.42 
THE RURAL HEW-YORKER. 
sunnny situation about the end of May, about 
four or five feet apart, so that they may not 
become drawn. Pinch the shoots back occa¬ 
sionally if they show a tendency to grow out 
of shape, and about the middle of September 
take them up carefully and pot them, using a 
compost composed of two-thirds well-rotted 
sods and one-third well-rotted manure. 
Is there any remedy, that can be easily and 
cheaply applied, for the cabbage worms ? I 
never saw them so numerous and destructive 
as they were during the past season. Whole 
fields of both cabbage and cauliflower have 
been destroyed by them. In this vicinity many 
remedies have been tried, but without success, 
The question is how to apply them, as most of 
the worms work on the under-side of the 
leaves. Chas. E. Parnell. 
Queens Co., L. L 
-*-►-*- 
THE CYCLAMEN. 
PETER B. MEAD. 
The cyclamen is a beautiful winter-bloom¬ 
ing plant, and is not yet as well known as it 
deserves to be, especially among amateurs. 
It is highly prized by those who know it. 
There are se veral species of the cyclamen, 
some one of which is in bloom from Fall till 
Spring, C. autumnal is being the first to show 
its pretty flowers, and it should be the first 
planted. The best known among us is the C. 
Persicum, of which there are not a few vari¬ 
eties or variations, the foliage generally dif¬ 
fering more than the flowers. Some decided 
improvements, however, have recently been 
made, the most striking, in foliage and flower, 
being known as Giganteuni, of the Persicum 
type, a very good portrait of which accom¬ 
panies this article. 
The cyclamen will flower freely either in 
the greenhouse or the sittiug-room, and re¬ 
sponds generously to very ordinary care after 
having been once established. The plants 
may be raised from seed, and in experienced 
hands small flowering conns may be produced 
in ono year from the sowing; but the better 
way is to buy tbe norms. These may now (Nov.) 
be bought of the florist already potted, or of the 
seedsman, who imports them. Those bought 
of the seedsman will be dry and very much 
shriveled, and seem to be more dead than 
alive. The soil I use is made up of rich loam 
(rotted sod being best), leaf mold and suffi¬ 
cient sand to make the mixture light and 
porous. The conn should be laid on the sur¬ 
face of the soil, very slightly pressed in, and 
secured in position by a couple of bent wires 
or pegs till l oots have been emitted. The 
watering should be light till the corms have 
filled out and begun to grow. They should be 
watered regularly and freely when in bloom, 
and the water gradually withheld in the 
Spring when the flowers have disappeared. 
At this point there is a difference of opinion 
as to the treatment. Many withhold water al¬ 
together, and let the conns dry up; but this 
practice is going into disuse. I have always 
succeeded best by withholding water gradual¬ 
ly in the Spring, but never allowing the soil 
to become so dry as to cause the corms to 
shrivel, in fact, I generally set the plants to¬ 
gether in a shady place in the open air, and 
give them a dash of wuter occasionally till 
Fall, when I turn them out of the pots, shake 
off all the soil that will come away, and repot 
them, giving them pot room according to their 
needs. This is simple and is really all that is 
needed. 
A single conn, carefully grown, can in time 
be made to produce three or four hundred 
flowers in a season; such a plant is a rare and 
beautiful sight. It is a beautiful plant, in 
fact, at all times, the foliage being ornamental 
and the flowers unique and striking and some¬ 
times quite fragrant. It will do best in a 
moderate or low temperature. Red spiders 
and mealy bugs will sometimes prove trouble¬ 
some, but frequent syringing or occasional 
washing will keep both in subjection. 
THE MOCK-ORANGE OR SYRINGA. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
Both of these names are applied to one of 
our commonest and prettiest garden shrubs. 
On account of the orange-blossom fragrance 
of the flowers of some of the kinds, the com¬ 
mon name of Mock-Orange was given to these 
shrubs; as Syringa is the botanical name of 
our lilac shrubs, I think it is inapplicable to 
those which are botanically known as Phila- 
delphus, therefore I would suggest that we 
drop the name Syringa in this case and cling 
to that of Mock-Orange. 
Mock-Oranges are very common ami very 
beautiful, copious and in most cases banly, 
and they are usually in blossom from the first 
of June till the first of July, of course, earlier 
or later according to the part of the country 
in which they are growing. 
Several of them are indigenous to the 
United States, some to Eastern Asia, and 
others of unknown origin are supposed to be 
garden varieties; indeed, the species through¬ 
out are rather ill-defined. The first to come 
into blossom is P. coronarius; it has creamy- 
white flowers that are powerfully fragrant. 
It is a native of Japan, etc. There are single 
and doubled-flowered as well as a dwarf form 
of it. P. hirsutus, a hairy-leaved species 
from the Southern Alleghanies, and which 
has smallish, white, scentless flowers, is next 
Washington Territory. Besides these, there 
are other reputed species and several varieties 
grown by our nurserymen. 
Mock-Oranges grow readily in our gardens 
and are easily propagated by means of cut¬ 
tings of the ripe, one-year-old shoots or seeds. 
They blossom best when grown in an open 
situation, and delight in good soil and moisture, 
shoots that have just bloomed, and a partial 
bit of judicious Summer shortening of the 
current growth. 
