143 
[April, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
■x 
the freezing point in the coldest weather. This 
it did completely when the glass was covered 
at night with shutters; and the plants with 
which it was filled, of a kind requiring a low 
temperature, kept in better health than if they 
had been grown in a greenhouse having fire heat. 
Now, although I have never seen such a com¬ 
bination since, I am satisfied that in favorable 
circumstances such a structure might be made 
of great advantage and at a trilling cost, for as 
it dispenses with heating apparatus, which 
usually is more than half of the whole cost in 
all greenhouse erections, the use of a cellar and 
greenhouse could be had at probably less than 
the cost of an ordinary greenhouse; and for all 
half hardy plants—plants that will do well in 
winter if kept but above the freezing point— 
such a greenhouse will be better for many vari¬ 
eties than any kind of greenhouse heated by 
fire heat. All kinds of Roses, Camellias, Aza¬ 
leas, Zonal Geraniums, Violets, Cape Jessa¬ 
mines, Carnations, Abutilons,Verbenas, Primu¬ 
las, Stervias, and, in short, all plants known as 
cold greenhouse plants, will keep in a healthy 
though nearly dormant condition during the 
winter months, but growing and blooming with 
increased vigor at their natural season of 
growth, and flowering as spring advances. 
Besides the cellar may be used for the ordinary 
purposes of such a place; or if exclusively for 
horticultural purposes, no better place can be 
had for keeping all deciduous hardy or half 
hardy plants, Hyacinths in pots to start to 
flower, or any bulbs of similar nature. The 
great point to be observed is that the soil where 
such a structure is to be formed is entirely free 
from water, or if not so naturally must be 
made entirely dry by draining. 
The style that I think would suit best for 
general purposes would be twelve feet in 
width, and of any length desired. The ex¬ 
cavation should not be less than seven feet 
deep, walled up to about one foot above the 
surface. When complete it would show some¬ 
thing like the section in the cut annexed. 
If the glass roof is made fixed it should have 
ventilating sashes 3x3, at intervals of six or 
nine feet on each side of the roof; if of sashes 
they should be seven feet long by three feet 
wide, every alternate one made to move for 
ventilation in the usual w T ay. The position of 
the structure would be best ending north and 
south. The shutters best for covering the glass 
with at night are those made of light half-inch 
pine board, three feet wide by seven feet long. 
It will be understood that the advantage of 
this combination of cellar and greenhouse ov.er 
the ordinary cold pit is that the air of the 
greenhouse is warmed or equalized by mixing 
with the atmosphere of the cellar, which will 
rarely be less than 4(P. For the same reason, 
if a High temperature by fire heat was wanted, 
say 70’, this atmosphere of 40° from below 
would make it difficult to be obtained. It will 
be necessary, of course, to have the flooring 
boards covering the cellar wide enough apart 
to freely admit the air; this will at the same 
time give light enough for any operations 
necessary to be done in the cellar. 
Treatment of Tropical Bulbs, Seeds, etc. 
BY PETER HENDERSON. 
-a- 
Any information that can be given in an 
article short enough to be suitable for your 
columns on a subject so extended as this must 
be confined to a few well known and leaning 
plants most valued for general cultivation. 
First may be placed the Tuberose, which in 
most Northern States must be artificially for¬ 
warded to bloom in perfection in the open air. 
The seasons are too short for the full develop¬ 
ment of the flowers in fall unless the bulbs are 
so forwarded. All that it is necessary to do is 
to place the dry bulbs in soil in pots or in boxes 
about May 1st (not before), keeping them rather 
dry until they start to grow freely, when more 
water may be given. Plant the bulbs thus 
started in the open border the first week in 
June. The bulbs while being forwarded may 
be kept in any place where the thermometer 
ranges from about 65° to 75°. At night we 
usually place them under or alongside the hot- 
water pipes in our greenhouses, covering them 
up with paper to keep the heat of the pipes 
from them. Light is not necessary until they 
have well started to grow. A greenhouse is 
not at all essential to start them in, as a hot¬ 
bed or even a warm sitting-room will do nearly 
as well. Any one wishing to have their Tube¬ 
roses “started” can do it themselves just as 
well as a florist can, and as the dry bulb costs 
less than half the price of the started one, and 
is more safely transported by mail or otherwise, 
any one taking the trouble to do it will save 
expense and have the bulbs in better condition 
for planting. 
Some of your readers have seen or cultivated 
the bulbs known as fancy or spotted-leaved 
Caladiums. There are probably no plants that 
assume such a varied and wonderful marking 
of the leaves as these, and when properly grown 
they are among the most attractive plants at 
our horticultural fairs. The continued high 
temperature necessary for the healthy growth 
of the Tuberose is equally indispensable for the 
Caladium. The bulbs we treat at first exactly 
in the same manner as the Tuberose; that is, 
they should not be started much before May 
1st, and never should they be kept for any 
length of time in a less tempeiature than 05'. 
