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Garden and Forest. 



[Number 480. 



Seedlings of Prunus angustifolia and P. Watsoni are apt to 

 sprout from the roots. This, of course, is objectionable, but if 

 one selects named varieties for planting, as he should, they 

 may be worked on stocks which do not sprout. Black knot 

 is a drawback to the use of Plum-trees under some circum- 

 stances, but in most cases it can be so easily controlled that 

 it ought not to prejudice planters against our beautiful but 

 neglected Plum-trees. 



University of Vermont. F. A. Waugk. 



Work of the Season. 



SUMMER bedding plants will claim attention during the 

 next month or six weeks, and the frequent and extreme 

 changes in weather usual at this season call for judgment in 

 setting out tender plants. In the latitude of New York and 

 Philadelphia May 15th is early enough, and farther north this 

 planting out should be delayed until somewhat later. 



Among the earliest plants to be put out are young Carna- 

 tions and Violets for next winter's supply of flowers ; these in 

 most instances have been prepared for the change by growing 

 in a cold frame for a few weeks. Carnations and Violets 

 require well-enriched soil and deep cultivation, though for 

 field culture it is probably the safest plan only to use barn- 

 yard manure of good quality as a fertilizer. This should be 

 worked into the ground during the previous fall. A plan suc- 

 cessfully followed by many large growers is to plant on new 

 ground each season, or, at least, to avoid planting on the 

 same ground two consecutive seasons. Besides the ordinary ad- 

 vantages gained by rotation, the plants are less likely to contract 

 disease from germs which are carried over in the soil and litter. 



The hardier bedding plants — for example, Verbenas, Fever- 

 few, Phlox Drummondii and others — are also in the best con- 

 dition for sturdy growth if kept for some time in a cold frame. 

 They are then in readiness to follow the early spring flowers, 

 as Narcissi, Tulips and other bulbous flowering plants, Pansies 

 and English Daisies. 



Tender plants, such as Crotons, Acalyphas, Sanchezias, 

 Coleus, Iresines and Alternantheras, can be handled to better 

 advantage in the greenhouse as yet, and in any event should 

 not be planted out until the ground has become quite warm. 

 If checked by a chill it takes some time for these plants to 

 recover. Cannas are also quite sensitive to cold, and make 

 little headway if planted out too early ; from May 10th to May 

 20th is early enough to set these plants in the open ground. 

 Cannas require abundant manuring and watering. The mul- 

 titude of new varieties of Cannas seems to crowd out some of 

 the old favorites, such as C. Ehmanii, a noble species for 

 large beds, and the flowers of which are not only large, but 

 are the nearest approach to pink that we yet have among 

 Cannas. This species is also well adapted for conservatory 

 decoration, and flourishes better when kept growing all the 

 year than when it is dried off during winter. 



Old plants of Bouvardia which have flowered during the 

 past winter, if planted out in the garden, will give a large quan- 

 tity of flowers during the summer and prove useful for cut- 

 ting. Plants of this character are more flonferous than young 

 plants of the present season. 



Begonias of the semperflorens type are among available 

 bedding stock, and in some localities prove very satisfactory. 

 They require an abundance of water during dry weather, as 

 do all Begonias grown under these conditions. It is desirable 

 to harden off Begonias in a cold frame previous to planting 

 out, and plenty of light will insure a stocky growth. 



A group of miscellaneous flowering and foliage plants can 

 be made an attractive feature of the garden, and will also help 

 to relieve the crowded condition of the conservatory. Among 

 plants well suited for such use are the varieties of Hibiscus 

 sinensis, Abutilons in variety, Grevillea robusta, Phormiums, 

 Ficus, double Pomegranate, Oleanders and Aralias. All of 

 these are admirable, but require a little care in grouping to 

 avoid clashes of coloring. 



In making flower-beds it is necessary in our climate to have 

 the surface of the bed level or even depressed slightly in the 

 centre for all moisture-loving plants. It is practically impos- 

 sible to thoroughly water a bed that is mounded up in the way 

 often practiced by amateur gardeners. 



In the greenhouse the work is also likely to crowd at this 

 season. Among the plants apt to need prompt attention are 

 the young Roses in preparation for flowering next winter. It 

 does not pay to neglect these and to allow them to become 

 stunted, and they should therefore be shifted from two to 

 three inch, or from three to four inch pots sufficiently early to 

 avoid any check to their growth, for it may be two months 

 before they can be planted out in the house. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. II. Taplin. 



