February 14, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



67 



placed in new sweet baskets, about half-filled, and set at 

 once in bins in a cool, dry cellar. At the approach of cold 

 weather I aim not so much to have the room cold as to have 

 an unvarying temperature for the grapes, and a piece of thick 

 brown paper is tied close over each basket. The quality of 

 the Worden is unsurpassed, and this variety supplies a deli- 

 cious winter grape up to mid-December. Duchess, if picked 

 before cracking, keeps well, and I had Brighton in good condi- 

 tion in December, when it dries into a very good raisin. 



There are enough good grapes which ripen in August, Sep- 

 tember and October. The need is for long-keepers. Of those 

 we now have, Amber and Diana are excellent ; but Amber is 

 one of the class of very tart grapes, like Greins' Golden, and is 

 relished by few. Goethe and Iowa should be ranked as No- 

 vember and December grapes, and there is nothing to excel 

 them. Herbert is another satisfactory grape, of excellent 

 quality and a fine keeper. Vergennes, although keeping well, 

 lacks in quality, and is at no season a grape of much value. It 

 is a curious fact that some of the thin-skinned grapes are 

 among the best keepers. Goethe, Iowa and Worden are thin- 

 skinned, while Diana, Herbert and Vergennes are much thicker. 



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



Annual Flowers from Seed. — I. 



NOW that the days begin to lengthen and the seed-cata- 

 logues, in their lurid magnificence, present their annual 

 temptations, every one who has an available strip of earth and 

 good, healthy, natural instincts, with a little leisure, will feel a 

 yearning for the vernal weather, which is the seed-time. This 

 yearning, unfortunately, often does not materialize into action, 

 for we are a busy people, and our attention is apt to be diverted 

 from things which require study, thought and some care, by 

 the things crowded on our attention in ail directions. Among 

 the people who seriously wish to have a garden, which they 

 are possibly undertaking for the first time, there are many, of 

 course, with an almost entire lack of knowledge of plants, and 

 especially of their culture from seed. No questions are so often 

 asked of the gardener as " what shall I plant," and " when " and 

 " how," and " which are really the best things to grow ? " 



Seed-catalogues do not answer these questions exactly, or, 

 rather, they give too many answers, from the very extent 

 of their lists of seeds, all of which are required, more or less, 

 by different patrons. A seed-catalogue, at the best, is lacking 

 in perspective, andit may be well at this time to review the sub- 

 ject of the sowing of seeds of annual plants, or those which 

 flower the first season from seed, in order to anticipate the an- 

 nual inquiries for the most useful and satisfactory plants, 

 not only for the borders, but also for cutting and house deco- 

 ration. Good plants of this character are so much valued that 

 florists and cultivators are constantlyselecting and hybridizing 

 the most approved strains in the endeavor to effect improve- 

 ments, and these, or the novelties as they are called, appear 

 with unfailing regularity. A surprising number of these are 

 remarkably good, and there is from year to year a constant 

 gain, but these gains are most appreciated by those of experi- 

 ence, who, if thorough-going gardeners, usually feel repaid for 

 an outlay by the pleasure of trying for a prize. A beginner 

 should rather confine his attention to the old approved forms 

 until his taste develops in some definite direction. For in- 

 stance, if one is fond of China Asters, almost anything new will 

 prove satisfactory, but if he does not care for the family, noth- 

 ing, even of the rarest, will please. People persist in buying 

 new Godetias or some other flower the type of which they do 

 not care for, and grumble at theseedsman forselling them what 

 may be a very meritorious thing from some other person's 

 point of view. 



When to sow seed is a question which admits of no general 

 answer, but as the beginner usually buys his entire stock in 

 lump as the first genial day warms his garden-fever, it may be 

 said that most annuals will flower satisfactorily if planted in 

 this latitude in late April or early May in proper locations. 

