268 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 333 



almost no fruit has set, and the trees are now bare of anything 

 but leaves. New branches are starting out everywhere from 

 the ground up, and it is evident that all the vitality of the trees 

 is being expended to repair the loss of wood. Since noting 

 this, I have also observed a few trees in my own orchards, 

 both Pears and Apples, which have dropped their young fruit, 

 and in these cases it has been as a sequence of pruning last 

 year, though it was done with moderation. This impresses 

 upon me anew the importance of paying more heed to the 

 proper forming of the heads of our fruit-trees by penknife 

 pruning and disbudding, followed up with judgment and care 

 all through the spring and summer. Shock is as pernicious 

 to the vegetable organism as to that of men and animals, 

 from the surgical point of view. 



Newport, Vt. 



T. H. Ho skins. 



Sub-irrigation in Greenhouses. 



SUBIRRIGATION in greenhouse work is receiving consid- 

 erable attention, and the good results which have followed 

 its use wherever it has been tried warrant further experiments. 

 During last winter, in order to test the matter in a small way, 

 without expense, a very simple scheme was hit upon which 

 served the purpose admirably. Cementing the bottom of the 

 bed to make it water-tight, as is commonly recommended, was 

 dispensed with, and the only precaution taken was to double- 

 board the bottom in such a way that the boards mismatched. 

 It is doubtful whether there is any advantage in having the 

 bottom absolutely water-tight, since the soil may then become 

 so thoroughly saturated as to be unfavorable to the best de- 

 velopment of the plant. The additional apparatus consisted 

 of two old paint-kegs and a piece of worn-out hose. A hole 

 was bored in the bottom of each keg, so that the thread-end of 

 a hose union could be screwed into it, making a water-tight 

 joint. These kegs were set at the end of the bed just a little 

 above the level of the top of the soil. Small wedge-shaped 

 cuts were made in the hose about three inches apart on alter- 

 nate sides to allow the water to escape. The hose was coiled 

 about the bottom of the bed in such a way that there were four 

 lines running the length of it, and each end was attached to 

 one of the kegs. Water could be poured into both kegs and 

 enter the hose from each end. 



At the first watering too much water was given. The soil 

 did not begin to show moisture on the top until it was much 

 too wet beneath, and the lied had to stand a week or more be- 

 fore the soil dried out, so that it could be used for planting. 

 The ultimate results, however, were wholly satisfactory in 

 every way. The ordinary soil of this section of Nebraska is 

 not well adapted to greenhouse work. It is too heavy and 

 soggy when wet, inducing fungi, and unsatisfactory results 

 generally. Previous to this time there had been much injury 

 from Lettuce mildew, and the lower leaves have been de- 

 stroyed as fast as the plant could produce new ones at the 

 centre. Planted on this subirrigated bed this trouble almost 

 entirelv disappeared, and a fine crop of Lettuce was grown. 



This" method of watering applies the water where it is most 

 needed, and keeps the top reasonably dry, which is a great aid 

 in preventing some of these fungus attacks. Subirrigation 

 certainly promises to be the most satisfactory method in many 

 lines of vegetable work at least, and it is likely to be used ex- 

 tensively. Moreover, no great expense is necessary in fitting 

 the beds for it. One-inch wrought-iron pipe can be utilized to 

 good advantage in conducting the water if it can be cheaply 

 drilled for letting the water escape, as it no doubt can be. The 

 bottom of the beds double-boarded with comparatively cheap 

 lumber, or, at most, laid in coal-tar, and the outfit will be 

 complete. 



University of Nebraska. fired IV. Card. 



Correspondence. 



Hardy Rhododendrons. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest : 



Sir, — Many of the plants in a large and long-established col- 

 lection of Rhododendrons in my garden are unsatisfactory. In 

 some the habit is open and straggling ; in others the foliage is 

 badly scorched in early spring ; others lose their flower-buds 

 in cold winters ; and others produce small trusses of flowers 

 of poor washed-out colors. The collection is planted in deep 

 moist peaty soil, so that the plants never suffer from drought, 

 which I believe is more destructive to them than severe win- 

 ter cold, and is well protected from the cold north-west winds 

 which often blow here in February and March. 



