Chapter III: Part 3

This desirable class is of comparatively recent origin, and obtained by hybridizing the Provence and Damask varieties with the Ever-blooming, or China. They in a measure combine the qualities of the two classes, but less of the China, as the name Perpetual is a misnomer, for the chief blooming ones in regular season of rose flowering, unless especial care is taken to cut off every flower as soon as they begin to wither, and keep the plant growing freely, then these plants will blossom twice or thrice in a season. Most of these Remontants are full bloomers, and the flowers very perfect. We will give a list of a few varieties we can recommend.

Auguste Mie, pale shade of rose, very full.
Baronne Provost, bright rose, very double.
Blanche Vibert, pure white, delicate grower.
Caroline de Sensal, blush, pink centre, free bloomer.
Géant des Batailles, reddish crimson, superb.
General Jacqueminot, bright crimson, very brilliant.
Jules Margottin, bright scarlet crimson.
Le Lion des Combats, _very dark_ crimson purple.

No. 3.

The monthly, or ever-blooming class, are distinguished by their delicate shining leaves and stems. This class comprises four sub-classes, namely, the Noisette, Tea, Bengal, and Bourbon.

The Noisette are of rampant growth, usually flowering in clusters. In the Southern States they need no covering during the winter months, but in the North, East, and West, if buried in winter, and properly trained, they are often used as Pillar Roses, particularly the beautiful La Marque, whose pure white buds are so valuable to all florists. If planted in the ground in a green-house, it will climb all over the walls. We will name some varieties which we have cultivated, and know can be successfully raised, even in New England.

NOISETTE.

Aime Vibert, pure white, very full bloomer.
America, straw color.
Gloire de Dijon, blush white, buff centre.
Lamarque, large, white, shading to yellowish centre.
Minette, light crimson, very double.
Marshal Niel, very beautiful deep yellow.
Souvenir d’Anseleme, deep carmine.
Solfaterre, deep straw color.

TEA.

Adam, rich rose, salmon shaded.
White Tea, the freest bloomer of all roses.
Camellia Blanche, pure white.
Devoniensis, blush, Magnolia fragrance.
Isabella Sprunt, clear canary yellow.
La Pactole, canary color, free bloomer.
Safrona, orange yellow.

BENGAL.

Agrippina, bright crimson.
Bousanquet, blush white.
Louis Philippe, light crimson.
Madame Rohan, pure white.
Napoleon, blush, extra large.

BOURBON.

Marshal Niel, a deep buff; the _king_ of roses.
Bousanquet, rich blush, free bloomer.
Duc de Chartres, large, very double, crimson.
Hermosa, deep pink, _most desirable_.
Psyche, light rose, very double.
Souvenir de Malmaison, flesh color, very double,
superb.
Sombriel, blush white, one of the best.

There are comparatively but few varieties of roses suitable for producing an abundance of flowers in winter, and these would not be called the finest varieties for summer culture. They are selected for their buds. The Safrona for instance, is selected for its deep, saffron colored buds; the full flower is but semi-double. We will give the names of a few of the roses best adapted for winter culture.

Lamarque, white, tinged with straw color.
Safrona, saffron yellow, free bloomer.
Agrippina, rich deep crimson, free bloomer.
La Pactole, light canary-color, abundant bloomer.
Hermosa, rosy pink, most prolific variety.
Gloire de Dijon, large, full, buff, shaded to salmon.

CULTIVATION.

The best soil for the rose is a rather stiff loam, although it is not particular about soil, but grows luxuriantly, flourishes well in a fresh loam with a plenty of pure air and sunlight. A stiff, clay loam will produce better flowers, and of a deeper color, than a soil of a light muddy character. If you desire many blossoms, be careful to cut off every rose when it fades away. We gather our roses so freely, we leave but few to wither. In the spring roses should be pruned thoroughly.

Many people have been discouraged in raising roses, on account of the slug and other insects; but nothing can flourish in this world, that is desirable, without care. So with the rose. Early in spring, just as the buds are starting, wash your roses in a solution of tobacco or whale-oil soap. If the insects appear on the leaf, syringe the bush freely, early in the morning or late at night, with a solution of whale-oil soap. Sprinkle wood ashes or charcoal dust around the roots.

A gardener invariably recommends monthly roses, rather than the so-called perpetuals. Those who purchase perpetuals, without a previous knowledge of their habits, are always disappointed in the few flowers they produce after the first blooming. Their great virtue is the hardy nature of the plant. The monthly roses bloom at the South nearly the whole year. But what shall we do with these delicate roses at the North during the winter? The best way is to lay them down, and cover with sods, or earth and manure. If the subsoil is gravelly or sandy, they will surely keep, as a good drainage is necessary, without it they cannot live. The way to lay down a rose-bush is to dig a trench four or five inches deep, up to the root of the rose, then bend your rose-bush carefully into the trench, and peg it down. Cover entirely root and branches by sods, placed grassy side upwards, forming a hillock. Or cover it with earth or sand, and straw or manure.