They are best started in small pots, and should 
be shifted into larger ones as soon as these 
get filled with roots. Started in May, and pro¬ 
perly treated, they should be large enough by 
August or September to require a flower-pot 
twelve inches in diameter, and the plant should 
be, according to the variety, from two to three 
feet in diameter across the leaves. Caladiums 
require a partial shade, and if kept in a green¬ 
house during summer the glass should be 
shaded, but the light of an ordinary sitting- 
room would just be about right; so that even 
those not having a greenhouse can grow these 
rather rare and beautiful plants with perfect 
ease. The only thing necessary, if grown as a 
window plant, would be to turn the plant 
around every few days so that each side would 
get the light—a necessity with all plants grown 
in windows. The soil best suited for its growth 
is that known as sandy loam, to which should 
be added one-third rotted manure or leaf mold. 
The same time of starting and a similarly 
high temperature is required for Begonias 
of all kinds, Bouvardias, Cissus, Coleuses, Dra- 
cenas, Euphorbias, Poinsettias, and all other 
plants known as “hothouse” or “tropical,” 
and the same general treatment will in nearly 
all cases lead to satisfactory results. All of the 
plants or bulbs referred to will dwindle or die 
if long kept in a low temperature, and hence 
it is important that amateurs should remember 
that they ought not attempt the cultivation of 
these plants unless they have the means of 
steadily keeping up the necessary high tem¬ 
perature. For that reason we recommend that 
they should not be started before May, as at 
that time there is less chance of being chilled. 
What is true of tropical bulbs or plants is 
equally so of tropical seeds. All seeds of 
tropical plants are safer, in the hands of those 
who have not had experience or the means of 
keeping up the necessary high temperature, 
not to be sown before April 1st. Of vegetable 
seeds the best known of this class are the To¬ 
mato, Pepper, and Egg-plant. I know they 
are often started in March in hot-beds or green¬ 
houses with satisfactory results, but let any one 
try the experiment of sowing March 1st and 
April 1st, and note the result in the earliness of 
crops, and he will find that the chances are 
that the last shall be first; not but what if 
it were always practicable to keep the necessary 
temperature steadily along that the first sown 
would not be first, but that this is often very 
difficult to accomplish, while there is but little 
difficulty with the later sowing, as assistance is 
then given by the increasing outside tempera¬ 
ture. For this reason, seeds of tropical annu¬ 
al flowers, such as Amaranths of all kinds, 
Balsams, Salvias, Double Porlulacas, Cannas, 
Coxcombs, Zinnias, etc., should not be sown 
before April in the hot-bed, or if in the open 
ground, in this latitude, not before May 15th. 
The Clematis. 
BY AL FRESCO. 
Like most enthusiastic amateurs I have my 
floral favorites, and one of my greatest pets is 
the Clematis. My impression is, that I was the 
first to import the new varieties raised by Mr. 
Jackman, and I well remember the pleasure it 
gave me to escort the editor of the Agricul¬ 
turist to inspect the first blooms. After several 
years’ experience, I must confess that my love 
for these beautiful climbers increases. Daily, 
dining the course of list summer, carriages 
were stopped in front of my residence in order 
that the occupants might feast their eyes on 
the gorgeous mass of flowers, that in some 
places entirely hid the foliage from view. To 
me it was a source of pleasure to listen to the 
remarks and exclamations of those who were 
capable of appreciating the beautiful. 
My practice is to plant a number of varieties 
in a clump, and by adopting this course the 
flowering season is prolonged. One circular 
bed four feet in diameter, contains Clematis 
azurea grandiflora, C. Standishii, C. Jarkmanii, 
and C. rubro-violacea. The ’‘bed which has 
given me the greatest satisfaction contains C. 
rubella , C. Lady Bovitt , C. Prince of Waits, C. 
Jackmanii, C. rnbro-v'olacea , C. Standishii, and 
C. azurea grandiflora. “ Tut! tut ! ” some of 
your horticultural readers will exclaim, “you 
planted too many in a four-foot bed.” My an¬ 
swer is that the soil is nearly three feet in 
depth, and composed of two parts decayed turf 
and one part decomposed manure. During 
very dry weather, holes are carefully made 
between the plants, and these are repeatedly 
filled with water until the entire soil of the 
bed is thoroughly soaked. A few days before 
the first flowers open, the bed receives a good 
watering with liquid manure, and as a re¬ 
sponse to generous treatment a trellis six feet 
high and three feet diameter at the base pre¬ 
sents almost a perfect mass of color for weeks, 
some of the blooms ranging from five to six 
inches in diameter. The Clematis will thrive 
in almost any soil or situation, but will amply 
repay the planter for any extra attentioa. In 
England the Clematis has bswi highly resom- 
