January 17, 1S94.] 



Garden and Forest. 



27 



consult meteorological charts to determine the relative 

 cloudiness of various localities quite as diligently as I should 

 look into market facilities. 



I am more and more impressed with the fact that good judg- 

 ment in watering plants is rare. This is especially true in all 

 such soft plants as Lettuce, Beans, Cucumbers and Musk- 

 melons. If the surface of the soil is constantly wet and hard, 

 the various fungi which cause damping-off will thrive. The 

 common Botrytis, which, until recently, was thought incapable 

 of attacking living tissue, will spread rapidly upon the sur- 

 face of a wet bed, and it will often attack labels in full confi- 

 dence of victory. In order to avoid the rotting of Lettuce and 

 damping-off of plants, we water only on sunny days, so far as 

 possible, and we then soak the bed thoroughly. When the 

 water is thoroughly settled away, the bed is stirred up on top, 

 so that it will dry out. Constant or frequent wetting of the 

 surface, which is so common among amateurs, is fatal to suc- 

 cess in many plants, especially in dark climates. If the air is 

 too dry, wet down the walks ; but do not putter with the beds. 

 If, in spite of this precaution and care in ventilating, the Let- 

 tuce-rot or damping-off fungi make their appearance, make a 

 liberal sprinkling of sulphur over the bed and stir it lightly into 

 the soil. I am convinced that sub-irrigation, as shown by 

 tests at the experiment stations in Ohio, West Virginia and at 

 this place, is the ideal method of watering greenhouse-beds. 

 Ithaca, N. Y. L. H. Bailey. 



Ipomoea Leari. 



THERE are some flowers of such surpassing beauty that 

 when we behold them for the first time we can only gaze 

 in silence. Such a flower is Aquilegia ccerulea and such a one 

 is Ipomoea Leari, in my opinion, the most beautiful of its 

 genus or order. I suppose, but do not know, that this is the 

 plant which appears in the fantastic nomenclature of the cata- 

 logues as the " Heavenly Blue Moon-flower." If so, it is a 

 matter of some satisfaction to know that so lovely a thing is 

 obtainable at a trifling price. The flowers are about five inches 

 in diameter, and are borne in clusters, three or four being 

 open at once ; they last but a few hours, but as the buds on the 

 scapes frequently number more than twenty, and as new 

 scapes are constantly forming during warm weather, the display 

 is kept up for months in undiminished beauty. A few clusters 

 on the breakfasf-table are a delightful ornament, and every 

 bud on the stem will open if it be kept in water. Each flower 

 will be of the same ccerulean tint, however- small the bud may 

 be when it opens, for the buds will not grow after cutting, but 

 will display their blooms in ever-diminishing size, the last ones 

 so small as to be almost grotesque. 



A few summers ago I allowed a plant of this Ipomoea to have 

 its own way in the modest affair which I call my greenhouse. 

 It grew with amazing rapidity, thrusting its long, and at first 

 nearly leafless, shoots over the benches and among the pots 

 and along the roof and floor. These shoots developed roots, 

 which struck into the pots and into the earthen floor, and at 

 the same time axillary shoots started at each leaf, which in 

 their turn produced flowers and new growths. All summer I 

 could have gathered hundreds of flowers every morning, but 

 of all the thousands which were not plucked not one produced 

 a seed. When I needed the room in September to stand my 

 pots of bulbs, the labor of cutting away and carrying out so 

 many armfuls of Ipomcea growth was so great that I have 

 never since allowed it to stray at will. 



As far as my experience goes, it is useless to attempt the 

 culture of Ipomoea Leari out-of-doors, for, though it grows 

 vigorously and flowers abundantly when so planted, the blos- 

 soms come of a dull coppery purple color, and are not as 

 prettv as the ordinary Morning-glories. 



Canton, Mass. IV. E. Endicott. 



The Otaheite Orange.— I do not know one other plant for 

 general house-culture equal to this dwarf Orange. I have one 

 which has been in bloom all winter, besides carrying a dozen 

 oranges from a former flowering among its bright glossy 

 leaves. It generally carries a dozen ripe oranges, besides 

 green ones. The fragrance is, of course, delightful. I keep it 

 as a special pet for my study. Liking some sunshine, it never- 

 theless does well in the shade. It stands about twenty inches 

 high above the pot and spreads out over a diameter of more 

 than two feet. After a plant makes this size it should be in a 

 ten-inch pot, and thereafter need not be moved for many 

 years. I have a plant standing in soil which has not been re- 

 moved nor enriched for five years, yet the tree is very luxu- 

 riant and prolific. 



Clinton, N. Y. E. P. Powell. 



