1870.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
383 
Marie Lemoine is also a dwarf, and produces 
freely large, rosy-pink trusses—botli capital. 
T Stomas.— I am glad to hear from tire deal¬ 
ers that the “Red-hot Poker-Plant” is becoming 
popular, Rs long spike of scarlet makes a fine 
glow in the October sun. It may be kept 
through the winter with a little covering. Dr. 
K. had a fine clump of it; last fall he built a 
large box around it, which he filled with leaves, 
and put on a cover. Treated in this way, the 
plants were hardly checked; and this spring 
they were all ready to go to work, and bloomed 
in Jul}". But who wanted “red-hot pokers” 
last July?—We were better satisfied to have 
ours come at a cooler season. 
White Zinnias —from some seed from Mr. 
Dreer, of Philadelphia, have attracted much at¬ 
tention. The flowers came very double, and in 
contrast with the scarlets and crimsons appear 
quite white, but when taken by themselves, they 
are only greenish-white. They are now very 
satisfactory, and no doubt by careful selection of 
flowers for seed, a pure white will be obtained. 
The Trophy Tomato. —Last spring I sowed 
the seeds of this new variety, and after setting 
out a row, had several plants over, which were 
given to some amateur friends. All theirs did 
splendidly, and so did ours up to just the point 
when the fruit should ripen. The soil on which 
they were placed was poor, and the drouth was 
quite too much for them. Such a setting of fruit 
was wonderful to see, but the promise was not 
fulfilled—in short, the crop was a failure. In 
such trials how cautious we should be not to 
praise or condemn from a single experience. I 
might honestly say of the Trophy, “I have 
tried it, and it is a failure.” But it is n’t, for 
there is my friend over the river, who had some 
of the same plant's, but whose soil was better 
and who did not suffer so from drouth; he had 
splendid fruit. So with another, up at Engle¬ 
wood, to whom I gave a few of my seeds. 1 
have seen Col. Waring’s crop, and had fruit 
from Iona Island and several other sources, and 
am quite convinced—notwithstanding my own 
want of success—that the Trophy is by far the 
best tomato that I have ever seen or tasted for 
size, solidity, productiveness, and flavor. 
Garden Tools. —There are' two tools that 
seem to be about perfect. One is Swain’s 
Lance-head hoe, and the other Hexamer’s 
Prong-hoe. When one becomes accustomed to 
these, he finds it difficult to do without them. For 
loosening the soil after a rain, and all rather deep 
working of the soil that is to be done by hand, 
Hexamer’s hoe is capital. The Lance-head hoe 
looks like an insignificant tool, but one who can 
handle it properly can do a wonderful amount 
of work with it; while for weeding and dressing 
the soil among plants which stand close, there 
is nothing that will equal it. It is a great im¬ 
provement on the baj'onet hoe, and should 
quite supersede it. 
Bulbs and Bulb Peddlers. 
To enjoy the earliest and most pleasing flow¬ 
ers the garden affords in spring, we must have 
some bulbs. Crocuses, Snowdrops, Hyacinths, 
Crown Imperials, Tulips, Jonquils, Bulboco- 
diums, and others, are so early and so welcome 
that we should hardly feel that we had a garden 
if they were wanting. “But they are ex¬ 
pensive ”—so they are, if you are a bulb fancier 
and wish named sorts, and the newest at that; 
but if one is a real lover of flowers and will be 
content to take good, but less novel things, he 
can get along with a moderate sum. The best 
way in this case is to disregard what the cata¬ 
logues say in regard to names and colors, and 
send the sum to be devoted to the purchase of 
bulbs to a responsible dealer (sec advertising 
columns), requesting him to send you an assort¬ 
ment of Crocuses, Hyacinths, or such kinds 
as may be desired. The selection being left to 
the dealer, he will be able to give more for the 
money than if specified varieties are named. 
The bulbs can go by mail, and when received 
they should be planted at once. It is best to 
make the bulb bed where it can be seen from 
the windows of the family room, so that the 
flowers may be the more thoroughly enjoyed. 
Have a good, light, rich soil, and if the bed is 
an oval one, put the taller growers in the center 
and the low T er ones near the margin. As to size 
they will run, Crown Imperials, the tallest, 
Narcissuses, Hyacinths, Early Tulips, Bulboco- 
diums,Crocuses,and Snowdrops. Place the bulbs 
from two to four inches apart and cover from 
tw r o to three inches deep, according to size. 
Before the ground freezes hard, put over the bed 
a few inches of coarse stable manure, leaves, or 
other litter, and let it remain until spring. Such 
a bed may remain several years without being 
disturbed. These directions will serve for those 
who wish to have early spring flowers, without 
regard to the niceties of bulb culture. Bulb 
fanciers need no directions from us. We like 
to see the products of their skill in culture, but 
still better do we like to see bulbs made “every¬ 
body’s flowers.” We have given advice how to 
buy bulbs. How not to buy them is of the 
bulb peddlers. 
