230 
theamehican^^ 
Awn THBIB management. 
COLD PITS AND TH^® structures 
the most iudispeusables r 
Cl^Eo 
ODE GAEDENS. 
WHUen for The Ambsican Garden. 
With swirling wind and nipping mornings, 
Decemhor’s come, 
Piping his keen hut friendly wnrnmgs 
Around niy home. 
The garden, with its wealth ol gladness. 
Its lavish cheer. 
All pale and drooping turns to sadness. 
And shrinks with fear. 
The grncefiU vino that lent us beauty 
Bends to the knife; 
In ripened seed fultills its duty. 
But yields its Ufe. 
The bright-hued borders turn to mourning. 
No longer gay; 
They ’re done with nodding and adorning 
From now till May! 
So cruel fortune makes us tremble 
At touch of ill; 
Or bids, may be, the Up dissemble 
That quivers still. 
But Uves and gardens lose and borrow 
And glow anew; 
We plant to-day, we trust to-morrow. 
And stlU pursue. 
Man’s his own fortune—laughs at Nat me— 
Makes his own cheer; 
Compels aU climes, and to his stature 
Would suit the year. 
The sunshine of the coal-mine, glowing. 
Keeps off the chill. 
And flowers, in spite of all the snowing 
Bloom at our wiU. 
Spring, with the Snow-drop and the Crocus, 
Lies in my hand; 
Nor will they murmur, “Who awoke usi” 
When taU they stand. 
—Dora H. E. Goodale. 
SEASONABLE HINTS. 
Dormant Plants—Some persons suppose 
that plants not in full leaf, and not growing 
vigorously during winter, may be stored 
away anywhere, like a bundle of summer 
clothing, and come out all right again in 
spring. This is a great mistake, for plants 
are never entirely inactive. As in animals, 
when sleeping, the circulation of the blood, 
respiration, and evaporation continue their 
regular course, so are in plants similar 
processes constantly at work, requiring cer¬ 
tain atmospheric and thermal conditions 
necessary to their existence. Those who 
succeed best with their plants, in the garden 
or house, are generally found to make a 
careful study of the nature, character, and 
requirements of their pets, and to treat 
each class according to its special needs and 
preferenee.s, with as much discrirninatiofi as 
a loving mother would nurse and care for a 
delicate and feeble child differently from a 
strong and sturdy one. In other words to 
have success with your flowers you must love 
them, must have them in your heart, 
storing Bulbs requires similar discrimina¬ 
tion; Gladiolus, Dahlias, Gannas, may bo 
keptm any frost-proof cellar, provided it is 
hivi tt T*&"di“«.andColocaHias 
have to bo wintered in a warmer place 
where they are never exposed to a lower tom’ 
peraturo than forty degi-ees. The groat point 
IS to keep them perfectly dry. ^ 
One of the most pit. In it 
about the plants, which, 
can he kept S occupy mor® 
without one, woul gtructures, espo- 
valuable space in i • . gmnmer for 
< ^ do 
the decoration of the g jjition during 
winter, such as B attending their 
SsChts^whenst^^^^^ 
^t1:?C^-ofreade.ofT. 
AMERICAN garden who 1 
fortable circumstances, do not f P 
to afford labor incident to the caie o 
greenhouse, cold pits are of great service 
Len in localities where the therraometei 
reaches zero. Further south, of coinse, 
where the temperature is higher, greatei 
benefits can be derived from them, ns more 
tender plants can be kept in them than in 
northern latitudes. 
For large plants of Roses, Carnations, etc., 
a deep pit is most suitable, and more easily 
kept warm when sunk into the gi’ound. Let 
the place for building a pit be selected in 
some position well sliellered from the north 
and north-west winds, and if the subsoil be 
gi’avelly so much the better, as the water 
can drain off more freely. If not naturally 
dry, the spot has to be made so by draining. 
After the e.\cavation has been made, board 
up the inside, allowing the back of the pit 
to be about eighteen inches higher than the 
front, so that the water can run off freely. 
A width of six feet is the most suitable for 
this kind of pit, as then the common 6x3 
feet sashes will answer, and it may be made 
any length to suit the requirements. 
