June 2, 1S97.] 



Garden and Forest. 



217 



in bloom a long time. The incurved Buttercup-like flowers 

 are useful for cutting and last well. Anemone umbellata is 

 new; the color of its flowers is between yellow and green, and 

 though it may not be handsome, its habit is good, and among 

 a number of types there is room for it. Scattered tufts of the 

 Fire Pink, Silene Virginica, give touches of scarlet, and the 

 handsome S. Pennsylvania is not to be despised because it is 

 common. The true Pinks, Dianthus, are in bud, and in a few 

 days we shall have the Ragged Robin, Lychnis flosculi ; Bach- 

 elor's Button, the double-flowered L. diurna, and the German 

 Catchfly, L. viscaria, fully out. 



Wellesley, Mass. I . L>. Hatfield. 



A Few Roses. 



ONE welcomes the first Roses not alone for their beauty, 

 but also as an indication of genial weather. The early 

 Roses have a perennial charm and a beauty all their own. 

 Though the species have been known a long time, and are not 

 rare, they seem to be cultivated mostly in large plantations, 

 and make their way slowly into small gardens. Owing to the 

 cool weather, Rosa rugosa did not precede the other species 

 at as long an interval as usual, and the Burnet Rose, R. spino- 

 sissima, followed it closely. This charming little Rose is per- 

 fectly hardy, with single creamy white flowers. The leaves 

 are small and the thin stems bear enough prickles to merit its 

 specific name as the very spiniest. It makes a neat bush 

 about three feet high, and is always a striking plant in the 

 hardy border. It is to be had readily from seed, in which way 

 it strayed into my garden from Tenby. I have been told by a 

 high authority that Polyantha Roses are not of much account, 

 but there is in the border a Remontant form or hybrid of this 

 Rose which could not well be spared. It is very hardy, forms 

 a bush about three feet high, and bears, during the season, 

 frequent crops of small single flowers of a beautiful pink color. 



Another hybrid much valued here is the Dawson Rose, 

 which is now coming into flower. If allowed to grow naturally 

 this is a most beautiful plant at flowering time, when its long 

 shoots are covered with small semidouble pink flowers in 

 clusters, the buds opening in succession. A spray six to nine 

 feet long makes a glorious decoration, and the old wood will 

 soon disappear for that service, much to the relief of my 

 helper, who objects seriously to untrammeled growths. But 

 the growth of this Rose is slight in comparison with that of 

 Rosa multiflora, which in wild luxuriance covers twenty-five 

 feet or more of fence, and would probably spread over the 

 entire garden if left unchecked. One is sorry to touch knife 

 to a plant which evidently so enjoys life and in a few days will 

 be covered with myriads of fragrant blossoms. A few, at least, 

 of the large number of single Roses should be in every garden. 



The general culture of Roses offers some difficulties in this 

 climate, owing to hot summers and to the special fondness of 

 many species of insects for their foliage. It has always 

 seemed to me that if the small grower would exchange most 

 of his Hardy Perpetual Roses (usually bought under the 

 impression that they were perpetual bloomers) for Teas or 

 hybrid Teas he would have more satisfaction and rid his gar- 

 den of some unsightly objects, for after the Rose season the 

 plants are usually neglected. Tea Roses produce flowers all 

 the season, and, naturally, their wants are more apt to receive 

 attention. Perhaps, on reflection, that hint will not be of 

 much service farther north than this, though among the Teas 

 some will be found much hardier than others. La France 

 requires no protection here ; neither does AugusteGuinoisseau 

 (the alleged white La France). There are other surviving Tea 

 Roses in the garden, but the most interesting and promising 

 one is the comparatively new Kaiserin Augusta ; ten plants 

 which came through last winter untouched are now growing 

 strongly and are full of well-developed buds. This variety 

 produces an abundance of handsome white flowers continu- 

 ously during the season, and I know of no Rose of its color 

 which is more likely to give complete satisfaction. 



Elizabeth, n.j. J.N.Gerard. 



