ii5 



QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



2727. Prevention of Plum-Rot. — The rot is a fun- 

 gous disease, attacking plums, peaches, etc., and can 

 best be prevented by giving the proper soil, manure and 

 cultivation, and by thinning the fruit to prevent over- 

 beari.ig. All specimens showing the least sign of rot 

 should be gathered and destroyed at once to prevent the 

 spread of the disease. Spraying the fruit with the am- 

 moniacal solution of copper carbonate will undoubtedly 

 tend to check the disease also. 



2724. Pruit-TreesforMissouri.— Samuel Miller recom- 

 mends the following list, viz.: Apples (mostly for winter). 

 — Ben Davis, Winesap, Jonathan, Jennetting,Yellow|Bell- 

 flower. Willow Twig, Clayton, Missouri Pippin, Newton 

 Pippin. Pd-ari.— Doyenne d'Ete, GifFord, Osband's 

 Summer, Bloodgood, Clapp's Favorite, Sheldon, Seckel, 

 Bartlett, BufTum, White Doyenne, Howell, Duchesse 

 d'Anjou. If wanted to come into being early, plant 

 dwarfs. Plums.— V<i\\A Goose, De Soto, Lombard, 

 Weaver, Imperial Gage, German Prune and Damson. 

 Cherries. — Bowman's May, May Duke, Elton, Reine 

 Hortense, Gov. Wood, Napoleon, Early Richmond, Eng- 

 lish Morello, Late Duke. Peaches. — A few Alexander, 

 Hale's Early, Early Beatrice, Early Rivers, Baltimore 

 Beauty, Royal George, Foster, Stump the World, Old 

 Mixon Cling and Free, Crawford's Late, Wonderful, 

 Picquett's Late, Heath Cling, Park's Late, and for latest 

 of all Nix Cling. 



2669. Pears for Louisiana.— The varieties of pears 

 mentioned in the query will thrive vigorously in the lati- 

 tude stated. Le Conte and Kieffer should be added to the 

 Hst.— H. W. Smith, La. 



2666. Strong- Growth in Roses. The most success- 

 ful treatment of roses I have ever seen was in the 

 grounds of G. W. Tressy, of this place, who is an enthu- 

 siastic admirer of fine flowers, and spares no pains nor 

 expense to produce them. He keeps a horse and cow, 

 and his barn is built into a bank so that the liquid 

 manures and the water from the roof settle in a low 

 place under it, and as early as the roses need water in 

 spring he applies a pailful of this liquid to each plant, 

 and three or four times at intervals during the season, 

 with the result of a rank growth and abundant bloom. 

 The plants used in this case were such as are popularly 

 known as " tree-roses," that is, they were grafted two 

 or three feet from the ground ; but Mr. Tressy says this 

 class of roses are not generally proving very durable, 

 for the reason that it is natural for a rose to renew itself 

 by throwing up new shoots from the ground, and as 

 the top-grafting precludes this, when the stems get old 

 and hard, a large portion of them fail. — Wm. F. B. 



2620. Raising Lily-Bulbs. Lily-bulbs may be in- 

 creased by seeds, which should be sown as soon as ripe 

 in light sandy soil ; but all lilies do not come true to 

 seed. Small bulbs, or bulblets, form on the old or 

 mother bulbs; these may be detached and planted in 

 beds in the open ground, or in flats or seed-pans in the 

 house. The plant can also be increased by bulb-scales, 

 which are removed from the parent bulb ; ten or twenty 

 may be removed from the outer rows of a single bulb 

 without apparent injury. These scales are planted in 

 light, well-drained soil, large end downward and deep 

 enough to be even with the surface of the ground. The 

 best time to commence operations is February or March 



in the greenhouse, planting the scales in flats or seed- 

 pans and keeping them in a temperature of from 55° to 

 65°, and in moist but not wet soil. In from six to eight 

 weeks small bulbels will be found at the base of the scales. 

 In May the flats or pans should be plunged in the open 

 ground even with the surface, keeping them free from 

 weeds, and on the approach of freezing weather they 

 should receive a generous covering of leaves or straw. 

 By this method blooming bulbs can be grown in two or 

 three years, if the scales are not planted too close. 

 Some lilies divide themselves into two or more parts. 

 These parts may be carefully separated and treated the 

 same as the original bulb.— Theodore Jennings, 

 Westchester Co., N. Y. 



2759. The Hardy Orange as a Hedge Plant. 

 Citrus Irifoliata, when used for hedging purposes, 

 should be planted in a single row about eighteen to 

 twenty inches apart. The plants will need very little 

 pruning, as the growth is naturally dwarf and dense. 

 They have a habit of throwing up strong erect shoots 

 late in summer, which continue to grow until checked 

 by hard frosts. These strong growths should be cutback 

 to a uniform height in the late fall, so as to induce a 

 strong break below in spring. Supposing that one-year 

 seedlings are used for planting, I should let them grow 

 untouched until late in November, or after they have 

 dropped|theirIeaves, as, unlike most oranges, thisspecies 

 is deciduous. I would cut them back to a uniform 

 height of one foot. The next season let them gain an- 

 other foot in height, and so on until they are four feet 

 high. Each season clip the sides slightly, as may be 

 needed, to preserve a broad base and narrow top to the 

 hedge; but little pruning will be needed, however, in 

 this direction, unless a perfect outline is desired; for 

 the plant makes such a dense growth, by merely head- 

 ing down the lategrowth annually, that it soon becomes 

 a defensive hedge of the most perfect description, even 

 when planted wider apart than I have named. I con- 

 sider this orange the most perfect hedge plant yet found 

 for all parts of the country. It is provided with long 

 spines of the sharpest and most persistent character, in 

 comparison with which the thorns on the osage-orange 

 are mere prickles. Then, too, it will make one of the most 

 ornamental of hedges, giving a great profusion of sweet 

 orange-blossoms in spring, and lots of little sour 

 oranges in October. Its roots will not ramble all over 

 the land and sucker as the Madura does, and if you 

 want to get rid of it you can do so at once. But woe to 

 the man who digs up an osage-orange hedge. The more 

 he grubs the wider it gets, usually. No one need have 

 the least doubt as to the perfect hardiness of the Citrus 

 trifuliaia, at least anywhere south of Albany, N. Y., 

 and perhaps further north. The only trouble yet is the 

 cost of the seed. There are not enough bearing plants 

 in the country to aflTect the seed-market, and the seed 

 must still be gotten from Japan. I feel sure that if some 

 of our nurserymen would get up a stock of this plant at 

 reasonable prices, a brisk demand would soon be cre- 

 ated for the plants, for I believe that for all parts of our 

 country it combines more of the desirable qualities of a 

 perfect hedge plant than anything I know of. I do not 

 know the prices at which plants are held. Nurserymen 

 who have them should advertise them. — W. F. Massey. 