The next important consideration is _the time at which it is done_. Few amateurs have any idea of the amount of freezing which even the tender tea roses will sustain without injury. It often proves fatal to roses to be covered too soon. It is well to cover the ground around the roots of the roses with leaves or straw to prevent the earth from freezing. In New England, the early or middle part of November is generally the time to cover roses for the winter; in the Middle States, in December. The best rule is to let your roses remain uncovered, until the ground can no longer be ploughed, or dug with a spade. This covering can be removed as soon as vegetation fairly starts in spring. Every plant thus saved possesses a four-fold value over those planted out in the spring, as the roots have been so little disturbed. Another way is to dig a trench, line it with straw, and lay in your delicate roses, then cover entirely with earth until spring. Roses that have bloomed all summer should not be potted for winter use. They need rest, and will not flourish in warm rooms.

ROSES FOR WINTER BLOOMING.

Roses for winter blooming require a different treatment, as one essential condition of free winter flowering is, that the plant has abundance of active, or, as gardeners term them, “working roots.” Plants are started for this purpose either by cuttings struck in March, or else one year old plants are used. These plants should be re-potted frequently to prevent their becoming pot-bound. They must never be allowed to dry or wilt in the heat of summer, else the white, working roots will perish, and before the plant can regain its vigor new ones must be formed. You must not attempt to force your rose at first; when you take it in for winter, a cool temperature will be needful. It depends upon when you desire rosebuds how you treat it. It must be pruned previous to flowering. If you desire roses the first of January, prune or shorten the shoots the first of November (earlier for Christmas). They then can be placed in temperature ranging fifty degrees to sixty degrees at night, with only fifteen degrees higher during the day. Two year old plants are better for new beginners, as they form working roots sooner, having more fibres.

In the summer the plants should be exposed to the sun; but to keep them from drying, place the pots in beds of sawdust, or refuse hops, tan, bark, or sand, whichever is most convenient to obtain.

PREPARATION.

Our young friends may desire to raise their own roses, so we will give them a few directions. The best time to take cuttings is from October to January. The wood must be ripened; cuttings are usually made with three or four eyes. These cuttings are best put into a cold frame, or in a box prepared with equal parts of sand, leaf mould, and loam; all they require is sufficient protection not to freeze. Cuttings placed in such frames about the last of October, will be rooted sufficient to pot by March. Cuttings can be placed in rows quite near together, say an inch apart, and the rows three inches apart. This space allows you to press the soil firmly about each stem. One thorough watering, when put in, to settle the soil closely around them, will usually be all that is necessary until they begin to root in the spring. Some varieties will root much easier than others. As soon as they are well rooted, they should be potted in two inch pots, shaded and watered for a few days, and gradually hardened off by exposing them to the air; in this way they can be sufficiently rooted to plant in the open ground in April or May. Layering is more easily done from about the middle of June to the middle of September, always using shoots of the young growth--that is, a growth of three or four weeks old, or such as are not so much ripened as to drop the leaves; or in other words, the cut should always be made at that part of the shoot where there are as green and healthy leaves below as above the cut. This condition of the shoot is very important, in order to produce a well-rooted layer.

Another mode of layering, not in general use, is, to place the layer where the incision is made, in a three or four inch pot, sinking the pot in the ground to the level of the rim; all the roots being confined in the pot, when the layer is lifted, no check is given to them. Layers so made may be planted out in the fall, and if a little mulching is given round the roots, not one plant in a hundred will fail; while if the layering is done in the usual way, without pots, a heavy percentage is almost certain to be lost during the winter. To the florist, without proper means of propagation, this method of layering roses in pots will be found very advantageous, as every layer so made will make an excellent flowering plant by spring, if kept in a green-house or cold-pit, during the winter, and will prove nearly as valuable to the purchaser as large one year old plants.

ROSE-BEDS.

Before planting a rose, be sure to find out its nature, or you may have a tall bush where you would desire a low shrub-growing rose. In arranging rose-beds, plant the tall standards in the centre. Then a row of high bush growing roses, then a row of half dwarfs, then a row of dwarf-growing roses. If this selection of the roses in such a bed is properly made, it will be pleasant to the eye from June to October. Of course the roses should be chiefly monthlies, or free-blowing perpetuals.

3.--FLOWER BEDS.

There are a great variety of opinions as regards the most effective way of planting flower beds. Some prefer to mix plants of different colors and varieties; others prefer the ribbon style of planting, now so generally seen in Europe.

If the promiscuous style is adopted, care should be taken to dispose the plants in the beds, so that the tallest plants will be at the back of the bed; if the leader is against a wall or background of shrubbery, the others graduating to the front, according to the height. In open beds, on the lawn, the tallest should be in the centre, the others grading down to the front, on all sides, interspersing the colors so as to form the most agreeable contrast in shades. But for grand effect, nothing, in our estimation, can ever be produced in promiscuous planting to equal that obtained by planting in masses or in ribbon lines. In Europe the lawns are cut so as to resemble rich green velvet; on these the flower beds are laid out in every style one can conceive; some are planted in masses of blue, scarlet, yellow, crimson, white, &c., separate beds of each, harmoniously blended on the carpeting of green. Then again the ribbon style is used in the large beds, in forms so various that allusion can here be made to only a few of the most conspicuous.

In a circular bed, say of twenty feet in diameter, the bordering can be of blue. Lobelia, attaining a height of six inches; next plant Mrs. Pollock Geranium (this does not grow very thrifty out of doors in New England), or Bijou Zonale Geranium, growing about nine inches high. If you plant Mrs. Pollock, on the next row to it plant Mountain of Snow Geranium; if the Bijou plant, a circle of the red-leaved Achyranthus; there are several varieties of this plant. Next the Coleus Verschaffeltii; the centre being a mound of Scarlet Salvia. Another style is to edge the bed with Alternanthera Spothalata (leaves pink and crimson), which grows low and thick for a border. Then the fern-like, white-leaved Centaurea Gymnocarpa; next row, the Crystal Palace Scarlet Geranium. Then Phalaris Arundinacea Picta, a new style of ribbon grass; next Coleus Verschaffeltii; in the centre a clump of Coma or Pampas Grass.

