86 



PETER HENDERSON'S CATALOGUE. 



Our Gardens in Jersev Citv r W1 ^ °^ min " tes ; ime by 



" *■" s ~' y -'jr V^a l-jr Ferry Boat and Horse Cars, from our 

 Seed Stores, 35 & 37 Cortlandt Street, New York, where a card with plain directions of ',< How to reach the 

 Nursery " will be given to any one applying. 



Parties wishing to see Peter Henderson personally will find him at the Green-houses till 12 M., and at his office 

 in New York from 2 to 4 P. M. 



\A/ O ^^f^ ] N O I* I 1 1 i" 1 n 0"Q — Every season we are applied to for cuttings. We sell no 



V^ W «w 1 i gj 0» cuttings, long experience having shown us that the plan 

 is a bad one for both buyer and seller. When cuttings are packed they generate a damp that is almost certain to 

 destroy them before they would root ; and to us who sell it would really be more trouble to detach and pack cut- 

 cings than to send plants. See our Low Price Collections on last pages of this Catalogue. 



Treatment of Plants when Received.-™ 6 :^* 



mail, nearly all the soil is shaken off to lighten. If it is the season when they can be planted out-doors, the ground 

 should be first well dug up and pulverized ; the plants when set out should be well firmed about the roots, copiously 

 watered once only when planted, and shaded for two or three days when the sun is out. No further watering should 

 be done, but a mulch of moss, manure, or leaves around the roots would be beneficial. When received (by mail) at 

 a season when they cannot be put out, they should be placed at first in as small pots as possible, and sparingly 

 watered until they show signs of a new growth. If by express, the plants are usually in such condition as to require 

 a size larger pot than they have been growing in, but if the season is suitable, they are better planted out at once. 



<0^|| ■Ff^i/» j~*^/*\"H- 1 »-> rv is not of so much importance as is usually supposed. When practicable, 

 ^^ V«/ 1 1 1 \J I 1 \J L L 1 1 lg about three parts rotted sod from any good pasture land is best, to one 

 part rotted manure ; but when that cannot readily be obtained, the soil immediately underneath the sod, mixed with 

 manure, will answer. 



I"%i^^j 1 yt O O"^ — When plants are first potted, or are cramped in small pots, there is no necessity for 



Moss Mulching, 



drainage ; but as the practice with amateurs is almost universal to overpot plants, as a 

 measure of safety, from one to two inches of broken charcoal or potsherds should be placed in the bottom of all pots 

 over six inches in diameter, and what is even of more importance than this "crocking," so-called, is to have the 

 plants set on a rough surface of gravel or fine cinders, so that a free escape of water can take place. 



— This is a novel practice we began in 1880. It consists in mixing the 

 common moss of the swamps or woods with about one-twentieth 01 

 its bulk of bone dust. This is placed to the thickness of an inch or two on the top of the pot. Plants so treated 

 quickly show surprising health and vigor. It cannot be too highly recommended, whether for the amateur growing 

 a few window plants, the gardener with his full appointed green-houses, or the florist who grows to sell — to one and 

 all we advise it, as it not only lessens labor, saving a re-potting of plants frequently for twelve months, but the 

 vigor of growth and productiveness of flower and coloring of foliage are perfectly astonishing. The Moss Mulching 

 process should only be done in summer. If used in winter there is danger of the plants getting too damp. 

 InOOr'to —The insects that infest Green-house Plants are principally the Aphis or Green Fly, the Thrip, 

 1 I lOuLLO" the Red Spider, and the Mealy Bug. Tobacco, either in the form of snuff or in solution — 

 about the color of strong tea — or by smoke, by burning the refuse stems, in either way is quickly fatal to the green 

 fly, and will check, in part, the thrip. Either of the first two methods is most suitable for plants in rooms, but in 

 the green -house the smoke is most convenient, using about one pound of the stems to every 1,000 square feet of 

 glass, once a week or oftener. For Red Spider and Mealy Bug, Cole's Insect Destroyer, put on with a barber's 

 atomizer, is a certain remedy ; or they may be sponged off with weak soapsuds. 



Ml 1 i~l 0\ \ 7 —This great scourge of Roses under glass is easily checked by painting the hot-water pipes 

 1 1 \A t5 W ■ w jth a W ash of Sulphur once in two weeks; or when not firing or out of doors use our Mildew 

 Mixture. (See Index. ) 



Heat, Light, Air, and Moisture.-^Jr^ ZS2 



season at night should not exceed 55 , and it will do no harm if it occasionally falls to 45 , with from 15 to 20 

 higher in day-time. LIGHT should be given, whenever it can, directly on the plants from December to April; if it 

 cannot, as in Window culture, the next best thing to do is to turn the plants occasionally, so they get an equal share 

 on all sides. AIR, or VENTILATION, is guided by temperature to be kept, but should never be given so as to 

 blow directly on the plants. MOISTURE. — Plants should never be watered unless the soil indicates by its light- 

 ness of color that it is dry, and then they should be watered freely. This will be necessary two or three times a week 

 in clear weather in winter; in spring or summer, nearly every day. If a plant is sickly, or shows but little sign of 

 growth, the remedy is to withhold water, almost to the point of shriveling, until it shows indications of growth. 

 Avoid all fertilizers in such cases, and let Nature work out her own cure. 



