396 



THE CANNA. 



and make in the shape of a V harrow. Let the teeth 

 set about 45 degrees forward, and let the two cross 

 pieces come in about twelve inches from the end of the 

 rake ; saddle them on and let one of the teeth go through 

 where they are saddled on, take the wheel off of your 

 wheelbarrow and place itin front, letting the axle through 

 both beams just the same as the wheelbarrow beams 

 were. Now place a piece behind the wheel to hold the 

 beams, then get two plow handles and put them on 



your wiffletree with a rope (an iron rod is better). As the 

 horse pulls the rake until it gets full you have to stop 

 him, lift your handles and as the trash drops down you 

 push forward same as a wheelbarrow until the teeth are 

 clear, and then let down. 



I cleared some very thick timber land, for which pur- 

 pose it beats hand rakes a great deal. I raked the land 

 both ways and sowed grass without breaking it and left 

 the ground in good condition. 



THE CANNA. 



NE OF of the most popular fol- 

 iage plants of the day is the 

 canna, and most justly so. 

 A bed of an assortment of 

 cannas, their broad, musa- 

 like leaves and flaming spikes 

 of bloom, give an air of trop- 

 ical luxuriance to theplainest 

 yard, thus relieving the tiresome sameness too 

 often found in our gardens. How long will it take 

 us to learn that fine foliage is in every way as de- 

 sirable as fine flowers ? Certainly a gratifying 

 change can already be seen. But a few years ago 

 flowers alone were considered worth growing, and 

 each flower garden seemed a copy of some other. 

 Now, thanks to a more enlightened taste, flowers 

 are relieved from monotony, and their beauty actually 

 enhanced by contrast with leaf effects alone, whether 

 wrought out in intricate mosaic designs with eche- 

 verias or coleus, or seen in the less formal beds of 

 ricinus or canna ; and the time is near at hand 

 when the coleus and caladium, the achyranthes and 

 the canna will be as universally used as the gera- 

 nium and verbena are to-day. 



Some of our foliage plants have little to recommend 

 them beyond their bright coloring, and of that the eye 

 soon tires. Not so with the stately canna, with its var- 

 ied gifts of fine habit, handsome foliage, bright flowers, 

 and perfect coloring ; while over and above all this, it is 

 of the easiest culture, only asking to be well fed. The 

 canna is of most accommodating habit and can be 

 grown out-doors or in the house, in sun or shade, though 

 its rankest growth, and deepest coloring is obtained by 

 full exposure to the sun. The host of insects that are 

 the plague of many plants rarely attacked the Canna. 



If these things are true, and they undoubtedly are, 

 why do we see so many stunted specimens ? The an- 

 swer can be written in four words, viz : because ihey are 

 starved. The cannas are gross feeders, and food they 

 must have in abundance, if they would thrive. The soil 

 can scarcely be made too rich with manure, or the 

 ground spaded too deep. In a bed suited to them, how 

 the roots do revel ! No weed need be feared, when 

 once they fairly get to growing, for the greedy roots 



will take possession of every inch of the ground, and the 

 huge leaves lapping overhead will take sole possession of 

 the air and sunshine. It is of no use to plant a border 

 to a bed of cannas, unless the new dwarf cannas, 

 Helianthtis niullijtoriis ^ or some similar plant that grows 

 rank enough to hold its own, is chosen. Nor should the 

 plants be crowded closely together in border or bed. 

 The canna is a plant that needs plenty of room for its 

 best development, and the plants should not be placed 

 closer than two feet apart, and the taller sorts are all 

 the better if the. space is increased by an additional foot. 



As to the question of the best variety, that depends 

 altogether upon individual taste. The writer's favorite 

 is the Ehemanni, which, while it has been over-praised 

 as a flowering plant, deserves every good word that has 

 been said in favor of its foliage. Its habit is grand, its 

 leaves superb, its color a clear soft green, of which one 

 never tires as of the dull bronze and dingy purple can- 

 nas so often planted because they are novelties. Its 

 one fault is that high culture is necessary to secure good 

 specimens. The starved plants are no finer than any 

 common uncared-for seedling. Many of the dwarf kinds 

 have most beautiful flowers, almost equal in size to a 

 gladiolus bloom. These dwarf sorts, while not so fine 

 for foliage beds as the taller ones, are beautiful for borders 

 and make especially fine pot plants for room decorations 

 with their massive leaves, and their large heads of bloom. 



Our American florists catalogue less than a dozen var- 

 ieties, but the European dealers send out long lists of 

 fifty or more, and the prospective purchaser is quite be" 

 wildered by the glowing descriptions. There are cinna- 

 bar, cochineal, cerise madder, purple, and brown reds, 

 canary, straw, golden, saffron, and orange yellows, to- 

 gether with "gooseberry color," whatever that may be, 

 salmon, crimson, scarlet, capucine. and violet. Surely 

 there is no lack of variety here ! 



There has been much complaint that cannas rot 

 during the winter, but if large clumps of these plants are 

 lifted in the fall and put, tindiT'ided, in a dry cellar, and 

 not a drop of water given, they will remain sound and 

 plump, and will sprout of their own accord when spring 

 comes. I have seen clumps that had remained unwa- 

 tered in a cellar six months, that had formed strong shoots 

 fifteen inches high before being brought to the light. 

 Very small plants should be kept through the winter in 

 a growing condition. 



Mo. Mrs. Lora S. LaMance. 



