486 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 511. 



operations here until Christmas with a few breaks, and 

 although the appearances are winterly at present, we may 

 still have not a few mild days before winter sets in steadily. 



Perennial borders have recently been gone over, all dead 

 tops cut down, weeds hoed up and raked off, and a liberal 

 coating of well-rotted manure spread over the whole. Per- 

 ennials to do their best must be liberally fed. Too often 

 they are starved. The contrast between a bed heavily 

 mulched in late fall and one scantily supplied with manure is 

 striking. We leave the manure on the surface to act as a 

 mulch during the following summer, scratching it over and 

 breaking up the lumps with an iron rake. Doubtfully hardy 

 plants, such as Helianthus multiflorus plenus, Anemone 

 Japonica, Tritomas, Montbretias, Heuchera sanguinea, etc., 

 are protected by a few shovelfuls of half-decayed leaves. 

 Beds containing bulbs are covered with a few inches of leaves, 

 over which pieces of boards are laid to keep the leaves from 

 blowing about. It is quite a common practice to see Tulip 

 and Hyacinth beds with a heavy coating of rotted manure as 

 protection. A lighter material is preferable, as it takes some 

 days for the frost to leave the manure when the season breaks. 

 The bulbs themselves are perfectly hardy ; the covering is 

 given more to keep the frost from lifting the bulbs out of the 

 beds than as protection. Flower-beds have recently been 

 manured and dug, and present a neat appearance for the 

 winter. No more of this work should be postponed until 

 spring than is necessary. 



Cold frames will now require to be secured from severe 

 frost. We pack a few inches of dry leaves about the sides of 

 ours. By doing this and using mats and shutters we are able 

 to keep out the most severe frosts. After the ground is frozen 

 hard in frames containing Pansies, Polyanthus, Wallflower, 

 etc., and seedling perennials, we pack dry leaves over the 

 plants, airing them on all mild days and removing the leaves 

 on the first approach of spring. Stock plants of Chrysanthe- 

 mums keep well if treated in this way. Lettuce grown in 

 frames requires care in ventilation and watering at this season, 

 or many of the plants will rot off. The surface soil will need 

 scratching over occasionally, particularly if any green slime 

 appears. 



Violets are doing specially well this season, less disease 

 being apparent than for several years. Marie Louise is still 

 much the best sort, producing more flowers than any other 

 kind. The color is much darker than that of Lady Hume 

 Campbell. The latter is easier to grow and is a fine sort for 

 those who cannot succeed with Marie Louise; it requires arti- 

 ficial heat in winter and is of little use in cold frames. The 

 Farquhar gives a few fine flowers, but is not so robust a 

 grower as Marie Louise ; if it is well grown no other Violet 

 can compare with it. Princess of Wales promises to be an 

 excellent single Violet, much superior to California and 

 Luxonne. Once a week Violets should be looked over, and 

 decaying foliage, runners, etc., removed. If some runners 

 have not been put in for next year's stock it is not yet too late 

 to start a few in boxes ; these should be kept over winter in a 

 frame. Plants raised in the past two seasons in this way have 

 been much superior to spring-rooted ones. 



Compost heaps require attention at this season. We usually 

 prepare ours early in December. It is hardly possible to 

 arrange for too much good compost. For potting material 

 sods of good fibrous loam are indispensable. We place a layer of 

 well-rotted manure between each double layer of sods ; a stack 

 prepared now should not be used before next fail. Special 

 compost heaps are required for Roses, Carnations, Chrysan- 

 themums and Violets. I have seen good flowers of all these 

 plants grown from the same compost, but, as a rule, growers 

 prefer to make some distinction. Roses thrive best in a heavy 

 retentive loam of a clayey nature, and are not at all happy 

 when planted in a sandy compost which Carnations raiher 

 seem to like, but which Chrysanthemums would not take 

 kindly to. All compost heaps require plenty of manure of the 

 best quality. Leaf-soil is most useful in compost ; three years 

 are required for leaves to rot down sufficiently to make the best 

 leaf-mold. If they can be turned over once a year they will 

 decay more quickly. They should never be stacked near trees 

 which will soon fill them with a mass of fibrous roots. In col- 

 lecting leaves pine-needles should always be excluded, and all 

 sticks and twigs be thrown aside. 



Gooseberries and Currants have recently been pruned and 

 well mulched with rotted manure. Some of the strongest 

 prunings of each kind are saved and heeled in to give a suc- 

 cession of stout young bushes each year. The pruning of 

 Pears, Apples and Grapevines will be concluded as weather 

 permits. All prunings are raked up and burned, after which 

 a liberal dressing of manure is given. Strawberries we cover 



with leaves after the ground becomes frozen hard and throw 

 some Pea brush over the top to keep the leaves from scat- 

 tering. 



