May 



1888. 1 



Garden and Forest. 



127 



day or two they are very good ; and as they are very easily hi- 

 jured hy crushing' tliey must be packed and carried carefully. 

 But the plants in bloom can be used witli admirable elTect in 

 room decorations. 

 Glen Cove. Williaiii Falconer. 



The Rock-Garden in Spring. 



Iris Korolkoii'i, a comparatively recent introduction from 

 Turkestan, is one of the earliest plants in Hower in a New 

 England rock-garden. It is a dwarf, bulbous and very hardy 

 species a span high with narrow leaves and rich purple 

 flowers, brightly marked on the falls with large, clear yellow 

 blotches. With it, and a little earlier, bloom Iris reticulata and 

 its variety AVi'/rt?-"'//', charming little Caucasian plants, also with 

 purple yellow blotched Howers. These appear with tlie 

 Crocuses and Siberian Squills in the middle of April, and 

 nearly a fortnight later than the earliest Snowdrops. Single 

 Hepaticas have passed when these Irises are in bloom, but 

 some of the double flowered varieties are later and last a long- 

 time in flower. Some of these have very dark blue, and others 

 pink or clear white flowers. Few of the earlier flowering rock- 

 plants are more beautiful. The Spring Snowflake {Lciicoium 

 I'ernwii) is one of the great attractions in the rock-garden at 

 this time. It is a dwarf species from central Europe, hardlv 

 more than six inches high, with large, drooping, bell-shaped, 

 fragrant flowers, an inch and a half across, when expanded, 

 and marked with a conspicuous spot of green and yellow at 

 the tip of each segment. This is one of the most charming f)f 

 all the plants of its class. Not less attractive and equally harily 

 is Chionodoxa Lucilice — one of the handsomest and most in- 

 teresting of recent additions to the perfectly hardy spring 

 flowering bulbs. Cliionodo.xa is formed from two Greek 

 words meaning snow andglorv, and refers to the fact that this 

 plant flowers amid the melting snows of its mountain home. 

 It is a native of Asia Minor and Crete, and was discovered by 

 the Swiss botanist Boissier on the western Tmolus, above 

 Bozdath, at an elevation of 7,000 over the sea level. The 

 leaves are three to si.x inches long at the flowering period, 

 strap shaped and surmounted by a slender raceme of three to 

 si.x or sometimes even twenty intensely blue flowers shading 

 to white in the centre. These are fully an inch across when 

 expanded. Chionodoxa LiicilicF can be as easily grown and as 

 readily increased as a Siberian Squill or any other spring flower- 

 ing bulb. A few days later Adonis vernalis. one of the best and 

 hardiest of dwarf plants, opens its splendid yellow flowers, 

 and these in turn are followed by many others, which make the 

 rockery the most interesting spot in a garden in April and 

 early May. These plants are all perfectly hardy, they flourish 

 and increase and improve year after year among the rocks or 

 in any garden border, and year after year the unfolding of 

 their flowers is a new sm'prise and a new delight which old 

 acquaintance never dulls. C. 



Fruits for Market and for Home Use. 



A CORRESPONDENT, after alluding to some notes of mine 

 on fruits for home use, inqm'res if such fruits are not 

 good enough for the market .'' Tliis is a novel way of putting 

 the question, and the reply might be that they are often too 

 good. We raise home fruits to eat and market fruits to sell. 

 Very plainly the latter must reach the market in salable condi- 

 tion, and they must help by their appearance to sell them- 

 selves. For home use, flavor is the highest consideration. 

 For market, it is less important than appearance, and to have a 

 good appearance in the market a fruit must be firm enough to 

 endure carrying. Again, a market fruit must be productive if 

 the grower is to make a living. From this it may be seen that 

 while a man who makes a business of fruit-growing sends to 

 the market every day what he would never think of putting on 

 his own table, it does not follow that he is dishonest or wicked. 

 He is simply driven to this by the necessities of his calling and 

 the demand's of his customers. 



The Cumfierland Strawberry has size, lieautv, earliness and 

 ciuality, all valuable features in a market berry, but no one 

 would think of growing it for that purpose, simply because 

 it is too tender to stand transportation. The Manchester, 

 Downing, May King, Jewell and many others are only fitted for 

 near markets, for tlie reason that they ripen soon after color- 

 ing. The Sharpless, Atlantic and Da\-is are good market varie- 

 ties, not only on account of their size, beauty, etc., but for then- 

 firmness and al.iility to stand long-distance carriag-e. Other 

 varieties, like the Wilson, Crescent and Jersey Queen, color 

 in advance of maturity, and are ripe in appearance while thev 



are yet solid. They bear transportation for long distances, and 

 ripen on the v\-ay to market. It is this quality ihat has given 

 the Wilson such a reputation, but no one would think of grow- 

 ing it for family use, except those who consider one Straw- 

 berry as good as another when sniothered in sugar. 



