488 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 242. 



interfere with the sale of tlie tomatoes from the greenhouse, 

 because they were of such superior quality. The seeds of 

 Tomatoes should be sown about the middle of December if 

 the plants are to be ready to set in beds by the middle of 

 March, or as soon as the crop of lettuce is out. The seeds 

 should not be sown earlier than this, or the plants will become 

 too large or injured by crowding. The plants need warmth 

 and sunlight, and should l)e kept \n a warm part of the green- 

 house and never allowed to be chilled. Although they will 

 thrive with less water than many other plants, the soil should 

 not be allowed to get dry, while excessive watering should 

 always be avoided. 



After the plants are furnished with their second or third 

 leaves they should be transplanted at least once more before 

 they are large enough to be placed where they are to fruit. At 

 the first transplanting they should be set two inches apart each 

 way and twice as far at the second transplanting. When they 

 are set where they are to stand finally they are planted directly 

 in the soil, eighteen or twenty inches apart each way. Large 

 pots and bo.xes, which are recommended for forcing winter 

 plants, have been tried for these spring and summer fruiting 

 Tomatoes, but they seem to have no advantage. The last 

 transplanting should be done some time in March, for after the 

 middle of this month the benches cannot be used for Lettuce 

 profitably as the houses are liable to get too warm, and the 

 abundance of Lettuce from hot-beds brings the price down. 

 But v\'hen the Tomato-plants are set out, if good Lettuce-plants 

 are set between them a fair crop of the latter may be grown 

 before the Tomato-plants reach any considerable size. After 

 the Lettuce is off, the Tomatoes should have the entire ground 

 and should have a good mulch of fine manure, which will as- 

 sist in holding water that is applied to the bed. The plants 

 should be trained to one or two stakes, and a wire or string is 

 a preferable support to 'stakes. The top may be made fast to 

 the rafters and the bottom anchored by sharp wooden pins 

 driven into the bottom of the benches or by wires stretched 

 across near the surface of the ground. They must be tied to 

 these upright strings or wires frequently as they grow. 



Pruning is important not only because it increases the size 

 and earliness of the fruit, but in order to get the largest yield 

 possible in tlie smallest space and to keep the plants in the 

 best shape. It is not the nature of the Tomato-plant to con- 

 fine itself to one stalk, and when compelled to do so its efforts 

 to grow side branches are persistent. Not only will sprouts 

 come out of the axil of each leaf, but the ends of the blossom- 

 stalks will develop into branches, and even the upper surface 

 of the main vein of the leaves will send out sprouts. All of 

 these niust be taken off or there will be a tangled mass of 

 vines if the plants are close together. The varieties which do 

 well out-of-doors are the ones which will do well in the house 

 for spring and summer. The best purple kinds that have been 

 tested are Acme and Beauty. The best red kinds are Perfec- 

 tion and Paragon: The Lorillard, which is recommended so 

 highly for winter-forcing, has not done so well under this sys- 

 tem as some others. The early rough varieties are not desir- 

 able since pruning seems to make them more irregular. After 

 a thorough trial the Atlantic Prize, one of the best of this class, 

 has been discarded, and so have Hundred Day and King of the 

 Earhest. The Dwarf Champion has some good qualities since 

 the plants can be set closer together and nearer to the glass 

 than other varieties. The first fruits that set are of fair size, 

 while on some of the other varieties they are small. It is diffi- 

 cult to prune, however, because the heavy leaves hide the 

 sprouts and it does not yield heavily. 



Garden Annuals. 



A^ 



NNUALS are more generally a part of the flower-border 

 "^ now than ever before in small gardens as well as in larger 

 ones. This class of plants is popular because they do not re- 

 quire to be cared for through the winter, because there is a 

 larger variety to choose from than formerly ; and in most 

 cases, also, with seeds sown where they are to flower, success 

 is almost sure. Where a greenhouse, or even a hot-bed, is at 

 command, a fine display may be produced with very little out- 

 lay. Home-grown seeds, carefully selected, may be planted 

 with success, but seeds of first quality can be bought at low 

 prices, so that there is no advantage in saving seed except in 

 the case of some special varieties it may be desirable to per- 

 petuate. 



