September 19, 1894.] 



Garden and Forest. 



377 



plants with abundant food in such a form and under such condi- 

 tions that it is readily available for their use, but this is the only 

 way to get any comfort out of a garden. No matter how rare 

 or costly or beautiful a plant is, its first charm is that of vigor- 

 ous health, and when starved and stunted it can never be any- 

 thing other than an object of commiseration. A few plants 

 welf fed and well cared for will prove far more satisfactory in 

 the end than ten times as many carelessly handled. Our 

 greatest trouble here is from the encroaching roots of large 

 Elms which grow near the borders. Sometimes we have to 

 lift all the plants in the large borders and cut off the Elm feed- 

 ers which spread throughout the bed. This has to be done at 

 least every two years to be of any service, and the border- 

 plants have only time to get established before it is necessary 

 to lift them again. A rule to be rigidly remembered is, never 

 to plant a border of flowering plants near Elm-trees, or, in- 

 deed, any other large trees, for there is sure to be injury to 

 the plants sooner or later. 



Bulbs may be planted now, and Lilies especially should be 

 put into the ground at once, so that the set of roots made in fall 

 may become well established. Lilies are never inactive, but 

 soon after flowering is the most suitable time for transplant- 

 ing, since directly after the flowers fade a new set of roots is 

 sent out from the base of the bulbs, and on these depends the 

 strong growth that is to produce flowers the next year. If 

 planting is delayed until spring the bulbs have a double task 

 to perform — that of getting established and of maturing the 

 flowers ; bad results are more likely to be seen the second year 

 after planting than the first. American-grown bulbs are 

 preferable to those grown in Holland, where the growers lift 

 the Lilies and subject them to a system of drying before ship- 

 ping. The effect of this treatment is seen in the pink tint the 

 bulbs usually have on arrival here, and with every particle of 

 the roots cut off many bulbs die before getting established. 

 The Japanese know their business better, and encase each 

 bulb in a clay covering ; they are then closely packed with dry 

 soil sifted in between. Japanese bulbs come here in fine 

 order, often with a mass of live roots ready to start into growth 

 as soon as they are planted, and losses are thus reduced to a 

 minimum. 



Those who intend to plant permanent beds of Tulips should 

 now prepare places for them. The new Darwin Tulips are a 

 decided acquisition to the garden, perfectly hardy, of rich 

 coloring, having stout stems for cutting, and they will flower 

 year after year. The Parrot varieties are also admirable in the 

 border, but are not so good for cutting, owing to their weak 

 stems ; the colors are brilliant, with unique and fantastic 

 shapes. Our Parrot Tulips have flowered for three years 

 in the same bed without disturbance, and promise to do 

 equally well next season. 



South Lancaster, Mass. -£• O. Or pet. 



Dutch Bulbs. 



THERE is no commonplace annual garden task more satis- 

 factory than the planting out or potting at this season of 

 the Dutch bulbs, which are now at hand. These are bulbs 

 of few families, indeed, but of infinite variety of form and 

 coloring, many of dazzling splendor. They flower, too, at a 

 season "when bright flowers are most acceptable. Even the 

 readers of horticultural journals sometimes neglect their 

 opportunities, and it seems well to remind the negligent that 

 now, and not spring-time, is the season for planting Hyacinths, 

 Tulips, Daffodils, Crocuses, Scillas, Snowdrops, Snowflakes, 

 bulbous Irises, etc. With no other material can we secure such 

 a wealth of charming flowers with so little trouble and such 

 slight expenditure, while all of those mentioned are hardy, and 

 if not forced will increase from year to year. Still, it is not well 

 to depend on old Hyacinths and Tulips, grown even in the 

 open, under ordinary conditions. Additions should be made 

 each year to the stock of these, for they usually degenerate 

 unless carefully cultivated. 



As to planting bulb beds, while a mass of color is always 

 enjoyable in the spring-time, it does not seem to me worth 

 while to plant on the system so popular with the makers of 

 catalogues. Such beds will, perhaps, answer in public parks, 

 where systematic plans must often be followed from exigencies 

 of labor, even if results are not of the best. To copy 

 park effects in a private garden is on a par with garnish- 

 ing one's table on the plan of the restaurant. There is 

 also a practical objection to planting a bed with only one 

 variety of bulbs — that is, its beauty passes too quickly. In 

 the case of Tulips, a bed is often ruined at once by a hard 

 shower or a very warm day. Still, these things are a matter of 

 taste, and the owner of the bulbs may fancy monotony and a 

 glaring mass of color. My fancy is for informal plantings of 



various bulbs, and my usual practice is to set out first any 

 special clumps of species or varieties which, for some reason, 

 it is desired to keep in masses. The smaller-flowered bulbs, 

 of course, are placed toward the front. After the special fea- 

 tures of the bed are adjusted, the various Tulips are all mixed 

 together — Single Early, Double, Byblooms, Bizarres, Breeders 

 and Parrots — and first scattered over vacant places, and then 

 thickly planted where they happen to lie. A bed of this kind, 

 while never a perfect dazzle during any one day, provides a 

 long changeable succession of flowers. 



