136 
Results from Forcing Crocuses 
|? HAS been my experience that no time 
is gained, while much in the way of 
results may be lost, by attempting to force 
crocuses which have had less than ten weeks 
for root development. 
On October 16th I potted crocus bulbs 
of the following varieties: Baron Bruno 
(blue), Mont Blanc (white), Sir Walter Scott 
(striped blue and white), and Giant Yellow. 
I buried the pots and left the bulbs to make 
roots, bringing in for forcing some of each 
variety after intervals of six, eight, and ten 
weeks. 
The ten-weeks lot was in bloom before any 
of the others and seemed to force perfectly, 
thus admirably demonstrating the importance 
of securing a good root development before 
attempting to force. 
Of the eight-weeks lot, the Giant Yellow 
produced a large growth of leaves but no 
blossoms. On the other hand, Mont Blanc 
produced almost a normal crop of blossoms 
but these had shorter stems and tubes than 
normal and some of them were deformed. 
Sir Walter Scott produced only a few 
blossoms, while a single bulb of Baron Bruno 
sent up a couple of small deformed blooms. 
None of the six-weeks lot made a normal 
growth of leaves. Mont Blanc bloomed 
freely but was even more dwarfed than in the 
Baron von Bruno Crocus produces the largest 
flowers but is the least profuse 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
eight-weeks lot. Sir Walter Scott produced a 
few blooms; the other varieties were complete 
failures. 
As to varieties, all appeared to force equally 
well, but the Giant Yellow was in bloom 
first. It seems to me that this crocus might 
more properly be called Prolific Yellow, as 
it is a very free bloomer, while with me the 
blossoms were rather smaller than those of 
the other varieties. Mont Blanc and Sir 
Walter Scott are also free-flowering varieties. 
Baron Bruno produced fewer blossoms to 
the bulb but made up in for this lack in 
quantity by the size of flower. 
Washington, D.C. 
W. J. Youne. 
Protecting Roses from Winter 
Cold 
HE intense cold of the winters in this 
part of the country is often very trying 
to plants, and particularly to rose bushes. 
In order to have bushes through -the 
past winter without injury, last October 
I had several wheelbarrow loads of earth 
brought in from the land where corn fodder 
had been grown, and after the bushes had 
been well dressed with rotted cow manure, 
I heaped this earth around the roots as one 
would hill up potatoes. There was com- 
paratively little snow during the winter, and 
with the exception of Killarney, which was | 
not on its own roots, my bushes came through 
unharmed. 
The following spring, the ashes from a 
big bonfire were sifted and after they had — 
been slightly moistened by rain, were spread 
around the bushes with a small hoe. The 
soil was kept stirred and after the bushes 
were in bud, liquid cow manure, diluted to 
one-fourth its full strength, was used. 
Chimney soot was also spread around the 
bushes. Later applications of hellebore 
for thrips and slugs, and kerosene emulsion 
for aphis, proved beneficial to the plants. 
New Hampshire. Harriet E. TILTon. 
Propagating Roses at Home 
M* FIRST attempt at raising roses from 
cuttings was made last fall and it was 
very successful. In October I hada bed made 
in the usual way, i.e., by digging out the soil 
to the depth of about eighteen inches and 
filling in first with about six inches of fresh 
manure and then with the earth that was 
taken out mixed with well-rotted manure. 
The soil is a medium loam and the exposure 
of the rose bed southeast. 
OcToBeER, 1908 
I got fifty cuttings of twenty varieties of 
roses, teas, hybrids, etc., being careful to 
have two or three buds ona cutting. These 
I stuck in the bed, leaving one bud well 
above ground. A common glass jar was 
placed firmly over each cutting and there it 
remained until the weather was warm and 
settled in May. In the late fall when other 
plants were mulched I had the jars sur- 
rounded with manure about halfway up. 
Out of the fifty cuttings not more than six 
failed to root and grow. They have grown 
wonderfully the past summer and many have 
produced fine blooms but it is best to keep 
the buds pinched off. Most of the bushes 
are now two feet high and as bushy, vigorous. 
roses as one could wish for. The Maman 
Cochet roses are the finest of the bed. I 
have cut handsome blooms from them and 
from the Safranos every few days. 
Clarke Co., Va. Anna K. Cummins. 
Success with Tree Peonies 
(Pas tree peony is a very valuable addition 
to the garden, flowering as it does in 
May and June right after the lilies. IL 
have had plants of tree peonies growing in 
my garden for twelve years on the north 
side of a high board fence and immediately 
underneath cherry trees. They well repay 
The flowers of the tree peonies are large, of lustrous, 
satiny surface, and in great range of colors 
by their profusion of bloom and beauty of 
flower the trouble that has been taken with 
them. 
Every fall I pile manure about one foot 
deep around the plants, and over that place 
dry leaves which are held in place by staves. 
taken from barrels. On top of these I put 
a board about two feet square which keeps 
the rain from the top of the plant. An air 
passage is made by running a stick through 
the leaves. 
The plants are left in this way until late 
in the spring and as the weather becomes. 
warmer, the leaves are taken away from the 
lower part of the plants the tops being left 
covered until all danger of frost is past. 
By removing the leaves from the lower part 
of the plant, a vigorous growth is induced, 
so that sometimes when the upper leaves are 
removed, it is found that the buds have 
formed. 
Ontario. A. DRUMMOND. 
