1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
287 
33d St., on the first Tuesday of each month. 
These exhibitions are free to the public, and 
we would suggest to our many readers who 
live in or near the city, that they may pass a 
couple of hours at them pleasantly and prof¬ 
itably. It is to be regretted that such fine 
displays of flowers, etc., must be made in a 
hall so poorly suited to the purpose. There 
is a hope for better things in this respect, as 
a Horticultural Hall is proposed, and know¬ 
ing the energy of those who have the matter 
in hand, we have reason to hope that the So¬ 
ciety will, before long, have a room of its 
own. The membership has largely increased 
of late, and the list includes some of the most 
“solid” business men of New York City. 
Garden Helps-Sticks and Strings. 
When Hood’s Mrs. Gardiner gave, as her 
opinion of the Dahlia, “it is nothing but a 
stick and a string,” she only expressed the 
horticultural fact that this, like many other 
plants, must, for its successful culture, be 
properly supported. To continue the Dahlia 
as an illustration, those who cultivate this 
plant (among whom we are not to be count¬ 
ed), know what a weak hold the branches 
have upon the main stalk, and that with 
merely a central stake, a smart wind will whip 
off the branches just when they are most 
promisingly laden with flower-buds. To be 
safe, the branches must also be staked and 
tied. Climbing vines must have supports, 
and these, whether in the kitchen garden for 
peas, or in the flower garden for Canary-bird 
Vines, and other annuals, should be supplied 
to the plant very early. If the vines once 
get large enough to fall over with their own 
weight, or are beaten down by a storm, it is 
very difficult to induce them to take to their 
support afterwards. It is always safest to 
“ brush” the peas at the time they are sown. 
Stakes in the flower garden should be suf¬ 
ficiently strong, and at the same time as in¬ 
conspicuous as possible. Green stakes are bad 
enough, but green stakes with bright white 
tops, such as we often see, are an,abomina¬ 
tion. A cedar stake, with the bark remain¬ 
ing, is scarcely noticed, while one of these 
bright-green, white-capped things is so forth- 
putting, that it is seen before one notices the 
plant to which it is a help, and should be sub¬ 
ordinate. For climbing plants upon verandas 
or against the side of the house, we often see 
an elaborate piece of carpentry. In such 
places all that is needed is something that 
will support the vines without the necessity 
for nailing them to the wood-work. Screw 
eyes, or where more strength is needed, plain 
iron brackets, a simple “angle-iron,” and 
small galvanized wire, stretched horizontally 
or vertically, as needed, will afford all re¬ 
quired support to climbers, and be in them¬ 
selves almost invisible. Where it is necessary 
to use supports made from lumber, they must 
be painted, but instead of the brightest of 
Paris-green, let the color be subdued by add¬ 
ing black or brown. We once saw a hand- 
* some pyramidal Clematis Jackmanii in a 
neighbor’s garden. We found its support 
to be made of several pieces of brush, the 
main stems bound together with wires, as 
one did not afford branches and spray enough; 
the ends of the branches were clipped to pro¬ 
duce a regular outline, and when covered by 
the vine the effect was most pleasing, while 
the means by which it was produced were en¬ 
tirely out of sight. We should add that this 
support was spiked to a locust post set in the 
ground, and projecting a foot or so above it; 
this is a method advisable with all supports 
made of perishable woods, if desired to last 
more than one season. In the way of ties, 
as with supports, there are permanent and 
temporary. One will find occasional use for 
copper wires of different sizes, these and 
strips of leather should always be at hand in 
the garden basket.* For tying the aims of 
grape vines to the trellis, and similar uses, 
willow twigs are excellent. A few Osier, or 
Golden Willows, set in a corner, will be found 
useful in most gardens. The slender shoots 
in spring and summer afford ties ; in the fall 
cut them back to near the ground, and keep 
the canes for flower-pot stakes. The value 
of Basswood bark is well known ; this may 
be had by pulling apart Russia matting, or 
from our own Basswood or Linden. A re¬ 
cent material called “ Raffia,” supposed to be 
from a Palm leaf, is a very soft and yet strong 
material for nice work, especially to use as 
ties in budding. For a general tie, especially 
for the young shoots of the grape-vine, we 
find nothing better than cotton twine of the 
right kind. The twine used by tradesmen for 
tying parcels is poor stuff. It is filled with 
starch, which makes it harsh to use, and when 
the starch washes out, the twine is weak and 
worthless. “ Sail-twine,” used by sail-makers 
for sewing, is pure cotton without starch, 
very soft, and at the same time strong, and a 
capital material. Among other useful ties 
are the leaves of “ Bear’s-grass,” or Yucca 
filamcntosa, especially the long-leaved varie¬ 
ty called flaccida. This readily splits length¬ 
wise, and is astonishingly strong. These may 
seem small affairs to some, but success in 
gardening depends upon attention to details. 
