156 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 478. 



equestris has proved itself capable of doing much damage, 

 and cultivators should be on their guard against it. 



The figures of Merodon equestris, on page 155, are from 

 drawings by Mr. C. E. Faxon. 



Jamaica Plain, Mass. 



/ G. Jack. 



A 1 



Cultural Department. 



Seasonable Notes. 



T this season every inch of available greenhouse bench 

 L and shelf room is in use, and it is difficult to find space for 

 all the plants when potted or boxed. Every private establish- 

 ment should have a number of cold frames, as they are prefer- 

 able to greenhouses for growing many plants during the next 

 few weeks, and the stock can be more readily hardened off 

 and brought into good condition for planting outside. 



Bedding plants at this season take up much space. Many 

 flowering annuals are grown to use in the perennial borders 

 and to grow for cut flowers. Our earliest Asters are now of 

 good size in boxes in a cool frame. We usually plant these 

 out about May 10th. Queen of Earlies and Comet are used for 

 our first sowing, and we make successive sowings of these 

 until the first week in July. Stocks, we find, do better grown 

 in small pots ; the possibility of breaking their roots when 

 planting out is thus avoided. Zinnias are among the best an- 

 nuals for cut flowers ; while stiffer in appearance than Asters, 

 they bloom continuously. Seedlings of these and various 

 other annuals are now pricked off into boxes or frames. 

 Geraniums were recently transferred to a cool frame from 

 which Violets had been removed, and will be kept moderately 

 close for a few days until warmer weather is assured. Coleus 

 require strong heat, and a few sashes filled with warm stable 

 manure and leaves provide a suitable place for these plants. 

 Alternantheras root quickly and revel in such quarters. Car- 

 nations for summer blooming are now forming roots in three- 

 inch pots in a cool frame. These will be planted out early 

 in May. Winter-flowering Carnations in boxes can also be 

 gradually hardened in a similar way. We look over the 

 plants once a week and do any necessary stopping. Thus far 

 there have been no signs of rust on our young stock. 



Considerable space has recently been taken up with plants 

 grown for use at Easter, and not a little judgment is necessary 

 to bring them into flower at the right time, owing to the late- 

 ness of the season and vagaries of weather. We have this 

 year tried a few Cape Cod grown bulbs of Lihum candidum ; 

 they are superior to the French bulbs we have usually grown, 

 and there seems to be no reason why so many of these bulbs 

 need be imported annually if they can be raised and sold at 

 corresponding prices here. The sandy soil on Cape Cod and 

 some other places is peculiarly suited to the growth of good 

 clean bulbs of L. candidum. We plant out our forced stock 

 after the flowers are cut, and if undisturbed for a few years and 

 generously treated they give splendid spikes. L. Harrisii and 

 L. longiflorum have shown a larger amount of diseased plants 

 than ever before. Some commercial growers report that from 

 fifty to seventy-five per cent, of their stock is diseased, thus 

 entailing a serious loss. It seems imperative for large buyers 

 of these bulbs to visit Bermuda during the flowering season, 

 and see that those from whom they buy bulbs have clean stock. 

 The disease undoubtedly comes in the dormant bulbs, and is not 

 due to subsequent treatment. AssoonasSpira3as(Astilbes'! have 

 finished blooming they are planted out in rich, rather moist, 

 land, and make capital forcing clumps after being rested a 

 year. The Crimson Rambler Rose has proved a decided acquisi- 

 tion as a flowering plant at this season. We grew a few plants 

 from cuttings rooted late last spring, and flowered them in 

 seven-inch pots, bending the shoots over in the form of a 

 hoop. They all broke and flowered splendidly. This Rose is 

 reliably hardy here, and survived outdoor treatment per- 

 fectly, while many hybrid Perpetuals were killed-back quite 

 severely. We have some young plants now in two and a half 

 inch pots, which will be grown along in pots for flowering next 

 Easter. 



Cannas continue to make rapid strides in popularity as is 

 evidenced by the great numbers cultivated everywhere. But 

 there is danger that they will become so common that popu- 

 lar fancy will turn to some other novelty. They are not 

 sufficiently appreciated for winter flowering in pots. We have 

 tried about twenty of the leading sorts this season, and the 

 majority have been in flower since Christmas and are still 

 loaded with spikes. Among the best varieties for pots are 

 Queen Charlotte, Madame Crozy, F. Vaughan, Eldorado, Paid 

 Bruant, Alphonse Bouvier, Gloire de Montet and General De 



Mirabel. Our stock for bedding purposes are in four-inch pots, 

 in a Carnation-house temperature. Tuberous Begonias are 

 capital bedding plants for partially shaded locations, where they 

 can be kept well watered. Our tubers were recently started 

 in boxes of light sandy loam in a frame. Water needs to be 

 given sparingly until they are well started into growth. 