Among annuals recently introduced are the Marguerite 

 Carnations, a most useful race of plants that give good double 

 sweet-scented flowers the same season they are sown. There 

 seems to have been too great demand for these seeds, and the 

 producers have not given themselves time to weed out the 



single-flowered kinds. This year more than half the plants 

 have produced single flowers, a much larger percentage than 

 when this strain of Carnations first became known. Our sea- 

 son here is too short lor them unless they are raised early un- 

 der glass and hardened off previous to planting out early in 

 summer. I find it best to sow them in January, when they will 

 flower soon after midsummer, and last until frost. 



Coreopsis Drummondi is an annual species of great service 

 for a continued display. The flowers are of good size, 

 though not so large as those of C. grandiflora, but they are 

 much more numerous, and may be cut for several months. 

 This Coreopsis is also useful for winter-blooming; if sown 

 early, and transplanted into seven or eight inch pots, it gives 

 good returns all through the early spring months. The same 

 applies to the yellow Corn-flower (Centaurea suaveolens), also 

 desirable for cutting. Pot-culture suits both these plants best; 

 in benches they are apt to grow too vigorous toward spring 

 and to wilt daring sunshine. Coreopsis Drummondi and Cen- 

 taurea suaveolens may both be sown in the open gronnd at 

 the usual season for a display in summer and late in autumn. 



An annual climbing plant which has given us much satisfac- 

 tion is Dolichos Lablab, the Hyacinth Bean. The panicles of 

 flowers are very showy, both the purple and white varieties, 

 but the clusters of seed-pots are a lasting ornament, as they 

 turn a rich dark purple and keep this color until killed by 

 frost. We sow the seeds where the plants are to remain dur- 

 ing the summer; they grow rapidly and flower and fruit freely 

 in a sunny position. In our section Cosmos hybridus does 

 not flower in the open air as in more favored states, but is 

 grown in pots and taken into the greenhouse in the fall, where 

 it yields a harvest of beautiful long-stemmed flowers in the 

 dull autumn months, when they are most acceptable. Cosmos 

 is best sown in May; it flowers as soon and is not so tall as 

 if sown earlier, and the results are as good ; these plants are 

 strong growers and require an abundance of food and mois- 

 ture. Under pot-culture it is necessary to give these require- 

 ments several times a week. If this care is not possible they 

 may be planted out in summer, lifted in the fall and planted in 

 large pots. 



Solanum ciliatum is a beautiful berried plant for winter 

 decoration. When well grown the plants are as ornamental 

 as a small Orange-tree laden with fruit, and much easier 

 to obtain. Seeds are now offered in trade lists and should be 

 sown early under glass and grown in pots during the summer. 

 Our plants are in eight-inch pots and average about thirty 

 fruits to a plant. These are a bright orange-scarlet, from one 

 to two inches in diameter and grow along the under side of 

 the branches. The shoots are pinched once or twice during 

 the growing season to bring them into shape. The plants are 

 now available for decorative purposes and may be used all 

 winter, as the fruit is very persistent even after the foliage has 

 fallen. It should be added that the specific name of this plant 

 refers to an abundance of sharp spines on both sides of the 

 leaves and on the branches. 



For a bold ornamental foliaged plant for outdoor planting 

 in summer, the new Tobacco plant, Nicotiana colossea, of 

 seed catalogues, is much the best of its kind. The correct 

 name is N. tomentosa. It is a colossal species that requires 

 liberal treatment to do it justice. Our plants were raised late, 

 and for this reason have not flowered this season, although 

 they have grown about six feet high and show well in a large 

 border. As an isolated plant N. tomentosa would be found 

 useful, but it is too large for most borders. This giant Tobacco 

 plant should be sown early under glass and planted out when 

 a good size. It will then probably flower here as it has at Kew 

 and elsewhere in Europe. zr ^ o j. ^ 



South Lancaster, Mass. ■^- (^- Urpet. 



The Chionodoxas. 



AT this time, when bulbs are being bought, attention may 

 be called to the Chionodoxas as among the most attractive 

 plants flowering early in the year. They should be grown in 

 clumps and masses in the frontborder, where they succeed the 

 Snowdrops. The bulbs are small and perfectly hardy, and in- 

 crease rapidly, so that it is difficult to clear the ground from 

 them when they are once established, as the small tubers are 

 not easily found without sifting the soil. The Chionodoxas are 

 not rampant growers, however, and do not endanger other 

 plants. They are low-growing plants with narrow leaves ; a 

 radical-curved scape bears from three to ten flowers, which 

 are usually erect. 



Chionodoxa Cretensis is an old introduction. The flowers of 

 this species are small, and in neither of its two varieties, blue 

 and white, attractive in color. It is not often grown in gar- 



