562 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 26, 1889. 
The trailing shrub which grows dearer each Christmas-tide is the 
Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, or Bear Berry. Its long branches so thickly set 
with the small, ovate, glossy evergreen leaves, varying in colour from the 
dark green nearest the roots to the shining red ones on the tips of the 
youngest branches, make it our favourite evergreen. It retains its 
colour and beauty through the winter in the house, but its few scarlet 
tasteless berries drop oil almost as soon as it is gathered. Its dainty 
pinkish bells hang from the under side of the branches in May and 
June. Helen Hunt Jackson’s description of the Kinnikinnick Vine, of 
Colorado, applies equally well to its near relative, the Bear Berry. 
Look through the trees and catch a glimpse of that great rosy cloud, 
draw nearer, and the dearest flower to New England is before you, 
Azalea nudiflora, or Swamp Apple, or Honeysuckle, as it is variously 
called. Break off the great pink balls of fragrance and loveliness, and 
put with them the feathery young green shoots of the Hemlock, and 
•as you look at them lovingly, thank God for the beauty of bleak New 
England. Rhodora canadensis, with its naked, smooth, brown twigs 
and the purplish-pink flowers clustered on their extremities, is met with 
by the roadsides the last of May. It is always noticed by the entire 
absence of leaves, although a late season sometimes shows a tip of pale 
green among the flowers. 
Seldom found in the interior but abundant on the sea coast, filling 
the air with its spicy fragrance, grows the Clethra alnifolia, or Sweet 
Pepper Bush. Its long, white, waxy spikes stand upright; in some 
localities it is found growing 10 feet high. Its usual height is 3 to 5 
feet. It grows abundantly about some inland ponds, as well as on the 
edges of salt marshes, and in both places seemingly disputing the right 
of way with the graceful climbing Clematis, or Virgin’s Bower, which 
last appears to conquer, as it waves triumphantly in the autumn sun¬ 
shine, its feathery, plume-like seed vessels for banners of victory, 
mingled with the blood-red leaves of the tall Blackberry. 
No one notices the Black Alder, Prinos verticilJatus, in summer, but 
•when the leaves have all fallen from the dense bush-growth in the moist 
low lands, then the eye eye is drawn thither as if by magic. A north¬ 
west wind, a whirl of the leaves, and lo ! the swamp is aflame ; the 
scarlet berries gleam in the sunshine like g’obes of fire. Sassafras is 
well known by its aromatic fragrance, which is in root and bark as well 
as in its curiously lobed leaves. Benzoin odoriferum, or Spice Bush, is 
known by its golden-yellow flowers, which appear before the leaves in 
May, and are followed by ovoid scarlet berries in autumn. Frost comes, 
and along the roadsides the fuzzy involucre of the Hazelnut expands, 
disclosing the sweet well-flavoured nut that the farmer's boy, driving 
the cows at sunrise to the meadow pasture where the grass is still green, 
stops and fills his jacket pockets with, as he whistles merrily, as only a 
farmer boy can. The Corylus americana is our only nut-bearing shrub. 
Along the banks of streams in most parts of New England grows the 
Alnus serrulata, or Smooth Alder. Its clusters of dark brown fertile 
aments hang on all winter, and the yellow pollen of the sterile ones 
in early spring turns them with its Midas touch to gold when the air is 
still. 
Many of us who in childhood have had our burns and bruises rubbed 
over with grandmother’s Bayberry salve have an affection for the low- 
branching shrub, Myrica cerifera, with its pungent spicy odour, and its 
green ovoid berries covered in a waxy tallow, which we have gathered 
so many times in a sloping pasture lot on an old farm in Connecticut. 
We always find the dear old Sweet Fern, Comptonia aspleniifolia, in the 
same locality, not half so readily noticed in the summer when its low 
growth is hidden by taller shrubs, but when the leaves have dropped in 
autumn, then the Sweet Fern dots the pastures with its long burnt 
sienna-coloured patches, making a vivid contrast to the red-capped 
Lichen at its roots, which is called by the little ones, “ Robin Hood’s 
merry men in green.” 
Indian summer comes, and the pale purple haze hangs between us 
and the hills. The leaves with no vestige of their gorgeous autumn 
tints remaining, lie in scattered heaps upon the ground. Only the Oak 
rattles his brown foliage in defiance, when the Witch Hazel, Hamamelis, 
sends out its pale blossoms, its long, narrow, twisted petals having an 
uncanny look against the background of the Hemlock. The woody 
capsules, with their two white seeds, seen like elfish grinning brownies 
daring you to pluck these last blossoms of the year. The yellowish 
sessile flowers remain on the greyish-brown branches all winter, and it 
is not so rare a thing to find the long petals twisted about each other 
still retaining their colour, but dry and papery, when in your woodland 
walk, on some May day that has walked backward into April you gather 
the first unfolding blossom of the Dirca.— Flokence I. W. Burn¬ 
ham (in Vick's Magazine). 
FRUIT FORCING. 
