January io, 1S94.] 



Garden and Forest. 



17 



bloomers. Mr. Nicholson has put these varieties to a thorough 

 •test to determine their tendency to disease, having planted 

 them among a batch of Golden Triumph, which are rusted be- 

 yond redemption. 



The various forms of Carnation disease, and that principally 

 known as rust, are attracting considerable attention ; in fact, 

 it is becoming a serious matter to growers everywhere. No 

 sure cure has been discovered, although various remedies 

 have been applied by different growers ; and while some may 

 have been successful, it is far more probable that cleanliness, 

 a little fire-heat, and, consequently, a drier atmosphere, has 

 done more than anything to check it. For my own part, I can 

 say I have tried almost everything recommended except 

 " Fostite " and common salt. Those who have the good for- 

 tune to be moderately free from it, think they succeeded with 

 a pinch of salt in solution, sprinkled on with a watering-pot, 

 and another is equally sure he manages it with tobacco-dust 

 and sulphur, while a third declares that panacea for all the ills 

 of plan-t-life, Fir-tree oil, has solved the problem for him. But 

 I am acquainted with others who happened to have their 

 plants badly affected who failed with all these, and in nearly 

 every case the plants are growing out of it after all attempts to 

 eradicate the disease with fungicides had been abandoned. 

 The majority of growers and raisers agree that salvation lies 

 in selecting sorts which are free from disease. So far, several 

 varieties have shown no tendency to rust even when planted 

 near to affected plants. Ferdinand Mangold is a noteworthy 

 instance of this. Many others could be named. Some growers 

 date the appearance of the disease in their establishments to 

 buying infected plants, and while this, no doubt, has been the 

 means of spreading it, it has been generally noted hereabout 

 that the disease appeared first in the open ground ; and on ex- 

 amining many weeds, and particularly grasses in pastures, 

 abundance of rust could be found; in some cases quite near 

 to the Carnation-patch. It will thus be seen that the matter is 

 a serious one, since fungal diseases may be carried by winds 

 for a considerable distance and quickly spread over the whole 

 country. 



Wellesley, Mass. T. D. Hatfield. 



Some Saxifrages. 



THE Saxifrages are interesting, hardy plants, mostly alpine, 

 which are usually very amenable to garden-culture, either 

 on the rockery or in a suitable position in the borders. They 

 form a very numerous family, as there are now reckoned 

 some 184 species in sixteen sections, with many varieties. 

 Botanists and cultivators have confused the names somewhat, 

 so that considerable care is requisite in forming a collection 

 which shall be truly named. The smaller Saxifrages are par- 

 ticularly desirable for the rockery and for borders, where 

 small and interesting plants are appreciated ; with suitable 

 planting they are easily established and reliable, and are 

 attractive at all seasons. To name a few, S. Burseriana and 

 variety known as Major are fine winter-flowering plants. They 

 form small masses of small-spiked rosettes, dark green and 

 slightly silvery. The flowers are white and expand from crim- 

 son buds, and they appear on short stems and almost hide the 

 plant. A choice variety of this sort is called Boydii, which 

 does not seem as reliable as the type, at least my rosettes have 

 gone backward. S. luteo-purpurea is a yellow-flowered species 

 of the same section, flowering slightly later. S. sancta has 

 also mossy rosettes, with deeper yellow flowers. The en- 

 crusted Saxifrages are delightful as well as curious plants ; the 

 glaucous encrusted leaves form striking, regularly formed 

 rosettes, from the centre of which, when mature, rise stems 

 furnished with numerous attractive flowers. S. minima car- 

 pets the ground with numerous minute rosettes about a quar- 

 ter of an inch in diameter, and from this species to the gem of 

 the section, S. longifolia, which is said sometimes to produce 

 rosettes even a foot in diameter, there are varieties with 

 rosettes of various sizes and forms. These usually have serrated 

 and encrusted edges to the leaves, and are objects of special 

 interest under the microscope. S. Aizoon is probably the best- 

 known species of this character, and makes nice cushions of 

 compact small rosettes. S. pectinata is a variety with 

 very distinctly toothed small leaves, and encrusted ; the 

 rosettes are from a quarter of an inch to an inch in diameter. 

 S. lanceolata has lanceolate leaves and rosettes of rather open 

 form. S. Cotyledon is a large rosetted form, which seems 

 rather easier to establish than either S. McNabiana orS. longi- 

 folia, which are considered the gems of the larger varieties. 