For Pansies, Daisies, and Forget-me-nots, 
for blooming Violets and wintering Lettuce, 
it is only necessary to have a shallow frame 
about a foot in front and eighteen inches at 
the back. It is very important to be careful 
at all times to arrange the frames so that all 
superfluous water can pass off freely. Water 
standing any length of time in a pit or frame 
will soon destroy every plant in it, the roots 
will decay, and the moist atmosphere cau.ses 
the soft parts of the plants to damp off and 
ultimately perish. 
Neither hard nor soft wooded plants can 
endure a close, damp atmosphere witlioiit 
air, light, and warmth; but if the atmos¬ 
phere IS dry it changes the condition-tlie 
plants remain in a semi-dormant state, and 
come out in good shape in tlio spring. 
Plants in pots, kept in a pit, .should have 
good drainage, to prevent tlie soil from be¬ 
coming too wet by the retention of water 
n the pot. On all suitable occasions give 
a the vcnti ation possible, and at all times 
allow the full power of the sun to strike on 
the glass, guarding at the 
same time against 
overheating by judicious ventilation, 
during oxceptioiiallycoh 
oovering. In the Houthern Hialnl "" " 
tomperaturo does not fall nmrn ir 
1 .0° below freosiuLy a m., i ' 
->-^a.owgro:fi;:;s 
kept in pits is more limited, it 
Tea Roses, Carnations, Peverfe'°”‘^'‘*e8 
Daphnes, Mimnlus, Vincas, Petunk®’ 
Violets, Pansies, Daisies, PorgeJ’ 
Laurestinus, Oleanders; and, if 
tered. Camellias and Azaleas can b t 
most of the Middle States, and in 
many of the Northern States. 
Watering has to be done careful] 
best attended to during the foreno 
clear days, so that there will bo a T 
for the extra moisture to pass off h 
night. Water only when the plants are 
and when it is done do it thoroughly 
spring approaches and clearer and wj 
weather sets in, tlie plants demand 
attention and more water, and upon**? 
occasioms, give plenty of air, so that.kstc i 
of the plants being weak and tender vvh*' 
setting-out time comes, they shall be hard " 
and able to endure the eliange with impunity 
Mansfield AIilton 
IPOMCBA NOOTIPHTTON, 
Having noticed in The American Gardes 
some inquiries about the treatment ot 
fpomwa nocliphyton, my experience with this 
comparatively new plant may be of interest 
to some of your readers. 
In tlie spring of 1883 I procured a small 
plant of this Ipomoea in a three-inch pot. I 
immediately repotted it in a five-inch pot, 
using rich, loamy soil, and then placed it in 
a warm greenhouse in order to have the 
plant as strong as possible before plantingit 
out. It grew vigorously, and by the first of 
.Tune was quite large and well branched, the 
result of a frequent pinching back of the 
young shoots. It was then planted out in a 
well-enriched, deep border, and trained upon 
a largo pillar which it soon covered with its 
bright green foliage, and it continued to 
flower freely from July until it was brought 
inside. 
About the middle ot September the plant 
was well cut back, taken up carefully, potted 
in a six-ineh pot, and wintered in a warm 
greenhouse where it was given a temperature 
of from 35 to 00 degrees. Water was hut 
sparingly given, as my object was to keep 
tlie plant in a dormant state ; but the foliage 
was freely syringed, as a piroventive 
against 
the attacks of the rod siiider, to which it la 
unfortunately very sub.ioct when grown 
under glass. , 
About the middle of April of this year 
encouraged it into growth and planted it o>' 
alioiit tlio middle of May; it soon 
an innnonso space, and since the first of 
has llowerod profusely. As soop 
tlireatoiioil lent it back, took it upeuie I'^.j 
potted it, and sliall treat it proeisoly ns '' 
tlio provioim winter. 
This Ipoiniea is one of our jiy 
siimnuir-lilooniing climbing ]ilunts, is 
grown,and is of vigorous, rai’id S''Owtli> s 
covering a considcrablo space witli its 
green I'oliiige ; nnd its large, pure "'*’'1'^'* (|,a 
eioimly scented flowers, opening 
ovoiiing only, are jiroducod in the gG 
lirolTision. 
Tlio sei'i'ot of growing it l.o porfoctio'' 
sists simply in having good, strong, 
plant,s at tlio si,art, and in giving 11'°’" 
onricliod, deo]i soil, with a mulch of 
litl.ory nianiire, and copious watering** 
iiig periods of drought. ,, 
Chas. K. 
ctiir 
lieiilti*! 
