January 20, 1897 J 



Garden and Forest. 



27 



in a warm house, and give them water enough to prevent dry 

 rot during- winter. But as soon as the eyes show signs of 

 starting, the roots should be brought out into the light 

 and divided with a sharp knife, and the cut surfaces 

 dipped into slaked lime to prevent decay. Water should 

 be given sparingly until some new roots are made, when the 

 young plants should be set in small pots, using a rather 

 sandy, but rich, compost. They require a warm and moist 

 atmosphere, and should be repotted before the plants become 

 at all stunted. Alocasia Jenningsii and A. Marshallii, species 

 of moderate growth, are deciduous, and thrive under the 

 treatment suitable for Caladiums, but some of the stronger 

 Alocacias, like A. Sedenii, A. metallica, A. Veitchii, A. ma- 

 crorhiza and A. zebrina, usually retain some of their foliage, 

 and naturally require more water. They also need more 

 drainage in the pots or pans and a very open compost. When 

 starting into growth again both Caladiums and Alocasias are 

 very likely to throw up flower-stems, and these should at once 

 be removed, as they tend to weaken the foliage. 



The seeds of Gloxinias, being very fine, should be sown on 

 the surface of the soil, as Fern-spores are. A safe soil is com- 

 posed of peat, loam and sand in about equal parts, with some 

 chopped sphagnum mixed through it to keep it more open. 

 Gloxinia-seeds should be placed in a warm and moist atmos- 

 phere, and should be covered with a sheet of paper until they 

 germinate. This prevents the soil from drying out rapidly, 

 and does away with the need of much watering until the seed- 

 lings are visible. Care is needed in handling the young plants, 

 but they are worth the attention. 



With stronger sunshine Easter Lilies and the various spring- 

 flowering bulbs will make rapid growth, and a few of the latter 

 should be brought into heat at short intervals for a succession 

 of flowers. With the exception of Lily-of-the-valley, a good 

 root-growth is essential before these plants have strong fire- 

 heat, otherwise the flower-stems will be weak and small. 

 Aphides will be sure to find the flower-buds of Lilium longi- 

 florum, and are best removed by an occasional dipping in 

 weak tobacco water, a more cleanly remedy than dusting with 

 snuff or powdered tobacco. Cinerarias, too, are specially sub- 

 ject to this pest and will require close watching now if thefoli- 

 age is to be saved. These plants will also need plenty of fresh 

 air to prevent a spindly growth, and as the flower-spikes ap- 

 pear some extra feeding with liquid-manure will be of great 

 benefit. 



New Holland plants, such as Ericas, Epacris, Eriostemons, 

 Boronias, Darwinias and a host of others, are not only notably 

 pretty in form and color, but also fragrant and lasting in 

 bloom. Some of them demand a little extra attention during 

 our hot and dry summers, yet they fully repay the trouble, 

 and a strong point in their favor is the fact that little fire-heat 

 is needed to carry them through the winter. It is a misfor- 

 tune that they are not more generally grown. The repotting 

 of Palms and many foliage plants had better be deferred for a 

 few weeks, as but little growth will be gained, with the Palms 

 in particular, by shifting them before the roots are making a 

 decided move, and in some instances they will receive a posi- 

 tive check. Special care in firing is needed now, for when the 

 temperature ranges high at night Palms are likely to be excited 

 before their time and thus become weakened. For the species 

 in general use a night temperature of sixty to sixty-five degrees 

 is quite sufficient. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. Taphn. 



Anthuriums. 



FLOWERS'of brilliant color and odd shapes, as well as rich 

 foliage in many cases, give these tropical plants a distinc- 

 tion not only for decorative purposes, but for use in the con- 

 servatory with other plants. Nearly all the species do best in 

 a temperature of from sixty-five to seventy-five degrees, which 

 should be kept as nearly even as possible. During warm 

 sunny days the plants need shading, since their native habitat 

 is along the banks of streams and in dense swamps which the 

 sun's rays hardly penetrate. Good potting material is leaf- 

 mold, rotted sod, sand and fine charcoal ; they also thrive 

 in well-mixed peat and sphagnum, but when this is used the 

 drainage should be carefully looked after, and they should be 

 potted very firmly. This is a good time to propagate. Small 

 varieties should be divided so as to leave a crown to each 

 plant, while the tops can be cut from the taller ones with a few 

 roots attached, and the old plants will break very readily from 

 below. The raising of seedlings is a slow process, some varie- 

 ties needing to be fertilized by hand and requiring a year for 

 ripening the seed. The seeds should be sown as soon as they 

 ripen in shallow pans on chopped peat and fresh sphagnum, 

 where they will germinate in seven or eight weeks if placed in 



a close frame or under a hand-glass with a bottom-heat of 

 about eighty degrees. As soon as they have formed two 

 leaves they should be transplanted into small pots. 



