March ii, 1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



ii5 



on account of the sharp-pointed segments of the foliage. Four 

 years ago a single plant was received and carefully nursed in- 

 doors until early summer, when it was planted out with other 

 things, but with the first heavy rains it rotted off at the ground- 

 level, and therefore it is to be presumed that until of good size 

 the Aciphyllas would need to be grown in-doors. If this could 

 help them to become established, it is worth trying, as theirsin- 

 gular appearance when in flower gives them unusual interest. 



Delphi7iium Zalil when introduced created considerable in- 

 terest on account of its being the first yellow-flowered species 

 of Larkspur cultivation. We are now offered another species 

 with yellow flowers in D. Przcwalskyanum. (The secret of 

 pronouncing this apparently impossible name is said to be the 

 insertion of an "i" between its first two consonants.) This 

 species, unlike D. Zalil, is a true perennial, perfectly hardy, 

 and a native of central Asia. 



Another remarkable plant, not new, but now first offered, is 

 the beautiful Mexican Thistle, Erythrolcena conspicua. True, it 

 is only a Thistle, but, judging from the descriptions and figures 

 received, it must possess unusual merit. We are told that it is 

 a biennial plant, but that when treated liberally it grows four to 

 six feet high, much branched, with large foliage crowned with 

 flower-heads of a bright orange-carmine color. Our seed was 

 sown at the commencement of the year, and they are now 

 strong plants, and grow rapidly. In the warmer states this 

 plant would be a conspicuous one for ornamental gardening, 

 but here it would have to be protected in winter the first year, 

 and this detracts somewhat from its value. 



We are indebted to Mr. William Thompson, of Ipswich, Eng- 

 land, for the reintroduction of Coreopsis grandiflor a, of Nuttall, 

 and though this very plant has been distributed here as C. lanceo- 

 lata in almost every state, still its identity had not been de- 

 termined. It has been the subject of note in previous numbers 

 of Garden and Forest, that there were two plants called 

 Coreopsis lanceolata in cultivation here, the one vastly superior 

 to the other, and now the better one will be known as C. 

 grandiflor a. It may be distinguished by the larger and 

 brighter flower-heads and by the deeply pinnatifid leaves, the 

 terminal lobe being much the largest. This, the true C.gran- 

 diflora, has a large tuft of what would be evergreen foliage in 

 a milder climate than ours, but here it usually gets badly dis- 

 figured, although the heart of the plant winters out safely. 

 Those who possess C. lanceolata would do well to examine 

 their plants, and if they are correctly named, to get C. grandi- 

 flora, for both are admissible into even the most select collec- 

 tions, and considerable difference will be found in the duration 

 of the flowering season of the two plants. It has been stated 

 that Coreopsis lanceolata ripens seed sparingly in some seasons; 

 this may be true, but I am very sure that Goldfinches find the 

 seed the most palatable food they can obtain in its season, as 

 I once discovered when trying to save a quantity of seed. 

 They did not wait for it to ripen, but seemed to prefer it when 

 approaching maturity, and perhaps it has been through the 

 agency of Goldfinches that the Coreopsis is so often met with 

 as an escape from cultivation in places where it could not 

 otherwise have been found. Seedlings of C. grandiflora, if 

 raised early and planted out in good soil, will flower nicely by 

 the end of summer, and will make a fine display the following 

 season. 



South Lancaster, Mass. E. O. Orpet. 



Notes from Cornell University. 



Substitutes for glass of various kinds in forcing-houses 

 are from time to time referred to in horticultural journals, but 

 their relative efficiency does not appear to be fully settled. 

 Some trials of these substitutes are now being made at the 

 experiment station here. A section of the forcing-houses 

 recently built was first covered with a strong white oiled 

 paper. A short experience with this material, during several 

 snow-storms and the subsequent freezing and thawing aided 

 by the wind, was sufficient to show its inefficiency, and a cloth 

 covering was substituted for it. The latter is cotton-sheeting 

 of medium quality, costing $2.50 for the 350 square feet cov- 

 ered, and it was thoroughly oiled with raw linseed oil, both to 

 make it more durable and more translucent. It was put on, 

 and the first coat of oil (about three gallons) applied, by two 

 men in a day ; a second coat, requiring another gallon of oil, 

 being added a week later. 



This covering seems to accomplish all that was expected of 

 it. It apparently retains the heat as well as the ordinary glass 

 roof. More exact investigations, however, are to be made, 

 both as to the loss of heat in this and in the glass houses. 