There are a great many different ways of arranging these ribboned beds. It is pleasant to exercise one’s own taste, therefore we only give examples to teach our readers how such beds can be prepared.

Narrow beds along the margins of walks, ribbon lines can be formed of low-growing plants, such as the White Lobelia Snow-flake, or Gypsophilia, or Silver Leaved Alyssum for the front line, followed next by Tom Thumb Trapæolum; then, as a centre, or third line, Fuchsia, golden fleeced; as a second marginal line on the other side, Bijou Zonale Geranium, white-leaved, with scarlet flowers, followed by a line of Blue Lobelia. Shaded stars have a fine effect on a lawn; cut a star, and plant it either with Verbenas, Petunias, Phlox Drummondii, or Portulaca. The ends of the stars should be white, and shaded to the centre, which should be dark, each point having different colors, one shade of purple, one shade of pink, one shade of red, then shades of lilac, then shades of scarlet. The centre the darkest shades. There are many pretty ways of forming the beds of a small garden. We append one diagram of a garden, and the flowers to plant it with according to our taste.

DIAGRAM.

H

C B

F A D

I E

G

A. Plant in the centre Scarlet Salvia, around that the white Centaurea Gymnocarpa, bordered by Blue Lobelia. (All these beds should have either a low border of box or turf.)

B. Heliotrope, with Sweet-scented Geranium at each end.

C. Verbenas, properly shaded.

D. Dwarf Trapæolum, Sweet Geranium at the points.

E. Varieties of Phlox Drummondii.

H. On the point of the shield Lemon Verbena, the remainder, Monthly Roses, border of Gypsophilia.

I. On the point, one Lemon Verbena, the rest to be filled with Monthly Carnations, bordered with Alyssum Variegatum.

F. Varieties of Zonale Geraniums.

G. Varieties of Fuchsias (if there is not too much sun). If so, plant Japan Lilies; border both F and G beds with Double Feverfew. Perhaps a bed of roses, arranged with standards in the centre, as we have described, might be prepared for the centre bed A, and the Salvia, &c., planted in the bed H, in place of the roses.

4.--CARNATIONS.

The cultivation of the Carnation is very simple. It is rooted from cuttings at any time from October to April, and as the plant is almost hardy, it may be planted in early spring with safety in the open ground. It is safe to put them out as soon as cabbage plants are set out. Many from ignorance keep their Carnations in a pot or green-house until the last of May, thereby losing six weeks’ growth.

The Carnation cannot flourish in a wet soil, and care should be taken to secure good drainage. As the Carnation grows, if winter flowering is desired, the young shoots that the plant throws out should be cut off; this induces a steady growth. There are many fine varieties for summer growth, and but few suitable for winter flowering.

5.--FUCHSIAS.

These flowers are very easily cultivated from slips; any amateur florist can make these slips grow, either by planting in wet sand, or in a bottle of water. Their lovely and graceful flowers add to every bouquet. They require rich light soil, such as decayed leaves and peat, moist atmosphere, and shade. Like the Lemon Verbena, the plants will keep all winter in a cellar. There are but few varieties that bloom well in winter. Bianca Marginata, white, with crimson corolla. Speciosa, flesh-colored, with scarlet corolla (this variety will bloom the year round, if well cared for). Serratifolia, greenish sepals, with orange scarlet corolla. These are recommended for winter flowering by all florists. We will mention a few varieties for summer culture.

Elm City, crimson, very double. Venus de Medicis, white, magenta corolla. Rose of Castille, sepals white, corolla violet rose. Snowdrop, sepals bright scarlet, corolla white, semi-double. Striata Perfecta, double striped blue and crimson. Queen of Whites, double white corolla. Charming, violet corolla, crimson sepals, clusters immense. Lady of the Sea, corolla violet purple, flowers two inches in diameter.

6.--PANSIES.

Who does not love a pansy? They are easily raised by seed and layers. The seeds should be planted in March for summer culture, and in October for winter use. The pansy requires a rich soil.

The finest bed of English pansies we ever saw were planted in the fall, in a bed of rich soil. Before the winter snows the plants were covered lightly with manure and straw through the winter. In the spring the manure was carefully raked off, and the plants dug around with a garden fork. They bloomed early in spring; and, as we looked upon them by the morning light, their bright faces seemed to say “Good morning!” These lovely flowers look like happy children.

Many persons in our country call the pansy, violet; but the gardener only calls the sweet double blue and white violet by that name. And this sweet violet hides its head modestly under its leaves, and is the flower the poet speaks of,--

“Meek and lowly, hiding ’neath its leaves of green.”

The bright-faced pansy does not hide its head; it looks you in the face as fearless as a sinless child. These violets are in great demand from their delicious perfume. These plants require shade and moisture. The best varieties are the “double blue Neapolitan” Setsenbran, single blue, very prolific. King of Violets, very large blue. Double white Neapolitan; this does not bloom freely. Sweet-scented Geraniums, Heliotrope, Lantanas, Lemon Verbena, &c., are all easily propagated from slips. The three first require often watering with guano water, and with this treatment will fully repay all care.

