758 



CURRENT GARDEN LORE. 



from scab and cracking, there are quite as many of com- 

 paratively modern origin as there are old varieties. Dis- 

 ease is not old age. — Count7-y Gentleman. 



Delivering Plants in Cold Weather.— A Chicago 

 florist has a wagon fitted up in such shape that he can 

 deliver plants in almost any sort of weather. The box 

 is eight feet long by three feet eight inches wide, and 

 supplied with a wooden cover five feet high. A heavy 

 curtain divides the driver's seat from the rest of the 

 interior, and the back is closed with a wooden shutter, 

 but there is a curtain inside the shutter. The object of 

 the curtain is always to keep the interior partially en- 

 closed, even when the shutter is open. When a plant is 

 taken out it is drawn out from under the curtain, which 

 immediately falls back 

 into place. In very 

 cold weather all the in- 

 side surfaces of the 

 cover are hung with 

 carpeting, which is sus- 

 pended from hooks 

 placed along the top 

 of each side. The cur- 

 tains at front and rear 

 are also lined with car- 

 pet. This is to prevent 

 any part of the plants 

 from coming into direct 

 contact with the cold 

 wagon-cover. The bot- 

 tom of the wagon is also 

 covered. Before the 

 plants are loaded the 

 ■ wagon is well warmed 

 by jugs of hot water 

 placed therein, and 

 fresh jugs of same are 

 used to keep up the heat 

 afterward. "With two 

 three-gallon jugs of hot 

 water in the wagon the 

 driver can safely trans- 

 port decorative plants 

 any ordinary distance 

 in ordinary winter 

 weather, and with six 

 jugs of this size he can 

 safely deliver plants the 

 coldest winter days we 

 have. — America!! Florist. 



Ivy on Walls. — A writer claimed not long ago that 

 ivy grown on walls tends to make them dry, rather than 

 damp. The statement was disputed by a correspondent, 

 who cited what he thought was an instance to the con- 

 trary. On investigation, however, the ivy he referred 

 to [Ampelopsis Veitchii, Jafan Ivy,) was found growing 

 over the shingle roof of the house some four or five feet 

 from the gable end, and the spouts and other water 

 conduits were completely choked by this growth of vine, 



and filling up with leaves. It is no wonder that a house 

 should be damp under such circumstances. Vines on 

 walls must never be allowed to reach the roof or clamber 

 in the gutters, but be confined entirely to the vertical 

 surface of the walls on which they grow. The innum- 

 erable number of small rootlets continually absorbing 

 moisture generally make a wall so dry and hard that in 

 the Old World it has been found at times, when neces- 

 sary to take down a building, almost impossible to do 

 so on account of the extreme hardness of the mortar, 

 kept dry for so many years through the agency of these 

 roots. The case we have referred to shows how often a 

 good idea may be spoiled by reason of the thoughtless 

 manner in which it is carried out. — Meehati' s Monthly- 



Plan of a Portion 



DiAN Terrace Garden. (See page 760.) 



Freezing Peach and Plum-Stones. — A great many 

 farmers and fruit-growers are in the habit of saving 

 their peach, plum and cherry-seeds to sow to raise stocks 

 for grafting purposes. Just how to treat these pits to 

 succeed with them is often a puzzling question. Even 

 the most experienced men often fail with them. It is a 

 popular fallacy that these stones need freezing, and that 

 without it they will not grow. The fact is that these 

 seeds will and do grow well in many a northern state 

 without encountering the slightest freezing. They need 



