730 



GARDENING FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 



T, B. Terry, in a recent address referred to Prof. 

 Shaw, of the Ontario Agricultural College, as a man 

 whose specialty is weeds. There are a good many 

 farmers in Ohio who seem to have the same specialty this 

 season. Even the pastures are a mass of ragweed. I 

 have had a man working by the day all summer, and in 

 looking over his account I find that in April and May he 

 lost more than half his time because of rain, and in spite 

 of the fact that I gave him some rainy-weather work in the 

 way of setting glass, etc. The rain not only deprived 

 farmers and gardeners of half their time, but made 

 much of the work done during the other half very inef- 

 fective. 



Late in September many of my Prizetaker onions, 

 transplanted from June 6 to 14, were still growing, and 



only a portion of them were content to stop and ripen. 

 Of the 6,600 transplanted onions, probably less than 600 

 are too small to sell, and many are quite large, weighing 

 over half a pound, and averaging no onions to the 

 bushel. Late in August I palled 5s specimens that filled 

 a half-bushel, and sold them to a grocer for 60 cents, or 

 more than a cent apiece.' This is twice the price or- 

 anges brought in Florida last year, so I ought to be 

 content. October i, I pulled the bulbs that gave signs of 

 stopping growth, and let the others grow a week or two, 

 then pulled them up and put them under shelter to dry. 

 1 pulled up some onions to eat in August, and one that 

 was not used lay around the kitchen for two weeks, and 

 cured out dry and solid, with little shrinkage. 



Summit County, O. L. B. Pierce. 



GARDENING FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 



NOTES FROM 



ONKSHOODS.— The autumn 

 monkshood, Aconitu7n au- 

 lumnalc, shown in our il- 

 lustration, blooms in outdoor 

 borders. until the very close 

 of the flower season. At 

 that time of year few of its 

 companions, save the Japan 

 anemones, can vie with this 

 plant in attractiveness. Fig- 

 ure I shows a spike of monkshood flowers in outline, at 

 half the natural size, and a full-sized leaf and flower. 

 Each plant throws out from near the root from 6 to 12 

 flower-spikes about three feet in height. There is an in- 

 describable neatness, beauty of texture and fineness of 

 form about the bloom which, added to its exquisite dark 

 blue color, renders it at once charming and distinct The 

 plant does not begin to bloom untilOctober, but its finely- 

 cut deep green leaves make it a mound of beauty all 

 summer. Early frosts do not hurt the flowers of the 

 monkshood ; long after other species of plants hang with- 

 ered and blackened they still are bright. English gar 

 deners tell of a monkshood with large lavender-blue flow- 

 ers. This would be a fine companion for A. autumiialc- 

 Other monkshoods common in cultivation are A. na- 

 fellus, growing about two feet high and bearing blue 

 flowers in summer ; A. versicolor, blue and white; A. 

 anthora, a curious Pyrenean species, bearing large yel- 

 low flowers, and A. variegatitm, a much-branched 

 variety, with white-edged blue flowers. All the monks- 

 hoods grow well in a good soil and partially shaded lo- 

 cation. As a class they are handsome, stately plants, 

 that remain in bloom a long while and have no appear- 

 ance of weediness. Being tall and robust, they may be 

 planted some distance from the margins of beds or in 

 shrubby borders with no fear of dwarfing them or hid- 

 ing their bloom. 



But one fault can be found with monkshoods; they 

 are poisonous when taken into the system, though per- 



EDITORS GROUNDS. 



fectly harmless when merely handled. The root is more 

 virulent than other parts of the plant, and has been 

 known to cause death when eaten. But such handsome 

 plants need not be rejected from garden culture because 

 of this property. Let them only be planted so far from 

 the vegetable-garden that there can be no chance of dig- 

 ing up the roots by mistake, along with those that are to 

 be eaten. The roots bear some resemblance to those of 

 horse-radish. 



In October and November we have many weeks of 

 pleasant weather that tempts us outdoors, and during 

 this time we feel very friendly toward the hardy after- 

 frost flowers that help to extend the blossom season over 

 eight months of the year. 



A Handsome Autumn Bed. — October 25 there was 

 not a flower in sight upon this bed, but it was as beautiful 

 as at any time during the season. The bed is about 40 

 feet in length and averages 12 feet in width, being some- 

 what irregular in its outline It lies in a somewhat 

 oblique direction as seen from the house, and is about ten 

 rods away from it. At the left end of the bed are small 

 masses of dahlias, dwarf arbor-vitse, and myrtle-leaved 

 box-tree. Next to these, along the front of the bed as 

 seen from the house, are successive masses of silver- 

 edged corchorus, Thunberg's barberry, plicate-leaved 

 viburnum, and the golden-leaved nine-bark. The silver- 

 edged corchorus is as exquisitely bright and handsome 

 in foliage as it has been at any time since spring, save 

 that here and there is a tinge of gold along with the 

 silver. Thunberg's barberry, always an attractive shrub, 

 owing to its small, rounded leaves and dwarf, picturesque 

 habit, is now enhanced in beauty by rich crimson and 

 orange tints on its foliage and its abundance of red fruit. 

 The upper leaves of the viburnum have assumed a deep 

 purplish hue, while the lower ones are of the ordinary 

 green color ; and the golden-leaved nine-bark is more 

 golden than ever. A mass of the purple-leaved bar- 

 berry, its color richer than last summer, stands at the 

 back of the silver-leaved corchorus, and forms a strik- 