7.--HOW TO PLANT HARDY BULBS.

October, or the early part of November, is the time to plant bulbs for next year’s flowering. Bulbs can be raised in any sunny place, no matter how small the bed may be; they require less care, for the beauty of the flower, than any other class of plants. We will give some plain and simple directions, hoping our young readers may be induced to plant at least a few bulbs this fall.

The soil for bulbs should be rich and well drained; it should also be dug deep. If water should lie on the surface long the bulbs would rot. If the soil is poor, enrich it with well-rotted stable manure, or with surface earth from the woods, or decayed leaves. Cow manure, of course, is the best. If the ground is stiff, and the manure fresh, it is well to put a little sand around each bulb. If the soil has too much clay, mix sand with the manure.

It is well to have your beds made so narrow that the weeds can be destroyed, and the ground kept mellow, without walking among the plants. Before the heavy frosts of winter appear your bulb beds should be protected with leaves. Over these throw a little brush, to prevent the wind from uncovering your bulbs. If your bulbs have been planted a year or two, cover them with manure in the fall; the flowers in the spring will repay you for all expense and trouble.

Hyacinths and tulips should be planted about six inches apart, the hyacinth four inches deep, and the tulip three inches. The early varieties will often blossom the latter part of March. Crocuses blossom even earlier. They should be planted about three inches apart, and two inches deep. Snowdrops--the first flower of spring--should be planted in the same way as the crocus, or a little nearer together. Narcissuses, including the daffodil and jonquil, should be planted in the same manner as the hyacinth. All these bulbs can be planted in beds where you may desire to place either seedlings or any other annual, which will blossom after these bulbs have done flowering.

It is best to take up all your bulbs every third year, when they are done flowering, and separate the newly-formed bulbs from the old. Keep them in a dry place till October, then replant as we have directed.

8.--JAPAN LILIES.

Of all the valuable flowers that have been imported from Japan or China, during the past twenty years, nothing equals the exquisitely beautiful Japan Lily--_Lilium Lancifolium_. No description can do anything like justice to these flowers, or show the beautiful, frost-like white of the surface, glistening like dew-drops; or the rubies that stand out on the surface of one of the varieties, while the end of the leaf is shaded like the exquisite pink, or the inside of some sea-shells from India.

There are nine varieties. The pure white and crimson, Lancifolium Monstrosum rubrum; the pure white Lancifolium Monstrosum album, and a delicate rose of the same variety; then the dark crimson, Lilium Melpomene; white, spotted with delicate salmon, Lilium Punctatum; the pure white, with projecting glistening spots, called Lilium Lancifolium album; Lilium Lancifolium rubrum, white ground, spotted with crimson; Lilium Lancifolium roseum, shaded and spotted with rose; and Lilium auratum. This is sometimes called Golden-banded Lily, and is truly the king of the lilies. The flower is ten to twelve inches across, composed of six delicate white ivory parts, each thickly studded with crimson spots, with a golden band through its centre. In addition to the beauty of these lilies, they are fragrant, and as hardy as any of our common varieties.

Strong bulbs send up flowering stems from three to five feet in height, and begin to bloom about the middle of August. Each flowering stem will have from two to a dozen flowers, according to the strength of the bulb.

Rich garden soil is all that is needed for these lilies. Plant them in October or early in November, about a foot apart, and five inches deep. The bulbs should remain several years, if possible, without removal. These must be the lilies that surpassed Solomon in all his glory. Lilium Longiflorum is called very beautiful. The flowers are snow-white, trumpet-shaped flowers. Lilium Brownii, new variety, superb white.

9.--CAPE BULBS.

These are so called from coming from the Cape of Good Hope. The Gladiolus is the finest variety. These bulbs are easily cultivated in New England and the Middle States; they can be planted out as soon as all fear of frost is passed. They will bloom by the last of July, and by making successive plantings every two weeks to the middle of July, they can be had in perfection until the frost returns. Although they are not particular about soil, yet if choice can be had, a sandy loam, peat, or a soil of decomposed leaves, is better than a stiff clay soil.

In any soil, if it is well enriched, the flowers will increase in size and beauty.

These bulbs should be taken up as soon as the stems begin to wither in the fall; but should the stalk of the late plantings be yet green, the bulbs should be left adhering to the stalk until dried, which will ripen off the bulbs. They can be kept in winter under the stage of a green-house, or in a frost-proof cellar or closet, or in any dry place where potatoes will keep. It is impossible to mention varieties; all are good, and new varieties increase yearly.

10.--HOW TO GROW BULBS IN WINTER.

Bulbs can be grown in vases, bowls, dishes, cornucopias, &c., of whatsoever shape or form, from the small ornament that will hold a crocus, to the large family punch-bowl, capable of growing a dozen hyacinths. Wire or rustic work of any kind, lined or not with zinc, and filled with moss, will grow bulbs to perfection. A zinc frame can be made to fill the whole front of any window; and if filled with moss or sand, and planted with hyacinths, lily of the valley, crocuses, snow-drops, tulips, narcissus, and polyanthus, would in itself form a complete miniature winter flower-garden. These, with successive plantings, may be made so many connecting links between our autumn flowers and the early spring blossoms.