Just about these days, these gentlemen appear, 
and they generally come in pairs. One can “no 
English spraclie,” and his companion interprets 
and explains that his friend has just arrived 
with an invoice of Bulbs from Holland or Ger¬ 
man}', as the case may be, and having no money, 
he is compelled to sell very cheaply. Then, if 
allowed, he will exhibit flaming pictures repre¬ 
senting Hyacinths, Tulips, Lilies, etc., of mar¬ 
vellous size and coloring, such as nature has 
never yet dreamed of. He will sell you a blue 
Gladiolus or Tulip, or a scarlet Hyacinth, just 
as readily as he will those of their proper colors. 
They have trafficked largely in Japan Lilies of 
late years, since the interest has been so great in 
these. The Lilium Auratum, or Gold-banded 
Lily of Japan, was a great card with them when 
the bulbs commanded $5 each; and such was 
the specious talking of the rascals, that they oc¬ 
casionally imposed on florists and nurserymen, 
whose experience should have protected them. 
A well-known florist, of a town on the Hudson, 
purchased in 1867 one hundred of “ Lilium Aura¬ 
tum” from a Bulb Peddler for $80, half in cash, 
and half in a note, which only was to be paid 
upon their proving true 1 The Lilium Auratum 
proved to be the common white lily, ( L . candi- 
dum ,) worth at wholesale $6 per 100. The ped¬ 
dler has not yet called for payment of the note, 
and Bulb Peddlers since that day have learned 
to give the establishment of our friend a wide 
berth. Another fellow had the audacity to 
palm off a bulb of the common Tiger, or Orange 
Lily, as a new Japanese novelty, for $5,on one 
of our best bulb experts in the City of New York 
—he does not like to hear of the transaction 
now from his friends. If professional florists 
are now and then swindled by these rascals, it 
may well be supposed that amateurs are easy 
prey. The Tuberose is a universal favorite 
with all classes who love flowers, but presents 
-- 
no variety of color—nothing but its own white, 
ness—but our bulb peddler is equal to the de¬ 
mands of our amateur friends, and supplies 
them with any required color. If by chance the 
“Blue” Tuberose turns out a hyacinth, or the 
“Scarlet” one a gladiolus, our bulb merchant 
is not usually at hand to discuss the question. 
Insects on the Evergreens. 
There are several insect enemies to the ever¬ 
greens, and they seem to have been unusually 
abundant this year. We have noticed marked 
instances of their destructiveness in various 
places. The insects we have seen as well as 
specimens that have been sent, are the larvae of 
a Saw-fly, several species of which infest the 
pines, spruces, and other coniferous trees culti¬ 
vated for ornament. Lophyrus dbietis attacks 
the Fir and Pitch Pine ; L. Abottii is found up¬ 
on the White Pine; and L. Leconteii infests 
the Scotch and Austrian Pines. Referring to 
w T orks upon entomology for full descriptions, 
we briefly say that the perfect insects are 
only about one-fourtli of an inch in length; the 
larvae, which do the mischief, are from half an 
inch to an inch long, in the different species, 
and are yellowish with green, and in some, 
black stripes. The eggs are laid upon the leaves, 
and the caterpillars feed, often in considerable 
numbers together, upon the foliage, to the great 
injury of the tree. The one which infests the 
White Pine is often found as late as November. 
The larvae when full-fed, spin tough cocoons 
either upon the trees, or descend to the ground 
and spin among the dead leaves, etc. They can 
only be attacked in the larva, or caterpillar 
state, and are said to be easily killed by carbol¬ 
ic soap, whale oil soap, or tobacco water. Many 
are destroyed by shaking them from the trees 
early in the morning when they are torpid. 
Being so small and so near the color of the 
leaves, the caterpillars are not usually noticed 
until the appearance of the tree shows that it 
has sustained some injury. 
Trees on Sandy Soil, without Manure. 
Mr. A. B. Allen, one of the original proprie¬ 
tors of the Agriculturist , has a place near the 
sea-coast in New Jersey, where the soil is very 
sandy, and manure in adequate quantities cannot 
be obtained. In a private letter to one of the 
editors Mr. A. gives some of the difficulties he 
has encountered in his attempts to establish a 
garden and ornamental grounds in such an un¬ 
promising spot. His management of the soil 
for trees promises good results; and as his meth¬ 
od may be of use to others, we take the liberty 
of giving the substance of his account. Last 
fall the land was limed and marled and 
sowed to rye, using guano at the rate of 400 
lbs. to the acre. This spring deep furrows were 
opened, seven feet apart, and young maple and 
other trees, about two feet high, were planted 
in the furrows. In May, when the rye was well 
headed out, but before the grain had formed, it 
was plowed under between the rows of trees, 
providing a mulch, and by the decomposition 
of the stalks and roots, furnishing food for the 
trees. Early in August he plowed again be¬ 
tween the rows and sowed buckwheat with 
guano. As soon as the grain of the buckwheat 
began to form, this was turned under, and rye 
with guano sown again. This crop of rye will 
be turned under next spring. Trees treated in 
this way stood the drouth much better and grew 
more than similar ones which had been mulched 
