1875.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
307 
cold house without being forced. The plants of 
both lot^ were all seemingly in fine healthy condi- 
tion, but about July 1st we find that the forced va- 
rieties have not only made a much weaker growth 
than the others, but probably twenty per cent died 
outright, lu a conversation on this subject with 
Mr. Miller, the well-known florist and landscape 
gardener of Gcrm.antown, Pa., the other day, he 
cited the case of a nurseryman in England, who 
sent out the Dahlia, " Beauty of Hastings " ; the 
first year it was exhibited from the seedling plant. 
It was found to be so entirely double, as to have 
what is known as a " hard center." It had been 
freely exhibited, and being the finest of its class at 
that time, orders for hundreds of plants were con- 
sequently received for it. To obtain the plants to 
fill the orders from the limited stock, it was forced 
In a temperature unusually higli ; other cuttings 
were taken from the cuttings already struck, so 
that a dozen roots were made to produce nearly 
3,000 plants. When these plants came into flower, 
instead of producing the fine form and double va- 
riety that had been exhibited, nearly all produced 
single flowers. This brought a storm on the head 
of the unfortunate nurseiyman, who was charged 
with sending out a spurious variety, and he had not 
only to refund the money which he had received 
for the plants, but was seriously injured in his 
business standing. That single flowers were pro- 
duced in consequence of lessened vitality, was 
shown by the fact that tliese self-same roots pro- 
duced in the succeeding year and afterwards double 
flowers like the original, and for many years the 
"Beauty of Hastings" was known as a standard 
sort. Again, we remember that iu the day of 
the grape-vine fever, the " Delaware," and some 
other varieties, by being propagated in a high tem- 
perature and from the young shoots year after year, 
became so weakened as to hardly be recognized as 
the original variety. Plants of rhubarb, after they 
have been forced, are usually thrown away as use- 
less, and the Lily of the Valley takes years to re- 
cuperate in the open ground after it has been once 
made to blo*m in the hot-house. If we consider 
that this treatment of plants, natives of temperate 
latitudes, is in direct violation to their natural con- 
dition, we will not wonder that they rebel against 
the abuse. The carnations, roses, and grapes, arc 
hardy, or nearly so, in northern latitudes, and their 
nature requires a rest of three or four months. 
Our forcing system, now so universally adopted to 
produce the flowers of the carnation and rose in 
winter, subjects them to a treatment similar to that 
proper for tropical plants ; and this continued viola- 
tion of their natural requirements of culture, results 
in the evils alluded to. I never like to refer to any 
disease or other trouble among plants, without be- 
ing able to suggest a remedy. In the raniation we 
would advise that, instead of propagating them as 
usual from cuttings made in spring, from plants that 
have been forced all winter, the cuttings be taken 
at the time the plants are lifted in fall ; after they 
are rooted, the young plants may be kept in a cold 
greenhouse or frame during winter. The same plan 
might be adopted with the roses forced in winter, 
If the plants are wanted for summer flowering in the 
open ground. I know it is not always convenient 
to do BO, but when it is, I think it •v.ill be found a 
good method to maintain the vitality of the stock. 
Retinispora Plumosa Aurea. 
Let no one be deterred by the name, for that is 
the only one it h.i3. The Retinisporas are not yet 
■well enough Tcnown to have received a common 
name, and if we translate the name of the genus, 
it will be "resin-seed," which is not very elegant. 
The genus belongs to Japan, and includes some of 
the most beautiful of evergreens. This variety, 
pliimom amra, is one of the most valuable plants 
of recent introduction, and one of the most tracta- 
ble of all growing things. It may be kept 4 inches 
high as an edging, or it may be grown as a tree, 
and everywhere it has the same compact habit, 
with a lightness imparted by its abundant spray. 
Its golden color is charming, and what is most 
valuable, it holds it in the coldest weather, when 
most variegated conifers are dull, if not unsightly. 
This must become very popular, as it possesses 
eveiy requisite to make it so. To be sure the 
nurserymen charge a doUar for a plant, but if one 
has a single specimen, it can be readily multiplied, 
as it roots as easily as any plant, provided sufficient 
time be given it. We put the cuttings in a box of 
sand in the fall, and keep them in a cool green- 
house all winter, and in spring set the box in a 
shaded frame. During the summer they wiU begin 
to grow, and be found to have formed roots ; when 
tills takes place, they must be potted in good soil. 
The free use of this forms one of the striking fea- 
tures iu the fine grounds of Mr. Hunnewell, at 
■Welleslcy, and Prof. Sargent at Brookline, and it 
should be used elsewhere more freely than it is, as 
we do not know of a more lively, attractive little 
tree, especially for small places. There is a variety, 
argentca, in which the variegation is white orsUvery, 
but it is not so marked and striking as the golden. 
Onions Sown in Fall. 
Last year we published an article by Peter Hen- 
derson in which he gave the experience of a Long 
Island market gardener who sowed his onions in 
autumn. We gave the plan a trial iu our own gar- 
den last fall, but the sowing was not made until the 
very end of September, and the young plants did 
not all make sufficient growth to stand the very 
severe winter, even though they were well covered. 
Still the success, though only partial, was sufficient 
to show that this method is worthy of considera- 
tion, and from the amount that came to maturity 
on our bed this summer, have no doubt that it will 
answer wherever sets are used ; but where onions 
can lie raised directly from the seed, there will be 
no advantage from fall sowing except for such as 
are to be marketed green or very early. The idea 
is to sow the seed in tlie fall at such a time as will 
allow the plants to form a bulb large enough to 
stand the winter, and yet not so large as to run up 
to flower the next season ; in fact, to raise onion 
sets, which instead of being harvested, are to be 
left in the ground, where they will be ready to 
grow as soon as spring opens. On Long Island the 
middle of September is found to be the best time 
to sow ; further south it should be later, and north 
of that earlier. Success will largely depend upon 
the time of sowing, and this for any particular lo- 
cality can only be ascertained by experiment. The 
covering should not be put on until cold weather 
has stopped the growth of the bulbs, and may be 
of leaves, straw, marsh hay, or other litter. Leaves 
applied while it is snowing will not blow about. 