Take a common soup plate, place in it as many strong bulbs as it will hold easily, and fill in about half an inch of water. In a few days the roots begin to spread, and so clasp each other in the course of a few weeks, that they form a natural support. If the bulbs and plate are covered with moss, it improves the appearance. For winter bloom successive plantings can be made every two weeks, from September till January. After the early part of December, hyacinths intended for glasses had better be half grown in pots, then turned out and the roots carefully freed from the soil in tepid water, then placed in glasses. In this way they will blossom sooner. The soil used to cultivate bulbs should be light and rich, full half sand. Bulbs can be grown in moss by keeping it damp. They can be raised even in clear sand. Take any ornamental dish capable of holding moisture, and fill it with sand in a pyramidal form. In the centre plant a hyacinth, and at equal distances round it plant three or more, according to the size of the dish; fill up the space with crocuses, snow-drops, dwarf tulips, &c. In planting, the bulbs should be covered with sand, all but the tops. Then place the dish of bulbs in water five minutes, in order to fix the bulbs firmly in their position. Repeat this bath once a week, never allowing the sand to become dry. Place it in the dark for two weeks, then keep it in a cool, light, airy room.

There is no bulb so well adapted to house culture as the hyacinth. They grow easily in pots or glasses. They will grow in almost any light, sandy soil; but just in proportion as this is adapted to the plant, will the perfection of their culture be attained.

For pot growing, the hyacinth, to attain its greatest beauty, should be grown in pots seven inches in diameter, and the same depth. They will grow and blossom in pots of four or five inches in diameter. Only one bulb should be planted in a pot. Two or three can be grown in larger sized pots. Put over the hole in the bottom a good drainage, half an inch or more in depth, on this either a handful of leaf mould, very old cow manure, or the coarse part of the compost; then add the prepared soil, filling up the pot to within an inch of the top. On this place the bulb, covering it with soil all but the top; press the earth gently around it, and shake the pot slightly, to settle the soil, and finish with a good watering; then either plunge the pots three or four inches in some old hot-bed, and cover with leaves, or place them in the dark, covered carefully, but in a dry place, for several weeks, to allow the roots to make a vigorous start. Water them very slightly at first, then gradually inure them to the sunlight. As the flowers expand, place a saucer under each pot, which must be kept filled with water till the flowers begin to decay; then lessen the water till withheld entirely.

For planting in glasses, the last of October or early in November will do. Use only rain or spring water. Fill the glasses with water, and place the bulb so that the roots will just come in contact with it; set them in a dark closet, or on a shelf in a dry cellar, and let them remain till the roots have started, usually in three or four weeks; then remove them to any place which is well lighted and warm, keeping them from the sun till they look a deep green; turn them around now and then, and change the water once in three or four weeks. If you perceive the roots look slimy, and the water fetid, carefully remove the bulb, and place the roots in clear water of the same temperature; wash the roots gently; cleanse the glass before replacing the bulb.

11.--GARDEN INSECTS.

In presenting this subject to our readers, it will be difficult to decide where to begin, or where to leave off. With the first warmth, aphides, or plant lice, in shoals and nations, show their unwelcome presence on our roses, geraniums, and almost all choice plants. Many of our choice fruit trees are infested with these pests of the garden. They are exceedingly prolific. Réaumur has proved that one of these insects, in five generations, may become the progenitor of nearly six thousand millions of descendants. They fasten themselves in crowds on a plant, and suck the life from it. Some live in the ground and infest the roots of plants, such as verbenas and China asters. We have often, on seeing a plant drooping, saved it by taking up the plant, root and all, and washing it in strong soap suds; replant it, after carefully scalding the earth, and digging it in. The plant should be protected from the sun for a few days, until the roots start again.

The best remedy for these plant lice is to syringe them with a solution of whale-oil soap, or a mixture of soap suds and tobacco water, used warm. Still another remedy is a solution of half an ounce of strong carbonate of ammonia in a quart of water. Where it is possible, dip the infected branches into either of the above solutions, holding them carefully in the solution several minutes.

A drying east wind makes insects abound, and rain clears them away.

The rose-chafers, or rose-bugs appear about the second week in June, and remain thirty or forty days. They infest rose bushes and grape vines. They must be carefully picked or brushed off into a basin of hot water, or burned, as they increase thirty fold, and destroy both fruit and flower.

Caterpillars of many butterflies and moths are destructive in a garden, and, when the perfect insects can be caught, before they lay their eggs, one death will save much killing. Whenever one is found resting quietly on a branch, stem, or leaf, with the wings folded, it is most likely a female about to lay her eggs, and it had better be killed. If a butterfly or moth is found so placed, dead, she will have laid her eggs; be sure to find and destroy them. As the season advances, destroy every chrysalis you find.

Possibly some of our young readers have never seen a chrysalis, and may not know what it is. We will try and explain this to you. Every species of the butterfly, or moth, is first a grub or caterpillar, crawling upon, or in the earth. These caterpillars, when they have completed the feeding stage, retire to some place of concealment, under a leaf, beneath palings, or in interstices of walls, spin a tuft of silky fibre, and entangle the hooks of their hindmost feet in it. Then they form a loop, to sustain the fore part of the body in a horizontal or vertical position. Then they spin a band over the back; and most caterpillars form a cocoon, in the shape of the letter U, around the body. Then they cast off the caterpillar skin, and become a chrysalis. In summer the chrysalis state lasts from eleven to fifteen days. Later it lasts all winter (while in this state these insects remain dormant). At the proper time the chrysalis bursts open, and a butterfly issues from it. We have often found these cocoons, or chrysalides, and taken them to our rooms to watch the coming forth of the butterfly.

