Chapter L: H. Bailey (3)

CAMPANULA. BELL FLOWER. But one of the Campanulas commonly listed by seedsmen is an annual,--_C. macrostyla_, a clean-leaved plant, growing 2 feet high, spreading over the ground, and bearing a profusion of large, violet, bell-shaped flowers. The Canterbury Bell is the best known. It is biennial, but if started early and transplanted will bloom the first season. The perennial Campanulas are most excellent for borders. _C. Carpatica_ is particularly good for edgings.

CANARY BIRD FLOWER. See _Nasturtium_.

CANDYTUFT. Well known sweet-scented hardy annuals, in red, purple, and white; easy of culture and fine for cutting. One of the best of edging plants for the front row. The plants grow from 6 in. to 1 ft. tall. Sow seeds where the plants are to grow, letting plants stand 6-12 in. apart. They do not last the entire season, and successive sowings may well be made. There are also perennial kinds.

CANNA is now the favorite bedding plant. The improvements made in the past ten years, in size and markings of the flowers, have created a liking for the plant. The tropical effect of a large bed of Cannas, either mixed or of one color, is not surpassed by any other plant used for bedding purposes.

The Canna may be grown from seed and had in bloom the first year by sowing in February or March, in boxes or pots placed in hotbeds or warmhouse, first soaking the seeds in warm water for a short time. Attention to transplanting as needed and removal to the ground only when it is well warmed are the necessary requirements. The majority of Cannas, however, are grown from pieces of the roots (rhizomes), each piece having a bud. The roots may be divided at any time in the winter, and if early flowers and foliage are wanted the pieces may be planted in a hotbed or warmhouse in early April, started into growth and planted out where wanted as soon as the ground has warmed and all danger of frost is over. A hardening of the plants, by leaving the sash off the hotbeds, or setting the plants in shallow boxes and placing the boxes in a sheltered position through May, not forgetting a liberal supply of water, will fit the plants to take kindly to the final planting out. After frost has injured the tops, the roots may be dug, choosing, if possible, a dry day. The soil is shaken off and the roots stored in a warm, dry place through the winter. If the cellar is too dry the roots are liable to shrivel, in which case it would be best to cover them with soil or sand, filling in around the roots to exclude the drying air.

Cannas grow 3 to 7 ft. high. For dense mass effects, plant 12-18 in. apart. For individual plants, or for best bloom, give more room. Fine clumps may be had by planting out the entire old root, not dividing it. Cannas want a rich, warm soil and a sunny place. They are very easy to grow.

CANTERBURY BELL is a _Campanula_.

CARBONATE OF COPPER. See _Bordeaux Mixture_.

CARDIOSPERMUM. See _Balloon Vine_.

CARNATIONS are of two types, the outdoor or garden varieties, and the indoor or forcing kinds. Normally, the Carnation is a hardy perennial, but the garden kinds, or Marguerites, are usually treated as annuals. The forcing kinds are flowered but once, new plants being grown each year from cuttings.

Marguerite Carnations bloom the year the seed is sown, and with a slight protection will bloom freely the second year. They make attractive house plants if potted in the fall. The seeds of these Carnations should be sown in boxes in March and the young plants set out as early as possible, pinching out the center of the plant to make them branch freely. Give the same space as for garden pinks.

The winter-flowering Carnations have become prime favorites with all flower lovers, and a collection of winter house plants seems incomplete without them. Carnations grow readily from cuttings made of the suckers that form around the base of the stem, the side shoots of the flowering stem, or the main shoots before they show flower buds. The cuttings from the base make the best plants in most cases. These cuttings may be taken from a plant at any time through the fall or winter, rooted in sand and potted up, to be held in pots until the planting out time in the spring, usually in April, or any time when the ground is ready to handle. Care should be taken to pinch out the tops of young plants while growing in the pot, and later while in the ground, causing them to grow stocky and send out new growths along the stem. The young plants should be grown cool, a temperature of 45 deg. suiting them well. Attention should be given to spraying the cuttings each day while in the house to keep down the red spider, which is very partial to the Carnation. In the summer, the plants are grown in the field, and not in pots. The soil in which they are to be planted should be moderately rich and loose. Clean cultivation should be given throughout the summer. Frequently pinch out the tops. The plants are taken up in September and potted firmly, and well watered; then set in a cool, partially shaded situation until root growth has started, spraying the foliage often, and watering the plant only as it shows need of water.