 Fibrous-rooted Begonias are beyond question among the very 

 best winter-flowering plants, and no greenhouse is properly 

 furnished unless it contains some of the leading sorts. We 

 have just potted off a lot of these plants into small pots for 

 flowering next winter, and there is still time to root and grow 

 on good plants if cuttings have not yet been inserted. B. 

 Haageana erecta, B. semperflorens gigantea rosea, B. nivea 

 (a beautiful white variety) and Paul Bruant are among the 

 most attractive sorts we have grown, but many more are 

 beautiful. Of newer sorts we have two of the Semperflorens 

 type which promise to be fine, Goliath and Mastodonte. The 

 variety Gloire de Lorraine, already several times referred to in 

 Garden and Forest, is sure to become popular. 



Pelargoniums of the regal and show sections are now flow- 

 ering profusely. It is surprising that so few private places 

 grow these plants; a bench of them in bloom presents a strik- 

 ing appearance. They are mostly grown in six and eight inch 

 pots and require plenty of water, frequent doses of liquid- 

 manure and a light fumigation every ten days for green aphis. 

 They like a partially shaded, cool, airy house. We find them 

 useful for decorative purposes, and we drop a little floral gum 

 in the centre of each flower to hold the petals together. 



Now, when there is a pressure of work in all departments, 

 the compost-heap is apt to be forgotten. Our Carnation com- 

 post was prepared last fall ; it will be turned over shortly to 

 give it a thorough mixing. We usually plant our Roses out in 

 benches early in June, and have turned over the compost-heap 

 for these recently and added some finely ground bone. If 

 compost-heaps have not already been prepared they should 

 be attended to at once. rrr . 



Taunton, Mass. W. N. Craig. 



Some Cool-house Shrubs. 



WITH the arrival of spring we are again reminded of the 

 wealth of good material in hard-wooded plants adapted 

 for cool-house culture, and which have, in this country at least, 

 been comparatively neglected in recent years. The plant- 

 buying public becomes more discriminating each season, how- 

 ever, and a greatly increased demand for the few species of 

 hard-wooded plants now offered for sale proves that interest 

 in them is awakening. 



The few Acacias now grown, mostly A. pubescens, A. ar- 

 mata and A. Riceana, deserve to be more generally known, 

 and these three species form a good beginning for a col- 

 lection of these charming plants. They are as easy to manage 

 as Azalea Indica, the chief difference in treatment being that 

 Acacias require rather more pruning to make shapely speci- 

 mens. 



Azaleas can be successfully flowered in a living-room 

 without previous preparation in a greenhouse. After bloom- 

 ing the plants should be repotted, if necessary, and when 

 the weather becomes warm, for example, about May 1st, the 

 pots should be plunged out in the garden. They should be 

 watered thoroughly every day during dry weather, brought 

 in before frost in the fall and stored in a light, cool room. 

 Those I have in mind were kept in a light attic where the tem- 

 perature was probably just above freezing during cold weather. 

 They should be brought -into the warmer rooms of the house 

 as their flowers are wanted. From plants thus treated by a 

 neighbor a bountiful crop of flowers was produced, of good 

 size and substance. 



For several seasons past it has been shown by commercial 

 growers that species of Ericas can be grown as well in this 

 climate as in that of Europe, and while all species may not 

 prove equally satisfactory, there are enough of free-growing 

 ones to add greatly to the beauty and variety of the cool green- 

 house at this season. Among the easiest to manage are E. 

 hyemalis, E. Wilmoreana, E. persoluta in its variousforms, E. 

 hybrida, E. melanthera and E. prsestans. These give a succes- 

 sion of bloom from late autumn to early spring. Outdoor cul- 

 ture is the most satisfactory for these plants during summer, 

 providing they are given plenty of water in dry weather. There 

 is less danger from red spiders under these conditions than 

 when the plants are kept in the greenhouse. 



The Boronias and Eriostemons are also welcome additions 

 to the cool house in spring, and do not occupy much space 

 before reaching the bloommgsize. While their flowers are not 

 very large, those of the Boronias have the added merit of being 

 fragrant. The brown-yellow flowers of B. megastigma in par- 