Rose slug (Lelandin Rosæ), a light green, translucent little fellow, varying from one sixteenth of an inch to nearly an inch in length. There are evidently two species or varieties, one of which confines its ravages to the lower side of the leaf, the other eats it entire. The first is by far the most destructive here. In a few days after the plants are attacked they appear as if they had been burned.

The only remedy we have found is a preventive one, which, in fact, ought to be used against all insect life. We have spoken of this (and will not repeat) in our rose chapter. The only remedy, whale-oil soap, is prepared by florists by dissolving one pound to eight gallons of water. They apply it _ten_ days in succession, with a garden engine or syringe. This must be done very early in the morning, or late at night, as the slug shuns the light of day, and hides under the leaf. With very young, delicate roses, the solution is too powerful; hand work will be necessary to pick them off. English sparrows, a comparatively late importation, should be kindly treated by all, as they are the best exterminators of injurious insects. The ground, or blue aphis, and verbena mite, are among our most subtle and dangerous of pests. They work at the root, and often before we can see the plant fading, they have taken its life. The florist’s remedy is as soon as you see the least sign of drooping in your Asters or Verbenas, the plants most afflicted by them, water them copiously and persistently at the roots, with tobacco water, the color of strong tea, and apply it daily for one week. We often take up the plants and wash the roots, but it is a harsh remedy: it will kill or cure.

12.--SOME USEFUL HINTS.

We have, in studying different books on horticulture, found many opposing sentiments. Some seemed like hearsay to all former experience, yet we ought to be ready to receive all advice based upon positive experience. We intend acting upon some new theories of Peter Henderson, a famous gardener near New York. We have always supposed it very injurious to take water directly from a cold spring to water plants, and that rain water or soft water must be used, at the same temperature as the air in which the plants are growing. He says it is a foolish dogma, as the water will take the same temperature before the plant can be injured. Of course if the plant was to stand in cold water it would injure it. This will save much extra trouble; we ourselves shall profit by his advice, as he ought to know, having faithfully tried the experiment.

We have always supposed it necessary for the health of a potted plant to have a sufficient amount of bits of oyster shell, &c., at the bottom for drainage.

Mr. Henderson says, for fifteen years he has grown all his thrifty plants _without_ the use of crock, charcoal, or any other substitute, and he considers it useless trouble; he thinks the moisture escapes freely from the sides of the pot. He says when we wish to resuscitate an unhealthy plant, we wash the soil from its roots, and put in a _new_ pot, where the drainage is perfect from the sides. He has grown _millions_ of healthy plants without draining. He thinks old pots, whose pores are all filled, often cause the death of a plant. He approves of frequent change of pots, as it injures a plant for the roots to become hard and woody. In most cases the slightest tap on the edge of the pot is sufficient to turn out the ball of earth. Be careful and not take too large a pot; the size must increase gradually.

Mr. Henderson thinks it is not unhealthy to sleep with plants in the room, as we have always been taught. He says it is a common practice for gardeners to sleep in their green-house, and to be with their plants often at night, and yet, as a class, they are vigorous men. He himself, for three winters, slept on the floor of the hot-house, without any injury, and that was more than a score of years ago.

Plants can easily be sent by mail, by first washing the roots in water, then take them dripping and wrap them in dry moss, then roll around them several thicknesses of thick brown paper; the whole must be _tightly_ rolled, to prevent the dry air penetrating to shrivel the plant. In this way plants can be sent even two thousand miles at a cheap rate, as our postal laws only charge two cents for four ounces, unless the package exceeds four pounds.

13.--MOSS BASKETS.

Take a piece of the spring used in hoop-skirts, or a rattan, and make a small hoop about eight inches in diameter. Collect from the woods a quantity of the long, feathery moss, and wind a heavy wreath of this moss on a hoop, then cover a piece of the rattan or hoop-spring, sufficiently long for the handle, with moss, and fasten it to the hoop. Then take a solid bunch of this moss, the size of the centre of the hoop, and push inside of this moss-covered hoop; this forms a moss basket. Take a common plate, and place this basket upon it, and sprinkle it thoroughly with water. This basket can be filled again and again with bright flowers, casting away the flowers as they wither. The wet moss will keep them fresh as long as if placed in a vase filled with water. Now and then place this basket in a dish of water, and sprinkle it, or let the rain fall upon it. This will freshen the green tint of the moss.

Baskets covered with the knitted moss, which in our work department we have given the directions how to prepare, are very pretty. A tin dish should be made to fit it, and painted green; keep this filled with natural flowers, or French artificial flowers, which imitate nature perfectly, can be arranged in them, and if placed on a bracket, or in some place where they will not be likely to be examined too closely, they will easily pass for fresh flowers.