Hardy Andromedas. — At this season of the year Andromeda 

 Japonica, with its rose-colored racemes of flower-buds which 

 seem all ready to expand with the first long day of spring, and 

 its abundant evergreen leaves, makes altogether an interesting 

 sight. The flower-buds on A. lloribunda are not colored so 

 highly nor are its leaves so glossy, but still it is beautiful, and 

 very valuable as a hardy evergreen shrub. Flower-buds of 

 Leucothoe Catesbasi are of a deep rose color, and its foliage is 

 also very attractive. A little later on, the leaves of this shrub 

 will become bronzed and the color of the flower-buds much 

 more prominent. L. recurva is a deciduous shrub, but its 

 large racemes of rose-colored flower-buds are now most 

 interesting. 



Germantown, Pa. J . MeehiUl. 



Begonia Gloire de Lorraine. — This plant, from Messrs. Le- 

 moine, adds another distinct plant to the series of hybrids of 

 Begonia Socotrana. As is well known, this species is, per- 

 haps, the most desirable of the Begonias for decorating con- 

 servatories in the winter from the fact that its flowers are more 

 persistent than any others of the family. They endure for 

 weeks, and, unlike other species of the genus, show no ten- 

 dency to drop at every change of temperature or mistake in 

 watering. Gloire de Lorraine is a hybrid between B. Soco- 

 trana and a summer-flowering Cape species, B. Dregii, which 

 has a thickened root-stock and bears white flowers. The 

 stems are numerous, rather thin and pinkish, and bear num- 

 bers of rosy flowers, much brighter in color than those of 

 Triomphe de Lemoine, the last new hybrid offered by the 

 same grower. The leaves of the new plant are also much 

 more attractive, and show the influence of the Cape parent, 

 while the leaves of the former are subpeltate and uninterest- 

 ing. Flowers of Triomphe de Lemoine persisted on my plants 

 last season some three months, and it is to be hoped that the 

 new hybrid will show the same valuable habit. It can ap- 

 parently be increased with ease from cuttings. The Socotrana 

 hybrids now comprise the following varieties, which are all 

 valuable and distinct plants : Gloire de Sceaux (Thiebaut & 

 Keteleer), Winter Gem (Veitch), Adonis (Veitch), John Heal 

 (Veitch), Bijou, Triomphe de Lemoine, Triomphe de Nancy 

 and Gloire de Lorraine. 



Calochortus Kennedyi. — Mr. Edward Sturtevant lately sent 

 me some bulbs of this beautiful red-flowering Mariposa Tulip, 

 which he collected lately in southern California, 150 miles 

 from Los Angeles, with a sample of the material in which 

 they were found. This material is a most interesting exhibit, 

 and is helpful as showing one of the conditions in which the 

 plant thrives. It seems to be composed almost entirely of 

 well-decomposed stone, evidently granitic, from the glistening 

 mica scales. It is dark in color, with only a small proportion 

 of mold. It contains apparently not a trace of clay or com- 

 pacting matter, and, judging from this exhibit, the bulbs of 

 this Calochortus are in well-drained places with no decompos- 

 ing or fermenting matter near them. Not many of us have such 

 material in which to plant, though the drainage is easily man- 

 aged. The nearest easily available material with the same 

 texture that I can suggest is burnt earth with a trace of loam 

 or leaf-mold. Mr. Sturtevant says he had to gather the stock 

 with a pick, as the ground was very hard and dry in Novem- 

 ber, and the bulbs were resting some six or eight inches deep, 

 out of reach of the frosts which sometimes occur in the lo- 

 cality, which is on the hills, 3,000 feet above sea-level. This 

 would again indicate that we must keep these bulbs dry, under 

 cover, later than I had supposed necessary. The bulbs re- 

 ceived are plump and show no indication of moving, though 

 some which have been in a pot outside with the Dutch bulbs, 

 and covered with leaves, have been moving several weeks. 



Elizabeth, N.J. J. N. Gerard. 



Correspondence. 



Horticultural Progress in France. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Some interesting steps are contemplated by the City 

 Council of Paris for the improvement of the horticultural work 

 in the public gardens and parks. It has been known for some 

 time that the municipal nurseries at La Muette were to be re- 

 moved, extra muros, into the grounds of the Bois de Boulogne. 

 Two advantages are to be derived from that step — the location 

 of the new propagating establishment is to be much larger and 

 in better condition, as far as pure air is concerned, and a good 

 amount of it fit for building-ground will be set free by the 

 scheme, and, beyond doubt, the sale of that ground will defray 

 most of the expense needed for starting the new nurseries. 