Cuttings in Sctmmek. — Those who have never 
tried it, will be surprised at the ease with which a 
great number of flowering shrubs and other plants 
may be propagated, with the simplest apparatus. 
A frame of any convenient size, made of four 
6-iuch boards nailed together, and a screen to 
cover it, are required ; this screen may be a piece of 
cotton cloth, tacked to a frame made of laths or 
other light strips ; its object being to shade and to 
keep in the moisture. Set this propagating frame, 
where the soil is light and sandy, in a place where 
it will be shaded in the heat of the day, and put in 
cuttings made from half-ripened wood of all kinds 
of shrubs, cuttings of geraniums, and other things 
of which it is desirable to have small plants. Keep 
the earth within the frame moist, and raise an edge 
of the screen an inch or more during the hot part 
of the day. This is a rough way, but it will make 
many plants with little trouble. AH shrubs will 
not take root from such cuttings, but many will. 
Chrtsanthemums. — These bloom so late that 
they are apt to be forgotten during the summer. 
The branches break off very readily, and should 
not be allowed to get too long. "Caterpillars come 
at this season, and though few, are very destructive. 
— Hand pick them. If the black aphis appears, 
use tobacco w.ater, applied freely with a syringe. 
Keep all choice kinds tied up to stakes. 
About Strawberries, 
Tlie strawberry does not appear to have been 
found as yet, as cultivators are still trying, and 
new ones still come. Growers of new varieties 
seem to be working for two different ends. One 
class is striving for a berry that shall have all the 
good qualities of the Wilson and be a better fruit, 
while the other is working for large size and high 
quality. A few years ago we kept all the varieUes 
of any reputation, and had a large show of vines 
with a miserable show of fruit. It was too much 
work to keep up such a collection, and as Doctor 
Hexamer, who is in the business, does this, we 
turned the whole lot under, setting out enough 
well tested sorts to give an abundance of fruit, and 
confining our experimental plants to such new va- 
rieties as we had not before grown. The soil, a 
very light and sandy one, was well manured, and in 
the spring of last year, ('7-t), rows, ISO feet long were 
set, one with " Charles Downing," one with " Seth 
Boyden," (No. 30), and one with "Kentucky." 
These were to supply berries, and well they did it, 
for we had more than we could afford the time to 
pick for use or to give away. A part of a row was 
set with "Black Defiance," to have a first-class 
berry to compare others with, and to give visitors 
a taste for once in their lives of a good strawberry. 
The unfortunate people who buy their fruit do not 
know what a strawberry is. We may remark that 
it is a great pity that "Black Defiance" doesn't 
carry better, but as an amateur berry on our soil, 
we do not know its equal. Other rows are set with 
trial varieties, and most of them have been a trial, 
some not giving more than a berry to a plant. All 
talk about strawberries must be with reference to 
particular soils. As an illustration of this, the Kev. 
E. P. Roe, author of " Play and Profit in my Gar- 
den," exhibited in our office windows several suc- 
cessive lots of the " Monarch of the West," which 
were immense as to size, and wonderful as to pro- 
ductiveness. This same " Monarch " behaved in so 
uukingly a manner on our grounds that he would 
have been deposed had we not seen Mr. Roe's ber- 
ries, for it was quite inferior to either Charles 
Downing, Seth Boyden, or Kentucky, in size and 
every other quality. We shall try it another year. 
Then there was the " Champion," which from the 
grounds of the grower made such a sensation two 
years ago, a small, miserable thing with me, and to 
use a favorite expression of Solon Robinson, " Sour 
enough to make a pig squeal." The "Late Pro- 
lific," which does so well in some places, and Ban- 
ney's No 10, a great bearer at Worcester, make as 
fine vines as one would wish to see, but with me 
not worth garden room, and so with others of less 
note. Take it for all in all, if there is for our soil 
a better berry than " Ch.-vrles Downing," we desire 
to make its acquaintance. We have had it ever 
since good Mr. Downer first sent it out, indeed be- 
fore it was on sale, and for these six years or more, 
it has been the same fruitful, excellent berry, and 
to us on light land, what the Jucunda used to be to 
Mr. Knox on his heavy clay. The ladies like " Seth 
Boyden" better, as it is larger, and sweeter, but 
it does not hold out so well as " Charles Downing," 
and lacks in flavor. " Kentucky " has its good 
qualities ; with us it is a few days later than the 
others, but nothing like ten, or even six days, a.s it 
is elsewhere. Its lack of color and indifterent fla- 
vor may perhaps be offset by its lateness and pro- 
ductiveness. Of the new berries that have been 
sent, one from Mr. E. W. Durand, Irvington, N. J., 
was simply astonishing as to size, and of an excel- 
lence rarely seen in large berries. We do not know 
if it has a name. A new variety called the " Cres- 
cent," is making a sensation about New Haven, 
Conn. It was raised by Mr. William Parmelee, and 
specimens sent us by H. H. Smith, arrived in fine 
condition, from whicli we infer that it will ottrry 
well. As it came to us it was a sprightly, juicy, 
but not high flavored fruit of good size and fine ap- 
pearance. Its yield is represented as something 
wonderful, and we regret that we were unable to 
accept an invitation to see them in the field, the 
only place to judge properly. We evidently are 
pot at the bottom of the strawberry busines yet. 
