November g, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



537 



ration on account of its dark green glossy foliage and bright 

 crimson sheaths, which are much brighter than when grown 

 within doors. It endures the weatlier well and can be lifted 

 without injury. Now is a good time for propagating it. The 

 main shoots should be girdled so as to check the flow of sap 

 and form a callus. If moss is tied around and kept moist, 

 roots will put forth, and with a little attention a good plant will 

 be formed before it is severed from the stock-plant. Shoots 

 may also be taken off, and leaves with eyes that are started, 

 placed in a propagating-frame with bottom heat, will make 

 plants for next season. 



New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax) and its variegated va- 

 riety are very serviceable in exposed places. Their long 

 sword-like leaves are quite distinct when associated with other 

 sub-tropical plants, and are never beaten or broken by heavy 

 storms or high winds. This is also a useful plant for the 

 greenhouse or living-room. Solanums and Wigandias are 

 rapid-growing and ornamental, but they need to be set in a 

 sheltered place or they are soon damaged, since their growth 

 is succulent. No decorative plant has made more marked im- 

 provement than the Cannas. The variety, Madame Crozy, 

 with its dazzling brilliancy, is almost painful in a mass, but 

 where planted in small quantities and relieved by the bronzy 

 green foliage of other varieties, it is magnificent. A single 

 plant in a mixed border is also very effective, and so are speci- 

 mens in greenhouses or conservatories. It flowers perpetu- 

 ally, and can be had in bloom the whole year round. Other 

 equally good and distinct varieties have made their appear- 

 ance this season and promise to be valuable. Among them 

 I should select Alphonse Bouvier, a strong-growing sort, 

 three and a half feet high, with deep green foliage and tall 

 spikes of rich scarlet-vermilion flowers, which are very large 

 and distinct. J. D. Cabos is another striking novelty, which 

 grows strongly to the height of four feet and has rich purplish 

 foliage. Its flowers are large and round, of a rich apricot color, 

 with deeper shadings. Cannas are readily raised from seed, 

 which will flower the first season, and a large percentage of 

 good flowers are produced from tlie seed of Madame Crozy. 



Cordyline indivisa makes a very graceful and serviceable 

 specimen, and, when small, is an admirable centre for a vase. 

 Its leaves are long, tapering, light green, and not readily broken 

 by high winds even in exposed positions. Plants are quickly 

 procured from seed, and soon grow to specimen size, as they 

 make rapid growth when planted out during the summer. 

 They can be easily lifted, too, and kept in the greenhouse dur- 

 ing the winter. They do not need pots in proportion to their 

 size, as many other plants do. When lifting most plants in 

 fall it is desirable to put them into as small pots or tubs as 

 will conveniently contain the roots without bruising them. 

 The preservation of a good ball of roots, however, is neces- 

 sary for all those that are annually planted out and lifted. 



Dongan Hills, N. Y. Wut. Tricker. 



Foliage-plants. 



IN the case of warm-house plants at this season more atten- 

 tion is needed to secure the proper conditions of temper- 

 ature and moisture than during the summer ; as the days 

 shorten the growth of such plants will be slower, and they 

 are thus less able to withstand extremes of treatment. Com- 

 paratively little potting will be needed among this class of plants 

 during the next two or three months, except it may be in the 

 case of some small specimens that would be likely to suffer be- 

 fore the time of the general repotting in the spring. Even in 

 such instances it is advisable to give only a small shift, for 

 overpotting is doubly dangerous to tender-rooted subjects 

 during the early part of the winter. Watering and syringing 

 should be done early in the day, for too much moisture on the 

 foliage will soon injure it, though when strong heat is applied 

 after the nights become colder, it is a good pracfice to damp 

 down the walks and under the benches in the afternoon, to 

 prevent the atmosphere from becoming too dry. 



The attacks of insects must be watched for with strict atten- 

 tion also during the winter months, for with the partial cessa- 

 tion of syringing such pests as red spiders and thrips are very 

 likely to appear on Dracsenas, Cordylines, Crotons and Dief- 

 fenbachias, and, if unchecked, will soon ruin the foliage. To- 

 bacco-water is the most effective remedy for these troubles, 

 and in aconservatory is less objectionable than fumigating, be- 

 sides being more effective, with red spiders at least. If this 

 pest becomes plentiful on any particular plant, it may be re- 

 moved by giving a dip in tobacco-water to which has been 

 added some sulphur, the strength of the wash being propor- 

 tioned to the kind of plant, for the tobacco-water will injure 

 tender foliage when used too strong. 



