4 6 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 467. 



covered the lower branches with its twining stems, which 

 bore all the summer multitudes of panicles of white flow- 

 ers. This was its behavior at Kew, where, however, it 

 was planted to scramble over a sheaf of "pea-rods." It is 

 a hardy perennial with wiry stems, cordate deciduous 

 leaves and Spiraea-like panicles of flowers. It is a native 

 of Turkestan at an altitude of from four to five thousand 

 feet, where it was found and introduced by Dr. Kegel in 

 18S2. It obtained a first-class certificate from the Societe 

 Nationale d'Horticulture de France in September, 1894. 



Cyclamen persicum. — An interesting sport from the Per- 

 sian Cyclamen was exhibited this week by Monsieur de 

 Langhe, Brussels, under the name of C. Papilio. It differed 

 from the usual form in having the segments of the flowers 

 spreading horizontally instead of being perpendicularly 

 reflexed, and in the margins being crisped and undulated. 

 Six named forms were shown and they differed from each 

 other in size, color and degree of crispness. Although quite 

 distinct from any other hitherto known sport they were con- 

 sidered inferior in decorative value to the normal form, of 

 which some remarkably fine examples were shown by 

 Major Joicey, of Ascot. At the preceding meeting of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society, Messrs. H. Low & Co. exhib- 

 ited a sport with a curious feather-like secondary segment 

 growing crest-like from the middle of the normal seg- 

 ment. This character is reproduced in the majority of the 

 seedlings obtained from seeds saved from these feather- 

 crested forms. It will be interesting to watch the develop- 

 ment of these two sports. So far as I know, C. persicum 

 has not been crossed with any other species of Cyclamen. 



Late Chrysanthemums. — The two best that I have seen 

 this season are W. H. Lincoln and Princess Victoria, the 

 former a Japanese reflexed, very floriferous, the color a 

 brilliant deep yellow, and the flowers lasting a month or 

 more. It forms a very shapely bush when grown on what 

 we call the natural method, and is in every sense a most 

 decorative conservatory plant during December and Jan- 

 uary. Princess Victoria is also Japanese reflexed, the flow- 

 ers large and full and pure white. It is at its best in 

 January, and unless visited by heavy fog it lasts well. It 

 was shown as a new variety in 1892, when it obtained an 

 award of merit. I recently noted that Madame Therese 

 Rey, a white Japanese, is at its best in January. Late- 

 flowering varieties deserve more attention at the hands of 

 breeders than they have yet received. We have numerous 

 varieties which flower soon after midsummer and very 

 useful they are, but good sorts to flower in January and 

 February under ordinary treatment are still a desideratum 

 with flower growers. .,. .„ , 



London. W. WatSOll. 



Cultural Department. 



Close Root-pruning for Trees. 



THE radical change in the method of transplanting trees 

 from the nursery to the orchard, which has been within a 

 few years past advocated by Mr. Stringfellow, of Texas, has 

 set many tree planters to thinking and experimenting. The 

 counsel to beginners used to be to get all the roots possible 

 when the tree is set out. Mr. Stringfellow claims that this is 

 unnecessary, and that, in fact, the tree will make a better 

 growth if the roots are about all removed, and the top, of 

 course, removed, at the time when it is set in the orchard. 

 The tree then becomes practically a cutting, and it will begin 

 at once to throw out the necessary supply of young and active 

 roots, with a top to correspond. The practice ot Mr. String- 

 fellow is to leave only an inch or two at the base of the old 

 root, to furnish surface from which new ones will put forth. 



In order to determine whether the method would be 

 suitable for this climate, an experiment was begun on a 

 small scale last spring, in which four trees each of standard 

 and dwarf Pears, Early Richmond Cherry, German Prune, 

 Peach and Quince, were selected for trial. The trees were two 

 years old and as even in size as it was possible to get them. Two 

 trees of each of these varieties were pruned so that not more 

 than an inch or two of the roots remained, and the tops were 

 entirely removed, leaving only a slick. A hole made with a 

 two-inch stick was all that was needed in setting them out. 



The other two trees were planted in the ordinary way, leaving 

 the entire root-system. Before planting, the trees were all pho- 

 tographed, and after they had completed the season's growth 

 they were taken up and again photographed. 



