356 



Garden and Forest. 



[September 19, 1888. 



for use before Christmas; after that, Boston Market; l.iut Ixitli 

 must be sown now, Lettuces planted out in the open garden 

 after this time of year will not lae Hkely to mature before frost 

 destroys them, but, if planted now, the half-grown Lettuces 

 can be lifted into the frames in October. It is from the frames 

 thus filled that our supply of young plants is drawn for hot- 

 beds between November and February. 



Winter Spinach should be sown now. ' If it is to be left un- 

 covered over winter, sow the Prickly-seeded; if it is to be pro- 

 tected by frames or mulching, the Round-seeded will lie just 

 as good and rather more prolilic. The soil should be rich, and 

 have a warm, sunny aspect, sheltered from cold winds, and so 

 well drained that water cannot lie upon it in winter. If in the 

 open garden the rows may be fifteen inches apart. The 

 ground set apart for Winter Spinach has been occupied dur- 

 mg the summer by green-house, winter-tlowering plants, 

 which we are now lifting and potting. Last year we used 

 ground that had been cropped with early Melons. Field mice 

 are so numerous and destructive here, that it is useless to try 

 Spinach in the open ground and mulch it in winter; we cover 

 our crop with cold-frames. The land is marked olTin strips 

 eight and one-half feet wide; this gives strips six feet wide for 

 the frames, with two and one-half feet for passages between 

 them. Seven rows, ten inches apart, running lengthwise, are 

 then marked off to each string of frames, and this leaves a few 

 inches between the outer rows and the sides of the frames. 

 The frames may be laid down now or in Novemlier, but must 

 not be covered with sashes till sharp frost occurs. Spinach 

 sown now will yield a good picking in about five or six weeks 

 after sowing, but, except to thin it where it is too thick, it 

 should not be picked clean. During the winter months tliere 

 is no need to exclude frost altogether ; sashes, straw mats and 

 extra sashes or shutters over the mats in the case of very severe 

 weather, will answer, if in early December the frames are 

 banked with earth, leaves or manure. 



Onion sets are often planted in fall so as to save time in 

 spring. This should be done early, so as to get them well 

 started before winter sets in. Use light, warm, dry soil, and 

 plant in rows marked off four inches deep and a foot apart. 

 Yellow Danvers, Red Wethersfield and South port White 

 Globe are good Onions for this crop. To insure a good crop, 

 these Onions should be mulched in winter to prevent " scald- 

 ing" and frost heading, so, taking all things into considera- 

 tion, it is better not to plant out any in fhe fall, but wait 

 till early spring. Many gardeners sow a bed of Danvers 

 Onions early in September and mulch it in winter, to supply 

 green Onions early in spring. 11'///. Falcottc)-. 



Glen Cuve, L. I. 



Fay's Prolific Currant. — The commendation of this Currant 

 liy Mr. Williams, in the issue of Garden and Forest tor. 

 August Sth, is none too emphatic. In my experience with the 

 newer small fruits, I find it is the one which meets all the 

 claims made for it by its originator and propagator. And, 

 by the way, is Mr. Josselyn, its'propagator, a descendant of the 

 Josselyn who, in 1672, ijublished " New England Varieties of 

 Red and Black Currants ".' 



Aljout six years ago I purchased a single plant of Fay's 

 Currant for one dollar, and, in my ground, it has justified 

 all the promises made, and wherever I have seen it grow- 

 ing in New Jersey it has been far ahead of tlie Cherry or Ver- 

 sailles in production, while in size and quality it is their equal, 

 to say the least. 



I have a dozen bushes propagated from the original one, 

 and this year have picked eighty-four quarts, or an average of 

 seven quarts to each plant, the bunches of fruit lieing from four 

 to five inches long, while many measured fully six inches. The 

 space between the fiase of the stem and the first berry greatly 

 facilitates the work of picking and saves the fruit from being 

 crushed. The Cherry and Versailles set their fruit close up 

 to the old wood, and in a compact mass, which makes picking 

 difficult. 



In size I find Fay's as large as the Cherry or Versailles in 

 their best condition, more fulf of juice and of superior quality. 



I never found a Currant so satisfactory for jelly and talile 

 use, and, if picked at the right time, it makes more jelly and 

 in less time than' any other variety. In fact, I have discarded 

 all others. It may be doubted whether any expert, with his 

 eyes shut, could distinguish the flavor of Fay's and the 

 Cherry at their best, while in appearance Fay's far excels all 

 others. 



With berries half an inch in diameter, and bunches from 

 four to five inches long, and the Inishes literally loaded, it 

 would seem that perfection in Currants had been reached. 

 But it possesses one more good quality, namely, that all 



sound wood grown this year will liear a full crop next year. 