The Caroline, Orange, Clarke and such tender-fleshed Ras]i- 

 berries are utterly imflt for market on account of their delicacy. 

 Such fruits will only bear transportation from the garden to the 

 table. It is only the firmer sorts of red Raspberries that will 

 answer at all as n-iarket varieties, and a wet spell at the ripen- 

 ing season plays havoc with the best of these. Firn-iness is 

 the redeeming c[uality of the Black Caps. This fits them for 

 long carriage, and being good keepers, they are admirable for 

 market purposes. 



To illustrate the value of appearance one only need place a 

 Dana's Hovey or Seckel Pear on sale beside a Clairgeau or 

 Kiefter. Ninety-nine Ijuyers would select the big, handsome 

 fruit before the knowing hundredth man would taste the lus- 

 cious little ones. And so the whole list might lie canvassed. 

 In Grapes, for example, the early and good-looking Champion 

 always brings good prices, but it is only fit to sell. 



On the other hand, it must be adniitted that market- 

 growers do wrong in sending certain varieties of Grapes 

 as soon as they color, but long before they are really i-ipe. 

 The Ives is one of the kinds that wears a color of ripeness long 

 before it is fit to eat. The objection to the Grape is not that it 

 is of poor quality. It is really a good Grape when ripe, but 

 growers take advantage of its appearance to palm olT an un- 

 ripe, and tlierefore unwholesome, fruit upon the unsuspecting 

 buyer. Here is a plain case tor interference by City Boards of 

 Health. If growers will send them, and dealers will sell them, 

 the law should step in to protect the people froni danger. 

 Tons of these Grapes are sold in this city every year. They 

 not only threaten the health of consumers, liut they injure the 

 business of everv honest grower. E. IVilliains. 



Globe Artichokes. — Although these are common vegetables 

 in most good gardens in Europe, they ai-e not in general 

 cultivation here. There is a growing demand for them, how- 

 ever, not only for fashion's sake, but many people are very 

 fond of theni. Our first Artichokes are cut about the 20th or 

 25th of June ; they are abundant through July and August, and 

 in moderate supply till tlie middle of October. As a changeor 

 extra dish, they are desirable at all times, but more especially 

 after mildew destroys Peas — about the middle of July — and 

 until Lima Beans come in about the first of August. Our 

 plantation is in rows sonie 6 feet by 4 feet apart. The plants 

 are not quite hardy, and in November they are cut over close 

 to the ground and the tops removed. After the first sharp 

 frost a large armful of dry forest leaves is placed over each 

 plant, a little thatch is scattered over the leaves to keep them 

 in place. Early in April this covering is removed, and between 

 the 20th and 30th of April all the living plants begin to grcnv. 

 Plants required for the June and July crop should not be inter- 

 fered with ; but if a few old plants are lifted, and each cut into 

 two or more parts with a sharp spade, and these divisions are 

 planted separately, they will yield fine heads in August and 

 September. It is also well to break up and replant the Arti- 

 chokes every second year, as it keeps them in vigorous condi- 

 tion. We also raise a few plants from seed every year. Sown 

 in the green-house in February or March, and grown on vig- 

 orously in hot-beds till the middle of May, and then planted 

 out, they yield fine heads in September and October. But if 

 sown late, or the suninier is unusually cold, they will not 

 bloom at all the first year. The seeds retain their vitality for 

 many years. In spring, after the plantation is made up, nia- 

 nure and fork the ground between the plants, and, if need be. 

 intercrop with early Spinach or Lettuces. Towards the end 

 of June the plants will have grown so much that they will meet 

 each other and destroy any crop that niay then be between 

 them. Sun-imer care consists in keeping them clean and cut- 

 ting off every head just as soon as it is large enough to use. 

 This has a tendency to prolong- the crop. Sometimes the 

 vouiig shoots of Artichokes are bleached, being treated like 

 Cardoons, and used as a substitute for these, but this dish 

 meets with little favor. Large Green is tlie variety adver- 

 tised by most seedsmen. But we get a good many varieties 

 fron-i seed, some good and some poor, so that the best must 

 be selected and perpetuated by division. Those that have the 

 thickest and flesliiest scales are the most desirable. 



Rhododendron Countess of Haddington. — A good specin-ien of 

 this line plant was recently exhiliited at the Massachusetts Hor- 

 ticultural Society by Mrs.F. B. Hayes, of Lexington. It is one 

 of the first of the long series of hybrid Rhododendrons which 



