366 



BUDS. BLOSSOMS. FRUITS. 



rows of the weed now and then left in a strawberry 

 plantation, and pulled up at the proper time, would per- 

 haps capture nine-tenths of the beetles and destroy 

 nearly all their eggs. I am of the opinion that the young 

 grubs hatched from the eggs that might be left in the 

 ground after pulling the weed, would perish for want of 

 food as soon as hatched, being unable to reach any 

 other vegetation in ground kept clean. I often find them 

 in roots six or seven inches below the surface of the 

 ground. I shall examine cultivated sunflower-roots this 

 season. — C. L. Myers, Kansas. 



The Umbrella China-Tree. — (Page 136.) In the 

 spring of i8go, five trees of Melia Azcdaracli, from 24 

 to 30 inches high, were planted here in an open, exposed 

 place. They grew vigorously, and by October were very 

 pretty young trees, about five feet high. No protection 

 was given them through the winter, as we wished to test 

 their hardiness. The thermometer did not fall below 7° 

 above zero. After all other trees had put forth new 

 growth in the spring, these umbrella-China trees had not 

 shown a sign of life ; even the roots, which are very 

 fleshy and brittle, were lifeless. It is to be regretted 

 that they are not hardy at the north, for they are cer- 

 tainly handsome trees. — Harold Otter, Pcnnsyh'ania. 



Age of Nut-Trees to Fruit. — In Question and An- 

 swer No. 2782, you say that walnuts, pecans and 

 hickories must be 15 or 20 years old before one can ex- 

 pect them to bear well. Such is not the case here in the 

 gulf-coast country and in Louisiana. There are many 

 instances where trees have begun to bear when five, six 

 and seven years old. I know of trees in this town, from 

 nuts planted in 1876, that have borne a bushel of nuts at 

 ten years, and at 13 years two bushels, the yield in- 

 creasing with age. There are dozens of these trees, and 

 they are 12 inches in diameter. This means trees well 

 cared for. I would like you to insert this for the benefit 

 of planters. — John Keller, Ocean Springs. Miss. 



Forsyth ias from Seed. — I have raised many thou- 

 sands of forsythias from seed, in order to prove that there 

 is only one species in cultivation and was rather sur- 

 prised at your answer to a correspondent (Question and 

 Answer No 2828), in American Gardening for April. 

 There is a large group of seedlings at Dosoris, and all 

 raised from the seed of suspensa. Not one in ten re- 

 tains the varietal form, but nearly all have gone back to 

 the form of F. viridissima, the only species in cultiva- 

 tion. Seedlings from self-sown seed come up every year 

 under old plants in my garden, and I presume the same 

 thing occurs in other gardens. — A. S. Fuller, X . J. 



The Trilllums. — (Page 206.) In nearly the whole of 

 the hardwood region of Wisconsin, with which I am fa- 

 miliar, Trillium gvandijlorum carpets the woods. 

 Strangely enough, I never found but one variation. It 

 was a plant with four green leaves and a four-petaled 

 blossom, so robust in appearance that I noticed it 150 

 feet ofi. I dug it up and carried it in my pack for a 

 number of days, until I could mail it home, but it was 

 afterwards lost, presumably by being dug up. This was 



on a four week's trip, during which I walked through 

 townships ablaze with trilliums. My intention was to 

 raise seedlings from the trillium to isee whether the 

 sporting tendency would increase. A botanical friend 

 of mine once saw here a completely double trillium. It 

 had been picked by some one and then dropped in the 

 road so that he could not find the root. I have noticed 

 the tendency to color variation only in one locality — 

 over across the lake ; but the stripes and blotchings are 

 usually green. I have quite a number of these trilliums 

 growing in my garden and find this variation is constant. 

 I have encouraged the planting of trilliums in every way 

 and love them. — Chas. L. Mann, Wis. 



"Fragrance" inTrilliums. — In the article on 'The 

 Trilliums (page 206), it is said of T. ercchitn that it has 

 "no odor, which leaves much to be desired." As our 

 trillium is not yet in bloom (April 25), I cannot send a 

 specimen flower to show its odoriferous quality ; so to 

 refresh my memory I refer to Wood, who says of it : "A 

 conspicuous plant in woods ; of fine appearance, but of 

 an intolerable, offensive odor." If I remember rightly, 

 the offensive odor of this trillium is only surpassed by 

 that of Smila.x lierbacca, sometimes called carrion- 

 flower. Even the skunk-cabbage, 5}"«//ort"'/i«5 

 diis is more tolerable. — T. S. Gohl. 



[The copy for the article on trilliums, referred to, 

 shows that it was written " having an odor which leaves 

 much to be desired." — Editor.] 



Saving Manure for Hotbed Use. — (Page 151 ) In 

 his article on " How to make a Hotbed," Joseph Harris 

 fails to touch upon one important point, namely ; How 

 to keep manure for months in good condition for heating 

 the beds. Manure that has once fermented is nearly 

 worthless for hotbed purposes. Horse-manure, thrown 

 out in the usual way, becomes cold, wet and soggy ; the 

 the ammonia, which it contains while fresh, is completely 

 lost. For many years I have found the hog-pen of more 

 value to me as a place for storing and keeping my horse- 

 manure in good condition, than as a place for growing 

 and fattening hogs. We keep six or seven horses, which 

 are liberally bedded with straw. The manure from their 

 stalls is thrown every day into pens where there are 

 from 12 to 20 hogs. The hogs work the pile over, and 

 tread it down firmly and compactly, so that it is safe 

 from heating until thrown out for use. Then, if pulver- 

 ized, it will become red-hot in from 10 to 24 hours, and 

 is ready for use in a week's time or less — Eugene Mil- 

 lett, X. Y. 



Pole Lima Beans. — (Page 681, November.) One 

 pole lima " must not go " from my garden until I find a 

 better substitute for it than any that has yet appeared. 

 This is the Willow Leaf Lima or Sieva. I think this 

 bean will supersede Henderson Bush Lima, where large 

 crops of green or dried beans for market are desired. 

 Both these beans -"'.-c; either sports from our old Sieva, of 

 the south, or else Henderson's Bush Lima is a sport from 

 Willow Leaf. The pods of both beans are much alike ; 

 when green they are smooth and shed rain, when dry 