Xerophyllum. — This beautiful plant is found in southern New 

 Jersey and southward, and is in full flower early in June. Last 

 year, while botanizing with Mrs. Treat, we suddenly came 

 upon an acre or more of these plants growing stately and tall, 

 with large racemes of crowded showy white flowers. These 

 are borne on a simple and rather stout stem, from two to four 

 feet high, which rises from a thick bulb-like base. The stem 

 is thickly beset at the bottom with very long needle-shaped, 

 rigid, recurving leaves, while above these are shorter leaves 

 which at the top are reduced to bristle-like bracts. The name 

 in Greek means arid leaves. The plant bears transplanting 

 remarkably well. It is established in Mrs. Treat's garden, and 

 flowers as freely as when growing wild. 



Vineland.N.J. M. Abbott. 



Carina, America. — We have just had this Canna in flower, 

 the third in Dammann's list of so-called "Orchid-flowering" 

 Cannas. It has been something of a surprise to us, for in 

 some way we had formed the notion that it was inferior to 

 Italia and Austria. In our present opinion, however, it ranks 

 above both. The foliage seems to be stronger and tougher, 

 and is of a color much harder to get in Cannas. It is dark 

 bronzy-red, with irregular and inconspicuous dashes of lighter 

 greenish color. The flowering-stem is tall and strong, bear- 

 ing a large spike of flowers of the form and size of Italia. 

 They are, however, of a most rare and striking color, a sort of 

 brilliant apricot-red faintly spotted with darker salmon. The 

 centre is canary-yellow, marked with the apricot-red of the 

 body color, very much after the pattern of Austria and Bur- 

 bank, except that in America the centre is lighter-colored than 

 the wings. The blossoms are richer in appearance than any 

 of the earlier Orchid-flowering Cannas. They do not appear to 

 be better in substance, though ; and this seems likely to prevent 

 the general use of all the Canna flacida crosses in outdoor bed- 

 ding. If it were not for this flabby quality of their blossoms 

 they would soon very largely supersede the French dwarf 

 Cannas for all classes of ornamental work. 



University of Vermont. F. A. WllUgk. 



Correspondence. 



The Red Cedar. 

 To the Editor of GARDEN AND FOREST : 



Sir, — I remember well how I admired the spire-topped Red 

 Cedars as they grew on the banks of the Hudson River be- 

 tween Albany and New York very many years ago. I came 

 to Waukegan, Illinois, fifty-three years ago. The bluffs on the 

 Lake shore were nearly covered with these trees and Arbor 

 Vitas, and the former were abundant on the banks of the inland 

 lakes in Lake County. The large trees were cut down for posts 

 by the few settlers as they bought their lands or preempted 

 them. Although these Red Cedars are not of as good form 

 as those on the Hudson, nor as those in Florida, I had hun- 

 dreds of the young trees gathered and made belts and hedges 

 of them. I set an example to my neighbors and Red Cedars 

 were planted by thousands. 



I did not build my dwelling-house in the nursery until 1851, 

 and as it was exposed to the west winds I planted a circular 

 belt of White Pines on the west and north sides, leaving ample 

 room between the house and the belt. I planted an Arbor 

 Vitae hedge running west from the south-west corner of the 

 house, and in 1853 I built a large frost-proof building west of 

 the Arbor Vita; hedge or belt. From the east end of the Arbor 

 Vita; hedge I planted a Red Cedar hedge, curving to the west 

 as it ran southward. I had no trouble with the other belts ; 

 they stand there to-day, every tree living and answering the 

 purpose for which they were planted. The Red Cedar hedge 

 was a failure after eight years' growth, although I tried every 

 way to make it a success. My other Red Cedar belts were 

 abject failures, too. 



Two nurserymen, each bought a forty-acre lot and carried 

 on the nursery business here. They have both been dead for 

 many years, and on each lot there is a neglected mass of trees 

 taking care of themselves. On both there are the remains of a 

 Red Cedar belt that has stood for over forty years, and here 

 and there a tree remains alone, but not one to the rod has 

 heart-wood enough for a common fence post. The old Red 

 Cedar trees that made such excellent posts must have been 

 very old, as the trees I have planted stood many years before 

 forming heart-wood, and in using a lot of them for poles I found 

 that the White Pine and Silver Maple poles of the same size 

 endured longer than the Red Cedar poles. 



Waukegan is as thickly planted with evergreens as any city 

 I ever saw of its size. Thirty-five years ago a large majority 



