

May, I 9 i i 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



231 



DO NOT neglect the thorough thinning of all vegetables that 

 require it, such as parsnips, salsify, etc. This is urgent. 



Keep the asparagus bed cut clean all the month, and give at 

 least one dressing of salt, applied just before or during a rain. 



Hints Keep the leeks well hilled if you want long, white 



for Growing stems. 



Crops When you commence to cut the Swiss chard, cut it 



right down to the ground. Do not remove any of the root, but 

 cut close above it. The oftener you cut this vegetable the better 

 the quality. 



Deep colored parsley for garnishing can be had by feeding with 

 liquid manure and plenty of soot. 



Keep the seed pods cut from the rhubarb plants; if you intend 

 cutting late the bed would be greatly improved by the application 

 of a mulch of manure now. 



If you want good quality potatoes, it is very important to keep 

 the ground well cultivated. Harrow with a smoothing harrow 

 until the rows appear, and the danger of breaking becomes too 

 great. Then cultivate often between the rows and set the culti- 

 vation to go deep. Do not hill up the potatoes until the plants 

 are in flower, and they must be sprayed frequently, to keep down 

 the potato bug, with arsenate of lead or paris green. 



If the weather becomes dry, a heavy mulch on the strawberry 

 bed will be beneficial; this also applies to the small fruit border 

 when it can be left on all summer. Do not forget to order baskets 

 for the strawberries, for you will very soon be picking berries. 



THE one big item still in the orchard is spraying; especially 

 for the apple scab and for the codling moth or apple worm. 

 Apples, pears and plums are inclined to be scabby and should 

 be sprayed with bordeaux mixture just as the buds begin 

 to open. This spraying is important but not 

 so much as the one which' follows. 

 Just as the petals fall from the trees, spray 

 each and every 

 fruit tree 

 with arsenate 

 of lead. This 

 is the most im- 

 portant spray- 

 ing of the sea- 

 son. It will 

 give fruit de- 

 void of worms. 

 Currants 

 and gooseber- 

 ries can be 



t 



I 



In the 

 Orchard 





A new hardy evergreen shrub, Virburnum 



rhitidophyllum. Flowers white; has 



proven hardy at Rochester, N. Y. 



sprayed as the fruit is setting, cov- 

 ering the foliage to kill the leaf 

 eaters which soon appear. Dothis 

 before the fruit is really formed 

 so that no poison gets on it. Be 

 sure to cover the undersides of 

 the leaves with the poison. 



The greenhouse owner will 

 find special advice on page 244. 



AN EVERGREEN SHRUB FROM CHINA 



N THE New England and Northeastern States a hardy ever- 

 green shrub with broad, conspicuous leaves is a most important 

 desideratum. At the present time there are scarcely any every- 

 green shrubs with large, handsome leaves, outside of the rhodo- 

 dendrons, that can be depended upon as hardy on account of our 

 severe winters and searing winds. 



The wrinkle-leaved viburnum (V. rhitidophyllum) from Western 

 China is a new, handsome, evergreen species with conspicuous 

 broad leaves that with us for several years has proven to be hardy. 

 It was introduced from China by E. H. Wilson into the nurseries 

 of James Veitch and Sons, London, England, in 1900. It was 

 first discovered in China by Dr. A. Henry, and brought to scientific 

 notice in 1888. 



The leaves are broadly lance-shaped, with entire edges, seven to 

 eight inches long, and from two and a quarter to two and three- 

 quarter inches broad; a deep, shining green above, with a conspicu- 

 ous wrinkled or rugose surface, and all the veins much impressed. 

 The lower surface is densely covered with grayish white tomentum, 

 which stands out in marked contrast to the upper surface. The 

 leaves are supported on stout, curving, round stalks covered with 

 short tomentum, and are about one and a quarter inches long. 

 The flowers, which are produced on terminal flower clusters, are 

 conspicuous in bud throughout the fall and winter, and blossom 

 about the end of May and the first of June. The white flowers 

 are not as showy as in many other viburnums. It has not 

 ripened fruit with us in Western New York. They are said 

 to be red and to ripen in September. The shoots grow from 

 six to twelve inches in a season. Small plants attain a 

 height of four feet in four years. 



Viburnum rhitidophyllum should be planted in a 



situation sheltered from the prevailing cold winds, 



and in a light, loamy well-drained soil. It is one of 



the most important of recent introductions to our 



gardens and parks, and, whilst it may not be 



particularly attractive in flower, it is most 



unique and distinct in its leaf characters. We 



know of no other evergreen shrub comparable 



to it that will stand the rigors of our winters. 



New York. John Dunbar. 



NEW HARDY PRIMULAS 



' N THE Chinese Alps there are said to be no less 

 than two hundred species of primula that are 

 known to herbariums but are not in cultivation. 

 It is from this embarrassingly rich field — probably 

 the world's greatest horticultural reserve — that have 

 come to western gardens in recent years some singu- 

 larly beautiful new species of one of the most attractive 

 of hardy spring flowers. 



Four species stand out with marked prominence. 

 Of these Primula Littoniana, though by no means the 

 most beautiful, has an altogether unique character that 

 is bound to carry it into a permanent place in the heart 

 of the primrose lover. The small lilac blossoms, as 

 well as the narrow leaves, are somewhat like those of 

 P. denticulata, but here resemblance ceases. Instead 

 of the usual primula umbel, the scape terminates in a 

 long flower spike, set thickly with bloom. The calyce? 

 are a rich maroon and the remarkable effect comes 

 when these form a point above a sort of ruff of the 

 lilac blossoms. Small wonder that it fairly dazzled 

 George Forrest, the collector, when he found it massed 

 naturally in the high mountains of China. There the 

 flower stalks sometimes rise to a height of two and a 

 half feet. 



