April 27, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



iO' 



diiy three uimsually larsje, long^-slenimed planis were received 

 l>v express from a locality over twenty iiiilos distant, the earth 

 l)ein<j mostly loosened from the roots l)y the shaking; the box 

 had received duriiiij transit. The last-mentioned plants had 

 a precarious existence f(jr a time, and consideraljlc portions of 

 each died ; but the surviving portions became in due lime Horif- 

 crous and made new growth. The others did not for a moment 

 seem affected by the change, but grew vigorously ami bloomed 

 most profusely. The last of October a friend brotight nie a 

 plant which he had taken up ccu'efully and placed in a basket; 

 this grew uninterruptedly after i)lanting, and is now in bloom. 

 In December one of the plants set out in February had to be 

 again transplanted, 011 account of the removal of the tree 

 which shaded it. It apparently received no injury from this 

 second transplanting, and is now as full of blossoms as the 

 other plants, although it was one of those whose survival after 

 the first transplanting I for some time despaired of. 



The dates of transplanting were various, and in no instance 

 according to rules " laid down in the liooks." The secret of 

 my success consists, I think, in three things I was carefid to 

 observe, as follows ; (i) Remove the plant without disturbing 

 the roots, though experiment No. 2 shows that plants which 

 liavc their roots nearly denuded may l:ie saved by careful 

 replanting. (2) Select a place for replanting which has condi- 

 tions of soil, exposure, etc., as nearl)' as possible like those 

 where the plant orrginally grew. (3) Plant carefully. 



The best way is to cut all round a plant with a spade, not 

 less than two inches beyond the extremities of the longest 

 stems ; the entire piece should then be carefully lifted by run- 

 ning the spade horizontally underneath, at least three (better 

 four) inches below the surface of the ground; the whole should 

 then be placed in a basket on damp moss, and replanted at once. 

 In replanting remove a piece of surface-soil a little larger anil 

 deeper than the piece to be planted, the difference in depth to 

 be made up by tlie addition of sand, or sand and fine gravel ; 

 then carefully rnsert the piece, firming it down well, especially 

 about the edges, and fill in whatever space there may be 

 around it with sandy or gravelly soil firmly impacted. 



While the plants set out soon after being taken up grew 

 most vigorously, it is among these that the most unpromising 

 specimens are now found. The present bad condition of these 

 I attribute to tlie disturbance of their roots by pulling out grass 

 which had begun to crowd and choke them. The plants which 

 had been nearly dried by shaking off the soil from their roots 

 during transportation were planted on a dry hill-side, under 

 low-branched scrub Pines, and consequently have not had the 

 grass to contend with, which, doubtless, accounts for their 

 continued improvement since convalescing. 



Brooltlaiid, D. c. Robert Ridgway. 



Easter Flowers in Philadelphia. 



To the Editor of G.\rden and Forest : 



Sir, — The season just past showed an increased demand for 

 flowering plants in the celebration of this festival, and though 

 a greatly increased supply was provided the local market was 

 not overstocked. The Lilies continue to hold first place among 

 Easter flowers, and generally they were of very good quality, 

 the stocks being about equally divided between L. Harrisii and 

 L. longitforum, though there is some reaction of opinion 

 in favor of the latter for Easter use, while L. Harrisii will 

 probably retain its precedence as an early-forcing variety. 

 Some of the commercial growers produced fine specimen 

 Lilies by planting four or five bulbs in an eight or ten inch pot, 

 and many of those grown in this manner produced from thirty 

 to forty flowers, and for certain purposes such groups are ad- 

 mirable. Plants of this character are too costly, however, for 

 general retail purposes, and a majority of flower buyers prefer 

 a single-stemmed Lily when well-grown and crowned with 

 five to ten large flowers. Lilium candidimi is but little grown 

 now for Easter use, though a charming plant for cut-flower ar- 

 rangements. Some few other species have been tried to a 

 greater or less extent in the past few years, among them L. 

 auratum and some varieties of L. lancifolium, but though they 

 are beautiful in themselves, yet they do not attract much at- 

 tention from the buyers of Easter (lowers, and consequently 

 these ventures have not proved profitable. 



