FRUIT AND GARDEN NOTES. 



Ml 



get the true Smyrna fig (if there is any such sort, for I 

 always get Angelique or White Genoa for it) and now I 

 will see what these seeds will give me. 



One of my black students from British Honduras sup- 

 plied me with a quantity of unrecognizable seeds with 

 negro names, which are now giving us lots of fun in 

 watching, and wondering what they will turn out to be. 

 One of the recognizable things was the fruit of the hene- 

 quin or Sisal hemp. This was a pleasantly acid fruit to 

 eat, and its seeds are now growing finely. The other 

 seeds, with outlandish names, we will doubtless identify 

 as the plants grow and bloom. 



The winter has been too severe for Satsuma oranges 

 on their exposed hill-top, and they are badly killed 

 back. With a fair amount of shelter such as we give 

 gardenias here, they would have been unhurt, but full 



slight yellowing of the leaves. Down on the coast-plain 

 this gardenia grows almost tree-like in stature, entirely 

 unprotected, but here we are 400 feet above tide, and 

 colder. — W. F. Massev, A'. C. Experiment Station. 



ESSENTIAL POINTS IN TRANSPLANTING. 



To insure life and secure prompt and vigorous growth 

 in the new home, the tree, shrub, or plant must be re- 

 moved with care and skill. If we take a plant up with 

 all its roots, including the numerous small fibers with 

 all their minute root-hairs, and place it compactly in the 

 soil in its new position, its transfer causes no check in 

 growth. The life of the plant is dependent largely upon 

 the food that it derives through its roots. This food is 

 taken up from the soil by the minute root-hairs, situated 

 near the ends of the root-fibers. From these root-hairs 

 the food, in solution, passes up to the leaves of the plant 



A Peep through the Camera at Parker Earle, (See page 475. 



exposure to the wind and sun was too much for them. 

 We have planted a number of trees in our coast region, 

 and are planting others in sheltered places here. Some 

 experiments in protecting tender trees and shrubs out- 

 doors were very successful. Caladium esculent um and 

 Crozy cannas came through finely with a cover of 

 coarse manure. Agax'e Americana came through alive 

 without protection, but it is a most unhappy-looking af- 

 fair with all its outer leaves gone. With a waterproof 

 cover over it, it would have been all right. Nerium ole- 

 ander with pine boughs around it is all right ; and one 

 clump with two or three dozen stems from an old stump 

 brought its center through unharmed by the protection 

 of the outer stems. Gardenia florida, close under the 

 east front of the college, but sheltered from the morning 

 sun by a projection of the building, wintered with only 



through the trunk, and is made ready for the plant to 

 build up into new, growing tissue. Any injury to the 

 root-hairs by which their power of absorption is checked 

 endangers the well-being of the plant. 



The most favorable time for transplanting is when the 

 plant is dormant, because, during this period, the pro- 

 cesses of growth are least active. As the plant is with- 

 out leaves at this time, evaporation is at its minimum, 

 and little nourishment is needed. The injured parts of 

 the roots will then have time to heal and to form new 

 rootlets ready for active growth when the time comes. 



The soil to receive the roots should be freshly stirred 

 and made moist, neither too dry nor too wet. It should 

 also contain the elements necessary to nourish the plants. 

 In taking up the plant, retain as much of the finer part 

 of the roots as possible. Do not dig too close to the 



