1873] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
423 
plants. With these precautions cranberries 
are more reliable on well prepared plantations 
than most other fruit crops. 
Notes from the Pines. 
In these golden autumn days, when all vegeta¬ 
tion is maturing and making- ready for the first 
hard frost, what else can one do but prepare for 
winter ? So busy have I been in getting things 
ready for their winter quarters that I have 
noticed but little on my own place to record, 
and that little I shall mix up with gleanings 
from such readings from foreign journals as I 
think may be of interest. A part of my pre¬ 
paration for winter consists in 
Building a Greenhouse, or rather a sort of 
cross between a greenhouse and a conservatory. 
It is a good sized lean-to with curvilinear roof 
and an entrance from the dining-room. My 
experience would not exactly qualify me to tell 
another who wished to build what to do, but 
I could cite many instances of what not to do. 
Vallota Purpurea is a plant of such easy 
culture that I wonder we do not see it oftener. 
Mr. Chitty, of the Bellevue Nursery, drove 
over the other morning to make me a visit. He 
did not know that I had been housed for a few 
days, but some happy influence induced him to 
put into his buggy a pot of Vallota in fine 
bloom. It was a great cheer during the days 
of confinement and has made my study bright 
ever since. Vallota is one of the many genera 
into which Amaryllis has been divided, and 
some of the catalogues have it as Amaryllis 
purpurea. It is probably called “ purpurea ” 
because its flowers are of a most positive scarlet. 
Florists generally keep it, and the bulb-dealer3 
furnish the dry bulbs for 75c. It is one of the 
few bulbs that need no particular care. All 
that you have to do is to keep it growing. In 
winter the plant does not need so much water 
as at other times, but it does not ask to be dried 
off or to be lif ted or to be fussed with in any way. 
In autumn it will give an abundant bloom 
of the most cheery kind. The bulb makes off¬ 
sets freely, and when they get too many for the 
pot the surplus may be removed and started 
anew. This is one of the good old-fashioned 
flowers that should not be lost sight of. 
A New American Star-Thistle is spoken 
of with approval in England— Gentaurea Ameri¬ 
cana Hallii. The regular Gentaurea Americana 
is found west of the Mississippi, and sometimes 
cultivated. It is a rather coarse thistle-like 
plant with very large heads of lilac-colored 
flowers. The new variety from Texas has 
deep magenta purple flowers. The English 
writers must be in error when they speak of it 
as “ a new, fine,' hardy perennial,” as the typical 
form is only an annual. 
“ The Fountain Plant.” —What has be¬ 
come of Amarantlius salicifolius, that promised 
so well last year ? Were the summer drouths 
or the later rains too much for it ? It did worse 
than nothing with me, and I have not seen at 
any exhibition or in private grounds a single 
good specimen. Several of our cultivators who 
were enthusiastic over it last year have given it 
up in disgust. I have seen specimens of 
what promises to be a fine thing, a hybrid be¬ 
tween that and the Ama/ranthus tricolor which, 
should it be permanent, will make a garden 
decoration of the greatest brilliancy. 
Clapps’ Favorite Pear, the “crown of 
glory,” the culminating point of the great fruit 
show at the meeting of the Pomological Socie¬ 
ty in Boston, was an enormous bowl, holding 
nearly a bushel of this excellent pear. For 
size, perfection of form, and beauty of coloring 
this dish of fruit was unequaled. 
American Potatoes in England. —While 
some English horticultural writers emphatical¬ 
ly insist that none of the American potatoes are 
worth growing our dealers receive orders for 
large quantities every year. At the recent In¬ 
ternational Exhibition at Manchester, in .the lot 
of 24 dishes which took the first prize eleven of 
the number were American varieties! 
Alcohol for Mealy-Bugs. —Our friend 
John Jordan, of St. Louis, communicates to the 
Gardener’s Monthly the fact that the mealy¬ 
bug, that pest of gardeners, can be destroyed 
without injury to the plants by touching the 
insect with a brush charged with alcohol. He 
uses “ alcohol diluted with five per cent of 
water.” As the alcohol sold in the shops varies 
some 18 per cent, it would be well to know the 
strength of the alcohol he starts with. 
Celosias or Cockscombs. These very old- 
fashioned plants are becoming popular again. 