The usual living-room conditions as to moisture and heat are not such as the Carnation demands, and care must be taken to overcome the dryness by spraying the foliage and setting the plant in a position not exposed to the direct heat of a stove or the sun. In commercial houses, it is not often necessary to spray established plants. Pick off most or all of the side buds, in order to add to the size of the leading flowers. After all is said, it is probably advisable in most cases to purchase the plants when in bloom from a florist, and after blooming either throw them away or store them for planting in the spring, when they will bloom throughout the summer.

CARPET BEDDING. See _Bedding_.

CARROT, while essentially a farm crop in this country, is nevertheless a most acceptable garden vegetable. It is hardy and easily grown. The extra-early varieties may be forced in a hotbed, or seed may be sown as soon as the ground is fit to work in the spring. The stump-rooted, or half-long varieties, are sown for the general garden crop. Well enriched, mellow loam, deeply dug or plowed, is best suited to the requirements of Carrots. The seed for the main crop may be sown as late as July 1. Sow thickly, thinning to 3-4 in. in the row. The rows, if in a garden that is hand-worked, may be 12 in. apart. If the cultivation is done by a horse, the rows should be from 2 to 3 ft. apart. One ounce will sow 100 feet of drill.

CASTOR OIL PLANT. In the entire list of quick-growing plants there is none that excels this for rapidity of growth, grace of foliage and rich effect. Used either as a specimen plant, with cannas, caladiums, or for a tropical bed, or as a screen, it gives the most satisfactory results. Seeds sown early in the house, and the plants grown in the full light, make fine, stocky plants to set out about the middle of May. With rich soil and plenty of water, they will grow without a check until frost. Height, 5-12 ft. For screens, plant 3-4 ft. apart. There are varieties with differing shades of foliage.

CAULIFLOWER. The general culture of Cauliflower is much like that of cabbage, except that the Cauliflower, being more tender, should be more thoroughly hardened off before setting out. Still, it is essential that the plants be set out as early as possible, as the warm weather of June causes them to make imperfect heads unless the soil is filled with moisture. No garden crop will as well repay the cost and time of thorough irrigation, either by running the water between the rows or applying it directly to the plants. When it is impossible to furnish water, it would be a good plan to mulch heavily with straw or some other substance. This mulch, if put on just after a heavy rain, will hold the moisture for a long time. When the heads begin to form the outside leaves may be brought together and tied above the head, excluding the direct sunshine and keeping the head white and tender. No vegetable will respond more quickly to good culture and well manured soil than the Cauliflower, and none will prove such an utter failure when neglected. It is imperative that care be taken to destroy all the cabbage worms before the leaves are tied in, as after that it will be impossible to see or reach them. Cauliflower prospers best in moist soil and a cool climate. From 1,000 to 1,500 plants may be grown from 1 ounce of seed. Good Cauliflower seed is very expensive.

For winter crop, seeds may be started in June or July, as for late cabbage.

Erfurt, Snowball and Paris are popular early varieties. Nonpareil and Algiers are good late kinds.

CELERIAC, or TURNIP-ROOTED CELERY. This tuber has the celery flavor in a pronounced degree, and is used for flavoring soups and for celery salad. It may be served raw, sliced in vinegar and oil, or boiled. The culture is the same as given for celery, except that no earthing or blanching is required. About an equal number of plants are obtained from the same weight of seed as from celery seed. Celeriac is extensively used abroad, but, unfortunately, is little grown in America.

