3 6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 466. 



batch .'of young plants which it is intended to grow into speci- 

 mens, though in the course of the growing season they will 

 pass from four-inch into ten or twelve inch pots, it is belter to 

 move them by easy stages, say, not more than two inches at a 

 time. It is essential that the roots successively use up the 

 nutriment in each addition of fresh soil. It is well known that 

 if the plants are at once placed into ten-inch pots the roots 

 would strike directly for the sides of the pots, and do all their 

 feeding there. By successive shifts a solid ball of roots is 

 formed, so that when we come to use manure-water none of 

 it will lie stagnant in the ball, where feeding roots cannot act. 

 This is the essence of feeding pot-plants. 



The soil for potted plants should be better supplied with 

 plant-food than common garden-soil, as the feeding area is 

 limited. The alkalies in the soil should not be made to supply 

 food faster than it is needed. Water at once makes these 

 available, and too much water means too great a supply, 

 so that freshly potted plants should always be underwatered 

 — just enough being given to keep the roots moving, until 

 they are well established. Rain water is preferable, but the 

 supply is so uncertain that we do not count upon using it. 

 Besides this, our supply would be what is shed by the roofs, 

 and this is often contaminated with lead and oil. We now 

 depend altogether upon the town water. Chemicals as a means 

 of purification render the water hard. It has occurred to me 

 that we should use something to counteract or precipitate 

 these. A little free ammonia would have a softening ten- 

 dency, and I have found wood ashes to act in the same way. 

 A friend of mine uses a pound of potash to two hundred gal- 

 lons of water with excellent effect. Of animal fertilizers, the 

 Colorado brand of sheep-manure is one of the best sources of 

 liquid-manure. It is strong, lasting and safe. It is taken from 

 sheds on the ranches, where it is kept dry and undiluted, and 

 with the solid uric salts unleached, and available just as soon 

 as a decoction is made. During the summer season we have 

 a large cask always ready for use. In winter-time one tank is 

 kept indoors especially for it. We place about a peck in a 

 rather open-meshed bag and immerse the whole in about a 

 hundred gallons of water. In this way we get a good clear 

 liquid. Once or twice a week we go over all plants that have 

 exhausted the natural resources of the soil, and pass by the 

 "weaker ones. If in good health we have found this treatment 

 acceptable to all kinds of plants, not excepting Orchids and 

 Ferns. Cypripediums showed a marked improvement, and 

 Lycaste Skinneri never did better than with sheep-manure a 

 component of the soil. 



It is sometimes desirable to use chemical manures in liquid 

 form, but they must be applied cautiously. At best they 

 should be used as alternatives to vary the diet. Albert's Hor- 

 ticultural Manure has proved satisfactory with me in the pro- 

 portion of a pound to a hundred gallons of water. It makes 

 no perceptible difference in the appearance or smell of the 

 water, and is therefore well adapted for use in conservatories 

 attached to residences. It is remarkably quick in its action, 

 but an overdose is disastrous. The good effects from its use 

 are apparent in a day or two. In healthy plants the fresh roots 

 corrie to the surface in search of it, and the absence of roots is 

 evidence that it is not acting properly. Whenever we have 

 been unfortunate in the overuse of chemical manures we have 

 promptly placed the plants in a tub of clear water to cleanse 

 the soil as soon as possible, and then set them where they 

 could dry out. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Greenhouse Plants in Flower. 



IN a cool greenhouse a large plant of Imantophyllum cyrtan- 

 thiflorum is blossoming freely now. This plant is orna- 

 mental, even when it is not in bloom, on account of its very 

 dark green, vigorous, strap-shaped leaves, which measure 

 about a yard in length. Well-established plants in pots stand 

 a good deal of rough usage and make good companions for 

 such decorative plants as Aspidistra lurida, Lantana Bartonica 

 and others. The salmon-colored flowers, produced in large 

 umbels above the foliage, last for some time if the plants are 

 kept in a rather cool place. After the plants are well estab- 

 lished in the pots they do not need potting annually, and a 

 good top-dressing of rich soil only is required. 



One of the best Acacias now in bloom is A. longifolia, a 

 quick-growing species, with abundant flowers borne on long 

 slender branches. It is useful for cutting, and the flowers last 

 for several days. Another easily grown Acacia, flowering 

 profusely now, is A. armata hybrida. Cestrum elegans helps 

 to brighten up the greenhouse, its long, slender branches ter- 

 minated with cymes of purplish red flowers. 