Of the varieties one of the most showy is Anthurium Andrea- 

 num, which bears all the year round large scarlet flowers 

 which retain their beauty for months together. It is one of 

 the very easiest to grow, and although usually planted in pots 

 we have found that it does admirably in beds. A bed of peat 

 and sphagnum twenty-five feet long and four feet wide was a 

 wonderful spectacle four months after it was filled with these 

 plants. Wherever one has room to spare this certainly proves 

 in the end the most successful way to produce flowers, as we 

 have proved by cutting hundreds of them from this bed every 

 year, some of the spathes measuring more than eight inches 

 long. A. Scherzerianum does better in pots. Since its roots 

 are not as long, the plants should be set more deeply, so that 

 the new roots will penetrate through the peat and sphag- 

 num. A. Rothschildianum bears very profusely bright scarlet 

 spathes mottled with white. A. Bennettii is distinguished by 

 its long and sharply tapering spathe. A. giganteum is distin- 

 guished for the great size of its flowers, and A. maximum pro- 

 duces spathes from seven to nine inches long, four inches 

 wide, and of the most intense scarlet. Among the varieties 

 with decorative leaves are A. crystallinum, with leaf-veins of 

 crystal white ; A. triumphans, with long bright green leaves 

 and prominent ribs of a lighter color : A. Veitchii, often called 

 the Elephant's Ear, with leaves from two to three feet long 

 and of a metallic hue; A. Waroquensis, with large, striking, 

 rich green leaves of a velvety lustre and paler midribs and 

 veins. 

 Tarrytown, N. Y. William Magee, Jr. 



Window Plants. — At this season house-plants in bloom are 

 grateful for an occasional feeding with liquid fertilizer, which 

 gives the leaves a deeper green and increases the number and 

 size of the flowers. Any perfect commercial plant-food can 

 be used in solution, but cow-manure is quite as satisfactory, 

 especially if a little ashes can be mixed with it for extra potash 

 and the ingredients steeped in a barrel of water for several 

 days. This liquid should then be diluted until it has the color 

 of weak tea, for if applied too strong or too freely it is sure to 

 injure the plants. At first the solution should not be given 

 oftener than once a fortnight, but it can be gradually increased 

 in frequency until it is used as often as once a week or once 

 in five days. 



Lafayette, Ind. William Stuart. 



Correspondence. 

 The Best Winter Pears. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — We have varieties of pears in abundance which are 

 suitable for use between the middle of July and the middle of 

 December, a period of five months, but it is greatly to be de- 

 sired that this period should be doubled in length. The really 

 good varieties which are available for use in winter and spring 

 are few. The Anjou, which bears so well and regularly, I 

 cannot keep after New Year's. Winter Nelis, which is richer 

 in flavor, can be kept until February with very careful handling. 

 Josephine de Malines is not as rich in flavor, and with me it 

 has a marked astringency, although its keeping qualities are 

 so good that it will last till late March. Easter Beurre is of 

 first-rate quality, never ripening with me before March and 

 keeping till April, but it has a serious defect of ripening un- 

 evenly. When the side of well-grown specimens exposed to 

 the sun on the tree is in its best form for the table, the shaded 

 side is often so hard that it cannot be eaten. Among the 

 recently introduced late-keeping varieties I have made a fair 

 test of Duhamel de Monceau, Colonel Wilder and P. Barry. 

 Duhamel de Monceau is a fair substitute for Winter Nelis, is 

 larger and handsomer, and is not attacked by any of the fungi 

 to which the Nelis is showing an increasing and discouraging 

 susceptibility. It is juicy and melting, rather than sweet, and 

 not quite equal to Winter Nelis in quality, but still very good. 

 It is not so even a bearer. Colonel Wilder is large, handsi 

 and, although it is a good pear, its quality is inferior to that of 

 Duhamel de Monceau. P. Barry is also large and handsome ; 

 in quality equal to the best of the pears, and it is a great 

 keeper. Its season of ripening extends through April. The 

 tree with me, however, is a slow grower and always inclines 

 to overbear. I have grafted it upon different standard stocks, 

 such as Flemish Beauty, Clapp's Favorite and White Doyenne, 

 on the last of which it has made its best growth. Som 

 your readers will render a real service to those of us who 

 experimenting in this direction with the later-keeping pears if 



