104 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 158. 



Society or the Horticultural Department of the State Agricul- 

 tural College. 



Within the limits of a single town in northern Vermont I 

 have in the last twenty-five years come upon three useful iron- 

 clad seedling winter Apples of the old strain, one of which 

 (Scott's Winter) has become a standard sort, advertised by 

 nearly all the great nurseries east and west. 



But, with all this, I would not discourage the growing of 

 seedlings. All of us can do a little in that way, and sometimes 

 a great success comes with very little effort. The late Mr. 

 Dudley, of Aroostook County, Maine, got from a few seeds of 

 Oldenburgh, planted in his garden, a large, handsome, pro- 

 ductive and very good winter apple of the type of its parent. 

 This experiment (as well as that of Mr. Gideon in producing 

 the Wealthy, and of Mr. Cady in producing the Northfield 

 Beauty of Vermont) has practically demonstrated the error of 

 the position taken by some writers that we cannot expect to 

 get winter varieties from seeds of summer and fall apples. 

 Undoubtedly much the larger number of seedlings will yield 

 early fruit. The proportion of early to long-keeping varieties 

 of apples the world over is very great, and naturally so, since 

 all the wild types are of that sort, and keeping apples are the 

 product of human perseverance in growing seedlings. 



What I particularly wish to urge, without discouraging the 

 propagation by seed, is a careful examination of the millions 

 of seedlings already in existence upon farms all over the con- 

 tinent. Unless one goes about among the farmers, especially 

 in what are called the " back towns," he will get very little idea 

 of the immense number of these seedling fruit-trees. Seed- 

 lings cost nothing, and many of our poorer farmers, discour- 

 aged by the costly and generally worthless trees sold them by 

 peddlers, plant none but seedling trees. The women of our 

 back farms are particularly noted for this. They find a special 

 interest in raising fruit-trees from seed, and thousands of them 

 are quietly proud of growing in this way apples that they fondly 

 believe are " better than any of your grafts." It is true that 

 they are not very good judges on this point, but sometimes 

 they will really surprise one with the excellence of the fruit of 

 some favorite tree, the child of their tender care and patience. 

 Few of these "fill the bill" entirely, yet we must remember 

 that all of our best fruits were once obscure seedlings, many 

 of them brought to notice only through what seemed a chap- 

 ter of accidents. 



Newport, Vt. 



T. H. Ho skins. 



Dieffenbachias. 



THIS very handsome genus of tropical Arads has now be- 

 come quite common in cultivation, several valuable addi- 

 tions having been made in recent years, though several of the 

 older species are also well worthy of more extended cultiva- 

 tion. It will, of course, be understood that these plants are 

 not to be recommended for house decoration, as the majority 

 of the Dieffenbachias would suffer from any long exposure to 

 such conditions, but in a collection of stove plants they are 

 remarkably attractive, and, being comparatively easy to grow, 

 may be commended to amateur cultivators as well as to pro- 

 fessionals. These plants prefer an open -mixture consisting 

 of nearly equal proportions of turfy loam and peat, a moderate 

 quantity of dry cow-manure and some sand, and when given 

 such a compost as this and a temperature of sixty-five to sev- 

 enty degrees, in a house pretty well shaded, the result is usu- 

 ally satisfactory. They also require liberal watering and 

 syringing when in full growth, so that red spider may not 

 get a foothold, for if this be allowed the beauty of the foliage 

 will soon be ruined. They are propagated by cuttings, which 

 may be made from the tops or from single eyes of the old 

 stem, the first being preferable if specimen plants are desired. 

 A strong top will make a better furnished plant than an eye- 

 cutting ; but if quantity is the object, of course the latter is 

 more desirable. 



Among the older species D. Baraqniniana is very desirable 

 when well grown. It has leaves about a foot in length and 

 from four to six inches wide, these being bright green with a 

 white midrib, and the surface of the leaf more or less spotted 

 with white. The leaf-stalks are also pure white, which adds 

 much to the beauty of the plant. D. Baraqniniana is one of 

 the oldest species in cultivation, having been introduced from 

 Brazil more than a quarter of a century ago. 



D. Bausei is also a fine variety, and much more dwarf and 

 compact in growth than the preceding. This is a garden 

 hybrid that originated in Europe perhaps fifteen years ago, 

 and has broad leaves that are frequently over a foot in length. 

