■ August 22, li 



!•] 



Garden and Forest 



307 



From sources apparently trustworthy we hear of native va- 

 rieties much superior to tlie best of tliose we have grown 

 under the name of Wild Goose, and it would not he surprising if 

 our best and most reliable Plums were in time developed from 

 this native stock. I have tested but one other Plum of this class, 

 the Reed, which originated at Hightstown, New Jersey, some 

 years ago. It is a splendid scarlet or crimson fruit, perfectly 

 round, and about an inch in diameter. It is also a regular and 

 abundant bearer, so much so that I have counted on a crop in 

 advance with certainty imtil this season, when, for the first time, 

 it has failed. Like the Wild Goose, it is not of first ciuality, 

 and will not compare with Bevay or Green Gage, but it is better 

 than no Plums at all. Mr. J. W. Kerr, of Denton, Maryland, 

 has about forty varieties of these Plums on trial, accord- 

 ing to the Delaware Farm and Hotiw, and among them are 

 some of much promise. Near Carbondale, Pennsylvania, 

 some years ago, I saw profuse crops of Plums in many orch- 

 ards. The trees were all seedlings, I was told, tliat came \\\y 

 ■ spontaneously, reproducing themselves with little or no varia- 

 tion. They were of the Damson type in size and color, and it 

 was said that the crop was not an unusual one. 



Here seems to be a field for the enterprising hyliridizer. If 

 a dash of blood from some of our choicest kinds could be 

 worked in with our sturdy native stock, a strain of this fruit, 

 better adapted to our soil and climate, or, at least, Ijetter able 

 to repel the attacks of tungiis-disease than any we now have, 

 might be produced. 



Monlclair, New Jersey. E- WlUialltS. 



Ferns for Basket Culture. 



Al 7'HILE the use of Ferns for ilccorative ])urposcs has large- 

 •' ly increased of late years, and especially for house 

 decoration and as an adjunct to cut-llower arrangement, yet 

 there are many most interesting species which seem to ha\e 

 been neglected, or rather have not received the amount of at- 

 tention they deserve. Some of these are particularly 

 adapted to Ijasket-culture, and it is hard to find a more grace- 

 ful or beautiful object than a well-grown Fern-Liasket, be it 

 filled either with one variety alone, which is the best plan, or 

 . with several sorts. Some Ferns are more attractive when 

 grown in this manner than in any other, as their habit of 

 growth is exhibited to iiiuch better advantage when suspend- 

 ed from above. One or two exam])les from the charming 

 family of Maidenhair Ferns should lead the list. 



Adiantiiiii ciliatwii is decidedly one of the best fine-growing 

 basket Ferns we have. Its gracefully arched pinnate fronds are 

 from twelve to fifteen inches in length, slightly pubescent, and 

 sometimes pinkish when very young. The fronds of this 

 species, like those of A. caudatitm, which it somewhat re- 

 sembles, are proliferous at the apex, and consequently when 

 the young plant appears on the frond it should be pegged down 

 so as to encourage it in rooting, and in this way the entire sur- 

 face of the basket may soon l)e covered. A. dolabriforine is 

 another excellent sort for basket use and very distinct in ap- 

 pearance, having pinnate fronds from one foot to eighteen 

 inches m length, the racliis lieing black and shiny in the full 

 grown fronds. The color of the pinnse varies from a delicate 

 green in the young fronds to very dark green in the matured 

 growth. A. dolabriforine is also proliferous, and a rapid grower, 

 so that a good specimen may be soon obtained. Anothergenus 

 of Ferns, several of whose species make good subjects for 

 basket culture, are the Davallias, the following being- among the 

 most useful for this purpose. D. dissecta, a well-known and 

 free-growing variety with tripinnate fronds from one to two feet 

 in length ; D.pentaphylla is also a very handsome and distinct 

 species, having glossy green pinnate fronds from ten to twelve 

 inches long, which Ijy their bright appearance give a charming 

 effect to the plant. It is an evergreen, and though a native of 

 the Malay Islands does very well in a temperature of fifty-five 

 to sixty degrees. Another very pretty sort is D. Tycrniannii, 

 when well-grown. It has tripinnate fronds from six to eight 

 inches in length, dark green in color when full grown, but in 

 a young state the fronds are often marked with silvery pink. 



Among the stronger growing Ferns, suitable for basket 

 xvork, we may mention Nephrolcpis pectinaia and N. fubcrosa, 

 also the "Stag's Horn Fern," Platyccriumalcicorne,\\\Q's,\.x-A\'\^& 

 growth and oddly shaped fronds of which are always inter- 

 esting. AH of the above list are of free habit and easy culti- 

 vation, and may readily be grown in a temperature of from 

 fifty-five to sixty degrees. 



Their chief requirements are shade and an abundance of 

 water when well established. As to soil, a compost of equal 

 parts of light loam and peat with a fair proportion of sand and 

 a little broken charcoal will be likely to give a good result. 



