat difficult to de- 

 scribe the habit of plants with experience gained only from 

 those fully exposed to the vagaries of the climate. The first 

 flower from this variety, probably from being caught by very 



severe weather, was only one inch high, but later blooms are 

 expanded at three inches, which is rather taller than I. Bakeri- 

 ana. The flowers vary somewhat in color, but are shades of 

 purple, with golden keels and purple markings on a white 

 ground. One especially beautiful one was spotted with deep 

 royal purple markings. There are also said to be white forms 

 of this variety. The flowers are delicately fragrant and thor- 

 oughly weather-proof. Frost of fifteen or twenty degrees they 

 heed not at all, high winds they do not nod to, and warmtlr 

 sufficient to melt snow starts them into activity. The last 

 flower expanded promptly as the last of six inches of snow 

 which had covered them disappeared. It seems to me that 

 this is a charming and valuable plant. 



A clamp of I. reticulata will not be in full flower till early in 

 April. These, while a little later, are among the most charm- 

 ing of early flowers, and are not as commonly grown as they 

 should be. The typical I. reticulata is entirely satisfactory, ad- 

 mirable in color, fragrant and hardy. Numerous forms of this 

 have been raised from seeds, one of the most striking being 

 I. reticulata major, somewhat larger than the type, with a very 

 beautiful flower of deep honest purple, with golden markings. 

 This is an English variety, and the best form yet seen by me. 

 The form which I know as 1. reticulata Krelagei has a reddish 

 cast, and does not appeal pleasantly to my color-sense. I. re- 

 ticulata seems to be a favorite plant with Herr Leichtlin, and 

 he has raised a number of new forms, some of which are said 

 to be very handsome and satisfactory blues, but these have not 

 been grown in my garden. 



I. Danfordice is a yellow-flowered Iris of the same group, 

 which seems somewhat more shy in blooming. At least the 

 bulbs in my border are again not inclined to flower. Perhaps 

 their location is too wet and cold, for these Irises seem hap- 

 pier in a sunny and rather dry border, sheltered from north 

 winds. 



We are promised a wider range of color in Iris Bakeriana, 

 reaching from the blue of the type to white. Probably the va- 

 riefies will be no handsomer than the charming one first intro- 

 duced, the falls of which are so beautifully marked with a 

 rich velvet-blue on ground of white and light blue. This 

 Iris on second trial proves entirely hardy even in wet soil, and 

 increases rather rapidly by offsets. If seed were desired it 

 would be necessary to grow it under shelter, as it flowers so 

 early in the year that no seeds are set in the open. The flow- 

 ers are very lasting, and, though opening in late February, 

 they are not affected by the hard weather of that season. 

 Usually thev retain their form for a fortnight. 



Elizabeth. N.'j. J. N. G. 



Notes on Begonias. 



Begoni-a Bismarcki. — This comparatively rare and beauti- 

 ful garden hybrid is one of the best winter-blooming varieties 

 we have. Its constitution is very robust, and partakes gen- 

 erally of B. rubra in character. The leaves, however, are 

 larger, and much more divided. The panicles are large, and 

 so, too, are the individual flowers, which often measure two 

 or more inches across. The. male flowers, which, as in all 

 Begonias, open first, are comparatively small, and it is not 

 until the female flowers display themselves that their full 

 beauty is seen, the large seed-vessel, with largely developed, 

 bright red wings, being their most conspicuous feature. The 

 petals are light rose, incurving slightly — a form which adds 

 considerably to their effect. The plant is easily propagated, 

 the cuttings bloom in the propagating-bed and grow into neat 

 plants at once. For bedding it has exceptional merit, since 

 very few of its class bloom well during summer. As a cut- 

 flower variety it is excellent, the flowers lasting a long time. 



Of the many fine varieties raised from B. semperflorens the 

 large red one, with its unwieldy catalogue name of Begonia 

 sempervirens robusta gigantea rosea, is the best. It is a good, 

 all-around Begonia, either for bedding in summer or blooming 

 in the greenhouse in winter. It makes a handsome specimen 

 from the tiine it is rooted as a cutting, and every shoot blooms 

 from the first growth made. The leaves are bright shining 

 green, nearly round, and five to six inches in diameter. The 

 stems, petioles and foot-stalks of the flowers are red, which 

 adds somewhat to their beauty. The flower-stems are stout, 

 erect, long enough for decorative work, bearing dense pan- 

 icles of large vermilion-red flowers. I have some fine speci- 

 mens, less than one year old, in eight-inch pots, which are more 

 than three feet in diameter by two feet high. 



The well-known B. glaucophylla scandens (Comte de Len- 

 ninge) is very generally used for basket-work ; but for draping 

 a pedestal it has a unique value. Two plants which I have in 

 view are grown in large pans, in which they have been two 

 years, and these set on pots, which they drape completely. 



