February 17, 1897.] 



Garden and Forest. 



67 



as if there might be a reform in private establishments con- 

 ducted on a liberal scale, where usually the machinery of 

 pipes, benches and pots is more prominent than the plants. It 

 would seem that such places would vie with each other more 

 in producing effective ensembles than in the production of 



cro P s - "V nr r- j 



Elizabeth, N.J. J. A 1 . Gerard. 



Notes from the Botanic Garden of Smith College. 



THE vigor and luxuriance of the Palms and other tropical 

 plants in the Palm-house here seem to prove that the 

 planting-out system is the best for making fine specimens in 

 a short time, and we agree with Mr. Watson who, in a recent 

 letter to Garden and Forest, says " that he would rather 

 enjoy a healthy specimen for two years than put up with a 

 miserable, half-starved scrag of a plant for twenty." The bed 

 in the Palm-house here is forty feet long by twenty wide and 

 five feet in depth ; three feet below the path and two above. 

 Underneath the bed is one and a half feet of broken bricks for 

 drainage, and draining pipes pass through these. The soil is 

 a sandy loam, being the top soil from the site where the green- 

 houses now stand, with two cords of rotted stable-manure and 

 five hundred pounds of ground bone incorporated. The bed 

 is raised two feet above the path, so that it will be warmer 

 than it would be if kept on a level. The sides of the bed are 

 kept up by rock-work with a gentle slope in to the bed. The 

 pockets in the rock-work are planted with some thirty-five 

 species of Ferns and Selaginelias, several of a kind, a few 

 varieties of Rex Begonias and Ficus repens. Considering the 

 heavy spraying they have been subjected to while spraying the 

 large plants in the bed, the following list of Ferns and Selagi- 

 nelias have done exceptionally well : Doodia aspera, Nephro- 

 dium hertipes, Aspleniumbiforme, A.bulbiferum, Nephrolepis 

 exaltata, N. Phillipinense, N. cordifolia, Davallia Fijiensis, var. 

 plumosa, D. Fijiensis, var. majus, Ptens palmata, P. serrulata, 

 P. Sieboldi, Polypodium aureum, Aspidium falcatum, Lastrea 

 opaca, Doryopteris nobilis, Gymnogramma sulphurea, Adian- 

 tum caudatum, and in open places Lomaria gibba and L. 

 ciliata, Selaginelias Kraussiana and Martensi, the latter being 

 especially well suited for this purpose. Many of the other 

 Ferns planted have done well, but are not as thoroughly suited 

 for the purpose as those in the list given. In addition, many 

 Ferns have sown themselves from spores probably blown in 

 from the adjoining house, and some of the native Selaginella 

 Apus, with Mosses and Liverworts, came up spontaneously. 

 These, with the Rex Begonias and Ficus, have almost hidden 

 the rocks from view, and make a beautiful and much admired 

 edging for the bed. 



We have in the house some twenty-eight species of Palms, 

 representing, as far as we have been able to get them, types 

 of the different sections of this family, though not more than 

 eight are planted in the permanent bed. Besides these eight 

 Palms the bed contains three Tree Ferns of different species, 

 namely.Alsophilaaustralis, A. excelsaandDicksoniaantarctica ; 

 one Ficus religiosus and F. elastica, a large specimen Co- 

 diasum, var. Queen Victoria, Caffea Arabica, Ravenala Mada- 

 gascariensis or Traveler's Tree, Bambusa arundinacea, Dra- 

 caena fragans, D. australis, a fine specimen of Cyanophyllum 

 magnificum with leaves thirty-two inches long and seventeen 

 wide, a clump of Hedychium Gardnerianum, and one Mons- 

 tera deliciosa. For undergrowth we have planted, nearer the 

 outer edge, clumps of Calathea zebrina, three species of Philo- 

 dendrons, some of the large-leaved Begonias, such as B. ricini- 

 folia, B. Verschaffelti, Curculigo recurvata, clumps of Aspi- 

 distra lurida and Peperomia arifolia, which make fine plants 

 planted out, also several varieties of Codiaeums, while 

 in the centre among the Palms are some of the commoner 

 species of Ferns and plants of Sanchezia nobilis, which do 

 remarkably well used in this way. Three species of Musa 

 have been planted so as to give the house at once a tropical 

 effect. These will be removed as soon as the Palms attain a 

 large size. Musa Chinensis is just now in fruit, the cluster 

 containing about one hundred well-developed bananas, not 

 quite ripe. This bed was planted toward the end of April last 

 year, and I feel perfectly safe in saying that almost every plant 

 has more than doubled its size. 



On the side-tables, in addition to the young Palms already 

 mentioned, are a small collection of Bromeliads and collec- 

 tions of ornamental-leaved tropical plants, flowering tropical 

 plants, economic plants and plants of purely scientific interest. 

