APRIL 4© 
Jiloricnltiuial. 
THYRSACANTHU8 RUTILANS. 
F1.0IU8TS who value plants just in propor¬ 
tion to the number tliat can he propagated 
and sold in the market, will have little inter¬ 
est in tho one shown in the accompanying 
illustration. The 'rhyisaeantkus rutilanx is 
a strong win tor-blooming plant, requiring age 
and plenty of room in order to secure a hand¬ 
some specimen, but when one such is pro¬ 
duced it seldom failss to command un¬ 
bounded admiration. In graceful outlines 
and splendid color of flowers, it has lew 
superiors even among the most elegant plants 
that grace our conservatories. The leaves are 
large and are of a deep green color, while 
the long, tubular, crimson scarlet llowers, 
gracefully fringe the pendent branches. 
Tho cultivation of this plant is very simple, 
although a person unaoqninted with its 
character would be very likely to fail. The 
young plant should be made to grow from 
the first start, receiving no cheek until the 
specimens are of good^dze; then allow the 
roots to fill the pots, or, as gardeners term it, 
get pot-bound; this will cheek greatly, and 
throw the plant into bloom. If the large 
plants are allowed plenty of pot room and 
growth continues rapidly, blooming will be 
prevented. 
The cuttings may lie started in March or 
April, and when rooted put into small two 
or three-inch pots, and shift as required until 
they occupy seven or eight-inch pots in 
which they may remain one or two years, 
and will bloom better than If grown in a 
larger size. After the plants have bloomed, 
cut them down, and if it is desirable to make 
still larger specimens the following Bcason 
give more pot room, but it is better not to in¬ 
crease the size more than an inch or two at 
one time. 
-- - - 
HOW TO GROW DAHLIAS. 
Last year I started my Dahlias in a hot¬ 
bed, after the early tomatoes were removed 
to the eold-framc, and found it saved much 
labor of moving boxes out into the sunshine, 
and back to shelter at night ; but the flowers 
were no nicer than those 1 had grown for 
yearn in the old way. In the country, most 
ladies who cultivate llowers use the kitchen 
or living-room for a greenhouse, and it may 
interest those who do not succeed well with 
Dahlias to know how 1 manage to have these 
beautiful flowers in bloom from the last of 
June till the frost destroys the tops. 
About tho 15th of April (which is early 
enough in the latitude of 42°) the roots are 
brought from the cellar, and if any of them 
are decayed, t he diseased parts are removed, 
leaving only the sound portions attached to 
the short stalk. The previous fall, a compost 
of garden soil, leaf mold, well-decayed chips 
and a little Kind, is usually stored iu some 
convenient place, ready for use, and a layer 
of this is put iu shallow boxes, or pans ; the 
roots, properly labeled, are placed closely on 
it, but not crowded very much ; then cov¬ 
ered with Roil, which is thoroughly moistened 
with warm water. Moss, or woolen cloths, 
laid over the boxes, retain the moisture, and 
if the room is not very warm, they ought to 
be near t he stove, as heat is essential to the 
development of the buds, or eyes. 
As soon as these appear, tho covering is 
taken oil’, and when the sprouts arc two or 
three inches high, the roots are carefully 
lifted and divided, with a whole, or part, of 
a single tuber adhering to each new stalk. If 
any are broken in the division, they will 
grow as readily as any other cuttings, and 
often bloom before frosts appear. Now, the 
pots, boxes, or other convenient receptacles, 
are tilled with the compost, and the young 
plants sot singly, or so far apart that the fu¬ 
ture removal to the garden will not seriously 
disturb the line roots soon thrown out in 
every direction. When the weather is not 
too cold, they are placed out of doors, iu the 
sun, during the day, and kept growing vigor¬ 
ously, by having the soil rather moist, and 
applying soap-suds, or weak liquid manure, 
once n week. 
By the 1st of June, the ground selected for 
their summer quarters is thoroughly spaded 
to the depth of eighteen inches, a shovelful 
of old manure is mixed with the soil in each 
hill, ami if the weather is cool and cloudy, 
with no indications of frost, 1 transplant the 
Dahlias, which, by this time, are strong, 
hardy plants. The hollow made to receive 
them is tilled with water, the roots set in it a 
little below the level of the ground, and the 
soil pressed well over them, while the tops 
are secured to stakes. A little shade from 
the hot sun, for a few days, and watering at .a ivy ,y | rt ft j d tv ] 
sundown, is all tliat is necessary until the UUUVIJUIH# 
plants are established. If the weather is fa- _„— - --- 
vorabfet end the wotfc properb done, they wrtjtnMwa ta*« pt-ach 
receive but little check, and the buds that PICQUET S LATE PEACH. 
often form before transplanting soon unfold 
into the perfect flower. In the January number of the Rural Ala- 
The ground is stirred of ton, and weeds de- bamian, the editor gives a list of market fruit 
stroyed, till July, when a thin coat of manure for the South, among which the Picquet 
is spread on the surface, not. very close to the peach is considered as unrivaled at its sea- 
stalks, and over this, a layer of half-decayed son. He says : “ This variety is by no means 
PICQTJET’S LATE PEACH. 
