140 



Garden and Forest. 



[May 16, 1888. 



at least in sufficient quantities to furnisli the desired nimilicr 

 of flowering bulbs. Should it be necessary to throw away any 

 through fear of over production, always discard the oldest 

 stock. 



The question is frequently asked, " Do the varieties sport or 

 return to the original type, or do the white and yellow forms 

 put on the scarlet ? " To all such queries the answer must be 

 an emphatic " No." "But then," continues the ciuerist, "how 

 is it that flowers are now all red ? The first year or two of 

 my growing them my collection was the best I could obtain, 

 now they are not worth planting." The reason is simple; none 

 but those with the strongest vitality have increased, the others 

 have died. 



The bulblets may be sown in early spring in any convenient 

 out-of-the-way place in the garden, if the soil and situation is 

 good, such as would yield a good crop of potatoes; they will, 

 with ]iroper attention, make bulbs that will Hower the second 

 season. The first season they will require but little room. 

 Make the drills the same as for beet seed, and about two inches 

 deep ; sow the bulblets so thickly that they will touch each 

 other, as they do much better than if sown thinly. No further 



Picea Ajanensis, Fischer.^ — This very beautiful Spruce-fir, 

 which has been introduced into our collections under the name 

 oi F. A/cocA'iiiiia, Carv. (Aiifs Alcoqiiiaiia, Veitch), thus con- 

 founding it with another species, is perhaps second only in orna- 

 mental value to the Rocky Mountain P. piingens, Engelm. 

 Nearly all of the specimens of so-called P. Alcockiana now in 

 cultivation in the United States, are really this species, which 

 may easily be detected by its pale yellowish tinted bark, flattish, 

 very glaucous leaves, twisted at the base on the side branches, 

 and small, or sometimes large, oblong cones with undulated 

 deeply notched scales. It is reported to be a much smaller tree 

 than P. Alcockiana, generally growing from 25 to 50 feet high, 

 while the latter attains the height of from 90 to 120 feet. 



P. Alcockiana is closely related to P. obovata, and P. Ajanen- 

 sis is so nearly allied to P. Mcnziesii of our north-west coast, 

 as to l>e almost indistinguishable from it in its botanical char- 

 acters. Indeed, the late Dr. Engelmann considered at one 

 time, that it was a mere form of the latter, but subsequent 

 study enabled him to pronounce it specifically distinct ; and 

 Dr. Masters has recorded that it differs from the American 

 species " in its Hatter, less deeply keeled, and blunter leaves." 



Santa Ritas Foot-hills, with Quercus oblon^folia.^-'&t^f; P^g*^ *42. 



work will be necessary, than to keep the ground clean and 

 loose, until it is time to store the bulbs, in the autumn. 



There are few pleasures in gardening equal to that which 

 comes from raising Gladiolus from seed. The certainty of 

 getting some remarkably fine varieties cannot be questioned; 

 and it is equally certain that there will be some quite the 

 reverse. Upon the whole, when the seed is saved from the 

 best flowers, there will be many new combinations of form 

 and color, and l)ut few plants that need be discarded. The pre- 

 vailing opinion that it is difficult to raise new and choice 

 varieties from seed is erroneous. 



It is no more trouble to raise Gladiolus from seed than to 

 raise the most common vegetable. With the simplest garden 

 culture there is an almost absolute certainty ot success, "if care 

 in the selection of seed has been exercised. Prepare your bed 

 in spring as for any hardy annual; the soil should be made 

 fine and comparatively ricli ; sow the seed in drills, at a con- 

 venient distance apart to be worked with a hoe ; cover to the 

 depth of one inch ; keep the soil light and clean ; take up the 

 bulbs after the first frost; store diirmg the winter in a drv 

 cellar pr room, free from frost, but not warni ; plant the bulbs 

 again in the spring following, and the ne.xtsinnmer very many 

 of them will flower. As a rule, tlie more choice flowers will lie 

 found among the latest to bloom. C. L. Allen. 



In growth, it is rather slow at first in comparison with other 

 species, but after having become fully established its develop- 

 ment is rapid and satisfactory. It cannot perhaps be called a 

 very graceful tree, as the arrangement of the branches is 

 somewhat stiff and formal, but the picturesquenessof its habit 

 is much enhanced by the decidedly unique commingling of 

 the dark shining green and silver of its foliage. This pecul- 

 iarity is noticeable at all times, as the rigidity of the leaves dis- 

 plays the charming glaucousness so characteristic of this 

 species, even when in a state of rest. When standing in a 

 group of other Conifers, especially those with dark tinted fol- 

 iage, the contrast is exceedingly striking and rich. Its hardi- 

 ness in the Northern States, even when small, is unquestioned, 

 and although it requires a deep rich alluvial soil to accelerate 

 growth and develop its beauty, it will succeed in almost any 

 situation where other Spruces will thrive. Josiah Hoopes. 



Psychotria jasminiflora, or, as it is more commonly known in 

 gardens, Gloncria jasminiflora, is a beautiful Brazilian shrub, 

 with handsome evergreen foliage and pure white, frag'rant, 

 tul jular flowers, produced in terminal corymbose panicles. It 

 was discovered by Libon in the province of St. Catharine, in 

 southern Brazil, as long ago as i860, and is very well figured 

 in the Botanical Iifaga::ine, t. 6454. It is not a difficult plant to 



