22 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN 



[February. 



WITHERED FLOWERS. 



'Twas on a bitter winter's day, 



I saw a strange, pathetic sight ; 

 The streets were gloomy, cold, and gray, 



The air with falling snow was white. 

 A little ragged beggar child 



Went running through the cold and storm ; 

 He looked as if he never smiled, 

 As if he never had been warm. 

 Sudden, he spied beneath his feet 



A faded button-hole bouquet ; 

 Trampled and wet with rain and sleet, 

 Withered and worthless, there it lay. 

 He bounded, seized it with delight, 



Stood still and shook it free from snow 

 Into his coat he pinned it tight,— 



His eyes lit up with sudden glow. 

 He sauntered on, all pleased and proud, 



His face transformed in every line : 

 And lingered that the hurrying crowd 



Might chance to see that he was fine. 

 The man who threw the flowers away 



Never one-half such pleasure had : 

 The flowers' best work was done that day 



In cheering up that beggar lad. 

 All, me ! too often we forget, 



Happy in these good homes of ours. 

 How many in this world are yet 

 Glad even of the withered flowers ! 



—St. Nicholas. 



SEASONABLE HINTS, 

 Flower Beds may be planned and designed 

 now and staked out at any time when the 

 ground is not frozen. This gardening on paper 

 s a delightful winter occupation and facilitates 

 the actual work astonishingly. The shape of 

 each contemplated bed may be traced, the size 

 and proportions marked down and lists made of 

 the kinds and number of plants required. The 

 cost can then easily be ascertained and the 

 plants procured in season. The cost and 

 amount of labor necessary to keep all the beds 

 and grounds in good order, however, can not as 

 easily be calculated, and generally the estimates 

 fall much below the actual amount. It can 

 therefore not be too strongly recommended to 

 plan for no more than can be well taken care of. 



Walks and Roads may be laid out and in 

 open winter dug, and be built. Nothing is so 

 essential to the comfort of a rural home than that 

 the walks, near the house at least, should soon 

 dry after rain and not become muddy and miry 

 in spring when frost leaves the ground. This 

 can only be accomplished by thorough drainage. 

 Stones thrown promiscuously on the surface do 

 not make a desirable road. Where the soil is 

 heavy and impermeable the entire road lied has 

 to be removed to a depth of from one to two feet 

 and replaced with stones set up edgewise ; these 

 leveled with smaller broken ones and then cov- 

 ered with gravel. On such roads water cannot 

 stand and frost has little influence, and they are 

 easier kept in order than ordinary gravel walks. 



Flower Seeds. — Many kinds may be started 

 in hot-beds or pots towards the latter part of 

 his month, to be transplanted, when larger 

 enough, in other pots, and held in readiness for 

 out-door planting. The season of flowers may 

 be lengthened considerably in this way. 



Perennial Plants in the open ground suffer 

 often more in mild winters than in the coldest 

 ones where they have a protection of snow. 

 Snow is the best protector for plants of all 

 kinds, but unfortunately not always at our dis- 

 posal. Pine light stable manure is probably 

 the next best, and if scattered around plants 

 during winter it protects them against the in- 

 furious effects of freezing and thawing. 



AMERICAN BULBS, 



THE TUBEROSE. 



Notwithstanding the 1 ' Dutch bulbs " of Hol- 

 land are of world-wide celebrity, there has of 

 later years sprung up in this country an in- 

 dustry that has already absorbed a portion of 

 the trade from abroad. The climate and soil 

 of Holland, and especially the districts in the 

 immediate vicinity of Haarlem, are justly 

 noted for their immense crops of Hyacinths, 

 Tulips, Crocus, etc., yet the long warm seasons 

 of the Middle and Southern states of America 

 can excel their ancient rival in the production 

 of superior bulbs of Tuberoses, Colocasias, Can- 

 nas, Gladiolus, Lilies, Tigridias, and possibly 

 many other species. From a small beginning, 

 dating back say twenty years, when 5,000 bulbs 

 of Tuberoses were considered a large crop, there 

 are at the present time several establishments 

 whose annual crops may justly be estimated at 

 several hundred thousand bulbs each, and the 

 demand is still largely on the increase. 



It has been for years a customary belief with 

 foreign seedsmen that the best Tuberose bulbs 

 were grown along the shores of the Mediterra- 

 nean, but that idea is now dispelled, owing to 

 the firm character of the American article 

 which has by its intrinsic merit gained the 

 highest position in the market. 



In cultivation the Tuberose greatly prefers a 

 deep, light soil, but yet is benefited by a lib- 

 eral dressing of old thoroughly decayed ma- 

 nure. A sandy soil is their delight, provided 

 they are supplied with fertilizing material. 

 Too much moisture causes a spongy, or at 

 least an undesirable growth, and although the 

 bulb under such conditions may make a fine 

 appearance, it is not superior for blooming to 

 the smaller, yet more solid root. Heat is their 

 especial delight, and during a drought, even 

 in light soil, the bulbs are not materially af- 

 fected, and continue to grow when most other 

 plants under the same conditions will shrivel up. 