Cucumbers. —The weather may not have necessitated sharp firing, 
but there has been an absence of sun, which generally results in a weak 
attenuated growth. Light is very important in the cultivation of the 
Cucumber in winter, and now the days are so short keep the glass as 
clean as possible both inside and out. Do not apply strong liquid 
manure too freely, as it is the reverse of good treatment to stimulate 
them unduly at any time. The soil, however, applied to the roots should 
be rich and sweet. Be careful not to overcrop the plants, and do not 
allow the fruits to hang too long. They keep fresh several days after 
being cut if the “ heels ” are inserted in saucers of water in moderate 
heat. Remove superfluous fruits as they appear, and tie the growths as 
necessary. Red spider should be subdued by syringing the infested 
leaves with a weak solution of softsoap 2 ozs. to the gallon a safe 
remedy, but care must be taken not to damage the leaves. If mildew 
appear, dust the affected parts with flowers of sulphur, and reduce the 
atmospheric moisture. Green or black aphides may be destroyed by 
dusting them with tobacco powder, or fumigation on two or three 
consecutive evenings moderately. An overdose may do irreparable 
injury. 
Where early Cucumbers and Melons are obtained from frames or 
pits heated by fermenting materials, some fresh Oak or Beech leaves 
should be thrown together, with one-third of stable litter, and, if 
necessary, be moistened so as to induce fermentation. . It should be 
turned when warmed through, alike to sweeten, to bring all into a 
genial state of warmth by turning the outside to the inside, and to induce 
thorough incorporation of the materials. 
Peaches and Nectarines.— Earliest House.— Cease syringing the 
trees when the blossoms show colour, maintaining, however, a moderate 
moisture in the house by damping the floors on bright mornings and in 
the early part of fine afternoons. The temperature may be maintained 
at 55° by day, 50° being sufficiently high for the night, and if the 
temperature fall to 15°, and in very sharp weather to 40°, it will be more 
an advantage than otherwise. Examine the inside borders, and give if 
necessary a thorough supply of water at a temperature slightly in 
advance of that of the house. 
Second Early House. —The trees for affording fruit at the close of 
May or early in June must have their final dressing if one be necessary, 
be tied to the trellis if not already done, and the border inside well 
watered, as nothing tends so much to encourage the development of 
strong flowers as a good soaking of liquid manure not cold enough to chill 
the roots. The house should then be closed, employing no more fire 
heat than is necessary to exclude frost, damping the trees in the morning 
and early in the afternoon of bright days. Fire heat must be applied 
to raise the temperature to 50°, but not more, and above that air must be 
admitted freely. Protect the outside border with dry fern or litter, and 
if means are at command for throwing off heavy rains or snow it will be 
desirable to employ them. 
Succession Houses. —Push forward pruning and dressing trees after 
loosening them from the trellis, cutting out any weak attenuated wood, 
and where crowded thin well, leaving space between the current bearing 
wood for training in that intended to displace it. Secure the branches 
at once to the trellis, leaving space in the ties for the swelling of the 
shoots— i.e., secure loosely. The surface soil should be removed down to 
the roots without disturbing them, and give fresh material—good tufty 
loam with an admixture of well decayed manure, about a fourth, anil a 
twentieth of steamed bone meal, not covering the roots more than 2 or 
3 inches deep. Carefully examine the inside borders, as dryness at the 
roots will cause the buds to fall later on. 
Houses that are to be started early in next year should be kept cool. 
If the lights have been removed let them so remain until it becomes 
necessary to replace them for starting the trees. Complete the needful 
operations in cleaning, pruning, and dressing, also tying the trees to the 
trellis. 
Figs. — Unheated Houses.— Unloose the trees from the trellis or wall, 
have the branches tied together in convenient bundles, and cover them 
with a single thickness of mat and then some dry straw or fern a few 
inches thick, securing with tarred string, mulching the roots with some 
short rather littery material to a depth of not less than 6 inches ; this 
insures safety to the roots, whilst the covering with straw or other 
material will not only insure the branches against frost, but tend to a 
more complete state of rest. 
Unsatisfactory Trees. —These may be due to various causes. It is 
usually on account of the soil; there may be too much, or it may be too 
rich and loose. A dressing of lime an inch thick may be pointed in as 
deeply as the roots will permit without disturbing them much, and after 
resting a time and when in good order tread it firmly. If the trees make 
loDg-jointed wood the better p’an is to lift them carefully and replant, 
making the soil more firm, using the lime all the same. If the borders 
are wide restrict their area, and if the soil be of a light nature an admix¬ 
ture of clay marl will improve the staple, tend to encourage shorter- 
jointed wood, and increase the size and quality of the fruit. 
Pines. —Preparations must be made for producing ripe fruit during 
the months of May and June. Smooth-leaved Cayenne, Black Jamaica, 
and Charlotte Rothschild, which failed to show fruit during October and 
November, will not now throw up in time to ripen at the period in 
question ; and attention must be directed to such as attain perfection 
in less time, such as the Queen, Enville, Providence, &c. Choose at once 
these plants which have an enlarged base, with a tendency to open at 
the centre, signs of the fruit being shortly visible, placing them in a 
light house or pit, affording brisk bottom heat of 85° to 90°, a top heat 
of 60° to 70° at night, 70° to 75° by day, and 10° more when the external 
conditions are favourable. A genial atmosphere should be maintained, 
but not produced by steam resulting from syringing the hot water 
pipes, as syringing the plants once or twice a week is ample, and 
