May iS, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



235 



vived well with the coarse manure cover. Dahlias are com- 

 monly left in the grounil here, but tlie losses are heavy from 

 freezing- of the buds from which the new ijrowth is made. 

 This could be prevented by the earthen mound, but I can see 

 no advantag^e in keeping Dahlias over winter outside. I much 

 prefer to lift and divide the roots after sprouting, and this 

 sprouting I defer until as late as possible, so as to delay the 

 flowering to a season more propitious for their flowers than our 



^"i.? 43 — -^ Double-nowered Cyclamen, natural size. — See page 234. 



hot midsummer. In the warn"^ lands near the coast I have 

 seen Dahlias, that had befen left out all winter, in bloom in 

 spring, and the flowers there were fine, but here such tubers 

 will get into bloom in June in our hottest weather, and are 

 poor. By keeping them back as late as possible we can delay 

 the bloom until August, and generally get fine flowers all the 

 fall. 



In the matter of trees and shrubbery we have still much to 

 learn about winter protection. Abutilons, with a high mound 

 of soil or sawdust around their base, will usually be killed back 

 only to the top of the mound, and will grow strongly from the 

 base. It is better, however, to CLit them down as soon as the 

 frost checks them to within a foot of the ground, and then 

 cover all with earth. Erythrina Crista-galli does finely the same 

 way, but I usually prefer to pot some and start early in the 

 greenhouse for early bloom. 



Figs, with large Pine-boughs stuck in the ground around 

 them, hardly lose a bud, while those fully exposed are badly 

 frozen. Tender evergreens, of course, cannot be covered with 

 soil, but I tfnd that Pine-boughs tied closely around Neriums 

 and Gardenias bring them through in fine condition. I have 

 one Gardenia florida on the east front of our college building, 

 in a projection which shelters it from the morning sun, that 

 has been otherwise unprotected, and is all right. The high 

 brick walls around it doubtless absorb much sun-heat during 

 the day and radiate it at night. In the warmer sections of the 



44. — Proliferous flower of Cyclamen, natural size. 



coast country the Gardenia grows almost to a tree-like stature 

 wholly unprotected. Double-fiowered Camellias seem more 

 liable to lose their buds in winter than the single-flowered ones. 

 While single-flowered red Camellias are comparatively plenty, 

 it is rare to find a good double variety in the open air. I am 

 sure the trouble mainly arises from planting on the south ex- 

 posure, as most people are apt to do with half-hardy things. 

 Placed where the morning sun does not strike them, or pro- 



tected by evergreen boughs, Camellias would do well in all of 

 southern and eastern North Carolina up to the centre of the 

 slate. The perfect hardiness and fine growth of Azalea Indica 

 here makes me wonder that so few are planted. They are 

 largely used in South Carolina, but seldom seen here. ' The 

 Azaleas which have been blooming this spring in my front 

 yard have attracted much notice, and I have continually to be 

 telling people what they are. 



Agave Americana came through the winter without protec- 

 tion in full exposure to sun and north wind, but in a badlv 

 battered condition. With a board shelter to keep off sun and 

 rain, it winters finely in dry ground. Musa Sapientum sur- 

 vived with a hogshead inverted over the crown and packed with 

 dry firm straw. We are planting some Richardia ^^^thiopica in a 

 Lily-pond, with the purpose of letting the roots remain in the 

 mud next winter for summer flowers. In this same pond we 

 had last summer a lot of Pontederia (Eichornia) crassipes. A 

 friend told us they had lived over winter in his pond. We 

 doubted it, and put some of them in a tub in the greenhouse. 

 All that were left in the pond perished, as we expected. Lan- 

 tanas, cut back and mounded with earth like Abutilons, areall 

 right, and will doubtless prove very efficient with this mode 

 of treatment. 



Maltese Oranges of large size, in tubs, wintered perfectlv in 

 our cold grapery, and are blooming much better than they 

 ever did in a heated house. Winter-garden possibilities under 

 glass here are immense. There are so many things which tlie 

 simple glass roof will preserve in beauty that I wonder that so 

 little is attempted in this way. There are, of course, some 

 flowers, such as Violets, Hyacinths and Daffodils, all winter 

 outdoors, but there are times when they are much injured by 

 frost, while the simple glass roof would keep them in constant 

 beauty. Phlox Drummondii blooms all winter in our cold 



-Proliferous flower of Cyclamen, 

 natural size. 



. 46. — A small flower from the same 

 plant, twice the natural size. 



grapery, as also does Candytuft, Sweet Alyssum and Mignon- 

 ette. Pansies are gorgeous in the Vine-borders. 



It would be easy to make a long list of plants that could be 

 used in an unhealed conservatory here, and I have often been 

 surprised that our enterprising proprietors of winter hotels have 

 not struck the idea of a glass-covered garden for invalids as 

 they have the glass-enclosed hotel verandas. I cannot imagine 

 anything more attractive than a large airy conservatory, with 

 everything planted out in a natural way on a lawn of Sela- 

 ginella. We have a plan on foot to secure such a resort on 

 our beautiful Capitol Square in Raleigh. 



Raleigh, N. c. yV- F. Massey. 



Garden Strawberries. 



TV/T R. BLACKNAL'S experience with certain varieties of 

 ■'■*•'- Strawberries, in North Carolina, differs so widely from ours 

 in New Jersey, that I am tempted to offer a few suggestions 

 about the best garden Strawberries. Crystal City has been my 

 favorite kind, notwithstanding it costs twice as much to raise 

 as the average berry, and so long as I could do no better, I 

 was willing to raise it at twenty-five cents a quart for its 

 exquisite flavor for table use. It is a week earlier than any 

 other berry, but if Michel's Early continues to do as well as it 

 did last season, I shall depend upon that for a first early until 

 we get some new variety still better, because, while it lacks a 

 little of the sprightliness of Crystal City, yet it is very sweet 

 and yields largely. I have never found a better second early 

 kind than May King. It is a remarkably healthy and vigorous 

 grower, with berries large, well colored, and as regular as 

 though turned in a lathe. It is fairly productive and very 

 sweet. Bubach No. 5 is a satisfactory mid-season berry, if 

 given high culture, and under such circumstances it makes 

 runners quite freely, Ijut the runners are short-jointed, and 

 where such a variety as Gandy will stretch out its runners two 

 feet between plants,' they would be only six or eight inches in 

 Bubach, and this peculiarity causes it to make a handsome, 

 compact bed. For a late fruit Gypsy has more good points 