 Their ground color is yellowish green, and this is blotched 

 with darker green and spotted with white. D. Bausei makes 



a charming little specimen, and is well adapted for cultivation 

 where there is not sufficient space at command to grow the 

 stronger kinds. 



D. ebnrnea is another small-growing species that is worth a 

 place. It has oblong-lanceolate leaves of light green color 

 and much spotted with white. The foot-stalks are pale brown 

 and somewhat marked with white, and the whole plant is 

 graceful and elegant. 



D. imperialis is one of the largest of the genus, and has very 

 dark green leaves that are blotched with yellow. These leaves 

 are two feet or more in length, rather stiff-looking, and they 

 have much substance. This species enjoys strong heat, and 

 is a remarkable plant when in good condition. 



D. Boiuniannii is also a strong grower, and, like the preced- 

 ing, is a native of America. This fine species produces leaves 

 about two feet in length and half that in width, the color being 

 deep green, more or less blotched with irregular markings of 

 very light green. D. Bowniannii was introduced about the 

 same time as D. Bausei, and, like it, makes a handsome speci- 

 men. 



D. Carderii is another attractive introduction of recent years. 

 It is of compact habit and moderate growth, the leaves being 

 dark green in ground color, but much marked with yellowish 

 variegation. It is a native Of Columbia. 



D. Regina is one of the most striking of the newer Dieffen- 

 bachias, the leaves being nearly covered with yellowish white 

 markings. It is of moderate growth, the stem being quite 

 short-jointed and the petioles also rather short, thus giving it a 

 compact habit. 



D. nobilis is another good sort, and it produces rather longer 

 leaves than the preceding. These are from eighteen inches to 

 two feet long and about nine inches broad, and much blotched 

 with white near the midrib. This species is quite strong in 

 growth, and, like so many other members of this genus, is a 

 native of Brazil. 



D. Weirii is one of the prettiest dwarf species, the leaves 

 being rather narrow and seldom more than one foot in length. 

 Their ground color is dark green, varied with spots and 

 blotches of yellowish green. .This is really a pretty little plant, 

 though but seldom seen of late years. 



In addition to the species here briefly noted there are several 

 others also worthy of general cultivation. The juice of the 

 Dieffenbachias is more or less poisonous, and is likely to irri- 

 tate any cut or sore on the hands to which it may be applied, 

 and it is well to exercise proper care in handling the cuttings 

 of these plants. 



Holmesburg, Pa. W. H. TaplUl. 



Brunsvigias. 



OF the several species of Brunsvigias I have cultivated but 

 two — B. Josephines and B. gigantea, commonly known as 

 B. multiflora. 



The bulbs of both species are very large ; that of my speci- 

 men of B. Josephinee is about twelve inches long and five 

 inches thick. Its color is blackish brown and its outer layers 

 are soft to the touch. During the twenty years I have owned 

 this bulb it has not increased in size as far as I can determine. 

 During this time it has been repotted not more than four times, 

 and for fifteen years has blossomed every year but one, it 

 having declined to do so in 1887. 



The treatment it has received has been as follows : It is 

 potted in a compost of rotted sods, a little leaf-mould and a lit- 

 tle sand in an eleven-inch pot. It passes the summer, from 

 June to September, under a tree, and laid on its side to keep it 

 dry. I do not generally begin to water it until the flower-stalk 

 begins to push, generally the first week in September. When 

 this occurs I place it in the greenhouse, and give it about a quart 

 of water every day until the short days come. From Novem- 

 ber 10th to March 1st, once in three days is often enough to 

 water it or any other bulb. The flower-stalk is ashy-purple, 

 about an inch thick, and so very brittle that last fall when I 

 lifted the pot suddenly it snapped off, and I had no flowers. If 

 no such mischance occurs the great umbel of blossoms will 

 be fully expanded in about two weeks from the time they be- 

 gin to appear. In number they vary from thirty to fifty, each 

 being at the end of a pedicel nine inches long, so that the en- 

 tire flower-head has a diameter of afoot and a half. The indi- 

 vidual blossoms are about three inches in length and two wide, 

 of a very elegant shape and of a brownish crimson color. The 

 whole plant is very striking and ornamental in appearance. 

 As in most Amaryllids, the leaves follow the flowers ; they 

 attain a length of two feet, with a breadth of five inches. 



During all these years no sign of an offset has appeared. 

 Seeds are formed in abundance ; they are as large as a small 



