222 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
Cultivating the Bluets. 
If this little spring flower had been sent from 
Japan or some far off place, how popular it would 
he! As is very often the case, it is much more 
frequently cultivated in Europe than at home. 
Indeed, I never saw it in cultivation, except on my 
rock-work, where, though it gets very dry in sum¬ 
mer, it has flourished for several years, in company 
with the pretty little Early Saxifrage. It is a capital 
house plant; take a moderate-sized seed-pan, or 
other dish of similar shape, neatly fill it with a 
clump of JHoustonia, and give it water as needed, 
and it will last for months. There may be some 
prettier household ornament, as easily achieved as 
this, but I do not know what it is... .Just now there 
is some interest manifested in 
Tlie Japanese Persimmon, or ICaki, 
which has fruited in California, where it is being 
largely advertised, and I notice that Messrs. S. B. 
Parsons & Sons, Flushing, N. Y., offer it on this 
side. The tree was introduced into New York by 
Thomas Hogg, who, some ten years or so ago, sent 
to his brother, Mr. James Hogg, several good-sized 
plants ; and I think a lot also weDt to Washington 
about that time; several small trees were given me 
by Mr. H., in about 1870, and they were in the 
hands of others in different parts of the country. 
One of Mr. Hogg’s trees bore, and I had the 
pleasure of testing the fruit, and at the same time 
the drawing was made for the engraving on page 
221. Since then the tree has been introduced into 
Erance, where it flourishes, and has fruited. The 
winter of 1873-74, so destructive to many plants, 
put a finish to Mr. Hogg’s trees, as it did to mine ; 
this should not by any means be cited as evidence 
against its hardiness, as in that winter old native 
trees of undoubted toughness were killed outright. 
In Japan they have numerous varieties, differing in 
the size, shape, and color of the fruit. The speci¬ 
men given me by Mr. Hogg might readily have 
been mistaken for a tomato. In taste it reminded 
me something of a fresh fig, but of a more positive 
character. I am glad that the agitation in Califor¬ 
nia has directed attention anew to this Persimmon, 
as I feel quite sure that among the many varieties 
in cultivation in Japan, some will be found useful 
in our climate. The tree itself is a pleasing one, 
assuming a graceful form, with strong, healthy 
foliage, and when set with ripe fruit, must be a 
most brilliant object .. .1 have often referred to 
Tlie Cordon Training of Fruit Trees. 
To an enthusiast in horticulture, nothing can be 
more interesting and instructive. It is wonderful 
how completely a tree can be shaped to one’s will, 
and to see tlie results that follow a mere pinch with 
the thumb and forefinger. Of course, it is “agin 
natur ” to make trees that would grow tall and up¬ 
right, stay short and horizontal, and to divert one 
from making a straight trunk into growing with a 
spiral one. But to thus violate “ natur,” and work 
“agin ” it, you must observe the laws of growth, 
and really all the time work with nature. Those 
who have the time, including young people, and 
wot omitting girls, will find a few peach, pear, or 
other trees, trained in one of the several styles, 
to afford a most pleasing occupation. Had Pope 
been well up in the refinements of horticulture, he 
would have written, “Just as the shoot is pinched, 
the tree’s inclined,” for the training is all a series of 
pinchings; the aspirations of the tree are so per¬ 
sistently snubbed, that it soon is disgusted, gives 
up attempts at growing, and goes to bearing fruit. 
The account is too long for an article or a mode¬ 
rate series of articles in the paper, and a beginner 
needs to frequently refer to the directions, which 
are given more in full in Barry’s “Fruit Garden ” 
than in any other in our language that I have seen. 
Cordon training teaches one useful lesson: 
Tlie Work mu-t be (tone at tlie Right Time, 
-or it can not be done at all. The neglect of a few 
days is difficult to remedy, while a longer neglect 
will spoil the whole, past remedy. Having been 
successful in establishing oblique and horizontal 
cordons, I undertook to train some peach trees in 
spirals ; they were fairly formed the first year, but 
as I was away much last summer at the Centennial, 
the right thing could not be done at the right time ; 
the result was, my spirals all went to top, and as a 
consequence went to the brush heap. Some of the 
trees in my horizontal cordon of apples looked 
poorly last summer, and I attributed it to the 
drouth. This spring I discovered it to be borers. 
The trunk being horizontal, and within about a 
foot of the ground, the parent borer placed her 
eggs where, had the trees been erect, they would 
have been 6 or 8 feet from the ground.Prob¬ 
ably no insect, at least none of modern times, has 
ever commanded so much attention as 
Tlie Colorado Potato Beetle. 