CELERY has become one of the favorite relish and salad vegetables, and is now very generally grown. The self-blanching varieties have simplified the culture so that the amateur, as well as the expert, may have a supply through at least six months of the year. The so-called new culture, which consists of setting the plants close together and causing them to shade each other, can be recommended for the garden when a supply of well rotted manure is to be had, and when any amount of water is available. This method is as follows: Fork or spade into the soil a large quantity of manure to the depth of 10-12 in., pulverize the soil until the ground for the depth of 4-6 in. is in very fine condition. Then set the plants in rows 10 in. apart and the plants but 5 or 6 in. apart in the rows. It will be seen that plants set as close as this will soon fill the soil with a mass of roots and must have large amounts of plant-food, as well as a large quantity of water; and the making of such a bed can be recommended only to those who can supply these needs.

The common practice in home gardens is to plow or dig a shallow trench, setting the plants in the bottom and hoeing in the soil as the plants grow. The distance apart of the rows and plants will depend on the varieties. For the dwarf varieties, such as White Plume, Golden Self-blanching and others of that type, the rows may be as close as 3 ft. and the plants 6 in. in the rows. For the large-growing varieties, as Kalamazoo, Giant Pascal and, in fact, most of the late varieties, the rows may be from 4-1/2 to 5 ft. apart and the plants 7 or 8 in. in the row.

The seed for an early crop should be sown in February or early in March in shallow boxes, which may be placed in a hotbed or sunny window, or sown directly in the soil of a hotbed. Cover the seeds thinly and press the soil firmly over them. When the seedling plants are about one inch high they should be transplanted to other boxes or hotbeds, setting the plants 1 in. apart in rows 3 in. apart. At this transplanting, as with the following ones, the tall leaves should be cut or pinched off, leaving only the upright growth, as with the utmost care it is almost impossible to prevent the outside leafstalks from wilting down and dying. The roots of the plants should also be trimmed back at each transplanting in order to increase the feeding roots. The plants should be set as deep as possible, care being taken, however, not to allow the heart of the plant to be covered up. The varieties usually grown for an early crop are the so-called self-blanching varieties. They may be made fit for the table with much less labor than the late crop, the shade required to blanch the stalks being much less. When only a few short rows are grown in a private garden, screens of lath may be made by driving stakes on each side of the row and tacking lath on, leaving spaces of an inch or more for the light to enter; or each head may be wrapped in paper, or a tile drain pipe may be set over the plant. In fact, any material that will exclude the light will render the stalks white and brittle.

The seed for the main or fall crop should be sown in April or early May in a seed bed prepared by forking fine, well rotted manure into a fine soil, sowing the seed thinly in rows 8 or 10 in. apart, covering the seed lightly and firming over the seed with the feet, hoe or back of a spade. This seed bed should be kept moist at all times until the seed germinates, either by close attention to watering or by a lath screen. The use of a piece of cloth laid directly on the soil, and the bed wet through the cloth, is often recommended, and if the cloth is always wet and taken off the bed as soon as the seed sprouts it can be used. After the young plants have grown to the height of 1 or 2 in. they must be thinned out, leaving the plants so that they do not touch each other, and transplanting those thinned--if wanted--to other ground prepared in the same manner as the seed bed. All these plants may be sheared or cut back to induce stockiness.

If in a private garden, the ground on which the fall crop is usually set will likely be land from which a crop of some early vegetable has been taken. This land should be again well enriched with fine, well rotted manure, to which may be added a liberal amount of wood ashes. If the manure or ashes are not easily obtained, a small amount may be used by plowing or digging out a furrow 8 or 12 in. deep, scattering the manure and ashes in the bottom of the trench and filling it up almost level with the surface. The plants should be set about the middle of July, preferably just before a rain. The plant bed should have a thorough soaking shortly before the plants are lifted, and each plant be trimmed, both top and root, before setting. The plants should be set from 5 to 6 in. apart in the rows and the earth well firmed around each one.