How to Plant Celery. 
The old method of setting Celery at the 
bottom of a trench is still occasionally fol¬ 
lowed, either by gardeners who have done 
this in the old country, or by our own people 
who have not learned the better way of plant¬ 
ing it on the surface. Celery is one of the 
plants with which little is gained by hurry¬ 
ing ; it will not grow rapidly until after mid¬ 
summer, when we have the favoring condi¬ 
tions of warm days and cool, dewy nights, 
and our most experienced gardeners do not 
set out the main crop until the present month. 
Market gardeners grow celery as a second 
crop, to follow an early one for which the soil 
has been well manured; if this can not be 
done, then the soil must be well enriched be¬ 
fore planting. It rarely pays to raise celery 
plants in a piivate garden, if one is where 
they can be purchased. In buying plants, se¬ 
lect those that look strong and stocky, a con¬ 
dition produced by proper cutting back their 
leaves while in the seed-bed. The plants are 
to be set in rows, four feet apart, and six 
inches distant in the rows ; they require care¬ 
ful planting, and should be no deeper in the 
ground than they were originally in the seed¬ 
bed. In all transplanting, it is important to 
have the earth closely in contact with the 
roots of the newly set plant; this may be 
done by going along the row and pressing on 
each side of the plant with the foot, or by 
carefully crowding the earth down with the 
hands as each plant is set. If a cloudy time 
cannot be selected for planting, then do the 
work towards evening, and give a thorough 
watering. The plants have nothing further 
done to them until September, when the leaves 
are brought to an upright position, and earth 
is drawn around to hold them there. We hope 
to give the after treatment in the proper 
month ; in the meantime, the celery has 
nothing to do but grow, in which it must be 
encouraged by hoeing or cultivating often 
enough to destroy all weeds and keep the soil 
loose, taking care in these operations to not 
throw any earth into the heart of the plants. 
Herbaceous Perennials from Seeds. 
Every now and then there is a complaint 
from those who have sown the seeds of per¬ 
ennials, that they failed to come up, and 
usually the seedsman is blamed for selling 
poor seeds. The seedsman is often to blame, 
not for the quality of the seeds, but for not 
stating the fact that the seeds will not come 
up the first year. A number of those peren¬ 
nials with hard seeds, like Fraxinella, and 
many others, if sown in spring, rarely ger¬ 
minate until the spring following. Those 
who have sown such seeds this spring should 
keep the box, or bed, free of weeds during 
the summer, and their patience will no doubt 
be rewarded next season. The majority of 
such slow seeds, if sown as soon as ripe will 
germinate at once, and if this can be done 
not later than the first week or two in Sep¬ 
tember, they will make plants strong enough 
to pass the winter safely and be ready to 
transplant early the next spring. Of course 
sowing as soon as ripe is not practicable with 
seeds that must be purchased. In such cases 
it is preferable to buy plants of the dealers, 
which will insure a supply of seeds for in¬ 
creasing the stock. In sowing such seeds in 
August or early September, it is better to put 
them in a frame, or before winter sets in 
make a rough frame around the bed contain¬ 
ing the young plants for their better protec¬ 
tion. When cold weather comes, lay some 
fine brush among the plants and then cover 
with leaves. The object of the brush is to 
keep the snow from pressing the leaves too 
heavily upon and injuring the young plants. 
“ Hybrid fi s erpeti*«l ” ESoses.— 
Whoever substituted for the French term Re¬ 
montant, that of “Hybrid Perpetual,” caused 
a vast deal of disappointment. The majority 
of those who are unfamiliar with roses, see¬ 
ing that there is a class called ‘ ‘ Hybrid Per¬ 
petual,” naturally suppose that they are con¬ 
tinuous bloomers. Experience shows that 
after the spring bloom, there may be a mea¬ 
gre show of flowers in autumn, though some 
will not often give this. To secure a fair late 
bloom it is necessary to cut out half or so of 
the buds that set in spring. Of course it is 
too late to do this, but one thing can be done 
to aid the second flowering—that is, to cut 
away the remains of the flowers and allow no 
“hips” to ripen. These roses, as a general 
thing, bear fruit abundantly, and the ripen¬ 
ing of this is a tax upon the resources of the 
plant, which should be avoided—unless seeds 
are wanted. The young fruit should always 
be cut away as soon as the petals fall, whether 
a second blooming is looked for or not. 
Formerly our florists depended upon the Tea 
Roses, the Hybrid Chinas and a few other 
tender sorts for winter flowering. Now the 
Remontants are forced in great numbers, and 
at the Christmas holidays bring astonishingly 
high prices. Buds of the crimson Gen. Jacq- 
minot have been sold at wholesale at $1 each. 
