440 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 186. 



perfect order, and at the right stage of its existence. That 

 stage is reached, in apples and pears, as soon as the seeds are 

 fully colored. Fruit designed for long keeping should be 

 gathered early in the day, or in cloudy weather. A barrel of 

 sun-heated apples, even if put at once into a cool cellar, has 

 lost greatly in keeping quality. If fruit must be gathered in 

 the heat of a sunny day let it be in baskets, which are to be 

 kept under airy cover until they are well cooled before they 

 are placed in the cellar. 



For the best results gathering and assorting ought to be 

 simultaneous ; but in a large orchard, when careful hands are 

 scarce, this is not possible, and the best alternative is a large 

 and airy sorting shed, where the work can be deliberately 

 done by skilled hands. I prefer round-bottomed half-bushel 

 baskets, with drop handles, for use in gathering and assorting. 

 It takes a good many of them in a busy time, but in the end 

 they are economical. They are easily handled, and will not 

 be slung around, as bushel baskets with side handles are sure 

 to be, to the great injury of their contents. The small baskets 

 can be put down into the barrel and emptied without bruising 

 their contents in the least. Hand-barrows for two men are 

 much better than wheel-barrows. A stone boat answers well 

 on smooth, level ground. 



As an evidence of the value of careful attention to all the 

 points above referred to, I may be allowed to say that our 

 chief winter apple in northern New England is the Wealthy. 

 Observing all these rules, I find that I have not the least diffi- 

 culty in keeping it firm, fresh and free from decay up to April, 

 while less careful neighbors (and growers generally) decry it 

 as merely a fall apple. By similar care the Gravenstein, grown 

 in southern Maine, is found in the Boston market all winter 

 in prime order. 

 Newport, vt. T. H. Hoskins. 



Dracaenas. 



THESE useful plants are generally easy to grow ; they often 

 have bright foliage, and all are graceful in habit. In a 

 majority of instances they are most satisfactory when grown 

 moderately warm, though some varieties do well in a cool 

 house. Moderately light soil is most suitable, but it should 

 be well enriched with some old manure, and the addition of 

 some bone-dust will be beneficial. 



They are readily multiplied by laying the canes in sand or 

 moss, or a combination of both, in a warm house, and young 

 plants will be produced from nearly every joint. For large 

 specimens it is best to root the top of an old plant by making 

 an incision in the stem, and then covering that portion with 

 moss in order to induce root-growth. By this means a speci- 

 men may be secured with large foliage close down to the pot. 



While most of the varieties and species of Dracaenas require 

 plenty of light at all times, yet it is better for many of the more 

 tender ones to have a slight shade during the summer, else 

 some of the foliage may be injured. During the past ten 

 years or so there have been many fine hybrids introduced, 

 but there are excellent varieties among the older ones, and as 

 these are more easily procured, they will be the ones chiefly 

 spoken of in these notes. 



Prominent among these older sorts is D. amabilis, which 

 has leaves nearly two feet long and from four to five inches 

 wide, the ground color bright green and the central leaves 

 suffused with creamy white and frequently tinted with pink. 

 D. Cooperii is another fine variety, which probably originated 

 from the well-known D. terminalis, as, in fact, have a large 

 number of good varieties. The leaves of D. Cooperii are, 

 however, much broader than those of D. terminalis and are 

 gracefully recurved, the color being reddish bronze, while the 

 young leaves are frequently bright red. 



D. Chelsoni is remarkably handsome when well grown, the 

 leaves being large, dark green, and marked with crimson. 



D.ferrea is another fine variety that has long been known 

 in gardens and is of rather upright habit, with leaves about 

 one foot long and purplish red in color. This variety and D. 

 terminalis are among the most satisfactory kinds, with colored 

 foliage for vases and other out-door decorations. 



D. gracilis is not often seen now, though well deserving of 

 a place in any collection. It is of slender habit, and the stem 

 is thickly clothed with narrow, dark green leaves, the latter 

 being edged with a narrow border of dull crimson. 



D. Dennisonii is a handsome dwarf variety, and has broad 

 purplish leaves that are about one foot long. The leaves of 

 this variety are closely arranged on the stem, and it makes a 

 very compact little specimen. 



D. magnifica is quite a contrast in size with the preceding, 

 the leaves of this variety being often eight to ten inches wide 



and two feet long; the color being pinkish bronze with darker 

 petioles. 



