536 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 496. 



unnamed seedlings are each year put on the market. This 

 would be well enough if the raisers would take the trouble to 

 flower them and cast aside the worthless varieties. Although 

 some of the finest varieties have come from random crosses, 

 yet comparison with carefully fertilized seed will show a 

 marked difference in the seedlings. There is no doubt that 

 Gladioli and many other summer-flowering roots are much 

 injured in the seed stores by being kept in hot, dry rooms, 

 and they should be stored in a cool place, for much vitality is 

 lost when they are forced into growth before being planted. 

 Early planting is best. If put into the ground in April they 

 will make good roots and not be above the soil before danger 

 of frost is past. 



Wellesley, Mass. T.D. Ha I field. 



Sparaxis pulcherrima. 



A CERTAIN gentleman always asks me when we meet 

 what I have that is new, meaning in the horticultural line. 

 The next time 1 shall answer, with much pride, that Sparaxis 

 (Dieramal pulcherrima has kindly blossomed in my garden. I 

 feel much pleased, for I have neverseen it elsewhere, and sev- 

 eral experts of my acquaintance have given it up as an intract- 

 able subject. The only secret, I fancy, is to wait for the flowers 

 until the plant is strong enough to produce them, and the 

 treatment I have given has been of the simplest kind. I 

 raised the plant from seed about six years ago and kept it for 

 two years in a pot, but, finding the growth slow and unsatisfac- 

 tory, I turned it out into the open ground near my Ixia-beds, 

 and there it has been ever since. Its foliage remains fresh 

 and green until the end of November, when I cut it off near 

 the ground and cover the roots with four inches of Pine- 

 leaves. In the spring the new shoots appear about two weeks 

 later than the Ixias, a tardiness which once caused me to 

 report in this paper that the winter had killed it. 



The narrow foliage, in appearance much like a Sedge, 

 attains a height of about two feet. The flower-stalks would be 

 five feet high if they stood erect, but the weight of the flowers 

 causes them to arch over in a graceful curve. Besides the chief 

 cluster at the ends of the stalks, which open first, there are 

 numerous spikelets, each with from five to eight flowers of the 

 same bright violet-crimson color hanging at regular intervals. 

 As the terminal blossoms drop, the stalk assumes a semi- 

 erect position, which, of course, causes the spikelets to arch 

 during their time of blooming, and, as the seeds in the ter- 

 minal capsules become large and heavy, the main stalk is 

 again brought down in an arch. The swaying of the stalks 

 with every breeze adds much to the attactiveness of the 

 plant. 



Canton, Mass. W. E. Endicolt. 



Some August Flowers. 



ASCLEPIAS INCARNATA, a native Milkweed, with light 

 pink flowers, makes a good display when grown in a 

 garden. It is somewhat umbrella-like in form, the top cov- 

 ered with flowers, and these are borne for about six weeks 

 during July and August. In damp places, near creeks, where 

 it is often found, it is not uncommon to find plants with flowers 

 almost white. 



Dicentra eximea is one of the most constant blooming of 

 herbaceous plants, and is in flower from early summer until 

 late in autumn. The flowers are purplish rose, not a striking 

 color, but its ever-blooming character is a great point in its 

 favor. In the same list may be placed Callirrhoe involucrata, 

 with bright rose-colored flowers, and Origanum vulgare, rosy 

 purple. Both of these plants are constantly in bloom. The 

 Callirrhoe is an almost prostrate plant, while Origanum reaches 

 a height of two to three feet. 



Daphne cneorum, whose sweet-scented flowers are so 

 numerously produced in early spring, is abundantly full of 

 blossoms now. In fact, it is rarely without flowers at anytime 

 during the season, and they become more abundant in late 

 autumn. It delights in a rich, sandy soil. 

 Germanlown, Pa. ' Joseph Meehan. 



Heliopsis Pitcheriana. — This plant, of which the English 

 garden papers speak highly, is plainly but a selected form of 

 Heliopsis laevis, as self-sown seedlings at once revert. For 

 years it has been one of our worst weeds. It is hard to kill, 

 crowds and robs other plants to their exclusion, and is fit only 

 for the roadside. As a decorative plant it is not nearly as 

 handsome as our common Rudbeckia hirta or Coreopsis lan- 

 ceolata, which here has strayed from the borders and keeps it 

 company. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Correspondence. 



