^ I N D FA L L S. 



635 



March will make a fine crop and much larger bulbs than 

 if left as sown. One great advantage in this transplant- 

 ing is that they are set in freshly worked and manured 

 soil, and if lifted on the tip of a digging fork, and not 

 "pulled," the comparatively uninjured roots will at once 

 take hold of the fresh soil and grow much more vi- 

 gorously than if left where sown. Where land is plenty 

 and human labor dear or scarce it will not do to set in 

 close rows. For all such crops it is better to run furrows 

 with a plow, wide enough apart for a mule to draw a 

 cultivator through. In these furrows sow the bulk of the 

 fertilizer used and then lap two furrows together over it. 

 Now run a hand roller down the sharp ridge thus made 

 so as to leave a flattened ridge but slightly above the 

 general surface. A garden line stretched along the cen- 

 ter of this bed will keep the row straight in setting the 

 plants. Rows in a truck patch, made in this way, for 

 sowing seeds of early stuff or setting plants are much 

 better than lines on a flat surface, being less liable to 

 injury by early spring rains, and being a little above the 

 surface, admit of horse culture at an earlier stage of the 

 crop. The fertilizer being right under the crop is quicker 

 in its action than if used broad cast, just as it should be 

 for early crops. Fine crops of Italian onions are grown 

 here from seed sown in February and not transplanted ; 

 but fall sowing and transplanting will make larger bulbs. 

 — W. F. Massey, .v. C. 



A Pit for Vegetables. — A pit which is accessible in 

 all kinds of winter weather is a valuable adjunct to the 

 kitchen garden, for, as a rule vegetables keep much 

 better and retain their flavor more perfectly when stor- 

 ed out-doors than when kept in a cellar. If the pit is 

 so constructed that it can be readily entered, it will be of 

 value to the house for storing many things which prove 

 almost worthless if stored in the cellar. Last fall I made 

 a small pit as follows : A well drained corner of the 

 garden was selected and the pit dug 4x8 feet by 4 

 feet in depth. This was lined with one-inch chestnut 

 boards, nailed to locust corner posts. The roof was made 

 of heavy oak boards, having a pitch sufficient to shed 

 the moisture as it drains through the soil. A man-hole 

 eighteen inches square by twenty inches high is made in 

 one of the lower corners of the roof. The earth that 

 had been dug out was thrown upon the roof, forming a 

 good sized frost-proof mound. A moveable wire screen 

 of half-inch mesh is fitted into the man-hole to keep out 

 mice, rats, etc. A water tight trap-door closes the en- 

 trance; a short ladder is used in getting in and out. In 

 this pit we have kept cabbage, turnips, beets, potatoes, 

 celery, apples, etc., in the most excellent condition ; the 

 trap-door had been propped open for ventilation nearly 

 the whole winter. Nothing had been frosted or injured 

 by the cold. As this pit is so simple and of easy con- 

 struction, there is no reason why every garden should 

 not have one. — John F. Rupp, Peniia. 



Succory or Chicory [Cickortim intybus). — In the June 

 number (page 380) chicory got handled about as badly 

 as it could be. As a weed, possibly it did not deserve a 

 better treatment but in regard to its medicinal proper- 



ties it certainly deserves a place in every house. In 

 Father S. Knespp'slist of herbs he says, " Tea of chic- 

 ory [Cichoritiiii intybus) will take the phlegm and bile 

 from the stomach, purify the liver, spleen and kidneys 

 through the bladder, relieve dyspepsia and improve 

 digestion, by taking for three or four days, every morn- 

 ing and evening, one cupful of this tea." For pressure 

 on the stomach or painful inflammation on the' body 

 scald the chicory — stems, leaves and flowers — wrap in a 

 cloth and apply to the stomach or the inflamed part. 

 Renew the application two or three times a day. The 

 root answers the same purposes as the stalk. It ought 

 to be gathered while in blossom, cut into short pieces, 

 and dried in the shade. — H. A. O., Philadelplda . 



New Pansies. — The old English and Scotch strains 

 that the German seedsmen have taken hold of and sub- 

 divided into ever so many varieties remain practically the 

 same under their new names, and I do not see that any 

 improvement has been made in them except in the cata- 

 logues where they are rechristened. A really new strain 

 is the Trimardeau, originated by a florist near Paris, 

 France, but it has been greatly improved since its first 

 production. These pansies are very large in every way, 

 with very hardy flowers and foliage, enduring well the ex- 

 tremes of heat and cold, and they give general satisfaction 

 all over the country. Another new strain, also of French 

 origin, is the Odier, or five spotted varieties, which of 

 late years have been greatly improved by the well-known 

 specialists, Gassier and Bugnot, the latter especially in- 

 troducing new shades of color and flowers which would 

 have been thought impossible a few years ago. These 

 last strains, however, are by no means as hardy as others, 

 owing, I suppose, to closer breeding. These two races 

 are the only really new varieties that have been intro- 

 duced within the past few years, and that are, in my 

 opinion, of any merit, and I have come to this conclusion 

 after having tried within the past five years everything of 

 not in the pansy line. — Denys Z.iriigiebel , before ilie 

 Society of American Florists. 



New Hardy Roses. — My observations upon the rose 

 are chiefly with a view to their adaptation for garden pur- 

 poses. I can speak of but few this season. Augustine 

 Guinoisseau seems to me an acquisition to the La France 

 group, and likely to prove a valuable addition to this class 

 of roses. The color is a pale rose or cream, and appar- 

 ently it flowers as freely as La France, the plant making 

 a similar growth. We have now a trio of beautiful flow- 

 ers ; namely. La France, Duchess of Albany and the 

 above, that will undoubtedly prove of great value for sum- 

 mer bedding purposes. If we could add to these a pure 

 white, the group would supply a fine quantity of color for 

 the garden. Gustave Piganeau has a flower of the largest 

 size ; color, bright carmine lake ; habit, good ; petal, firm. 

 I confidently expect this rose to prove an acquisition. 

 The flower is similar to that of the Countess of Oxford. 

 Jeannie Dickson has a striking flower of a bright, cheerful 

 color, rosy pink, and from a single bloom, I am favora- 

 bly impressed with it. It is another addition to the scent- 

 less class of roses, and like the Baroness Rothschild, its 