Several of the'prepared insecticides are also useful prepara- 

 tions for this purpose, especially for small establishments 

 where the limited quantity of su6h mixtures required makes 

 their cost appear less formidable. But if any considerable 

 quantity of insecticide is needed it is more economical to use 

 the home-made remedies, and among these the tobacco-water 

 and solution of whale-oil soap are among the most satisfactory. 

 For some extreme cases the kerosene emulsion is very effec- 

 tive, but this must always be used with judgment, or the re- 

 sult will be disastrous. 



The propagation of various foliage-plants can be carried on 

 during the winter, provided sufflcient heat can be had for the 

 purpose. Among these Crotons and Ficus may be included, 

 the first-named rooting readily at any time in a warm house. 

 With generous treatment there will be nice-sized plants for 

 bedding out in June. There is also little difficulty in rooting 

 Ficus cuttings, especially about January. The safest method 

 is that of topping, by means of an incision in a shoot, some 

 three or four leaves from the tip, and binding some damp moss 

 around the cut. Under favorable conditions these tops will 

 send out roots in two or three weeks, and can then be re- 

 moved from the parent plant and potted. Such cuttings natu- 

 rally make more shapely plants than those struck from a single 

 eye, and the tops can be rooted at any season of the year with- 

 out difficulty. 



Some of the slender Aralias, like A. Veitchii, A. elegantis- 

 sima, and A. leptophylla, can also be worked during the win- 

 ter and spring, using for a stock either A. reticulata or A. 

 Guilfoylei.as the first-named species are very slow rooting from 

 cuttings, and will grow away more freely when grafted. The 

 stocks for this purpose maybe supplied either from root or 

 top cuttings, cleft grafting, if neatly done, being the most sat- 

 isfactory method for this operation. 



The tops of Cordylines and Dracjenas may also be rooted in 

 the manner recommended for Ficus, making by far the finest 

 specimens, as they have large leaves, extending to the pot, if 

 properly grown, beside showing more color than those that 

 have been potted on from small plants. 



Holmesburg, Pa. yV- H. Tapltlt. 



Wintering Strawberry-beds. 



THE proper care of Strawberry-plants during the cold 

 weather is an important item in the cultivation of this 

 fruit. They may live through a very low temperature, and yet 

 suffer seriously in vigor and usefulness ; a smaller, inferior 

 and later crop is sure to follow needless exposure. The ex- 

 tent of this damage depends, of course, on the severity of the 

 winter and the degree of exposure. In the northern states a 

 temperature not much below the average is liable to make a 

 clean sweep by killing the plants outright. Even in this lati- 

 tude, and in ordinary winters, I find the loss to average one- 

 fourth, and wherever the thermometer is liable to drop ten 

 degrees below freezing winter protection will pay well. Nu- 

 merous substances may be used to protect the plants ; some 

 better than others ; almost any better than none. At the south 

 we never tliink of anything but pine-needles, or pine-straw, as 

 we call it. Not only does the resinous nature of the pine-straw 

 tend to repel insects which might possibly take refuge under 

 the covering in winter, but it is an excellent non-conductor. It 

 is also, from mechanical reasons, an ideal protector. Its shape 

 and size render it easy to apply evenly and rapidly. The nee- 

 dles are so small that even the hardest wind is apt to pass 

 through the mass without any serious displacement, while 

 the same openness allows the passage of sufficient air to pre- 

 vent smothering even where the cover is deeper than it should 

 be. I have had plants to survive an accidental covering of 

 three feet, and that, too, where the pile of straw lay for four 

 months. I need hardly say that such a deep covering would 

 be neither practicable nor safe, one inch of this kind of cov- 

 ering being sufficient even in a cold climate. 



Pine-straw not to be had, my next choice should be corn- 

 stalks, laid uncut and evenly over the bed in the direction 

 the rows run. As they lie much more open than straw, a 

 depth of one foot would be about right. Where neither of the 

 above are procurable, recourse is generally had to hay or 

 wheat or oat straw. The main objection to these is that they 

 are all easily blown off. Some seek to prevent this by chop- 

 ping it very short, which, according to my experience, is no 

 remedy at all. The separate particles are still so much larger 

 in proportion to their weight than pine-needles that they are 

 apt to take wings on gusty days. I should much prefer to ap- 

 ply the straw whole, and anchor it by means of poles or some 

 such weights laid on top. Even earth might be used to hold 

 the straw, provided a little care was taken in its application 

 and removal. It need not be either deep or confinuous, but 