Where Celery is wintered in the open it should now be well 

 protected with leaves, straw or seaweed. It is keeping well 

 this year with us. Golden Self-blanching and White Plume 

 provide a supply until Christmas, after which we rely chiefly 

 on Boston Market and Giant Pascal. Any vacant patches to 

 be used for vegetables may be manured and dug while the 

 weather permits. This will materially lessen the strain in 

 spring, when so many operations are pressing at one time. 

 Taunton, Mass. William N. Craig. 



The Pink Color in Chrysanthemums. 



'THE economic importance of Chrysanthemum-growing 

 -*■ (which in this state is estimated to involve more capital 

 than Peach cultivation) justifies the attention paid to this sub- 

 ject by the Cornell Experiment Station. Chrysanthemums are 

 not yet quoted in market reports by names of varieties as 

 Roses sometimes are, but the prices are usually given for the 

 three prominent colors — white, yellow and pink. The various 

 shades of pink seem to be exceedingly unstable. One of the 

 popular commercial varieties is Fred Walz, which I have fre- 

 quently seen in three or more easily distinguishable shades, 

 although the plants seemed to be grown under very similar 

 conditions. This variety being somewhat stiff and formal in 

 outline, is easily ruined for artistic effect by unevenness of 

 color. The mere fact that the pure pink ot Mr. F. Schuyler 

 Mathews's color-chart has not yet been attained in chrysanthe- 

 mums is not so serious in itself, because that is only one par- 

 ticular shade. There seems to be an entire series of colors 

 whose value is determined far more by the skill of the culti- 

 vator than by the variety. Amaranth, crimson, rosy pink, 

 crimson-pink, light pink and blush-white are some of the 

 names of trade catalogues which represent a gradation from 

 the deepest shade of the series down to pure white, and it 

 seems probable that any of these shades may in some cases 

 be obtained from a single variety. Not all varieties, of course, 

 are so highly susceptible as this, but frequently the difference 

 is enough to make the flowers unsalable. The control of 

 color, therefore, becomes a problem of great practical interest. 



The problem is doubtless a complicated one. There seem 

 to be at least five factors concerned, any one of which may 

 change a pink to a white. The choice of buds is said to be 

 sufficient in some cases. J. H. Woodford, one of Mr. Spauld- 

 ing's novelties, is advertised as shell-pink from terminal, and 

 pure white from crown-buds. Overpropagation is generally 

 thought to weaken color. Temperature and ventilation (the 

 two tactors can hardly be separated in greenhouse practice) 

 are advertised to produce three distinct and desirable shades 

 in Mrs. Colonel Goodman. Mere position (in pots, beds or 

 benches) should not in itself make a difference, but in practice 

 it does. The effect of shade is variously stated. And most 

 complicated of all, the food factor is known to influence color, 

 but just how is a mystery. 



Thirty-one varieties advertised as having various shades of 

 pink were grown here under the same conditions. Fourteen 

 gave white flowers with only a trace of pink at most in a few cases. 

 Three others had much less color than their descriptions 

 imply. I cannot explain such a condition. The general 

 health of the plants was excellent. The four flowers on each 

 plant averaged about six inches in diameter, and all the other 

 details were entirely satisfactory. 



Last year I noticed in another place some white varieties 

 which showed pink. Among them were such important sorts 

 as Our Mutual Friend and Marie Valleau, the latter, however, 

 being less frequently described as pure white. The food being 

 much richer than our own, especially in nitrogenous matter, 

 I suspected that an extra supply of nitrogen might have called 

 out the pink color which we had neverobserved in these white 

 varieties. Mr. E. G. Hill warns his customers not to usenitrate of 

 soda in the cultivation of certain light pink varieties, as it pro- 

 duces a deeper and unpleasant shade. 



It was convenient to single out only two of the supposed 

 factors this year, and the experiment has turned out contrary 

 to my expectations. The extra amount of nitrogen did not 

 deepen the color, but the flowers proved very sensitive to 

 shade. Shade is said by some to deepen the color, but the 

 reverse was true in this case. The difference was perceptible 

 at a glance in the case of Mrs. Perrin, Madame Felix Perrin, 

 Marie Valleau, Helen Bloodgood and Iora, and in a lesser de- 

 gree with William Simpson and Maud Dean. This difference 

 would not prevent the sale of Iora, which is usually uniform 

 in color, whatever the shade may be. The varieties Mrs. Perrin 