 There are no dormant buds, and, in this respect, it differs 

 from other varieties. Chas. L. Jones. 



Newarlt, N. J. 



China Asters. — Comet maintains its reputation as being one 

 of tlie most beautiful, large, rose-purple, spreading-petaled 

 varieties. But while each plant produces about a dozen flow- 

 ers, only a few of them are of full size and perfect. Dwarf 

 White Queen is the best white Aster here. It is small, but 

 not bunchy in habit ; very free flowering, and the flowers are 

 large, full-double, piu'e white, and the most of them are large 

 sized. It is earlier than most other varieties, and the plants in 

 the row are of perfectly even size. It seems to be a selection 

 from the Chrysanthemum-flowered section. The New Dwarf 

 Crimson Queen is, except in the color of its flowers, which are 

 purplish-crimson, an exact counterpart of White Queen. Dia- 

 dem is a new type of Aster, and a novelty of this year. It is 

 a compact-growing, upright, much-branched variety, with 

 small, crimson-purple flowers edged with a band of white. 

 Our plants are now in bloom, and the poorest of any Asters 

 of any type we have. The flowers are very imperfect, and 

 the white band indistinct. After the type has been properly 

 fixed and the liand well defined, no doifljt this will become a 

 desirable flower. Triumph is one of this year's novelties. It 

 is a dwarf, compact, free-blooming variety, but later in bloom- 

 ing tlian other China Asters. It is described as " eight or 

 nine inches high." "The flower-heads are from two and a half 

 to three inches across, very perfect in form, with incurved 

 petals of a pure scarlet when first expanded, changing to 

 satiny deep scarlet." Our plants of it are now in bloom, 

 and are about nine inches high, compact, with ten or fifteen 

 medium-sized flowers on each, and these flowers are of a 

 bright piu-])lish-crimson color, and not scarlet at all in any 

 stage of their growth. Did any one ever see a scarlet- 

 flowered China-Aster of any sort ? C. C. 



Asclepias atrosanguinea aurea is one of this year's novelties. 

 It is described as a Bolivianspecies resembling, i. Cnrassavica 

 " in habit, but is much more effective ; its numerous flowers, 

 borne in large, dense umbels of a deep blood-red, with a 

 golden-yellow corona or centre." This plant and .-i. Cnrassa- 

 vica are growing along-side of each other, and are nciw in 

 liloom. They are both from seed sown in the green-house 

 last spring, and the seedlings planted out in the open garden, 

 where they now are blooming. The flowers of the A. atro- 

 sa/igii/'/tca a/irea are of a deeper and brighter color (exactly as 

 described above) than those of A. Cnrassavica, but, except in 

 this slight variation in color of blossoms, the two species, so- 

 called, seem to be identical. F. 



Notes fr(.)m the Ariiiild Arboretum. 



Vitcx i/icisa, which is now in flower, is a small, bushy tree 

 or tall shrub, witli erect branches, which are covered with 

 compound, digitate leaves, composed of five to seven lanceo- 

 late, deejjly pinrjatitid leaflets, and terminated with spike-like 

 clusters of handsome blue fli:>wers. The stems are sometimes 

 killed back in severe winters here, but as the flowers are borne 

 on the new growth this does not interfere with the blooming 

 of this really desirable plant. It is a native of northern China, 

 where it seems to be common on mountain-sides. The well 

 known Chaste-tree ( Vitcs Agnus- Castus), a native of the country 

 surrounding the Mediterranean, is not hardy in the Northern 

 States. The other Asiatic species, of which there are two in 

 Japan and a third in northern China, are not in cultivation 

 profialjly. 



Panax scssilifloru/// is a native of the Amoor country. It is 

 here a stout and very hardy shrub, with erect, unarmed 

 stems, three or four feet high, and covered with pale brown 

 liark, upon which are many small, darker, wart-like growths. 

 The ample, yellow-green, ternate leaves are borne on long, 

 stout petioles, and quite cover the stems from the ground up- 

 ward. The flowers are small, with dark purple corolla and 

 stamens, and are aggregated in spherical heads, which are 

 borne on stout stems'in short, erect racemes from the axils of 

 the upper leaves. This plant has been in bloom now for more 

 than a month, and it will continue to produce its handsome 

 heads of flowers until the appearance of frost. This pecu- 

 liarity, the neat, compact habit and great hardiness, make this 

 a desirable garden plant. Its real claim, however, upon the 

 attention ofplanters, lies in the fact that the flowers are fol- 

 lowed by heads of shining black Ijerries, which remain upon 

 the branches bright and fresh until the appearance of the new 

 leaves in spring. The number of shrubs which carry their 



