278 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 333. 



and at present such a bed waits for its third set of plants. 

 These will probably be Cosmos for fall flowers. Cosmos, beau- 

 tiful in foliage and flowers, seems to be an accommodating 

 plant which can be topped or layered ; it takes root wherever 

 it touches the ground. As it is naturally tall-growing and 

 often needs late protection, it seems to be worth while to try 

 pegging it down. A bed well covered with these finely cut 

 leaves and graceful flowers at a moderate height should prove 

 effective. Sweet Peas are, of course, in full beauty and fra- 

 grance. I am trying this year Emily Henderson, Blanche Ferry, 

 Mrs. Gladstone, Countess of Radnor, Orange Prince, Apple 

 Blossom, Senator, Mrs. Eckford, Delight and a few others. 

 I rate them in the order named. Emily Henderson leaves 

 nothing to be desired as a pure white flower of good size and 

 substance and is most prolific. Its white is as pure as that of 

 the white perennial pea. Blanche Ferry is well known as a mosl 

 beautiful and valuable pink. Mrs. Gladstone is a salmon-pink, 

 very delicate and pleasing, and Radnor an equally satisfactory 

 lavender. I fail to discover any satisfactory primrose color in 

 Mrs. Eckford, the latest offering in this approach to yellow. 

 The darker flowers interest nre little, and I find that while some 

 of the bluish ones, especially those which, like Lottie Eckford, 

 have bluish tints on white, are charming when first plucked, 

 they soon become degraded in color. The culture of these 

 always charming flowers offers few difficulties if one can ar- 

 range to have the flowers promptly plucked. 



The fall and self-sown annuals, such asCalliopsis, Nicotiana, 

 Centaurea affinis, Chrysanthemum, Myconis, Poppies and 

 Argemone, come into flower earlier, and are stronger than 

 those which have been sown under cover in the early spring. 

 It is strange how long some of the hardy annuals will linger in 

 a garden. I found a few plants the other day of Baby's-breath, 

 Gysophila muralis, a delicate little plant which I do not re- 

 member to have seen for two or three years, and of which 

 seeds have certainly not been sown for twice that time. The 

 fashionable Ragged Sailors, Centaurea Cyanus, is a much too 

 prolific and weedy subject in a small garden, but they furnish 

 great quantities of flowers. Sweet Sultan, C. suaveolens, is a 

 much handsomer Centaurea, and its bright flowers, with large 

 smooth ovaries and thread-like petals, are among the most 

 distinct and satisfactory annuals now in flower. 

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



Gooseberries. — The greatly increased demand for this fruit is 

 even more noticeable this year than it was during the two pre- 

 vious seasons, and it is of growing importance that we should 

 be able to raise fine gooseberries without mildew or other loss. 

 I have for the last ten years had no trouble either with the na- 

 tive or the foreign varieties of this fruit. Formerly I was 

 much troubled with mildew. My plan now is to grow on high 

 well-drained soil, in rows running north and south, and well 

 open to the sun. There is no danger from shade if the land 

 be open and well drained. The plants should be in rows, 

 easily cultivated with a horse, and the soil often stirred in the 

 spring. I do not think it pays us to grow the natives like 

 Downing and Houghton and Smith, so long as we can just as 

 well grow the larger sorts. Industry has never done well with 

 me, but others report that it is prolific. Crown Bob and White- 

 smith are two of the best of foreign parentage. But better yet 

 is an old sort we have had for sixty years, and known only as 

 the " Irish Gooseberry." The earliest and richest I have is a 

 wilding, which resembles the foreign sorts in bush, but has a 

 fruit like Houghton in color, but much lighter red. It bears 

 abundantly, and is ripe about the 1st of July. It is evidently 

 a cross between the foreign and native species. Columbus 

 and Red Jacket, I think, are emphatically valuable introduc- 

 tions. There is room for a new race of cross-bred Goose- 

 berries. 



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



Correspondence. 



Bulbous Plants in North Carolina. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — We are having now (June 29th) superb flowers of Gladi- 

 olus from seed sown in April of last year. The spikes are 

 strong and full as any of those from large old corms. These 

 seedlings (Gandavensis hybrids) were left in the ground all 

 winter, and grew off and began blooming earlier than the 

 old corms that were lifted last fall. Late April seems rather 

 too late for sowing Gladiolus-seed in this latitude, as many of 

 the young seedlings were cut off by hot weather in May. 