Cytisus and Hydrangeas were also plentiful and met with a 

 ready sale, small and medium-sized Hydrangeas apparently 

 being most in demand, and since the season was late there 

 was no difficulty in getting these plants in flower at the proper 

 time without resorting to hard forcing. Azaleas con+inue to 

 hold their place among the indispensables for Easter decora- 

 tion, and they were not overplentiful this season, at least those 



ofgood(piality. Comparatively little change in varieties was seen 

 among the Azaleas, most of them being such standard sorts 

 as Mailanie Vander Cruyssen, Eugene Mazel, the white Ber- 

 nard Andreas, Borsig ;uid a few others, the most notable 

 among the newer varieties being Vervreniana and a bright 

 crimson named Flambeau. The latter has a very striknig 

 color, and will doubtless soon become better known. 



Bulbous stuff, in general, was not of remai'kably good qual- 

 ity, though some fine Tulips and Von Sion IJaflbdils could be 

 seen, the Daffodils being very popular for corsage-bouquets at 

 this time. In cut flowers the quality was good, Roses 111 par- 

 ticular having been favored l)y the cool days immediately pre- 

 ceding Easter ; this made them more firm in texture, and 

 consequently more lasting. Among Orchitis the flowers of 

 Cattleyas, Cypri|)edium Lawrenccanum, Dendrobium densi- 

 florum and a few other Dendrobiums were chiefly used. 

 Some cut blooms of Anemone Japonica coidd be seen, and, 

 though pretty, they attracted but little attention. 



As usual, a great many Palms were used, few decorations 

 seeming complete without more or less of these most gracefid 

 of foliage plants. Araucarias, too, were used to some extent, 

 and though very durable for house-decoration they are some- 

 what expensive, from the fact that so far they have nearly all been 

 imported from Europe. This is likely to be remedied in a few 

 years by the propagation of sufficient stock on this side of the 

 water, for Ein'opean importations are frequently disappointing 

 from the number of imperfect plants they contain. 



HolmosburR, Pa. W. H. Taplill. 



Spraying Machines and Insecticides. 



To the Editor of GARDEN AND Foi?EST : 



Sir, — Will you name some portable spraying apparatus suit- 

 able tor the needs of a small place — a garden with fruit-trees — 

 and their approximate cost? 



2. Is there any way to circumvent thf! aphis on the Snowball, 

 which attacks the under side of the leaf so that it curls up ? 



WhitEwatci-, Wis. Albert Salisbury. 



[So many manufacturers make good pumps for spraying 

 with insecticides that it is hard to say which is the best. 

 For work like that mentioned by Mr. Salisbury a Knap- 

 sack sprayer would be satisfactory. One called the Eureka 

 is made by N. Bokel & Co., of Philadelphia, which has a 

 good apparatus for spraying tlie under side of leaves ; this 

 costs $21.00. The Galloway sprayer, which is about one- 

 third cheaper, is made by Albinson & Fruscheim, of Wash- 

 ington. The Excelsior sprayer, which costs about as much, 

 is made by Stahl, of Quinc)'-, Illinois. The Field Force 

 Pump Company, of Lockport, New York, have a sprayer 

 of a different pattern and at nearly the same price, and a 

 still cheaper one is named the Ideal, and is made at Egg 

 Harhor, New Jersey. If Mr. Salisbury would apply to the 

 experiment station in his slate, no doubt Professor Goff 

 would fell him which machine he finds most effective there, 

 and our readers generally will receive intelligent answers 

 to questions relating to insecticides and fungicides by ap- 

 plying to the horticulturists at the experiment stations of 

 their various states. — Ed.] 



The India-rubber Tree. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — The bushy habit of specimens of Ficus elastica, men- 

 tioned in a late issue of Garden and Forest, may be se- 

 cured l>y forcing, with the best conditions of soil, temperature, 

 etc., but many amateur growers do not have these conditions. 

 To check the upward growth of a large plant which was mak- 

 ing rapid headway in our garden two years ago, a band was 

 tightly vvrapped below the "topmost leaf. The growth in this 

 direction was checked, and several branches soon started out 

 along the main stem. When these were well grown the band 

 was removed, so as to allow asymmetrical development. This 

 method is better than that of cutting off the main stem. 



Bi-ooklyn, N. V. .<'/• 



Insects on Cherry-trees. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — I have several Cherry-trees which seem to be fairly 

 vigorous, but each year they are covered with black insects ■ 