Although, of course, a considerable portion of the light is 

 cut off, the oiled cloth admits a larger amount than would be 

 expected, and it seems from present experience that a forcing- 



house built in this manner, on account of its cheapness and 

 ease of construction, would be of practical value for the propa- 

 gation of many kinds of plants, and, perhaps, even for the 

 forcing of Lettuce and some other crops. 



Further experiments will be undertaken to decide these 

 questions. 



Electric Light in Horticulture. — Experiments with the 

 electric light are showing some very interesting results this 

 winter. One of the forcing-houses is divided by a tight board 

 partition across the centre. Upon one side of this partition 

 are growing a variety of plants with an electric light suspended 

 from the roof in the midst of them. Upon the other side is 

 a corresponding set of plants of the same varieties, growing 

 under conditions as nearly like the first as it is possible to ob- 

 tain, except that the artificial light is carefully excluded. The 

 light has been in operation about six weeks for five to six hours 

 each evening, except on moonlight nights, when it has run for 

 about two hours. 



The difference in growth in the two sections of the house 

 has been very striking with some kinds of plants, especially in 

 the case of Petunias and Lettuce. While in the lighted half of 

 the house the Lettuce crop is now large enough to market, the 

 average size and weight of the plants in the opposite section 

 are but little more than half as great. 



The effect upon flowers is also very marked. While the 

 plants of Petunia, Verbena, etc., develop much more rapidly 

 under the light, the flowers when opened last only half 

 to two-thirds as long as in the unlighted section, and begin to 

 bleach and fade very soon after opening. 



The flowers in nearly every case turn toward the electric 

 light, and the plants also show a similar tendency. In the 

 winter of 1889-90, when the electric light ran continuously 

 throughout the night, this bending of the plants toward the 

 light was very much more marked. From all sides they 

 reached out their slender branches toward one point, seeming 

 to make an almost conscious appeal for more light. The 

 whole subject is worthy of further investigation, and the ex- 

 periments are to be continued with varied conditions. 



While it is easy to draw hasty conclusions from a few experi- 

 ments, it does not seem visionary to think it possible that in 

 the not distant future the electric light may become an im- 

 portant adjunct in our large forcing-houses, especially when 

 we consider that, as our present experience seems to show, a 

 crop of Lettuce can be matured ten days or two weeks earlier 

 bv its use. 



Ithaca, N. Y. C. W. MatheWS, 



Orchid Notes. ■ 

 ANGR/ECUM sesquipedale. — This species is superior to any 

 other Angrascum, and it must certainly be ranked among the 

 most interesting of all Orchids. The plant was known to 

 European botanists as early as 1822, but it was not until 1857 

 that it was first brought to England in a living state from Mada- 

 gascar, its native country, by the Rev. William Ellis, whose 

 explorations of this island resulted in the discovery of more 

 than one remarkable plant. A. sesquipedale flowered with 

 Mr. Ellis at Hoddesdon, Herts, during the year of its introduc- 

 tion. It created quite a sensation at that time ; but this is not 

 to be wondered at, for in addition to the peculiar formation of 

 the flowers, which has always been a matter of interest to 

 botanists, their beauty has never failed to call forth the ad- 

 miration of every one. The stem of the plant is erect and 

 thickly clad with arching, oblong leaves, about two feet long, 

 notched at the apex, dark green, and arranged in two opposite 

 rows. The axillary peduncles bear from one to four star- 

 shaped, slightly fragrant, flowers of thick texture, and from six 

 to eight inches in diameter. The sepals and petals are broad 

 at the base and taper gradually to a point ; lip ovate-acuminate, 

 and elongated from twelve to eighteen inches at the base, thus 

 forming a remarkable, hollow, pendent spur. When the 

 flower first opens the parts are pale green ; they all turn to 

 creamy yellow except the spur, which retains the greenish 

 tint ; later they assume a waxy whiteness, which is maintained 

 for several weeks, and then they turn to rich yellow before 

 dropping. A specimen grown here presented a magnificent 

 appearance when in bloom last February. The stem of this 

 plant is but twelve inches in height, and it bears only a single, 

 one-year-old branch. But, notwithstanding its small size, 

 eleven full-sized flowers appeared at once on four peduncles. 

 To develop this free-flowering character A. sesquipedale should 

 be planted in a basket and suspended from the roof, close to 

 the glass, on the sunny side of a house, which is kept at a 

 stove temperature all the year. Growing Sphagnum, with 

 ample drainage, will be found most acceptable to the roots. 

 Although free access of light is essential at all seasons, vet, to 