Though they have a certain coarseness about 
them when closely inspected, they are capable 
of producing fine effects of color. The new 
Japanese variety introduced by James Yick, of 
Rochester, figured in January last, has proved 
satisfactory with me, being in color and habit 
quite distinct. In March last you published 
an European engraving, sent by Briggs 
Brothers, of Rochester, of a new variegated 
Cockscomb. I did not grow this, but in the 
grounds of Peter Henderson it is very fine, the 
colors being more distinct than in the engrav¬ 
ing referred to. Some of the dwarf sorts are 
very neat. 
Celosia Huttonii, the seeds of which 
were sent out by Messrs. Vietch, who afterwards 
published a circular recalling them stating that 
they had been found deficient in germinating 
qualities, seems to have succeeded in some 
cases. We notice that a correspondent of an 
English journal speaks well of it as a decora¬ 
tive plant, and I know of one gardener in this 
country who succeeded in raising a few plants. 
It will be likely to perfect its seed with more 
certainty here than in England, and we will no 
doubt know more of it another season. 
A Double Canna is indeed a novelty. One 
is reported as having been produced by Mr. 
Crozy of Lyons. The plant is said to be fine, 
and the double flowers eminently beautiful. 
Trouble with Lilies. —A few years ago I 
hadfmc lots of Lilium longifolium and L. aura- 
turn, which have been gradually growing 
smaller. I have heard the same complaint 
from my friends, and find that. the same 
trouble exists in England. Those who wish to 
enjoy these fine lilies at their best will have to 
adopt the English plan of growing them in 
pots. The bulbs increase rapidly in pots, and 
they may be left for several years undisturbed, 
giving a top dressing of manure each spring. 
In winter the pots may be put in a pit or in a 
dry cellar. If desired the pots can be plunged 
in the borders in spring. 
The American Aloe or Century Plant 
is in bloom in Cornwall, Eng., where it has en¬ 
dured the open air for several winters. 
Money or Skill, Which ?—A question has 
arisen in the Horticultural Circle of Lyons 
which should receive some attention at the 
hands of our horticultural and agricultural 
societies. Our correspondent, M. Jean Sisley, 
who was secretary of the circle, contended that 
only growers of plants should compete for 
prizes at a horticultural show, and that they 
should not be obliged to contend with those 
who were able to purchase plants for exhibi¬ 
tion. It is an easy matter for one who has 
money to go about and buy up choice speci¬ 
mens and carry off prizes over the heads of 
those who show the products of their own 
skill. In other words, M. Sisley desired that 
skill and not money should be rewarded. We 
hold M. Sisley’s position to be the right one. 
We have known an instance in which grapes 
bought in the market took a premium at a 
show in New York, and probably such cases 
are not rare. The Lyonnaise Cercle being 
composed largely of florists decided against 
M. Sisley on the ground that it was “contrary 
to the interests of the trade,” whereupon that 
gentleman resigned his secretaryship. 
A Water-Brush for Plants. 
A correspondent of the Gardener's Chronicle 
(London) describes and figures an invention 
which he calls a water-brush, that he finds 
A WATER-BRUSH. 
useful in cleansing plants, especially roses, from 
the green fly, etc. Sprinkling with water and 
insect destroying liquids often fails to reach all 
the affected parts, and to be thorough one must 
resort to washing, which is generally a tedious 
operation, but one which we think might be 
easily performed with this implement. The 
can, A; is seven inches long and about two in¬ 
ches in diameter, provided with a cover. " This 
holds the water, tobacco-water, or whatever 
liquid may be used, which flows through a 
small orifice in the nozzle, B, into the center of 
the brush, C. 
The Concord Going Back. 
Several years ago we published a statement 
with regard to a trellis of Catawba vines. The 
trellis was near a barn which was burned, and 
all the vines that were injured by the fire when 
they put out new shoots bore black grapes, 
more like the Isabella than the Catawba. 
Similar changes have happened in Europe, and. 
we now add to these curious instances one 
from a correspondent in Michigan. All pheno¬ 
mena of this kind, when well authenticated, 
should be placed upon record, as they will no 
doubt ultimately be of use. Our correspon¬ 
dent writes: 
• “In the winter of 1871-2 a Concord grape¬ 
vine in the grounds of R. A. Bury, of this city, 
which had for several years borne fruit, was 
killed nearly to the earth by frost. Several 
new shoots sprung up the next summer, and 
this year they have fruited, but have not pro¬ 
duced Concords. This year’s grapes are 
a little smaller than an average Concord, 
vastly more foxy than that grape both in odor 
and taste, and of a dull, yellow color, slightly 
tinged with red, resembling somewhat the 