Holmesburg, Pa. . VV. H. Tap/in. 



Whitewash for Rose-beetles. 



TD EFERRING to Mr. Pearson's experience in fighting Rose- 

 ■^^ beetles, as related in a late issue of Garden and For- 

 est, let me present some notes of an experiment under- 

 taken by Mr. E. A. Dunbar, an extensive fruit-grower of Ash- 

 tabula County, Ohio. Last year he sprayed his Peach-trees 

 with Paris green mixtures, of various strength, when the 

 Peaches were_ half grown, to stop the ravages of the Rose- 

 bug, continuing, in sonie instances, the application until tlie 

 foliage was half killed and dropped off; but the bugs were 

 not diminished, and seemed rather to thrive on the poison. 

 Hand-picking was tried, but with unsatisfactory results. 



Early in June, this year, I advised him to try spraying his 

 Grapes and Peaches with a mixture of a peck of air-slaked 

 lime to a barrel of water, putting it on so thick that the foliage 

 and fruit would be well coated with lime when the water 

 evaporated. 



In a letter, written July 23d, Mr. Dunbar says : " . . . 

 A thorough application of the remedy advised was un- 

 doubtedly the means of saving many dollars' worth of 

 fruit. . . . The Rose-bugs appeared this year about 

 June i2th. One application of a coal-oil emulsion to a few 

 Grape-vines and Rose-bushes killed most of the bugs which 

 were there, feut others soon filled their places. I then 

 mounted a Field force-pump on a forty-gallon cask, set on 

 a stoneboat, and slaked about a peck of lime for each barrel of 

 water, and the motion (of the boat) kept the lime in suspension. 

 One man worked the pump, and another directed the spray, 

 on fjne side of one row of Grape-vines at a time, as fast'as 

 the horse walked down the row, and we soon had the vineyard 

 thoi'oughly whitewashed, and the lime well on the fruit under 

 the leaves. I was disappointed at first in apparent results, as 

 the bugs continued to be tjuite mmierous, but after a few 

 days they vanished, having hurt the Grapes very ILttle, and 1 

 have a heavier crop than for several years past. Few Rrjse- 

 bugs had attacked the side of my Peach-orchard nearest the 

 house, and therefore I did not visit the further side for sev- 

 eral days. When I did the bugs had already destroyed many 

 Peaches. I at once whitewashed the Peach-orchard in the 

 same manner as the vineyard, with the exception of one row, 

 and the bugs all emigrated to that row in the course of a day 

 or two. The whitewash showed quite plainly after several 

 hard rains, and one application was sufficient." 



I think the effectiveness of the application would have been 

 increased had a small quantity of crude carbolic acid been 

 added to the lime-water. No danger to the foliage need be 

 apprehended from the application of any amount of lime. At 

 this station this season I have had the fruit and foliage of 

 some Plum-trees thoroughly coated with lime for weeks, and 

 they appear even brigliter and healthier than those not treated 

 in this way. 



Oliio -Agricultural Expenmeiil Station. ChirencC M. IlWd. 



Gentians itre plants that should be more generally grown. 

 Nearly all are hardy, as far as enduring cold goes. Thev 

 merely need enough cover to prevent them from I)eing 

 heaved out by alternate freezings and thawings as the winter 

 breaks up. AH need a moist subsoil. Though they succeed 

 well in deep loam, a little peat seems to be beneficial to such 

 species as G. verna and G. Bavarica and two or three other 

 alpine species. 



Gentians are impatient of removal or division. I have 

 failed more than once in trying to establish G. Burseri, G. 

 lutea and G. punctata, all grand yellow-flowered species, 

 from the European Alps. "The finest specimen of G. lutea 

 I ever saw measured five feet high when in bloom. It had 

 been planted in peaty loam, with brick rubbish added, when 

 a seedling, and had taken three years to mature sufficiently for 

 lilooming. Most Gentians are slow in reaching the flowering 

 stage. G. cruciata and G. affinis will sometimes flower the 

 first year from seed. G. Pnrunionantlic, G. asclcpiadca and 

 G. scptcmfida reqinre two years. 



In order to insure the germination of Gentian seed, it had 

 better be sown in the fall, and wintered over in a frost-proof 

 frame. The time it will take to come up is uncertain. Seed 

 of G. septemfida sown in the fall, will germinate fully the follow- 

 ing spring, but if kept dry until spring and then sown, it will 

 come up in a straggling way all summer long, and will not 

 fully germinate until the next spring. So it is with most of 

 them, some even requiring three years for seed to germinate. 

 G. cruciata and G. affinis are the only species, so far as I 

 know, which will germinate quickly after being sown in spring. 



G. Pyrenaica and G. verna are at home in moist meadows, 

 and seldom do well in cultivation if removed from the grass 