It has found its way into the British Parliament; 
governments have proclaimed against it, and the 
arrival of a solitary “ bug ” was of sufficient im¬ 
portance to be “ cabled” from Biemen. It is em¬ 
phatically a “ big-bug.” Its fame has extended to 
another continent—for here is a letter from Africa, 
stating that potatoes there are preyed upon by an 
insect, and specimens are sent to ascertain if the 
genuine Colorado insect had carried the “ war into 
Africa.” On opening the parcel, I found they were 
not “ Colorado,” or even “beetles,.” but true bugs, 
claiming kinship with that sad but much-scented 
one of the squashes. This was sent so far that it 
had lost its scent, if it ever had one, though it took 
several cents in postage, when it started. In some 
remarks about our native 
Eiytlironiums, pr Dog’s-Tooth Violets, 
in April, it was mentioned that we had not suc¬ 
ceeded with the imported dry bulbs of the Euro¬ 
pean species (E. Dens-Canis), a plant I have had 
the greatest desire to see, but could never make the 
bulbs live, much less flower. Two or three years 
ago, a valued correspondent sent me from England, 
with a lot of other herbaceous plants, some bulbs 
of this, right fresh from the ground; these were 
put out near a rock-work, and quite forgotten. 
This year, I noticed some 
leaves, which I took to be very 
strongly marked specimens of 
our common native species, 
but when the flowers opened, 
there was a surprise indeed! 
After waiting and wishing 
these many years, here was the 
plant, and in flower, and no 
disappointment with it! Let 
those who know our common 
species, imagine the flower of 
a lively rosy purple, and they 
will not think me extravagant 
if I say that this was inexpres¬ 
sibly beautiful. The books 
speak of its being flesh-color¬ 
ed, and sometimes even whit¬ 
ish, but this in the way of color 
left nothing to be desired. It 
is perfectly hardy, having been 
in neglect for three winters. 
If the dealers will only import 
fresh bulbs, we can add a 
treasure to the list of hardy 
spring flowers. We have had 
this spring no less than 
Four Eiytliioniams in 
Flower. 
For beauty, our natives must 
step a little to one side and let 
me name this foreign one first; 
next, the common species, 
described in April, 
showy; more delicate, smaller, 
and somewhat later, comes E. 
albidum, with bluish - white 
flowers, and lastly, the new, 
very rare, and little known E. 
propullens , from Iowa ; being a westerner, it has a 
great deal of push or go-ahead in its composition, 
and instead of multiplying, like the others, -by 
making new bulbs close at home, by the old one, it 
sends out an underground stem several inches 
long, and starts a new colony there, if not further 
west, then in some other direction. Its flower is 
the smallest of all, not being a fourth the size of the 
common species, and much the color of E. albidum. 
•.. .The mention of multiplying, reminds me of the 
remarkable ease with which 
Tire Prickly Comfiey Propagates. 
This was described in January last as a forage 
plant of promise. Last fall Mr. C. E. Ashburner, 
referred to in that article, sent me a root which, 
with the top, required a barrel to hold it. The 
leaves were cut away, and the root left in the cel¬ 
lar, until March, when, wishing to try a few rows 
as fodder, we began to propagate, putting pieces of 
the root about four inches long into the sand of the 
cutting bench ; then pieces two inches, then one 
inch long, were tried ; then it was found that the 
chumps of root might be cut lengthwise, in 
halves, quarters, or less, and still grow; we found 
that bits, containing less than a cubic inch, if they 
only had a piece of the outside portion, or bark, on 
them, would make a plant. It is too late now to 
try how far this subdivision may be carried, but I 
have no doubt, that if chopped into pieces as big as 
a pea or a pepper corn, properly dried, and then 
sown in a gentle heat, every bit, with a fragment of 
bark to it, would make a plant. Should the Com- 
frey prove to be half as valuable as its advocates 
claim, it will become a standard crop, and it is 
well to know that it can be propagated so easily. 
How Flowers are Fertilized. 
BT PROF. ASA GRAY. 
ARTICLE Xm.—LADY-SLIPPERS. 
The agricultural papers naturally have a good 
deal to say about “fertilizers,” and in popular bo¬ 
tanical lectures and magazine articles,' “the fer¬ 
tilizing of flowers ” is much discussed. The readers 
of the American Agriculturist never get confused 
among these matters; but a case “down East,” 
which we have just heard of, shows what may hap¬ 
pen. A lecture upon the fertilization of flowers by 
wind and by insects, was given in the town, the lo¬ 
cal newspaper had reported it, and the matter was 
much talked about.—“ Is it true,” asked one of the 
citizens of a botanical friend, “is it really true that 
flowers are fertilized by the wind and by insects 
He was assured that it was so.—“ Well, I should not 
think that bees could ever carry manure enough to 
amount to anything, or the wind either.’’—Here 
VI 
Fig. 1.— larger YELLOW lady’s slipper .—(Cypripedium pubescens.) 