THYRS AC ANTECUS JRTTTILA.JSTS- 
ehips, which makes an excellent mulch dur¬ 
ing tho summer, if drouth combs on, the 
roots get a thorough soaking occasionally— 
at evening, with suds from the kitchen, and 
with water saved from the Center of tho 
barnyard after heavy rains. This is a never- 
failing source of wealth to both the vegetable 
and flower garden, and under this generous 
treatmeut the Dahlias attain great size and 
beauty ; and need no more care until late in 
the autumn, except to keep them tied to 
stout stakes ; and if the foliage should be too 
luxuriant, l trim out weak brandies and all 
shoots growing near the ground. They 
bloom more abundantly in situations shel¬ 
tered from the midday sun and high winds; 
but, cultivated in this way, they will grow 
nicely even in the open garden. 
Some one else may know of a better way 
for different soils; but, planted in a gravelly 
loam, and with tills mode of culture, our 
many choice varieties of Dahlias are a con¬ 
stant delight to the eye till frost destroys 
their regal beauty. Ruth Dana. 
-♦♦♦- 
FLORAL BREVITIES. 
Flowers in Porks. —“Novice” asks “Why 
is it that we do not have more flowers in our 
parks i Surely it coiuiot be the cost of cul¬ 
ture, for that is a mere trifle. Bedding-out 
plants, perennials, ornamental foliage plants 
can be procured so reasonably, it seems 
strange we have, no more, of them in our 
parks.” There are few parks tliat would not 
be more attractive wit h more llowers. 
Fall Preparation .for Spring Flowers.— 
Mrs. H. S. Bkgwn wrote us in February List 
tha t she covered up snugly in beds last fall 
over 1,300 tulip bulbs and 75 hyacinth bulbs, 
and is anticipating with great eagerness the 
first tiny sprout the spring will show. After 
this long, dreary winter, we hope her Cats- 
kill home will prove gorgeous in its beauty. 
The Charles Lawson Rose is highly spoken 
of as one of the most beautiful in u good situ¬ 
ation—none equal to it when in a good situa¬ 
tion, nor one that is more admired ; but we 
cannot tell our correspondent where it can 
be purchased. 
these young plants commonly bear the same 
year they are set out. The berries arc large, 
some, measuring over three-fourths of an inch 
in diameter, quite as large as the Mammoth 
Cluster—rather more oblate—and with a fine 
flavor. It appeara to be distinctly a 
“monthly” variety. 
American Pumalog/eal Society's Catalogue 
of Fruit*. —Gborge T. Fish of the Eclectic 
Ruralist suggests that the Society’s catalogue 
of fruits be published, and separately from 
its transactions, and sold at a reasonable price, 
and, second, that in making up the catalogue 
the parentage of each fruit, as far as known, 
be given. 
The Wagener Apple in Michigan, accord¬ 
ing to T. T. Lyon, owes its popularity there 
to its vigor and excellent habit of growth 
in the nursery and its very early productive¬ 
ness. He adds: 
My observation both at home and abroad 
has but confirmed my early conviction, that 
its early and excessive productiveness, unless 
i heckeil by careful thinning (which with us 
is not to be hoped for), is infallibly fat'd to 
the proper growth anil development of the 
trees, while it further results in inferior size 
of the fruit, and on account of t he short, si ill' 
fruit spurs, and the consequent crowding to 
getlicr <>f the fruit upon the branches, in the 
actual crowding off of more or loss of the 
fruits in the process of growth, and as a 
result, of tlie same habit, at tho time of gather 
iug, fully one. half the entire c rop is found 
upon tine ground, and consequently worthless, 
except for eider. 
Fruit Prospect* in Columbia s Co , N. V. 
Most of our summer fruit, as the peach, pear, 
plum and cherry, have been winter killed, 
while many trees are either killed or so badly 
injured as to make them worthless. Tho 
Clark and Philadelphia are apparently dead. 