No greenhouse should be without a few plants of Boronia 

 megastigma. Its flowers, although not showy, fill the house 

 with their agreeable odor. Small bushes of Centradenia flori- 

 bunda are always attractive, and the plants are now covered 

 with its Melastoma-like flowers. Centrapogon Lucyanus is an 

 excellent winter-flowering plant, and its showy carmine-colored 

 blossoms are produced for several months. It is not only 

 useful as a decorative plant in the greenhouse, but for cutting, 

 as its clusters of flowers can be procured with a good length of 

 stem. Strobilanthes amsophyllus and S. isophyllus make nice, 

 compact, bushy plants in one year, and the abundant lavender 

 flowers, while not especially desirable for cutting, make a 

 pleasing contrast with the other plants now in flower. 



The deliciously fragrant flowers of Brunfelsia latifolia are 

 always pleasing. Upon opening they are of a lavender color, 

 but later become almost white. Although this plant is easy 

 to grow and blossoms freely every season, it is not often seen 

 now. 



» The long graceful wreaths of bright orange-scarlet bracts 

 and flowers of Euphorbia jacquinaeflora are still in good condi- 

 tion and will be for some time. We could hardly spare this 

 useful plant from cur greenhouses. For neat, bushy plants 

 and profuse floweiing nothing equals Libonia floribunda. 

 Small cuttings struck last year and grown along make beauti- 

 ful winter-blooming plants now. Chorizema ilicifolia, with its 

 deep green Holly-like leaves, is one mass of orange-yellow 

 flowers and will blossom freely for several weeks yet. The old 

 favorite Peristrophe speciosa still proves useful. The best yel- 

 low-flowered plant now in bloom is Senecio petasites. Its 

 large terminal panicles are very showy, and a group of these 

 plants make an imposing mass of yellow. Tetranema Mexi- 

 cana makes a charming dwarf pot-plant not more than six 

 inches high. It is not so imposing as some taller plants, but 

 is useful for edging groups on account of its dense corymb of 

 reddish purple flowers. The pretty little Indian Primrose, 

 Primula floribunda, is much admired with its small canary- 

 yellow flowers. 



Harvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. Robert Cameron. 



Vegetable Notes. 



C*ROM this time onward for some months every inch of 

 *■ greenhouse shelf-room ought to be occupied, and the 

 forward-looking vegetable grower must be constantly on the 

 alert, or some seed may be forgotten or neglected so long that 

 a neighboring garden will have the earlier crop. It is a matter 

 of professional pride to prevent any such defeat, and if a diary 

 of gardening operations is kept day by day and year by year, 

 and constantly referred to, there is little danger that any seed 

 will be overlooked. Diaries are helpful in many ways, and 

 most interesting for reference, but every skilled practitioner 

 and first-class amateur keeps them religiously. Sowings of a 

 good many vegetable seeds will be required during the next 

 six weeks. To keep abreast of the times it is well to order 

 some of the novelties most highly recommended in the lead- 

 ing catalogues. Our earliest Cauliflower seedlings are now 

 being transplanted into boxes. They will be shifted into four- 

 inch pots later and transferred to a gentle hot-bed about the 

 middle of March. A good strain of forcing Erfurt we find to 

 be the earliest, but we also grow some Snowball to come in 

 later, for when treated liberally in frames they make good 

 heads of a fine flavor. Seed sown now will make good plants 

 well hardened off by the time they can be planted with safety 

 outdoors. A sowing of Early Wakefield Cabbage is also proper 

 now. We generally make our first sowing of Celery about the 

 middle of February, using Golden Self-blanching and White 

 Plume varieties, the first-named being the most reliable here. 

 Sown at this time, well-blanched heads may be had early in 

 August. Celery in the open ground is keeping extremely well 

 this season ; Kalamazoo we find the best variety at present, 

 Boston Market being used during February and March. 



Early in February we sow a few early Beets, French Horn 

 Carrots and Radishes in sashes, after putting in about a foot of 

 warm manure. Lettuces sown in December are now being 

 planted in a gentle hot-bed. They require care in ventilating 

 and all possible light. No sashes containing fermenting ma- 

 tt-rial from which steam rises should be without a chink for 

 air even in the most severe weather, or the plants will surely 

 damp off. In case of snow, if mats and shutters are allowed 

 to lie on the frames for even two or three days at a time, the 

 seedlings will grow weak and spindling. We are likely to have 

 much severe weather still, but there are few days from this 

 time onward when light and a little air may not be given with 

 safety, although, of course, all frames should be closed early, 



