October 26, 1S92.J 



Garden and Forest. 



513 



up and grew with the utmost indifference to the weather. 

 In fact, they were subject to quite hard freezing- wlien in bloom 

 without injury, and the green beans were ready for shelling 

 before the early peas. Some folks laughed at the idea of eat- 

 ing "horse-beans," but I found them quite palatable while 

 green. They soon succumbed to warm weather. The Italians 

 here use them largely, planting in December. We would ad- 

 vise a trial of these, planted at the usual time for planting Eng- 

 lish Peas in the north. 



The time for storing cabbage for winter in the colder sec- 

 tions is near at hand. Some like to keep the stalks over for 

 sprouting spring greens. For this purpose heel the cabbages 

 in a furrow and pack the earth well around the base of the 

 head. Pack the rows closely together so as to make compact 

 beds five or six feet wide. Then thatch them over closely and 

 thickly with evergreen boughs, and they will usually winter 

 well. When no account is taken of the stalks, plow out a deep 

 furrow in a dry place and place the cabbage in it root upward 

 and the leaves of the head well tucked under. Then plow 

 furrows from each side, and finish with a sharp and smoothly 

 patted ridge over the row. This I consider the best method in 

 any locality where a zero temperature occurs. Here the most 

 expeditious way is to turn each cabbage on its side without 

 pulling it up. Turn the head toward the north, and then cover 

 the stem and base of head with earth. This should be done 

 just after Christmas. 



On the approach of winter, if your vegetable-garden soil is 

 of a clayey character, you will find your spring work greatly 

 facilitated, and the soil in much better condition all the next 

 summer, if it is thrown into sharp narrow ridges with a plow, 

 and left thus all winter for the frost to act upon it. These 

 ridges will get very mellow, and will dry out earlier in spring 

 than a flat surface, and they can be worked down and planted 

 a week or two sooner than the land of your neighbors who do 

 not take this precaution. It is easy enough to beat folks north- 

 ward of you in earliness of products, but the skill of the gar- 

 dener is best shown by the foresight which enables him to get 

 iji advance of his immediate neighbors. 



We have now (October 17th) green peas in great plenty from 

 a sowing of Premium Gems in August. There has been but 

 one good rain since they were planted, and yet the vines are 

 fresh and green and clear of any signs of mildew. Yorkshire 

 Hero is just in full bloom, and may do better than the Gems if 

 we have rain soon and frost does not put in an appearance too 

 heavily. The Premium Gem and other early Peas can be re- 

 lied upon for a fall crop almost anywhere north if sown in Au- 

 gust. Ours would have been over long ago if the weather had 

 been favorable. To my surprise I have never seen here any 

 signs of mildew on fall-sown Peas, while in Maryland it gave 

 us some trouble every fall. We sow these fall Peas in a deep 

 furrow, cover lightly, and work the soil in level as they grow. 



We have just sown one crop of Onions, chiefly the Italian 

 varieties. They are sown very thickly on ridges slightly ele- 

 vated above the surface. These will be transplanted early in 

 February. Northward this sowing may still be done in cold 

 frames, and the transplanting done in March and April. Onion- 

 seed sown here last February in the open ground produced a 

 fine crop, but we think the fall-sowing will give a larger one. 



Raleigh. N. c. W- F. Massey. 



The Crown-bud of Chrysanthemums. 



THE proper selection of the crown-bud is of vast impor- 

 tance to all who grow Chrysanthemums for specimen 

 blooms. There is a great deal of doubt, especially among 

 amateurs, regarding its identity. There are, however, certain 

 well-marked characteristics, which, when once recognized, can 

 hardly be mistaken. Although many of our finest blooms are 

 the result of a crown-bud, it is yet an abortion at best, and if 

 left to nature would seldom, if ever, develop. It always ap- 

 pears singly as a terminus to the stem, subtended by two or 

 more lanceolate bracts. In the axils of the leaves, immediately 

 below it, are two or three prominent shoot (never flower) 

 buds, which commence to grow at once. If the bud is not 

 desired, and it sometimes appears in May, as in W. H. Lincoln 

 and Viviand Morel, one of the shoot-buds is allowed to grow, 

 and in a little while the crown dwindles away. The majority 

 of Chrysanthemums show their first crowns from the middle 

 of July to the end of August. According to the experience of 

 several large growers, whom I have visited lately, it is safer 

 to discard all buds which appear before the 5th of August. A 

 good percentage of these will produce what is known as the 

 " second crown " by early September — say between the first 

 and twelfth. A good terminal bud — the last bud to form, and 

 which, by the way, is always subtended by other flower-buds, 



often arranged in a cluster — is better than a poor first crown- 

 bud, and generally develops, if not so large, a better-finished 

 flower. Experience alone will show which to take, and it 

 would be well to watch all new varieties in this respect, as 

 well as to note the height they attain on any particular bud. 