To form a pyramid of flowers, take three, four, or five wooden bowls, according to the size you wish for your pyramid; let them be a regular gradation in size; procure some round pieces of wood, like ribbon blocks, graded in size, glue the tallest into the centre of the largest bowl so that it will stand upright, and up on top of that glue the bowl next in size, and so on to the smallest bowl. Varnish the inside several coats; paint the outsides green, and cover with moss; some have a stand made, and glued to the bottom of the largest bowl. When filled with flowers it is a lovely sight. Baskets made of tin and painted green, then covered with moss, make the prettiest hanging baskets possible. Tin rings, large enough to surround vases placed inside, and made to hold water, with little wires across the top and painted green, when filled with flowers, form the prettiest mats in the world; the wires keep the flowers in place. I saw one filled with only rosebuds, blue forget-me-nots, and geranium leaves. It is an improvement to cover the outside with moss. Crosses made in the same way are very beautiful, and are appropriate to place on the grave of any beloved friend. In that way flowers can be preserved a long time, if there is a sufficient supply of water to preserve them.

There are innumerable ways of arranging flowers. The poorest person can afford to purchase a tin basin, and with a little common paste and moss, which can be found in all country places, a pretty dish for flowers is soon made. Shells make lovely vases. The large shells sailors polish so exquisitely to resemble mother of pearl, make elegant hanging vases; bore holes on each side and hang them with strong cords.

The month of September is not too late to make a fine collection of mosses from mountains and valleys. Mosses will have attained by this time a luxurious growth. There are but few mosses that look well after being pressed. The best way to preserve a collection of mosses is to arrange them in some suitable box, as they grow, and in the order you desire to keep them, and let them dry slowly. If you wish to cover any box, basket, or vase, it is better to paste them on, before they are entirely dry, with common paste. The dry white and gray mosses form very beautiful receptacles for flowers, by covering the outside of any rustic basket with the moss. Thread wire will fasten it firmly to any basket, or rustic work. Paste or wire can be used to fasten it on to boxes or bowls.

We have seen a lovely rustic stand for flowers, formed from a common wooden box (a large bowl is the more desirable). The handle was formed from a barrel hoop. The legs of the stand were made of gnarled branches of trees. Then fine annealed wire was wound over the whole. This served to hold the moss firmly to the box. The beautiful curled white, gray, and green dry mosses were then arranged all over the box, legs, and handle, so as to give grace and beauty to this inexpensive stand. This box was then filled with rich loam, and planted with purple, white, and pink Maurandia, and variegated Myrtle. These vines twined over the handle, and festooned the sides of the box. Lobelias, Fuchsias, Nierembergias, white and scarlet monthly Pinks, silver-leaved Geranium, and King of the Scarlets, also one white monthly Rose in the centre, filled the box with bright flowers all summer. This inexpensive flower-stand was constructed by a boy during his school vacation, and it formed a beautiful centre ornament to his mother’s front yard. In the winter the good mother had her boy’s work carefully removed and placed in her bay window. There it blossomed, and spoke cheering words to her of her absent darling, as she sat day by day, during the cold winter months, sewing by its side.

14.--HANGING BASKETS.

Hanging baskets are now in such universal use, that the taste for them has extended to every town or village in our land. All florists keep a supply of baskets, with flowers planted and growing, ready for sale. These baskets are quite expensive. We will give directions for some equally pretty, but inexpensive, which any ingenious boy or girl can make.

Take a small wooden bowl, bore holes in the sides to fasten in a cord, or screw in rings. Cover this with cones, acorns, black beans, &c., in fact, any pretty seed can be used to good effect; arrange them in different forms, like flowers. Varnish with asphaltum varnish. A cocoanut shell makes a pretty small basket. Either of the above are pretty with the white and green dry moss glued over the outside. Baskets can be made of sticks of the oak or maple tree, choosing those of the size of a man’s thumb, and cutting them of equal lengths, eight, ten, or twelve inches, according to the size of the basket desired. Then build your basket like a log hut; interlace your fingers, and you will see the design. Nail these sticks firmly in place, fasten in a wooden bottom. Heat a wire and thrust it through the end of each stick, and bend it into a loop; suspend it by cords fastened to these loops. This makes a durable basket to hang out of doors; any boy of twelve could make it.

Rustic baskets can be made with or without a wooden frame, but a wooden bowl is a good foundation; procure from the woods a quantity of blasted branches, or other crooked, rough, or knotty twigs. Soak them in hot water or steam them, so as to make them pliable. Stain the bowl with asphaltum or black varnish, then screw in rings for the hanging cords to pass through. When the varnish is dry, bend around the outside of the bowl one of the twigs or blasted branches, and nail it securely at the top edges on either side. Twine several pieces around in this way, according to your taste, until the whole surface is covered; finish by nailing one around the rim of the basket for a border. Varnish the branches like the bowl. The entire basket is then ready for use. All kinds of shaped baskets can be made out of wire, painting them green, and filling in moss in all the crevices; a painted tin dish, placed in for the dirt, will surely prevent any drip; thick moss is ordinarily sufficient. All kinds of these baskets should be filled up with light, sandy loam; a few bits of charcoal, and a piece of sponge in the bottom, assist in keeping the soil moist. Light, trailing vines should be trained to fall over the sides, and loop in and out of rustic work. We will give a short list of vines suitable for baskets.

Lobelia Erinus Paxtoni, an exquisite blue.
White and pink Gypsophila.
Panicum Variegatum.
Tropæolum, ball of fire.
Convolvulus Mauritanicus.
Variegated Myrtle.
Geranium Peltatum Elegans.
Nierembergia.
Linaria Cymbalaria.
All varieties of Maurandia Barclayana.
German Ivy.
Alyssum Variegatum.
Vinea Elegantissima Aurea.
Moneywort.