Mammoth Cluster, Thornless, and Doolittle 
Raspberries are considerably injured. The 
loss of trees (amounting to thousands) and 
fruit falls heavily, as many make it their chief 
business.—C. E. H., Germantown, Columbia 
Co., n. r. 
Appier, for Jefferson Co., N. P. — A cor¬ 
respondent at Black River, Jefferson county, 
N. Y., is going to plant three acres to apples 
this spring, and asks what kinds to plant— 
prefers hardy kinds that will stand the win¬ 
ter there rather than choice varieties that 
are doubtful, if be cannot have t hem com¬ 
bined. Borne Jefferson county apple-grower 
should bo the best able to give a list proven 
hardy there. Will he not? 
Almonds in California. —A California 
paper states that Air. P. H. St 11 NEB, Kt. 
Helena, Cal., has 2,500 almond trees, a large, 
part of which are bearing. Borne of them, 
being six years of age, have yielded mil of 
the value of over $5 per tree, or £07 from 
twelve trees sold at wholesale market price. 
as widely known and planted as it should be. 
For its season, it is the evidence of all who 
have fruited it that it has no compeer. Large 
to very large, bright yellow, and of the most 
excellent quality, it cannot fail to become 
one of our most profitable market peaches, 
ripening as it does when good peaches are 
scarce, and the trees being tine growers and 
abundant bearers. Season, first half of Sep¬ 
tember; freestone.” 
This magnificent peach originated iu the 
orchard of Antoine Picqckt, Bel-Air, Gn. 
In 1858 we cut the grafts from the original 
tree, which (bed the following year. After 
fruiting it for four consecutive seasons, we 
put it hi the trade, feeling assured at that 
time that it was destined to become a most 
valuable market peach. In this we. have not 
been disappointed, and it is a source of con¬ 
gratulation to us to have added this peach to 
our list of superior fruits and saved it from 
destruction. It ripens with the Smock, to 
which it is immensely superior in size, ap¬ 
pearance and quality. The Salway also ma¬ 
tures at the same time, but is also inferior to 
the. Picquet, from a limited experience in 
frnitiug the former and from reports of others 
who fruited both varieties side by side. 
--- 
POMOLOGIOAL GOSSIP. 
A New Ontario County Raspberry, origin- 
all}' on the grounds of Stephen Catkamieti, 
an accidental seedling, which has now grown 
and borne three years, is thus spoken of by 
the Country Gentleman:—It belongs to the 
Blaek-Ga; i family, hut has some of the charac¬ 
teristics of the red varieties, the fruit itself 
being dark red, with an approach to purplish 
brown. It is a very strong grower, as much 
or more so than the EUsdale, with leaves 
more rugose than most raspberries, and with 
prickles twice as numerous as on the Doolit¬ 
tle, but of much smaller size. It roots very 
freely at the tops, and often sends up shoots 
from the new plants the same season, so that 
®he (harden. 
L t L 
GARDEN NOTES. 
Small Cabbage for Market —The Cottage 
Gardener, in answer to an inquiry, says :—All 
the cabbages grown for the usual supply of 
the London markets are of tho common Bat¬ 
tersea variety. Then- size depends on the 
time of the seed being sown, and of the cab¬ 
bages being cut. For autumn and early V/ in¬ 
ter use the seed is sown in the spring of the 
same year. If you wish for an especially 
sweet and small cabbage, cultivate either the 
Nonpareil or the Little Pixie. 
To Get ; Tender Horer-radish .—An English 
gardener says :—“ It may not lie generally 
known that if leaves or litter be placed on 
the tops of horse-radish crowns, two feet or so 
thick, the plants grow through them in the 
course of the summer, making small white 
roots the thickness of one’s linger, Which are 
as tender as spring radishes, and much to be 
preferred to the tough, stringy stuff usually 
supplied with our roast beef.” 
Rude wheat for Salad.—The London Garden 
says u Ordinary buckwheat, grown in «• 
moderately warm greenhouse, and cut like 
mustard when about two or three Indus 
high, makes a delicious winter salad. R 
be grown in puns all the year round without 
the least trouble, and even when lettuces aic 
plentiful will be found a very desirable addi¬ 
tion to the salad bowl.” 
A Cheap Hot-Bed is made by a Wisconsin 
man, by using shallow boxes filled with rich 
soil, and placing them on top of the dunghill, 
where it is fermenting, with other boxes for 
covers ; and he exclaims, “ my liot-bed is 
done!” 
Early Ripening Peas are named by G. R- R > 
in Country Gentleman, in the following o: 
der :—Carter’s First Crop, Early Kent, Mc¬ 
Lean’s Little Gem, and Prince Albert. 
