84 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



the branches or pieces of sod. Then cover with 

 dry earth, or, if you have enough of them, dead 

 leaves. If soil is used, cover to depth of five 

 or six inches. If leaves, to the depth of a foot. 

 Put wire netting over the leaves to prevent 

 their being blown away. It is also well to cover 

 Avith boards to shed rain. Put them on in V- 

 shaped or roof fashion. 



Eoses Failing to Mature.— {Mrs. A. V. R.) 

 You say that your Roses are planted in a loose 

 soil. That is not what they need. All Roses 

 like a rather heavy, firm soil — one containing 

 considerable clay. I have seen Roses in pots 

 in a loose soil just live along from year to year, 

 never blooming, and seldom making any 

 growth. These same plants, when put in heavier 

 soil, packed firmly about their roots, soon began 

 to grow vigorously, and were very satisfactory. 



Best Monthly Bases.— (I. T.) The very best 

 sorts for the amateur to begin with are Agrip- 

 pina, dark crimson; Queen's Scarlet, Hermosa, 

 bright rose, and Clothilde Soupert, of the Poly- 

 antha class, soft, delicate pink fading into 

 almost clear white. Mareehal Mel is extremely 

 beautiful, but it is so shy a bloomer that it is 

 not now grown to any great extent. The am- 

 ateur can not expect to succeed with it, except 

 at the South, where it is perfectly hardy. 



Begonias for Name. — (Address of sender lost.) 

 The correspondent who sent thre^ varieties of 

 Begonia for name is informed that her speci- 

 mens had been so crushed in the mails that 

 there was little left of them save a mass of dried 

 pulp. If she will try again, and place each 

 specimen between pasteboard, I shall be pleased 

 to name her plants for her, if I am familiar 

 with them. 



Grapevines vs. Sliruhhery.— (Mis. C. K. H.) 

 Your question ought to have been asked of a 

 lawyer. I can not say whether a Grapevine 

 would be considered a Lhrub, in point of law, 

 or not, but if you sold your place with the un- 

 derstanding that no shrubbery was to be re- 

 moved, I presume you would be enjoined from 

 removing Grapes or any other kind of small 

 fruit. 



Asparagus Sprengeri.— {Mrs. C. L, W.) The 

 specimen you send — which is an Asparagus, and 

 not a Fern— is badly infested with scale. Get 

 some Fir-tree oil soap and make a strong suds 

 with it. Apply this to the plant with a stiff * 

 brush, rubbing quite forcibly to remove as 

 many scale as possible. It might be well to 

 cut off the old, badly infested shoots. 



Trouble With Geraniums.— (Mrs. J. R. J.) 

 The leaves sent show the effect of fungus. The 



only remedy for the disease, so far as my knowl- 

 edge goes, is Bordeaux mixture, or Copperdine, 

 which is a substitute for the "mixture," and. may 

 be procured of such firms as sell insecticides 

 and other articles needed by the plant grower. 



Eoses Failing.— (Mrs. H. H. G.) Give your 

 plants a rather heavy clay soil, and manure it 

 heavily each season with old manure from the 

 cow yard. If any of the bushes seem weak 

 thin them out. Cut away the old wood, in fact 

 remove at least a third of it and allow only 

 the strongest branches to remain. 



Specimen for Name.— (C. W.) The leaves 

 sent are not Petunia leaves, but those of the 

 common Ragweed— one of our worst nuisances, 

 notwithstanding the pretty shape and Fern- 

 like appearance of them while the plant is 

 small. You will do well to get rid of them 

 as soon as possible. 



Geraniums for Winter Flowering.— (Y. S. A.) 

 I would advise p>utting Geraniums out-of-doors 

 during the summer, but I would not advise turn- 

 ing them out of their pots. A plant in a pot is 

 always much more easily controlled than one 

 shifted from pot to open ground and back to 

 the pot in fall. 



Lice on Boses.— (W.) I use the Ivory soap 

 solution which has often been recommended in 

 this department — one-fourth pound, melted and 

 added to a pailful of water. Spray it all over 

 the bushes, and begin the use of it early in 

 the season, before the insects put in their 

 appearance. 



Fertilizers for Boses.— (1. M. W.) Ashes are 

 often of great benefit when worked into the 

 soil about Roses. I consider bone meal about 

 as good as anything that can be used for this 

 purpose, though old, well-rotted cow manure is 

 excellent. You can hardly use too much of the 

 latter. 



Mildeiv.— (Mrs. B.) The specimen of Rose 

 sent shows a bad attack of mildew. Remedy, 

 sulphur sprinkled over the bush while damp. If 

 the plant stands where exposed to drafts and 

 cold winds you should either give it protection 

 from them or remove it to a more sheltered 

 place. 



Clematis.— (A. G. L.) Clematis paniculata 

 is not C. Virginiana, or "Virgin's Bower." C. 

 pan. is a late flowering sort, very sweet, and with 

 flowers having much wider petals than those 

 of the other variety, therefore it is much more 

 effective and more desirable in every way. 



Flower for Name.— (Mrs. M. K.) I do not 

 know the flower sent. If it appeared in your 