 In baskets suspended from the roof are several species of 

 Nepenthes. 



The modern iron-framed greenhouses are excellent, but 

 they have some disadvantages. Since the space under the 



side-tables is all taken up by the hot-water pipes we have no 

 opportunity for planting climbers, which add so much to the 

 beauty of a house. Every experienced gardener knows how 

 much better his ornamental climbing plants will grow when 

 they can be planted out under the side-tables than when con- 

 fined in pots or tubs. To overcome this difficulty we have 

 planted them in boxes six feet long by two wide and one foot 

 deep. These are painted an inconspicuous color and stand on 

 the side-tables. The vines were planted last July and all have 

 made good growth and some have flowered profusely. We 

 have Allamanda grandiflora, Bougainvillea glabra, Cleroden- 

 dron Thompsons, Aristolochia elegans, A. Duchardii, Big- 

 nonia speciosa, B. Chamberlaini, Thunbergia Harrisii and 

 Passi flora Pfordli, with space left for rarer species when they 

 can be secured. All the vines are trained on horizontal wires 

 placed about sixteen inches from the glass, to avoid any 

 possibility of freezing. 



Botanic Garden, Northampton, Mass. Edward J '. Canning. 



Water-lilies. 



How to Winter Them. — Keeping Water-lilies through the 

 winter is considered by many more difficult than growing 

 them and producing first-rate flowers, but, as with many other 

 plants, the more experience one has with the different varie- 

 ties and their peculiarities the more simple their cultivation 

 becomes. Of tropical or tender Nymphasas, medium to small 

 tubers are the best to carry over winter, but it sometimes hap- 

 pens that it is desirable to retain a certain plant or variety that 

 has made extra-large growth during the summer. I had sev- 

 eral such last season, and by way of experiment I tried a new 

 method of wintering. After the frost had cut off the foliage I 

 awaited a mild spell, and then with a spade dug around the 

 plant ; I gave it a root-pruning, taking care to keep outside of 

 the tubers, so as not to cut them ; then with a spade on either 

 side lifted the stool intact. This was again planted in the soil, 

 which is sandy, under the bench in the greenhouse, and 

 thoroughly soaked to settle the soil. After a few days the 

 roots were much decayed, and another soaking of water was 

 given to settle the soil around the old crown and attached 

 tubers. In this condition they were left, and on examination 

 at this date, February 2d, the tubers were in excellent condi- 

 tion and will remain so for a long time. Even the hardy 

 varieties treated in this way are keeping better than I had 

 expected. This treatment is not so well adapted to large plants 

 of the Stellata type, as they do not form side-shoots and tubers. 

 The best method for carrying these over winter is to keep 

 them growing. These, though very large, were severely root- 

 pruned, the largest leaves taken off, and potted into as small a 

 pot as would hold them, which was ten inches. The plants 

 have kept growing slowly, and are now fine and healthy with 

 flower-buds. The water has been at a temperature of from 

 sixty to sixty-five degrees, which is the temperature of the 

 house. 



Winter-flowering Aquatics. — Such varieties as Nymphaea 

 stellata, N. Zanzibarensis and N. pulcherrima have been in 

 bloom all winter. The latter variety is the best of any of 

 the blue forms. The flowers open quite early in the morning, 

 and remain open until late in the afternoon, whereas those of 

 N. Zanzibarensis seldom, if ever, open until noon or shortly 

 before. Little can be expected in the line of Water-lily flowers 

 during December and January, but N. delicatissima and a 

 seedling much like N. Smithiana have not failed to produce 

 flowers of good size and substance. N. O'Marana has proved 

 a disappointment. It was hardly recognizable as the plant 

 which I saw in such good form, condition and color out-of- 

 doors last summer. N. Devoniensis and N. rubra are better. 



Aponogeton distachyon proves a first-rate winter-flowering 

 plant. It enjoys a temperature of fifty to sixty degrees, and 

 blooms freely all through the dull, sunless days. The flowers 

 are sweet-scented, resembling hawthorn, and are good for 

 cutting. 



Seed Sowing. — We have decided to raise some Water-lilies 

 from seed, and as it takes between three and four months to 

 grow a flowering plant from the seed, the sowing must be done 

 at once, of both hardy and tender varieties. Four or five inch 

 pots should be used for the purpose and sandy loam. If the 

 latter has lain some time and hail manure composted with it 

 so much the better, and fresh manure should not be used. 

 The seed should be covered lightly after it is sown and the 

 pots stood in water until the seed is thoroughly soaked. The 

 pots should be submerged so that the tops are two inches 

 below the water. Attention to this particular is nccessarv, or 

 the seed will not germinate. The temperature of the watei 

 should be from seventy-live to eighty degrees. Victoria regia 