Still another fine one among the large growers is D. Moore- 

 ana, in size somewhat similar to the preceding, but much 

 darker in color. 



D. indivisa Veitchii and D. indivisa atropurpurea are two 

 decidedly ornamental forms of this popular species, and are 

 admirable for out-door planting or for conservatory decora- 

 tion. They both have the long and graceful leaves of the 

 type, but differ therefrom in color, D. Veitchii having a red- 

 dish midrib, and D. atropurpurea has a purplish flush about 

 the base of the leaves and a darker midrib than its companion. 



D. fragrans is still reckoned among the popular decorative 

 plants, its broad dark green leaves having a very pleasing 

 effect, while the two variegated forms of this species are both 

 worthy of cultivation, D. variegata having most of its creamy 

 yellow color about the margin, while that of D. Lindeni is 

 chiefly found in the central part of the leaves. 



It may be noted, too, that D. indivisa also has produced 

 variegated forms, that known as D. Douce tii being, perhaps, 

 the prettiest. 



D. umbraculifera is a somewhat unusual species, but makes 

 a fine specimen, the narrow leaves being very dark green and 

 glossy, and very closely arranged on the stem, from which 

 they diverge in umbrella form. 



This species is, however, rather difficult to increase, as it 

 makes a stem very slowly. 



Holmesburg, Pa. IV. H. Taplin. 



Notes on American Plants. 



Chelone Lyoni, one of the Turtle Heads, a native of the 

 southern states, is in flower the last of August. The plant is 

 rather stocky, about fifteen inches high, and bears, in long 

 succession, handsome rose-purple flowers an inch long. The 

 numerous leaves are oblong-ovate and very dark green. 



Sedum telephoides, from the same locality, is a useful plant 

 to cover rockwork, and will live almost on air alone. It 

 grows on dry rocks. Its height is about one foot, and the 

 thick, fleshy leaves, as well as the stems, have a purplish tinge. 

 The not very attractive flowers are borne in small cymes, 

 and are of a pale flesh-color. This species, with S. Telephium 

 (Common Live-for-ever), could be grown in places where few, 

 or no other, plants of their size would live. Their foliage 

 remains fresh the entire season, and the thick compound 

 cymes of purple flowers of the last are certainly quite 

 attractive. 



Our North American Gentians, of which there are said to be 

 fifty species and varieties, are for the most part worth culti- 

 vating. They do not transplant so well as most of our wild 

 flowers, but if the soil is light and moist they generally estab- 

 lish themselves by the second year. They are late-flowering 

 plants and come at the season when they are most needed. 



The Soapwort Gentian (G. saponaria) has proven with us a 

 good species for cultivation, and its pale blue flowers appear 

 at nearly the same season with those of the White Gentian 

 (G. alba), making a fitting companion to it. Both do well in 

 either sun or thin shade, in a light moist soil. 



G. linearis is found in swamps, and is a good species to 

 plant in artificial bogs, in not too wet or sunny portions, but 

 in partial shade and elevated, so as not to be wet. It likes a 

 peaty soil. It has simple, slender, leafy stems, often over two 

 feet high, terminating in three or more blue flowers an inch 

 or thereabout in length. 



Few of our wild flowers surpass the Fringed Gentian (G. 

 crinatd) in attractiveness, but, unfortunately, it is a biennial 

 and a difficult plant to grow. 



G. Amarella, var. acuta, is a boreal variety often onty six 

 inches high, with pale blue flowers half an inch long. We 

 have never attempted its cultivation, but, no doubt, it should 

 be treated as an alpine. 

 Charlotte, Vt. F. H. Horsford. 



Hybridizing the Sweet Pea. 



'T^HERE are several ways of producing new varieties of 

 *■ Sweet Peas besides hybridizing. Special strains may be 

 developed by selection. Old varieties may be increased in 

 size. Occasional sports will hold good from year to year. 

 The striped sorts have a way of ranging back and forth from 

 delicate markings, and even pure white, to solid colors. For 

 instance, the Senator, a noble flower in dark stripes, and of 

 the new, large form, has, with me, this year produced a solid 

 purple blossom, which, if it can be held, is an acquisition. 

 Since Eckford himself leaves many hybrids without a name, 