But, before these bulbs flower, the potted bulbs will have 

 provided the amateur with a long succession of blooms. With 

 a good supply of potted bulbs, a few winter-flowering Bego- 

 nias, a supply of Primula obconica and a few Ferns the con- 

 servatory or window-garden may be kept gay from December 

 till spring-time. The details are in every fall catalogue, but it 

 may be added that the flat pans, say, eight inches wide by four 

 inches deep, provide usually the most satisfactory receptacles 

 for flowering all the medium and larger sized bulbs. These 

 pots are more sightly than the deeper ones, and hold sufficient 

 earth. A pot of this size will hold four first-size Hyacinths, or 

 six Roman Hyacinths or Tulips or Daffodils. 



Elizabeth, N. J. 7- N. Gerard. 



Crinum Moorei. 



THE Natal Lily is one of the choicest of the bulbs which 

 flower at this season. Though introduced more than 

 twenty years since, and rapidly increased by offsets, it does 

 not seem to be as yet common in gardens. The treatment 

 required for the bulb is about that ordinarily given to the 

 popular Agapanthus, and if it were as well known it would be 

 in greater demand than this old favorite. It should be potted 

 in good open soil and grown with as infrequent disturbance of 

 the root as possible. It should be well watered and fertilized 

 when growing and flowering, and in winter it may be rested 

 in a moderate temperature without being allowed to become 

 dry. The pleasantly fragrant flowers are large, the perianth 

 segments being three inches long, and borne in succession to 

 the number of from six to twelve on strong scapes three feet 

 high. The flowers are white or pink. The former variety is 

 still rare, or, at least, scarce, but the pink variety is very beau- 

 tiful with a very clear pure color, and a touch of green at the 

 bottom of the somewhat curved tube. The leaves are broad, 

 rather soft, and easily injured. In this climate it will be well to 

 keep it undercover till the season's growth is completed. After 

 this the pot may be plunged in the open till the flowers are 

 formed, and after, if it is desired to bloom the plant out-of- 

 doors. 



Crinum Moorei seems to be a half-hardy bulb, and possibly 

 may be wintered out in a protected border south of this lati- 

 tude. Here C. longifolium (C. Capense) is hardy when fully 

 exposed, and I have wintered out C. Powelli without protec- 

 tion under the south wall of the house. C. longifolium does 

 not seem to me especially valuable as an ornamental hardy 

 garden-plant. Its leaves start early enough to be injured by 

 frosts, and do not recover their sightliness. The white 

 flowers are fairly good, but a Funkia is more effective, 

 and produces more abundant flowers of similar size and 

 color. C. Powelli is a hybrid between C. longifolium and C. 

 Moorei, and seems to be hardy in such climates as prevail in 

 the south of England. It may not prove to be satisfactory 

 here outside, even in a sheltered place, and it seems only 

 worth while trying the experiment in the hope of establishing 

 a clump where it may have free root-run and produce noble 

 leaves and many flowering stems. The safest culture would 

 undoubtedly be in a deep pot or tub, which could be removed 

 to shelter in winter. There are some eighty or more species 

 of Crinums and several hybrids. They offer a wide and in- 

 teresting field to the collector, but C. Moorei and C. Powelli, 

 with their varieties, are the handsomest of the family, and 

 should be the first ones secured. _, ,, _ 



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



Jelly Fruits. 



■""THERE are few apples so likely to glut the market in a good 

 *- bearing year as the Red Astrachan, but there is a way to 

 dispose of the surplus — that is, they can be made into jelly. 

 These apples are, by all odds, preferable to any of the crabs 

 for this purpose, and make one of the very best of all sour jel- 

 lies. It is an advantage, too, that the choicest fruit is not 

 required for this preserve. 



The wild gooseberry is not generally known to be of any 

 special value except for marmalade. It does, however, make 

 a jelly far preferable to that made of cultivated sorts. The 