It is probable that I do not cultivate the best varieties. I 



shall be much obliged to you if you will print in Garden and 

 Forest a list of the most approved varieties of the Catawbi- 

 ense hybrids, with such information about each as you care 



to give. 



Middletown, Conn. J. C. 



[The following varieties have long been cultivated in 

 the neighborhood of Boston, and of their hardiness in that 

 climate there seems little question. A collection of these 

 varieties would give practically the entire range of colors 

 yet produced by the flowers of these plants, with the excep- 

 tion of the light ones with dark blotches on the upper lobes 

 of the corolla. Many varieties of this particular race are 

 exceedingly beautiful, and often very showy ; none of them, 

 however, have yet proved very hardy or satisfactory in our 

 gardens. The list of varieties which can be relied upon 

 contains : 



Album elegans : light blush, marked with straw-color, 

 fading white, very free-flowering. This produces erect 

 branches, which sometimes grow to the height of twenty 

 or twenty-five feet ; it is, therefore, useful to place in the 

 middle of a large bed, where the naked bases of the stems 

 can be covered by lower-growing varieties. 



Album grandiflorum : light blush, fading white. This is 

 a strong-growing, vigorous, free-flowering variety of good 

 habit. The foliage is excellent, and, altogether, A. grandi- 

 florum is the best white or nearly white-flowered hardy 

 Rhododendron available for our climate. 



Alexander Dancer : light rose, with lighter centre. This 

 variety, when well grown, produces as large, or larger, 

 flowers and trusses than any other hardy Rhododendron 

 with which we are acquainted ; the foliage is excellent, but 

 the plant lacks compactness of habit, often producing long 

 sprawling branches. 



Atrosanguineum : blood-red. One of the very earliest, 

 as it is one of the hardiest, Rhododendrons, showing in the 

 brilliant color of its flowers strong traces of the blood of 

 the Indian Rhododendron arboreum, which appears more 

 or less clearly in all the scarlet-flowered Catawbiense hy- 

 brids. This variety has the disadvantage of flowering so 

 early that the flowers have faded before most of the other 

 varieties are in bloom. 



Caractacus : rich purplish crimson. This is one of th'e 

 best Rhododendrons in the size and compactness of the 

 trusses, in the size and color of the flowers, in habit, hardi- 

 ness and foliage. 



Charles Bagley : cherry-red. This is a late-flowering 

 variety with a well-formed truss of brilliant flowers, with 

 excellent habit and foliage. 



Charles Dickens : bright scarlet. This is one of the best 

 of the scarlet-flowered Rhododendrons, with good habit 

 and foliage, although the flowers are smaller than those of 

 several other varieties. It has the disadvantage of flower- 

 ing before the varieties with light-colored flowers, with 

 which it would otherwise make a good contrast. 



C. S. Sargent : rich crimson. This produces large com- 

 pact trusses, and has few superiors in the size and color of 

 the foliage and in habit. 



Ccerulescens : very pale lilac-blue or blush. This is a 

 distinct variety, owing to the peculiar color of the flowers ; 

 it is a plant of rather loose habit, but free-growing, with 

 long lustrous leaves, showing some traces of the blood of 

 Rhododendron maximum. 



D'elicatissimum. This is a hybrid between Rhododendron 

 maximum and some of the Catawbiense race of hybrids. 

 The flowers are white, suffused with pink ; the habit is ex- 

 cellent, and the foliage is large and unusually lustrous. 

 This is one of the most beautiful of all hardy Rhododen- 

 drons, and has the advantage of flowering later than most 

 of the Catawbiense varieties. 



Everestianum. This has usually been considered the 

 best Rhododendron for American gardens. No variety 

 excels it in hardiness, in habit, and in its power to produce 

 large crops of flowers year after year. The trusses are 

 well shaped and compact, and the flowers are rosy-lilac, 

 spotted with yellow and crinkled on the margins. To 



