

Garden and Forest. 



[Number 483 



fl( rs are .vliile, slightly more than an inch in diameter and 

 wit]:- ujapy yellow stamens in the centre. In fact, the Mowers 

 res .5 small, white, single, upright roses. They are pro- 



dii singly on upright peduncles four or rive inches long. 

 It. a native of the cold regions of the northern hemisphere. 



Another interesting plant from eastern Russia, which has 

 1 ik n good hold among the stones and rocks, is Dracocepha- 

 luni nutans. This makes a good rock plant. It self-sows its 

 seeds in the crevices, where they grow up and blossom in the 

 spring. It is six or eight inches high when in flower. The 

 whorls of blue labiate flowers are disposed in long nodding 

 racemes, and the stems are clothed with petiolate, ovate, 

 crenated leaves. 



Skirting the edges of some large stones, where the soil is 

 cool and moist, Lathyrus palustris is growing well and blos- 

 soming freely. In such a position this is a pleasing plant. It 

 is about one foot in height, and the peduncles have four or 

 rive variegated blue and purple flowers. Globularia tricho- 

 santha is a mass of blue flowers. It is a choice rock-garden 

 plant and flourishes in an open position in deep light soil. 

 It is exceptionally hardy and withstands the most severe win- 

 ters. It is six or eight inches high. The light blue flower- 

 heads are pleasing and distinct and are produced plentifully 

 for a long time. Globularia vulgaris is also in blossom; the 

 two species are similar, but G. vulgaris does not grow as tall as 

 G. tnchosantha. 



The pale blue flowers of Phlox stellaria, which are a dif- 

 ferent color from all the flowers about them, make this 

 plant very desirable. For masses of yellow there are no better 

 plants in blossom now than Alvssum saxatile and A. gemo- 

 nense, Erysimum pulchellum, Viola lutea grandiflora and 

 Papaver nudicaule. For the best effect these plants must be 

 grown in large masses where they can be seen from a dis- 

 tance. The best white-flowered plants now in blossom in 

 masses are different species of hardy Candytuft, Iberis ; a half 

 a dozen species of Rock-cress, Arabis, and the Drabas, D. 

 alpina, D. frigida, D. Altaica and D Johannis. 



Phlox reptans mantles the soil among the rocks with its 

 creeping stems and soft green leaves, and now it has thrown 

 up numerous flower-stems six or eight inches high, terminated 

 with deep rose-colored flowers. P. procumbens is more dwarf, 

 with flowers of the same color. Both of these showy Phloxes 

 are indispensable in the rock garden. Veronica gentionioides 

 is the earliest Speedwell to bloom. A desirable form here is 

 showing larger flowers and longer flower stems than the type ; 

 the flower-stems are about a foot in length, and the light lav- 

 ender flowers are in long loose racemes. The dwarf, trailing 

 V. pectinata has pretty small downy leaves and numerous 

 small blue flowers. It is suitable for dry elevated situations. 



Vinca herbacea is useful and less common than the well- 

 known Periwinkle. Its clinging stems among the rocks and 

 the blue flowers nestling among the leaves are pleasing. It 

 grows best in an open position and in slightly moist soil. The 

 lower edges of the rock garden, where the soil is deep and 

 cool, make a good home for large plants of Dicentra specta- 

 bilis, the most graceful plant now in bloom. 



Scilla Hispanica is worthy of wider acquaintance. The bulbs 

 are cheap and easily obtained in autumn, and if planted then 

 they are sure to bloom the following spring. The blue flowers 

 are in loose racemes eight or nine inches in length. There is 

 a handsome white-flowered variety also in bloom now. This 

 Scilla grows well in almost any soil and should be planted in a 

 mass. In the shade of some trees a bed of Primula auricula 

 has been flourishing for the last half-dozen years. These 

 plants are quite hardy, and the beautiful flowers may be 

 counted upon each year regularly. Large masses of Lily-of- 

 the-valley fill the air with fragrance as their flowers are begin- 

 ning to open. This is an excellent plant for shady places 

 under trees, and otherwise unsightly spots may be made 

 green and beautiful with it. The lovely Aubrietias are still 

 blossoming. Orobus vernus has yet some flowers left, and 

 Omphalodes verna is still in good condition. Anemone syl- 

 vestris is a handsome plant about one foot in height and has 

 large white flowers. It is easily accommodated and grows 

 freely in the rock garden in almost any position. 



Harvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge, Mass. Robert Cameron. 



begun in 1894. The results, as affecting yield, are shown by 

 the tollowing figures, which represent the number of boxes of 

 berries gathered from each row. The length of the pruned 

 and unpruned rows was the same, of course. 



Summer Pruning the Raspberry. 



REGARDING the pruning or pinching back of Raspberry 

 canes in summer, as referred to by Professor Goffinyour 

 issue of May 5th, I may say that some experiments which I 

 have carried on for three years corroborate the views set forth 

 by Professor Goff, namely, that summer pruning is, at least in 

 this climate, an injurious practice. The experiments were 



Varieties. 



Heebner 



Springfield 



Royal Church 



Carman 



Thompson's Early Prolific 



Herstine 



Parnell 



Golden Queen 



Erandywine 



Niagara 



Marlboro 



Hansell 



Clark 



Cuthbert 



Turner 



Caroline 



Yield, Pruned. 



90 

 32 

 31 

 25 



36 



V- 



32 



40 



43 

 22 



23 

 3i 

 20 



35 

 47 



1 89*. 



10 

 1 1 



21 

 II 

 II 



6 



10 



8 



15 

 1 1 

 16 



Yield, Uni'kuned. 



96 

 49 

 37 

 41 

 08 



49 



37 



59' 



64 



46 



27 



47 



37 



70 



5° 

 64 



19 



17 



6 



39 

 46 



17 



19 

 14 

 18 

 10 

 II 

 9 

 32 



The canes were pinched twice during the summer ; the first 

 time at eighteen inches, the second when the laterals had 

 grown fifteen to eighteen inches in length. In this experiment 

 the number of suckers did not appear to be greater in the 

 pruned row than in the unpruned. I am of the opinion that 

 in all sections where winter protection is necessary, Raspber- 

 ries should be tinned rather than pinched. 



Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada. John Craig. 



Correspondence. 



Lilac on Privet Stock. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — The past winter has proved the unsuitability of the 

 Privet as a stock for Lilacs, when planted in severe climates. 

 During December and the greater part of January of last win- 

 ter the ground in this section was unprotected by its usual 

 blanket of snow. The temperature ranged low, fluctuating 

 between twenty degrees of frost and twenty-five degrees below 

 zero, which latter point it touched on two or three occasions. 

 On examining the collection of Lilacs in the arboretum and on 

 the grounds this spring it was found that a large number of 

 those on Privet stock were completely root-killed. The injury 

 to the stock was severest at the collar, where the bark in most 

 cases could be easily rubbed off with the fingers. The union 

 between stock and scions was clearly defined by the limits of 

 the injury upward. The injury downward extended almost 

 to the tips of the roots in some cases, and in others to the 

 deoth of a foot only below the surface of the ground. 



Lilacs should be propagated by layers ; by root or top cut- 

 tings when intended for planting where severe cold may find 

 the ground unprotected. It is possible that heavy mulching 

 in the autumn might have saved some of the plants referred 

 to above, but this work is laborious and not always satisfac- 

 tory in its results. 



Ottawa, Canada. John Craig. 



The Massing of Wild Flowers. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Superintendents of parks and owners of extensive 

 private grounds have much influence in moulding public taste 

 in horticultural matters. Learned works on floriculture or 

 landscape-gardening are read by the few, but the gardener's 

 work is an illustration that he who runs may read. Naturally 

 enough, therefore, his mistakes are copied and his successes 

 patterned after on every hand. It is a gratification to the true 

 lover of our American flora to note that those in charge of 

 extensive grounds are of late years adding more and more of 

 our best native shrubs, climbers and herbs to their planting 

 lists. These plantings, however, rarely show the breadth and 

 plenitude of nature at her best. They show a narrowness of 

 scope, a paucity of effect, as if the authors feared to follow 

 nature in her lavish displays. 



It is true that around our villages and through the long-set- 

 tled portions of our country the flora is scattered thinly, with 

 rarely any breadth or mass of any one species. The fact is, that 

 something like extermination has been going on for many years. 

 But away from the homes of man and the haunts of cattle the 