P. speciosus, the subject of the illustration, 
which we reproduce from the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle, is, so far as size and showiness are 
concerned, one of the handsomest of all Mock- 
Oranges. Itbelougsto the P. inodoms class. If 
I could have but one Mock-Orange I would 
take speciosus; if two, speciosus for its large, 
white blossoms, and coronarius for its fra¬ 
grance. 
-- 
Asparagus. 
Will Mr. Mead in his next article inform us 
which is the best time for cutting off the tops 
of asparagus ? Some say after the first hard 
frost or two; others that this injures the roots, 
and that the tops should not be cut before the 
last of March iu this climate. If left on till 
then, the seeds are scattered over the garden, 
germinate and make plants, which are as much 
in the way of the gardener as so many weeds. 
If cut off in Autumn, the asparagus can then 
be dressed with stable manure, to lie on and 
protect it all A\'inter. In the Spring this can 
be forked in among and alongside of the roots, 
and be ail the fertilizing the crop will need. 
It would be more desirable to cut off the tops 
and dress it in Autumn, because the gardener 
is not so burned in his work as in Spring, b. 
• -- . 
Gladioli. —To multiply more rapidly this 
magnificent flower, save the little bulblets. If 
well grown they blossom the second year, and 
occasionally sport. I have a new color this 
season from such a sport. It requires three 
yeare for seedlings to blossom. I get nearly as 
many new varieties from my offsets as from 
my seedlings. D. S. Marvin. 
[We have saved hundreds of the bulblets 
and they usually come pretty true to the par¬ 
ent bulb.—E ds.] 
ficUi Cr.oj)5. 
TOBACCO-GROWING NOTES. 
CYCLAMEN PERSICUM GIOANTEUM.—FIG. 513. 
in order. It gets cut back considerably in 
severe Winters. This species is sold in the 
Southwest as P. Mexieanus. Then comes P. 
inodorus also from the stream banks of the 
hill-country of the South Altantic States; its 
handsome variety called grandiflorus, also 
wild there, and other kinds as P. latifolius 
and P. speciosus of unknown origin, but all 
apparently quite hardy. Bringing up the 
rear arc Lewisii, a smallish, spreading and 
somewhat tender species from Oregon; and 
Gordonianus, a tall-growing species found 
wild along the shaded banks of mountain 
streams from California and Oregon into 
but the better they are fed the ranker they 
will grow and that is rather objectionable 
than otherwise. There is only one thing in 
the culture of the Mock-Orange, that I think 
calls for pronounced attention, and that is 
pruning. The usual method is, about mid¬ 
summer to top over the shrubs, like hedge 
plants, with shears, thus leaving stump- 
thickets of shoots, and robbing them of most 
of their flowering wood. Better keep the 
shrubs well thinned by the entire removal of 
most of the root sprouts, and annually reduc¬ 
ing old wood in favor of that which is firm 
and young, and moderate cutting back of the 
As SOON as tobacco has become thoroughly 
cured it should be taken down from its hang¬ 
ing position iu the curing barn and the plants 
piled in ‘‘ranks,” with the butt-ends of the 
stalks outward, and carefully covered upon 
the top to prevent the leaves from dry ing. This 
work can only be done when the leaves are 
made soft and pliable by warm, damp weath¬ 
er, It is very important that the tobacco is 
in good condition as regards moisture when 
taken down, otherwise artificial means for 
moistening the leaves will be necessary, which 
necessitates additional labor and risk; for to¬ 
bacco is sometimes seriously damaged, and 
even ruined, from improper artificial dampen¬ 
ing. It is wise to take down as much of the 
crop as possible before Winter fairly sets in, 
for if left, an opportunity may not occur 
again until Spring, when the work of taking 
down, stripping and assorting will prove much 
more expensive, for it will greatly interfere 
with the regular Spring work of the farm. 
Whoever has tobacco to manipulate during 
the coming Winter should provide a good 
place iu which the work can be done comfort¬ 
ably and conveniently. The necessary require¬ 
ments for a good tobacco assorting-room are 
that it shall be large, light and warm. The 
room should be furnished with tables or 
benches, on which the work of assorting the 
leaves can be done conveniently. A sky-light 
window gives the best possible light for the 
work, as the rays of light then fall directly 
upon the leaves and over the shoulders of the 
assorters, which gives them letter opportunity 
to judge correctly of their qualities. A side¬ 
light window, with the light shining directly 
against the face of the workman, is to be 
avoided, for it is not only very trying to the 
eyes, but the work cannot, be accomplished so 
pleasantly or so effectually. 
The sooner the leaves are stripped from the 
plants, after they are taken down, the 
better, If allowed to remain in a “rank,” 
or pile, with the leaves left upon the stalks, 
fermentation is almost certain to occur in 
warm weather, which will result in serious 
damage to the crop. The leaves should be 
carefully stripped off the stalks, one by one, 
and tied in small bundles w eighing five or 
eight pounds, with u coarse cord which will not 
cut the leaves. The bundles should be tied 
near the center, so that the butts of the leaves 
will have oppommity to become thoroughly 
dry and compactly “ ranked,” with their butts 
expending outw ard. The tops of these ranks 
should be kept well covered to prevent the dry¬ 
ing of the leaves, and if weights are placed on 
the top of the rank, all the better. 
Great care needs to be exercised while 
manipulating leaf tobacco, not to allow the 
leaves to become dry. The piles, or “ranks,” 
should be kept carefully covered, and the 