PLANTS FOR THE CENTRE.

Centaurea Gymnocarpa.
Alternanthera.
Sedum Sieboldii.
Bijou Zonale.
Achyronthes Gilsoni.
Mrs. Pollock, &c.

These baskets should be exposed to the sun at least two or three hours daily, and in dry weather watered freely. If the surface of the basket between the plants is covered with moss, it will prevent the earth from drying as soon, and the basket will look neater.

Baskets of moss and wire can be every week dipped into a pail of water.

15.--ARTIFICIAL ROCKERIES.

A well-formed and flourishing rockery is an ornament to every lawn.

Petrified wood forms very beautiful rockeries, but as our purpose is to assist our young friends to make their own rockeries, we will leave the more elaborate to the gardener.

Save all the clinkers from your furnace coal, dip them in a hot lime wash to color them pure white, their fantastic shapes are thus more conspicuous; arrange them in a mound according to your fancy; leave at suitable distances cavities of six or eight inches deep, to be filled with soil; in this plant your creeping plants; bright colors should be selected for a white rockery. Dwarf Scarlet Tropæolum, Scarlet Verbenas, Petunias, Golden Moneywort, Lobelias, Scarlet Geraniums, Myrtles, Coleus, German Ivy, &c., are used to good effect on this rock work. Hydraulic cement instead of lime will make a pretty drab color. If the rockery is protected by some shade, it looks well to plant it with Ferns and Lycopodiums.

16.--FERNERIES.

Is it not, friends, very pleasant to have a bit of the summer woods in our parlors in midwinter? Such a pleasure is within the reach of us all, with but little trouble and expense. Those who live in cities, and cannot go into the country, surely must have some friend who can supply them, or the materials can be obtained at any public green-house. First you require a glass dome, or what is still better, take five panes of glass, any size you please, four to form the sides, one for the top; fasten the glass together with a light wooden frame, then take any tin dish, like a baking pan, or if round, a tin plate or jelly cake pan, or a tin dish can be made to fit it for a trifling sum of money; paint the tin green on the outside. Then collect some pieces of broken flower pots, or still better, bits of marble, granite, or any stone, and scatter them around the tin dish, placing in the centre some moss-grown stump or stick, and pile the stones around it; then collect from the woods ferns, mosses, partridge vines, with its bright red berries (indeed any plant will grow in these ferneries which can be found in moist places in the woods); take up a little of the leaf mould in which they grow (they need but little soil), arrange your plants, spreading the roots carefully over the stones, scattering a little leaf mould on them, and place your mosses around the whole. The tallest plants should form the centre, but in arranging even ferneries, it is more agreeable to exercise your own taste. Before placing your globe or glass frame over your fernery, sprinkle the plants thoroughly, then cover with the glass, and let it remain a few days in the shade. You can keep them where you please, but they grow better near a window; be very careful not to water them too often; once a month is generally sufficient; if too wet, they will mould and die; when there is but little moisture on the glass, it is well to raise the glass to ascertain if it is dry. Our fernery has been made four years; it has required but little care; now and then we add a new fern, some moss, or any suitable plant gathered from the woods, and remove any dried ferns or leaves. It often renews itself. Trailing Arbutus and partridge vines will blossom in ferneries. It is always pleasant to the eye, and no care after the first expense and trouble. Ivy and Lycopodium grow well in ferneries, but the rare ferns, &c., from green-houses do not flourish as well as those plants taken from our native woods.

17.--IVIES.

English Ivies are a great ornament to our rooms, and are hardy, and require very little care. After the first two years they grow quite rapidly, therefore it is well to procure two-year old plants; train them on your curtains, over your windows and pictures. Many make a mistake by changing the pots very often, thinking they require a very large pot, which is not so, for they do not require as much earth as many plants, only keep them moist, and have rich loam for the soil; it is well to water them every month with guano water, prepared according to the same rule given for flowers. The Poet’s Ivy is very pretty, the leaf being quite small. The most beautiful ivy we ever saw was one that never was removed from its place, summer or winter; it filled a large bay window, encircled the whole room, and wound around many pictures; now and then a gardener came and changed the soil, and the leaves were occasionally washed.

18.--PRESSED FLOWERS.

To press flowers, to be arranged on paper like a painting, you must take some plain white wrapping paper (in Paris you can obtain paper prepared by a chemical process to preserve the colors), and place your flowers or leaves carefully between two sheets of the paper. Then press them by placing a heavy weight over them (letter presses are excellent), and leave them a day or two, then change the paper; thus the juices of the flowers are absorbed. It takes a week or two to press perfectly, and in summer often longer. When dry, place them in a book or some air-tight box, ready for use. A year is required to make a varied and handsome collection, as each flower has its own season for blossoming. Wild flowers retain their colors better than cultivated; but experience alone will teach you what flowers will retain their color best. Many pretend to be able to preserve all kinds of flowers, but it is impossible. I will give a list of flowers which are known to retain their color by this mode of pressing.

All Geraniums (except the horse-shoe and sweet-scented) preserve their color. They are very essential, as their colors are brilliant and keep for years. All yellow flowers, both wild and cultivated, retain their color. The Violet and Pansy, Dwarf Blue Convolvulus, Blue Larkspur, Blue Myrtle, Blue Lobelia, Heaths, the small original Red Fuchsia, Wild Housatonia, and many tiny blue, and even white flowers press perfectly.