The after-cultivation consists in thorough tillage until the time of "handling" or earthing up the plants. This process of handling is accomplished by drawing up the earth with one hand while holding the plant with the other, packing the soil well around the stalks. This process may be continued until only the leaves are to be seen. For the private grower, it is much easier to blanch the Celery with boards or paper, or if the Celery is not wanted until winter, the plants may be dug up, packed closely in boxes, covering the roots with soil, and placed in a dark, cool cellar, where the stalks will blanch themselves. In this manner Celery may be stored in boxes in the house cellar. Put earth in the bottom of a deep box, and plant the Celery in it. An ounce of seed will furnish about three thousand plants.

CENTAUREA. Showy annuals and perennials. _C. Cyanus_ is the CORN FLOWER or BACHELOR BUTTON, familiar to every flower lover, and always seen in old-fashioned gardens. This is a fine plant for borders or mixed beds, and also gives good flowers for bouquets. A bunch of the Corn Flower, with a sprinkling of yellow marigolds or California poppy, makes a rich effect. These Centaureas are easy of culture, seeding themselves after once being planted, and coming up year after year in great profusion. There are blue, white and rose varieties. Annuals. 2-3 ft. Hardy.

The silver-leaved Centaureas are used only for foliage effects. They are excellent for ribbon beds or border lines. The seed of these should be started in a hotbed or box in March, the young plants being set out where wanted when the ground becomes warm. These species are perennials, and are sometimes grown from cuttings. _C. candidissima_ and _C. gymnocarpa_ are among the best white-leaved bedders.

CENTRANTHUS. Low-growing hardy annuals in two colors, red and white. They make very effective covering for low rockwork, and are also suitable for vases or lawn baskets. Sow where the plants are to stand, or start indoors if early bloom is wanted. 1 ft. Thin to 10-12 in. apart.

CENTURY PLANT, or AGAVE. These are fine ornamental plants for the window-garden or conservatory, requiring but little care and growing slowly, thus needing repotting only at long intervals. When the plants have outgrown their usefulness as house plants, they are still valuable as porch decorations, for plunging in rockwork or about rustic nooks. The striped-leaved variety is the most desirable, but the common type, with its blue-gray leaves, is highly ornamental.

There are a number of dwarf-growing species of Agave that are not so common, although they may be grown with ease. Such plants add novelty to a collection, and may be used through the summer as noted above or plunged with cactus in a bed of tropical plants. All succeed well in loam and sand in equal parts, adding a little leaf-mold in the case of the small varieties. The more common species are propagated by suckers from around the base of the established plants. A few kinds having no suckers must be grown from seed. As to watering, they demand no special care. Agaves will not stand frost.

CEREUS. Under the name of NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUSES, several species of Cacti are cultivated. The name is sometimes applied to species of Phyllocactus, the flowers of which, in white and shades of red, sometimes open at nightfall. Phyllocactuses are easy to grow. See _Cactus_. The true Night-blooming Cereuses, however, are species of the genus Cereus. The commonest one is _C. nycticalus_, but _C. grandiflorus_, _C. triangularis_ and others are occasionally seen. These true Night-blooming Cereuses all have long rod-like stems, which are cylindrical or angular. These stems often reach a height of 10 to 30 ft., and they need support. They should be trained along a pillar or tied to a stake. They are uninteresting leafless things during a large part of the year; but in midsummer, after they are three or more years old, they throw out their great tubular flowers, which open at nightfall and wither and die when the light strikes them next morning. They are very easily grown, either in pots or planted in the natural soil in the conservatory. The only special care they need is good drainage at the roots, so that the soil will not become soggy.

CHERRY. Of Cherries there are two common types, the sweet Cherries and the sour Cherries. The sweet Cherries are larger and taller-growing trees. They comprise the varieties known as the Hearts, Bigarreaus and Dukes. The sour Cherries include the various kinds of Morellos and pie Cherries, and these usually ripen after the sweet Cherries. The sour Cherries make low, round-headed trees. The fruits are extensively used for canning. Cherry trees should be planted when 2 and 3 years old. Too rich soil tends to make growth at the expense of fruit, particularly in the sweet Cherries. For the sweet types, a strong, gravelly loam is best. Sour Cherries thrive well on clay loams.