The result of this experiment showed that the Peach was 

 capable of producing a magnificent root-system and a top to 

 correspond, even after being deprived of all its roots and 

 branches to begin with. The dwarf Pear also made a fine 

 growth, producing a finer root-development than the trees 

 which were not pruned. The standard Pear was not quite as 

 good, and the German Prune and Cherry were next in order. 

 The Cherry made very little growth, barely enough to main- 

 tain life. The Quinces both died. 



While this experiment shows results favorable to close root- 

 pruning, it must be borne in mind that the season was excep- 

 tionally favorable for this work, as there were timely rains 

 throughout the growing season. A dry season might produce 

 entirely different results ; for that reason we shall continue the 

 experiment for a series of years and on a larger scale ; so far 

 it simply shows what these trees will do when treated in this 

 way under favorable conditions. 



La Fayette, Ind. J '. Tl'OOp. 



The Hellebores. 



T T is the intention of these notes to mention more especially 

 •*■ the true garden Hellebores or varieties of Helleborus niger, 

 commonly known as the Christmas Rose, but as there are sev- 

 eral plants grouped together under the common name of 

 Hellebore, and as some of these have been the means of 

 bringing these beautiful winter flowers into bad repute, it may 

 not be time wasted to consider the synonymy of these popular 

 names. 



In the first place, the Helleborus niger has no part in the 

 composition of the insect powder sold under the name of 

 Hellebore powder. This is made of the Veratrum album, or 

 White Hellebore, as a basis, its properties of destroying cater- 

 pillars being well known. The North American species, V. 

 viride, is also used, but is said to be less effective in results. 

 The Winter Hellebore is the pretty little Eranthis hyemalis, or 

 Winter Aconite, and there are two Orchids from which the 

 French Helleborine is obtained, namely, Serapias lingua, a 

 native of south Europe, also another Helleborine obtained 

 from the genus Epipactis. Thus we see that under one 

 generic term, Hellebore, we have plants that represent three 

 distinct families, and this is a good illustration of the futility of 

 popular names for plant identification. 



Helleborus niger is so called from its black root-stock ; it is 

 the Christmas Rose of gardens because it flowers at that sea- 

 son if given treatment so that its flowers may expand at mid- 

 winter without the blighting influence of severe frosts such as 

 we experience in New England. In the latitude of New York 

 I have grown these plants and had them flower admirably out- 

 of-doors, though only in certain seasons. It is far better, 

 however, to grow them wholly in frames, where they can be 

 shaded in summer from strong sun, for if left undisturbed in 

 such a situation, and protected in winter from cold, there is no 

 difficulty in having flowers of spotless purity at Christmas, 

 when they are most acceptable. It is possible that in the near 

 future we shall see them grown in great quantity for the 

 Boston market, as some of our commercial growers are pre- 

 paring to have them in quantity, for only in this way can an 

 impression be made. There is every reason to believe that 

 the venture will be a success by having enough plants to lift 

 half each year to produce- a crop of bloom and let them rest 

 the year following while taking in the other half. 



Of Helleborus niger there are at least half a dozen well- 

 marked forms cultivated in gardens. There is the narrow- 

 leaved form, Angustifolius of English gardens, and another 

 similarly named of Scotch origin, the latter having its white 

 flowers tinged with rose. Altifolius, also called Maximus, has 

 flowers five inches across, and often three on a stem. There 

 is, too, an intermediate form known as Caucasicus, the still 

 better-known Madame Fourcade, with snow-white petals, and 

 lastly, Major, which rivals in size the giant Altifolius. Thus it 

 will be seen that a collection of the form of H. niger alone 

 make a most interesting group in themselves, and are really 

 decorative subjects for the winter season when a little care is 

 taken to supply their needs. It may be said of the whole genus 

 that they dislike disturbance at the root more than most plants 

 do. After division or removal it is often a year or two before 

 they fully recover, hence the need of either planting in pots for 

 plunging or frame treatment all the year, as noted. 



Besides the true Christmas Rose, there is another section of 

 the genus that has been developed from the different species 