 These are apt to damp off here in a flat border which holds 

 the requisite amount of moisture, and they should preferably 

 be planted in the rockery or on a wall in a vertical position 

 where no moisture will lodge in the.leafy rosettes. S. La Ga 



Dauphana is an interesting form, the globular rosettes of 

 which are rose-tinted. It makes compact masses. The sliver- 

 moss Saxifrage, S. cassia, is a distinct form, with tinv balls or 

 round rosettes of short, hard encrusted leaves, which are 

 prettily colored a lavender-gray. S. aretioides is a larger form 

 with a darker crust. This encrustation appears to be formed 

 of lime in crystals. The Saxifrages with toothed or horn-like 

 leaves, like S. Lindsayana and S. nervosa, are bright plants, 

 which flower well, and the foliage is light green. Probably the 

 hybrid, S. Wallaceii, is the best plant of this section ; it pro- 

 duces a profusion of charming pure white flowers of good 

 size, but has a rather bad habit of hardening up its stems and 

 losing its lower leaves. My helper has several times tidied it 

 out of the garden, so that I have not been able to test its win- 

 tering qualities. 



These are only a few of the Saxifrages which are to be had 

 readily, and are likely to please those interested in such things. 

 As to their culture, they usually need good loam, with plenty 

 of sharp stones or grit free from decaying vegetable-matter or 

 manure. They require a position where their roots can 

 always find a supply of moisture, and in such a place they will 

 endure strong sunshine. It seems quite hopeless to try to 

 carry them through one of our dry hot summers unless they 

 are well established, and unless the plants when received are 

 strong, it will be better to retain them in pots in a frame until 

 cool nights come. Guided by a little experience, I grow any 

 new kinds which come to me in pots in a cool house until the 

 stock can be divided, and then I venture a piece at a time out- 

 side at a favorable season. This is a practice which requires 

 considerable patience, as they do not increase with great 

 rapidity. Some of my friends seem to consider the cultivation 

 of such little gems impractical, and one candidly remarked 

 only the other day that some of my notes were tinged with the 

 same un-American trait. To my mind, the practical gardener 

 is one who grows plants which interest him and give a profit 

 of mental pleasure. This pleasure may be very much diversi- 

 fied, and does not always depend on the special plants or 

 flowers, these being merely details often of the play. Very 

 much of the pleasure of any garden will consist in the light in 

 which it is viewed, and this light will depend on the one who 

 views. A good imagination is indispensable to a gardener 

 who wishes to secure the best result from his plants. To see 

 only the bald features of a plant, without light or shade, is no 

 more satisfying than the view of so much merchandise. There 

 is as much excitement in collecting and growing plants as in 

 hunting for " first editions " or in any other of the fads which 

 entertain mankind, but it is a curious fact that so impressed is 

 the average person with catalogue plants, florists' flowers and 

 eatable things that it seems difficult to impress the average 

 man with the fact that the cultivation of other things can pay, 

 and that one's leisure hours may be practically passed at work 

 which brings no coin. 



Standing among a few hundred Chrysanthemum-plants, to 

 which I mentally pointed with pride, one of my neighbors ask- 

 ing about the plant, frankly said, " Well, you could have a nice 

 garden of corn and peas here." Another friend advises me 

 to be practical and go in for grapes, which I can buy for noth- 

 ing a pound ; and for pears, not knowing that three Pear-trees 

 in our garden furnish us with an annual loathing for this fruit. 

 My idea of a practical garden, without further illustration, is 

 one which is filled with plants which interest the owner, and 

 these are more likely to be interesting the further one gets 

 away from typical market flowers, though these, of course, are 

 not to be neglected entirely. 



Elizabeth, N.J. /. .V. Gerard. 



Work in the Greenhouse. 



\X/TTH the arrival of the new year comes a quantity of work 

 * " that is best done at this period, and seed-sowing and 

 propagation can now be carried on under exceptionally favor- 

 able conditions. Small seeds, such as those of Gloxinias, 

 Begonias, Streptocarpusand many others which are slow to ger- 

 minate, are best sown now. Small seeds, such as those named, 

 should never be covered with soil, but sown on the surface 

 after the soil has been made moderately firm and quite level, 

 and after it has been thoroughly watered. A gentle heat under 

 the pans or boxes will materially aid germination and assist 

 the young plants in the earlier stages of their growth. It is 

 often recommended that a sheet of glass be placed over the 

 pans or boxes after the seed is sown, and this is beneficial 

 when care is taken to guard against the fungus-growth pecu- 

 liar to boxes of choice young seedlings ; unless the condensed 

 moisture is carefully wiped from the glass every day, the result 

 of much care is sometimes swept away in a few hours. 



If Cyclamen-seeds have not been sown earlier no time 