 Sown here early in March, almost every seedling will reach a 



blooming size. The seedlings left in the ground last fall were 

 well up by the middle of March, and had seasonable weather 

 to get strong before the hot weather began. Old corms of 

 Gladiolus continue to grow here much later than I have ever 

 seen them grow in Maryland, and the consequence is that 

 many of the offsets, besides the main ones at the top of old 

 corms, get large enough to bloom. Last spring I selected 

 six good-sized corms in order to note their natural in- 

 crease. All were lifted, separated and replanted this spring. 

 I have just counted forty-six that are blooming, or certain to 

 bloom, while the whole number that will flower next year will 

 be over a hundred. When Gladioli increase in this way, and 

 grow with certainty to a blooming size in one season, why 

 should not our people enter the lists for the production of 

 these plants for market ? 



In Roman Hyacinths, Ascension Lilies, Narcissi, and early 

 Tulips we can show equally good results, and if we could only 

 persuade market-growers to make a fair trial here we believe 

 that in a short time we could supply most of the bulbs now im- 

 ported for forcing, as we have done in the case of the Tuberose. 

 While the Polyanthus Narcissus in all varieties are hardy here, 

 when properly treated, we find it necessary to treat them dif- 

 ferently from other classes. If planted in autumn they at once 

 make such strong top-growth that when freezing weather 

 comes they are apt to be seriously injured. But if the planting 

 is deferred until late December or early January no such 

 trouble is experienced. Narcissus dubius or Paper White is 

 particularly liable to injury if planted too early. In the ripen- 

 ing of these fall-planted bulbs our long spring season is a 

 great advantage, as they have a cool growing season from 

 January until May before the sun gets hot enough'to hasten their 

 ripening. They therefore attain a full development of bulb, 

 and Roman Hyacinths, which bloom with us in the open air 

 from Christmas to March, make bulbs of a size I have never 

 seen equaled in any of the lots sold by seedsmen. We are 

 making arrangements to have some Lilies grown in the deep 

 peaty soils of the counties bordering on our sounds. This 

 section, where the soil is a mass of decomposed vegetation of 

 unknown depth, ought to be the ideal place for Lily-growing. 

 These lands are found in the counties of Onslow, Hyde, 

 Tyrrell, Dare and some others, and more fertile soils do not 

 exist, while the climate is much milder than it is here. 

 Raleigh, N. c. W. F. Massey. 



Our Native Persimmons. 

 To the Editor of Garden and Forest: 



Sir, — Almost three-score years ago I drove twelve miles to 

 get a half-bushel of small persimmons. I took them home 

 hard and green, and under exposure to frost and sunshine 

 they ripened. During all these years this fruit has interested 

 me, and for three years past, when all our other fruits have 

 been failing, the persimmon interests me still more deeply. 

 They never fail, and by selecting the best varieties from early 

 to late we can have them fresh for six months in the year, and 

 when properly dried they are not to be despised during the 

 remaining six months. That the persimmon is an astringent 

 fruit only fit for opossums and raccoons is a great mistake; 

 that they are not good until touched by severe frosts is another 

 mistake. I have two varieties that begin to ripen in August, 

 and are nearly gone by the time severe frosts occur. I have 

 others that hang on the trees in a dry winter until March. Al- 

 though I have been a nurseryman for fifty years I have not yet 

 learned to grow young trees successfully, and, therefore, have 

 no trees to sell, but can furnish grafts at the proper season at 

 moderate prices. My only success has been in crown-grafting. 

 But recently the owner of trees which bear the largest fruit I 

 have yet seen has hit upon a plan of spring-budding which 

 has proved successful, and in this way stock may probably be 

 grown to meet the increasing demand for trees. 



I have seen groves of a hundred trees in fruit without an 

 individual tree worth growing. Ten years ago I offered $5.00 

 for the best persimmon, and fruits came from all quarters- 

 one from St. Thomas, Cole County, Missouri, and I now have 

 a tree grafted with this variety which bears bushels every year. 

 Seedling-trees which spring up on my place are left until 

 they fruit. If the fruit is superior I have a good variety, if not 

 I graft the tree with something better. I have now eight varie- 

 ties, all of which I consider worth having. 



Early Golden came from E. A. Riehl, Alton, Illinois. It com- 

 mences to ripen in the latter part of August here, is a rich 

 golden yellow, with few seeds and of excellent quality. It 

 bears well and regularly. 



Kansas Seedless is the name of another, but it is not seed- 

 less altogether. Some fruits have but a single seed, and some 