Crinum amabile and C. Asiaticum. 



r^RINUM AMABILE has been much admired in the Palm- 

 ^ house here for the past two or three weeks. This is a 

 noble plant, and when well grown its foliage is strikingly 

 handsome, even when it is not in flower, and when its flowers 

 are open their presence is made known to any one who enters 

 the house where the plant is grown by their delightful fra- 

 grance, even before they are seen. This is by no means a 

 new plant, since it was introduced to Europe over fourscore 

 years ago from Sumatra. This genus Crinum belongs to the 

 Amaryllis family, and the part underground, or bulb, is not very 



large. It has a neck about a foot in length, however, and is 

 nine or ten inches in circumference. Its thick, dark green 

 leaves measure four feet in length and four inches in breadth, 

 and they taper gradually to a point. They also arch gracefully 

 and add much to the appearance of the plant. The scapes 

 measure about three feet long and are crowned with umbels 

 consisting of about two dozen flowers. The perianth tube is 

 bright red and is four inches long, and the segments are the 

 same length and color and revolute. The flowers in the umbel 

 do not open all at the same time, and therefore the flowering 

 season is in this way very much lengthened. 



Another truly noble Crinum which ought to be in blossom 

 in another week is C. Asiaticum. The bulb of this plant meas- 

 ures about five inches in diameter and has a neck about a 

 foot in length. Its deep green leaves are long and arching. 

 The plant grown here is about four and a half feet in height 

 and nearly the same in breadth ; the flowers are white and 

 produced in umbels of about fifteen to twenty flowers. 



Crinums thrive in a compost of turfy loam, dry cow-manure 

 and a little charcoal. When they are grown in large pots they 

 do not require annual repotting ; in fact, our large plants have 

 not been shifted for the past five years. A top-dressing of 

 good rich soil is all that is necessary, and when they are well 

 established liquid-manure is very beneficial. When the plants 

 are growing they need an abundant supply of water. For large 

 greenhouses where there is plenty of room these stately Crinums 

 associate well with such plants as Palms, Cycads, Bananas and 

 Dracaenas. 



Harvard Botanic Gardeu, Cambridge, Mass. Robert Cameron. 



April Irises. 



AXnTH reference to the article on page 167, allow me to state 

 * * that my description of the color of the flowers of Iris 

 Assyriaca is based on an average. Among a hundred bulbs 

 twenty are pure white, twenty more milk white, and the 

 rest a bluish white. It is earlier than I. Sindjarensis, and if 

 kept dry for three months a very free bloomer. I wonder my 

 friend Mr. Gerard does not mention I. Bosniaca, which, al- 

 though of the rhizomatous section, is here in flower from the 

 1 5th of April onward ; it is rich, free-flowering, of a soft lemon- 

 color, and the flowers are comparatively large, much better 

 than any in the Pumila section, and standing slight frosty 

 nights unharmed. To these spring-flowering Irises the cen- 

 tral Asiatic species, I. Korolkowi, I. vaga, I. stolonifera and 

 I. Leichtlinii form a connection with the later-flowering kinds 

 of the rhizomatous section. The climate of the United States 

 of America seems to coincide perfectly with the wants of these 

 Irises. 



Baden-Baden. Max Leichtlin. 



Propagating Lilacs. — Referring to the notes on Lilacs and 

 Privet in the last issue of Garden and Forest, I would say 

 that while it is plain that the Privet cannot be recommended 

 as stock where it is not hardy, there are many reasons to justify 

 its use elsewhere. In the first place, nurserymen use it be- 

 cause there is no other way to get up a stock of the newer 

 kinds as quickly; but this is not the only reason. The Privet 

 dwarfs the Lilacs and causes them to flower in a very short 

 time, and in a profuse way that rarely occurs when on their 

 own roots, and as dwarf shrubs they are available for a great 

 many purposes. Florists use them for forcing, with certainty 

 of their flowering. As they are usually budded close to the 

 ground they can be set below the union and thus form roots 

 from the Lilac scion, as is often done in the case of the dwarf 

 Pear. 



Germantown, Pa. Joseph Meehan. 



Correspondence. 



The San Jose Scale Disease. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — On page 200 of the current volume of Garden and 

 Forest is a note taken from The Country Gentleman regard- 

 ing this interesting topic. I have a bulletin almost completed 

 on this subject, but an unusual demand has been placed on 

 my time this spring, making it difficult to complete the manu- 

 script. It was my intention not to announce this valuable 

 discovery until the bulletin appeared, but a portion of my 

 report to the Florida Horticultural Society was on this subject, 

 and that seems to have thwarted my purposes. 



The earliest intimation of this disease was observed in 1895, 

 but the discovery and experiments were not made until 1S96. 

 The experiments indicate that this fungus (Spha?rostilbe coc- 

 cophila, Tul.) is an effective and practical remedy for this 