 Most of them are better for not being hurried forward, and 

 they are always stronger when they can be germinated under 

 moderate warmth, and with a plentiful supply of fresh air in all 

 stages. Unless otherwise stated, the seeds of plants to which 

 attention will be called are best sown out-of-doors in a tempo- 

 rary frame, which should be located in a warm place, or in one 

 sheltered from cold winds. A temporary frame made by nail- 

 ing four boards to enclose a square or rectangular space is as 

 satisfactory as a more elaborate construction. For the top, 

 provide a covering of thin stuff like cheese-cloth or waterproof 

 fabric. A raised bed should be made inside this frame of good 

 sweet, loose loam, free from clay or packing qualities. The 

 lower layer should be passed through a medium meshed 



sieve and be well firmed. The seed-plots should be marked 

 out with a flat stick and the earth well moistened and allowed 

 to drain. A bed prepared in this way, with the cover stretched 

 over it, will be ready in this latitude for its contents the last 

 week in April, usually, and tender as well as hardy annuals 

 may be planted with safety. As a matter of convenience, it is 

 well to separate the fine-seeded kinds from the coarser ones, 

 so that when sifting earth over them for a final covering, the 

 fine ones may not receive an undue proportion. As a rule, seeds 

 should be covered with a layer of soil about equal to their 

 diameter in thickness, though it does not injure the coarser ones 

 to bury them deeper. The earth should be firmed over the 

 seeds so as to envelop them in a moist compact covering, and 

 if the seed-bed has been judiciously watered most of the seeds 

 should germinate without further moisture. As seeds do not 

 require light for actual germination, moisture may be pre- 

 served by covering the seed-bed with paper for the first few 

 days. As soon as the seeds are fairly well germinated, as they will 

 mostly be in a week or ten days, air must be given as freely as 

 possible, though the plants should at first be shaded from 

 sunlight. 



In the earlier stages of the plants care should be taken not to 

 keep them close at any time or to overwater, which will cause 

 them to damp off and to rot at the surface of the ground. In 

 a cold, wet season slugs may appear, and these are very fond 

 of young growths. If missing or eaten leaves show their 

 presence, vegetable traps, like sliced potatoes, should be set for 

 them, and the slugs destroyed in the early morning. Aside 

 from these possible visitations, the seedlings, with ordinary 

 and slight attention, will soon make their first true leaves, after 

 which they are ready for transplanting. While they are making 

 their growth in the open it is always prudent to cover the beds 

 with a light covering of thin brush to discourage cats, hens and 

 other marauders. A frame of this kind is a labor-saver, as the 

 work is concentrated in one spot and the various sowings can 

 be rapidly inspected and the necessary attention given. When 

 seeds are sown in various plots in the garden the work is so 

 many times magnified, and various disasters are sure to befall 

 some of the plantings. Most plants can be readily transplanted 

 in a young stage, Poppies and Mignonette being about the only 

 ones which offer any difficulties. The former are always bet- 

 ter for being sown in the fall, but are not difficult to transplant 

 when young if the seed-bed is allowed to become quite dry 

 and the long tap-roots are not injured in lifting. Mignonette 

 resents root-disturbance, and should be lifted when the ground 

 is moist, with a good ball of earth. 



The transplanting of other annuals is a simple operation. 

 Having thoroughly prepared the beds into which they are to 

 be transferred by deep digging and fining the soil, it is well, if 

 possible, to await a favorable time, such as the approach of 

 cloudy weather, avoiding a period when the ground is wet and 

 in a condition to pack as one presses it. Providing the ground 

 is in fit condition, transplanting may be safely done in the 

 brightest weather if temporary shading is supplied. It is well 

 to have a few two-by-two or three-by-three frames made of 

 laths, with cheese-cloth stretched over them. These are use- 

 ful at all seasons in the garden for temporary shelter in trans- 

 planting operations. Furnished with a flat pan and a three- 

 tined kitchen fork as a digger and dibber, one can rapidly raise 

 the young plants from the seed-bed and transplant them. If 

 the seed-bed has been made properly of loose earth the seed- 

 lings can be separated easily and without breaking the young 

 roots. A hole is dug, the plant is given a gentle twirl to spread 

 the roots as far as possible, and the dibber, inserted a short dis- 

 tance away, is used to bring the earth up solidly, so as to leave 

 no hole or vacancy around the roots. The plat being planted, 

 each plant should be settled by careful and not overmuch 

 watering, and loose dry earth drawn toward the plant as a 

 mulch. If some well-rotted manure is available, a covering 

 of this over the bed is a desirable finish, and supplies the 

 plants with a mulch, and later with food. The beds must be 

 shaded until the plants show signs of moving or cloudy 

 weather allows them to be fully exposed. 



As to what to grow, the element of taste enters so largely in 

 the selection that we must advise those species which, by gen- 

 eral consent, are considered the leading and most satisfactory 

 ones. Considering these in catalogue order, the China Asters 

 occupy certainly, in every way, a leading place and are in- 

 dispensable. Naturally flowering in August and Septem- 

 ber, not much is gained by hurrying them into bloom 

 until the cool nights of late summer. The seeds are of fair 

 size, easily handled, and germinate at sixty to seventy degrees 

 rapidly and strongly. They must not be overheated in any 

 stage, and must have air and light to keep them stocky. They 

 should be planted in rich, well-drained soil, and, in order 



