THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



187 



Northern Spy, Pomme Gris, Porter, Roman 

 Stem, Stayman Winesap, Summer Pearmain, 

 Swazy, Tompkins King, Westfield, (Seek-no- 

 further), White Pearmain (White Winter 

 Pearmain), Yellow Bellflower, Yellow New- 

 town (Albemarle). 



Sweet Cherries: Bing, Centennial, Coe 

 (Transparent), Downer, Elton, Lambert, 

 Lewelling, Rockport, Spanish (Yellow), Tar- 

 tarian (Black). 



Sour Cherries: Brusseler Braune, Eu- 

 genie (Empress), May Duke. 



Peaches: Bergen (Yellow), Early Craw- 

 ford, Early York, Fitzgerald, Forrester, 

 Foster, Heath Cling, Honey, Late Admirable, 

 Late Crawford, Late Rareripe, Lemon Cling, 

 Lemon Free, Mary (Choice), Mountain 

 Rose, Muir, Oldmixon Free, Royal George, 

 Susquehanna, Triumph. 



Pears: Anjou, Bosc, Cornice, Dana 

 Hovey. Gray Doyenne, Heyst (Emile de), 

 Lucrative (Belle), Rostiezer, Seckel, Tyson, 

 Vermont (Beauty), White Doyenne, Winter 

 Nelis. 



Plums: Agen (Prune d', French Prune, 

 Petite), Bavay (Green Gage), Columbia, 

 Golden Prune, Green Gage, Hale, Imperial 

 Gage, Italian Prune, Jefferson, Kelsey, 

 McLaughlin, Purple Favorite, Rockford, 

 Surprise, Transparent (Gage), Willamette. 



Many of these varieties are grown only to 

 a limited extent, and almost entirely for 

 home use. This list may serve as a general 

 guide. If some of the varieties here men- 

 tioned thrive in your locality they should by 

 all means be given the preference over others 

 of poorer quality. 



The Pearl Achillea 



THE Pearl Achillea (Achillea Ptarmica,vax. 

 The Pearl), probably gives more satis- 

 faction than any other white-flowered hardy 

 perennial plant that blooms during its sea- 

 son. If you want bouquets you may cut 

 without stint. If you want a sombre spot 

 lighted up, it is just the thing. Its profusion 

 of little, full-double flowers, jostling one 

 another on the tall, stout stems, form a veri- 

 table snow bank from midsummer to mid- 

 autumn. If you love flowers, but have no 

 time to fuss with them and are therefore 

 looking for a plant that is perfectly hardy, 

 easy to propagate and cultivate, seek no 

 further. The Pearl is a pearl indeed. 



It does not insist that the soil be of some 

 special quality, very rich, or in prime con- 

 dition. It does not refuse to give a reasonable 

 handful of blossoms even when the around is 



261. Achillea, The Pearl, a hardy perennial, with 

 double white flowers half an inch across. It grows 

 a foot or two high, blooms all August and September, 

 and is good for cutting. It has roots liKe quack grass, 

 and will spread in waste places 



damp and cold and should be drained. 

 Weeds and neglect are impedimenta over 

 which it rises in triumph to shame the negli- 

 gent gardener — not you! But to have it at 

 its best, give it a dry moderately fertile soil, a 

 sunny situation and such ordinary care as you 

 give to perennial phloxes, bleeding-hearts 

 and larkspurs. You will not regret the 

 attention, being amply repaid by the greatly 

 increased vigor of growth. 



Nothing is easier to propagate. All you 

 need to do is to buy, beg or otherwise obtain 

 a clump from some neighbor in the spring. 

 Break this up into pieces containing a few 

 shoots with roots attached and plant these 

 smaller clumps in permanent quarters. In 

 a year or two they will have full possession 

 of the allotted space and you need only to 

 restrain them from encroaching upon the 

 preserves of other plants. Like quack grass, 

 the underground stems are long, white and 

 jointed and turn up at the tips to form aerial 

 stems. So if you cannot get an adequate 

 supply of plants make cuttings of the under- 

 ground parts, grow them in a greenhouse, a 

 hotbed, or even in the house like other com- 

 mon slips, and transplant them to the garden. 

 From then on they require only an occasional 

 weeding and stirring of the surface until they 

 occupy the ground. Could anything be 

 easier? m. G. Kains. 



New York. 



New Points in Raising Cardinal 

 Flowers 



Q. Why do I always fail to germinate 

 seeds of Lobelia cardinalis? A. C. 



Ontario. 



A . The chances are that the seeds sprouted 

 long before you expected them and that you 

 destroyed the minute seedlings thinking they 

 were weeds. The seeds usually germinate 



in six or seven days. That is the "secret" 

 of cardinal flower culture. 



Another reason why most people fail with 

 the cardinal flower is that the small plant 

 which they buy from the nurserymen usually 

 has no offsets and after flowering it dies 

 because it is a biennial. The right way is 

 to purchase at least a half-dozen plants, set in 

 a clump, and nurse any self-sown seedlings 

 which appear in August. Or gather seed as 

 soon as ripe and sow in a seed-bed prepared 

 by thoroughly fining the soil in a shaded part 

 of the border, where the soil does not dry out 

 entirely. Scatter the seed on the surface, 

 cover very lightly, water carefully and young 

 plants will be seen in seven days. Protect 

 the seed-bed by stakes or labels, or someone 

 will surely kill the plants. 



You can get cardinal flowers to bloom the 

 first year by starting them under cover in 

 March. Sow seeds in flats filled with a light 

 soil having plenty of sand and leaf mold, and 

 sprinkle daily with care. Prick off the young 

 seedlings into ether boxes or pots as soon 

 as they are large enough to lift, and set out 

 the young plants in the garden in May. 



262. The cardinal flower {Lobelia cardinalis), one 

 of the most famous American wild flowers. Many 

 people have tried to raise it from seed and have 

 failed. The " secret " of its culture is explained above 



The cardinal flower grows wild along 

 stream banks, but does equally well in deep 

 garden soil. 



Natural Aids Against the 

 Asparagus Beetle 



WE have kindly insects to help us in the 

 destruction of this pest. The lady- 

 bug, some snake-feeders, or dragon-flies, and 

 wasps, and the spined and bordered soldier- 

 bug — all these eat the larvae of this beetle. 

 Ducks and chickens are fond of them; 

 air-slacked lime dusted on the dew-wet 

 leaves destroys the pest; or the ends of the 

 branches where they congregate may be cut 

 and burned. The same remedies hold good 

 for the spotted beetle, but his favorite place 

 of hiding is in the berry, so these should be 

 cut and burned as fast as they form. 