 I recently noticed a very even lot of the superb new white 

 variety, Mrs. E. D. Adams, on first crowns, and Rohallion and 

 V. H. Halleck may also be mentioned as being remarkably 

 good. Domination is best on a second crown, while Miss 

 Annie Manda and G. W. Childs are better on either second 

 crown or terminal than on the first. Viviand Morel shows well- 

 formed heads on second crown-buds, but produces flowers of 

 better color and finish on terminal buds. A long list might 

 be made with reference to the value of the different buds, 

 which would be of great service another season. 



There is much difference of opinion as to the best time to plant 

 Chrysanthemums. For exhibition blooms all agree that early 

 planting, say by the 15th of June, is best. This gives a longer 

 season of growth and fits the plant to carry a larger bloom. 

 The main objection to early planting is the liability to show 

 crowns too early, say by the end of July, which must be dis- 

 carded. This means two or more feet of additional height, an 

 inconvenience where head- room is scarce. 



There is no doubt that, for commercial purposes, late 

 planting, from July 12th to 20th, is best. Very few of the or- 

 dinary first crowns will appear, the buds being about equally 

 divided between second crowns and terminals. 



The Chrysanthemum has not reached the zenith of its fame. 

 Its popularity is great, and while it is increasing it is pleasing 

 to notice there is no confusion. Every year growers become 

 more and more critical, and do not hesitate to throw away a va- 

 riety, no matter how good it may have been, when it is super- 

 seded. Although size has hitherto been the aim, refinement 

 is now demanded, and this we see in many of the recent intro- 

 ductions. It is yet too early to speak of all, but in my opinion 

 Mr. John Thorpe's G. W. Childs is the best novelty of 

 1892. Mr. Hicks Arnold and Mrs. E. D. Adams are flowers of 

 great refinement and beauty, and will be sure to stay. Miss 

 Annie Manda will surely displace Mrs. Alpheus Hardy, at least 

 for commercial purposes, as it grows more freely and is cer- 

 tain to give a good percentage of marketable blooms. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. H. 



Begonia gracilis. 



"DEGONIA BICOLOR is the latest addition to the varieties of 

 -'-' this interesting and beautiful species, and seems to have 

 been first offered by V. Lemoine & Sons in the autumn of 

 1891. At present flowering, the plant is very distinct. The 

 leaves are thick and of firm substance, with numerous fine 

 channelings. The color is a dull green with dull white spots, 

 and silvery on the reverse. The stems are thick and suc- 

 culent. The flowers are, as usual in the type, borne on 

 short axillary peduncles, and are pink and four-petaled. As 

 yet the variety has not sent out any of the thin graceful shoots 

 which, when filled with flowers, help to render the other varie- 

 ties so attractive. B. gracilis is a Mexican species, and I be- 

 lieve the varieties are also natives of that republic. It is 

 usually grown under the name of B. Martiana. Mr. C. C. 

 Pringle, in a note in Garden and Forest, vol. i., p. 7, notes 

 that it grows in a region where the earth freezes and snows fall, 

 and it should be quite hardy. The tubers are round, or 

 sometimes elongated, with smooth white skins. The stems 

 are succulent, and the main one eighteen inches to two feet 

 high. Strong bulbs also throw several shorter ones in addition 

 and numerous axillary ones. The flowers are male and te- 

 male, rosy pink, and borne on short peduncles. The short 

 branches noted above make very beautiful sprays for cutting, 

 though the species is most useful for the summer decoration 

 of the greenhouse. 



Begonias are plants which are readily and rapidly propa- 

 gated, as a rule, and nature has endowed B. gracilis with a full 

 measure of means for its perpetuation. The bulbs when dor- 

 mant seem to be indifferent to either dryness or moisture and 

 throw off offsets. This plant is an abundant seed-bearer ; the 

 stems will strike root, and in the axils of the leaves a plant will 

 bear hundreds of bulblets like mustard-seed, which may be 

 used as seed. Such a plant has many chances for life under 

 the most discouraging environment. The young plants which 

 spring up in the earth on the greenhouse-benches seem usually 

 true to the type, but I have a plant with an elongated bulb 

 bearing flowers which are all female and much darker than 

 the type, and evidently an hybrid. 



Begonia grandiflora is evidently a selection with larger 

 flowers. B. diversifolia is a smaller-growing kind, with darker 



