A FLOWER-GARDEN IN THE GULF STATES. 



63 



cord. The first never seemed to get very ripe ; the 

 second never was sweet ; and the last was a long-jointed 

 and partly disappointing affair, but, on the whole, prom- 

 ising enough to make a slight venture on. Since then 

 "the hunt for a perfect grape has gone on ; and now my 

 nurseryman has go different sorts for sale, and half of 

 ^hem have been tried here. While we grape-men have 

 been testing, tasting and talking to one another about 

 ■our novelties, the democracy of grape-growers have 

 planted and sold Concords till they have filled the mar- 

 ket with cheap grapes and educated the public taste. 

 The Worden seems to have stolen in at a side entrance, 

 ■with the suspicion of being nothing but a Concord under 

 a new name. The number of people who demand 

 "large black grapes" is beginning to be noteworthy, 

 and I always suspect such folks of being really in search 

 of Concords without knowing it. 



My market for grapes has been revolutionized within 

 four or five years. Previous to that time I could ask 

 ■more for red and white grapes than for black, and get 

 it, too ; now they have to take the price of black ones, 

 ■and stand back till they are called for. This has been 

 -true even of Delaware and Niagara. I was saying to 

 myself, " Go slow in the matter of white grapes"; and 

 now American Gardening has said the same thing to 

 everybody. You may well say that, when a Concord- 

 grower is delighted to sell a better grape than the Niag- 

 ara for ten cents per 5-pound basket wholesale. 



I had five tons of grapes last year, and while that 

 amount of Concords might have been grown on a much 

 smaller yard than this, I am sure that I am much better 



off for my greater spread and variety. A man with a 

 market ought to have fruit early and late, and it should 

 be of the three colors — red, white and blue, or purple, 

 green and black, as some people name them--and the 

 quantity of each should be, some red, a little white, and 

 a good deal of blue Wordens for this place. I begin 

 with Hartford Prolific, Wyoming Red and Lady ; next 

 come Worden, Brighton and Diamond, and last. Con- 

 cord, Agawam and Niagara. You may think Niagara as 

 early as Diamond, but it is a mistake to cut it as soon as 

 people will begin to take it. Lady is really a very un- 

 satisfactory white grape. It is irregular in bearing, it 

 cracks badly, and you lose on it whether you cut it early 

 to save waste, or later to insure sweetness. I am in- 

 clined to try Green Mountain for an early white. A 

 good black grape is very much wanted to take the place of 

 that wasteful Hartford Prolific. Who will develop it ? 

 If there were any way to make Moore's Early a heavy 

 cropper, the Prolific might go. Brighton clogs the ap- 

 petite after a while, and I don't see much use for large 

 black sorts ripening with Worden and Concord. 



Grapes were abundant, perfectly healthy and delight- 

 ful in quality, each according to its sort. I must except 

 Norfolk, a large red sort that shriveled while I was 

 waiting for it to become ripe, and was harsh and unde- 

 sirable. Whether my two applications of Bordeaux 

 mixture were of any use that very, very dry season, I 

 cannot say. They did not prevent the blight or rust 

 which affects the Manchester strawberry. 



Madison County , N. Y. Alfred Barron. 



A FLOWER-GARDEN IN THE GULF STATES. 



easily-grown flowering plants for different soils. 



lOME timid souls here, weary of 

 profitless labor, have given up 

 flowers " because it is no use to 

 try to raise them, " or "the books 

 are all wrong," or else folks fail 

 to understand them. 



The books are all right for the 

 north, east and west, but they who 

 live in the south need special direc- 

 tions. Those who live north of the 

 Gulf States will find most of the cultural directions in 

 American Gardening perfectly practical ; but flower- 

 growing in the Gulf States is almost a distinct art. We 

 have, generally speaking, three kinds of soils, the sandy, 

 which predominates, the clayey and the mucky. There 

 are spots of rich hammock, where the thrice-blessed 

 owner can have everything he wants, provided he works 

 for it. Every root must be eradicated before the lighter 

 filaments of shrub and flower enter the ground, or the 

 latter will soon be overrun by the coarser sorts. Then 

 mingle a few fine decorative trees with the smaller 

 growths, taking care that the garden be not too shady. 



A striped oleander, white and pink, the Japanese 

 hybrid catalpa, the golden-leaved poplar, the camphor 

 tree, a magnificent evergreen, perectly hardy here, a 

 Himalayan fir (Adies Sniitkiana) and the royal palm 

 will all flourish in this soil and afford sufficient shade 

 for a hundred square feet of garden. 



The Bourbon, Bengal and Banksia roses will be found 

 most successful, and among them are three grand Mal- 

 maisons, which any florist will furnish ; these are the 

 climbing hermosa, the old agrippina, always to be relied 

 on, and the monthly Cabbage, a good old sort discarded 

 for newer and often inferior sorts. Take any of the 

 polyanthas and certain teas, as the Bride, Catherine 

 Mermet, Meteor, Captain Cook, Waban, Mme. Martha 

 du Bourg and Jeanne Guillaumez. 



Plant jasmines if you have none. Cape jasmines 

 should be set back, but not out of sight, just so that the 

 fading blooms may have the enchantment distance 

 lends. A weeping willow is ornamental and suited to 

 the soil. Where hardy vines are needed, use Clematis 

 Jackmanni, deep violet-purple ; Duchess of Edinburgh, 

 white, and Beauty of Worcester, a violet-blue, bearing 