During the season of 1881, the almost un- 

 precedentedly dry weather, from early in the 

 summer until late in autumn, and extending 

 over the greater portion of the northern states, 

 caused a partial failure of the Tuberose crop; 

 but it is an open question whether or not the 

 smaller bulbs of last year, thoroughly ripened 

 as they unquestionably are, will not produce a 

 greater percentage of bloom than the larger 

 sized and more succulent bulbs of an ordinary- 

 wet season. Size is not always a sure criterion 

 of the blooming quality of Tuberoses; and it 

 may well be doubted that some of the immense 

 specimens grown in the long, warm summers of 

 the southern states are any better (if as good) 

 than the smaller yet superior ripened northern 

 bulbs. For the purpose of testing this theory, 

 the writer selected 500 good sound second-class 

 bulbs, such as are generally expected to pro- 

 duce but a small percentage of flower spikes, 

 and which are indeed for the most part com- 

 monly used for forming extra sized bulbs for 

 the succeeding season. The result was 450 

 excellent spikes; thus plainly showing that 

 more depends upon intrinsic quality than mere 

 outward appearance. There appear to be some 

 popular fallacies prevalent among florists which 

 are seldom contradicted, one of these in rela- 

 tion to a Tuberose bulb blooming but once, 

 needs especial contradiction. 



It is true that a bulb in blooming almost 

 always weakens its vigor, as is plainly in- 

 stanced in the Hyacinth, but to assert that the 

 Tuberose will never bloom a second time is 

 ' simply absurd. I have seen a crop of these 



pulbs produce very nearly as fine flowers, and 

 almost as many of them, the second season as 

 the first, but old blooming bulbs are not to be 

 recommended on this account. Strong, healthy 

 young offsets in two years, with generaus cul- 

 tivation, will produce the best results, and it 

 is an excellent rule to immediately pinch off 

 all flowering stems the moment they put in an 

 appearance. The nutrition, which otherwise 

 would be absorbed in producing bloom, is thus 

 retained and stored away in the fleshy bulb- 

 scales to do duty in a more extensive way next 

 year. Some dealers invariably reject Tuberose 

 bulbs which show the least sign of decay, 

 even if arrested and perfectly dry, believing 

 that outward signs of this nature are detri- 

 mental to their perfect development. 



The only infallible test, is to cut the bulb 

 open directly through the center, and if the 

 heart or bud is sound and white it will surely 

 grow. But on the contrary, should the cen- 

 tral portion be discolored in the least the bulb 

 is seriously injured, if not absolutely useless. 

 To understand this matter perfectly requires a 

 knowledge of the nature and functions of bulbs. 



According to botanists, a bulb is an under- 

 ground stem, with organs analogous to the lat- 

 ter, having roots emanating from the base, with 

 fleshy scales answering to leaves, and a central 

 bud whence issues the stem for producing the 

 flowers, and fruit. Therefore should the bud be 

 in a sound, normal condition ; any imperfections 

 in the other organs will not prevent its growth. 

 The introduction of the "Pearl" variety is a 

 step in the right direction ; for what is most 

 needed in this plant, is a dwarfer growth and 

 larger flowers. Many florists are very partial to 

 the single-flowering variety, as they consider 

 the blooms more useful for cut-flower work, 

 and send it out under the name of "Orange- 

 blossom." During winter the bulbs must be 

 kept warm and dry ; a cool, moist cellar being 

 sure to encourage decay. — Josiah Hoopes. 



THE CARDINAL FLOWER, 



(Lobelia cardinalis.) 

 This beautiful native we find advertised in 

 some seed catalogues, among the novelties of 

 the season. This is a move in the right direc- 

 tion, and this brilliant and gorgeous flower 

 which has been growing wild in our meadows 

 and along our brooks ever since man first set foot 

 on our soil, and no one knows how many millions 

 of years before, is probably a novelty to many 

 who have lived a life-time within a short walk 

 of its native habitat. We search the wide 

 world over for "novelties," while here they are 

 growing around us in splendor and brilliancy. 

 Nothing more dazzlingly beautiful can be im- 

 agined than a bed of Cardinal Flowers in au- 

 tumn, when in full bloom, grouped in a shady 

 spot on a smooth, velvety lawn with a group of 

 Carinas or Rhododendron as a back-ground. 



NOVELTIES, 



It is with novelties in flowers and fruits very 

 much as with fashions in clothing. The old 

 patterns may be more comfortable and the ma- 

 terial more serviceable, yet as they are not of 

 the latest fashion no one who pretends " to be up 

 with the times" will think of wearing them. 

 For, although we are well aware that but few 

 novelties are more desirable than some older 

 kinds, we are anxious to obtain them, and per- 

 haps it is well that we should do so, for how 

 else could we find out their worth if we did not 

 try them. The pearl-diver has to open thou- 

 sands of shells before he is rewarded with one 

 containing a pearl. 