Arsenate of Lead with Bordeaux Mixture. 



To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — I was somewhat surprised this year in making a test of 

 a combined fungicide and insecticide — arsenate of lead and 

 Bordeaux mixture — to find that both foliage and fruit of Crab- 

 trees, to which it was applied, were seriously injured. 



I used four pounds each of copper sulphate and lime to each 

 forty-five gallons of water, and to this added four ounces of 

 arsenate of lead. Three applications were made. The amount 

 of injury increased with each application from "slight," 

 "considerable" to "severe," and consisted of a burning of 

 the foliage ; a rusting and scarring of the fruit. Arsenate of 

 lead and Bordeaux mixture applied separately to adjoining 

 trees produced no injurious effects. I should like to know if 

 similar results have been noted by other experimenters. 

 Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada, John Craig. 



The Codling Moth. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Professor Card's article on this subject in your issue of 

 August 4th is a most timely and valuable one. This year, in 

 the Mesilla Valley, New Mexico, I have been trying various 

 measures for the destruction of the codling moth, after be- 

 coming convinced that mere spraying, as ordinarily recom- 

 mended, was of very little avail. The rate of increase in this 

 warm climate is prodigious. The moths from over-wintered 

 larva? emerge with us as early as April 24th. The second gen- 

 eration of moths, or rather the moths of the first lot of 1897 

 larvae, appeared at the end of June. By the end of July 

 another cycle was completed, and for the third time moths 

 were on the wing. The young larvae of the third generation 

 of this summer are now (August 9th) in the apples. 



At the end of March we had the test orchard well searched 

 for hibernating worms. Great numbers were found under 

 loose bark, but the places where they most congregated were 

 cracks in dead wood or old stumps. All such cracks should 

 certainly be stopped up with wax. The worms were destroyed 

 to a considerable extent during the winter by woodpeckers, 

 and a Clerid larva also devoured them. We found many more 

 worms in the apple cellar belonging to the orchard than on the 

 trees; such places should always be searched. Toward the 

 end of May the wormy apples were picked off the trees, as far 

 as they could be found, and destroyed. About 14,000 wormy 

 apples were found on 650 trees. The apple crop was a large 

 one, and the injury done by the first brood was not of the 

 slightest consequence. On June 2d, when the picking was 

 finished, it was found that the part of the orchard which had 

 been sprayed was about as wormy as the rest. 



By banding the trees we have caught great numbers of the 

 worms, but they are gaining on us, nevertheless. It will not 

 be possible to estimate the results of the work done until the 

 end of the season, but the outlook is certainly discouraging. 

 I find no hymenopterous parasites of the worms here, though 

 some die from the attacks of the fungus Sporotrichum, espe- 

 cially in confinement. Certain orchards which had no apple 

 crop last year, owing to late frosts, show this year compara- 

 tively few worms, even when no measures have been taken to 

 prevent the attack. We seem to have obtained good evidence 

 that the moths do not ordinarily fly any great distance, but lay 

 their eggs on or near the trees on which they bred. 



Mesilla, N. m. T. D. A. Cockerell. 



The Elm-leaf Beetle. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — Referring to the communication by Professor Britton 

 in last week's issue of Garden and Forest, if spraying is 

 thoroughly well done, a season can be occasionally passed, 

 provided there are not too many sources of infestation in the 

 immediate vicinity. Nevertheless, trees will be considerably 

 injured by omitting even a single year's work under ordinary 

 circumstances, as the state of affairs in New Brunswick during 

 the present season will illustrate. 



During the early part of 1896, Elm-leaf beetles were exces- 

 sively abundant, and a large proportion of the trees in the city 

 were defoliated. Considerable spraying was done by the City 

 Improvement Society, and trees treated under their direction 

 were generally in fairly good condition. The trees on the 

 College Campus were treated, as usual, with arsenate of lead, 

 and remained in good condition throughout the season. 

 During the early part of July, when the larvae were about full 