Trees of the sour Cherry should be planted 18 by 18 ft. apart, in well prepared under-drained soil. The trees may be slightly trimmed back each year, keeping the head low and bushy.

The sweet Cherries have proved disappointing in many instances from the rotting of the fruit. This may never be entirely avoided, but good cultivation, soil not too rich in nitrogen, attention to spraying, and picking the fruit when dry, will lessen the loss very much. In years of severe rotting, the fruit should be picked before it becomes fully ripe, placed in a cool, airy room and allowed to color. It will be nearly as well flavored as if left on the tree; and, as the fungus usually attacks only the ripe fruit, a considerable part of the crop may be saved. Set the trees 25 or 30 ft. apart.

Leaf-blight is readily controlled by timely spraying with Bordeaux mixture. The curculio or fruit worm is best controlled by jarring, as for plums (which see).

Of sweet Cherries, Windsor is the most popular variety. Other good kinds are Napoleon, Governor Wood, Dikeman, Black Tartarian. Of sour Cherries, Ostheim and Early Richmond are very early and productive, but better kinds are Montmorency and English Morello.

CHERVIL. The curled Chervil is a good addition to the list of garnishing vegetables, and adds flavor to dishes when it is used to season. Sow seeds and cultivate the same as parsley.

The tuberous Chervil resembles a short carrot or parsnip. It is much esteemed in France and Germany. The tubers have somewhat the flavor of a sweet potato, perhaps a little sweeter. They are perfectly hardy, and, like the parsnip, the better for frosts. The seed may be sown in September or October, as it does not keep well; or as soon as the ground is fit to work in the spring, it being slow to germinate after the weather becomes hot and dry. One packet of seed will give all the plants necessary.

CHESTNUTS. Of Chestnuts there are three types in cultivation: the European, the Japanese, and the American. The American, or native Chestnuts, of which there are several improved varieties, are the hardiest and most reliable, and the nuts are the sweetest, but they are also the smallest. The Japanese varieties are usually injured by the winter in central New York. The European varieties are somewhat hardier, and some of the varieties will thrive in the northern states. Chestnuts are very easily grown. They usually bear better when two or more trees are planted near each other. There are few really good Chestnut orchards in North America, but Chestnut planting is now considerably agitated. Sprouts in old Chestnut clearings are often allowed to remain, and sometimes they are grafted to the improved varieties. The young trees may be grafted in the spring by the whip-graft or cleft-graft method; but the cions should be perfectly dormant, and the operation should be very carefully done. Even with the best workmanship, a considerable percentage of the grafts are likely to fail or to break off after two or three years. The most popular single variety of Chestnut is the Paragon, which bears large and excellent nuts when the tree is very young. When the home ground is large enough, two or three of these trees should be planted near the borders.

CHICORY. The Magdeburg Chicory is the variety usually spoken of, it being the one most extensively grown. The roots of this, after being ground and roasted, are used either as a substitute or an adulterant of coffee.

The Witloof, a form of Chicory, is used as a salad, or boiled and served in the same manner as Cauliflower. The plants should be thinned to 6 in. In the latter part of summer they should be banked up like celery, and the leaves used after becoming white and tender. This and the common wild Chicory are often dug in the fall, the leaves cut off, the roots packed in sand in a cellar and watered until a new growth of leaves starts. These leaves grow rapidly and are very tender, making a fine salad vegetable. One packet of seed of the Witloof will furnish plants enough for a large family.

CHRYSANTHEMUMS are both annual and perennial. The annual Chrysanthemums must not be confounded with the well known fall-flowering kinds, as they will prove a disappointment if one expects large flowers of all colors and shapes. The annuals are mostly coarse-growing plants, with an abundance of bloom and a rank smell. The flowers are single in most cases, and not very lasting. They are useful for massing and also for cut-flowers. They are among the easiest of hardy annuals to grow. The stoniest part of the garden will usually suit them. 1-2 ft. Colors white and shades of yellow, the flowers daisy-like.

Amongst perennial kinds, _Chrysanthemum frutescens_ is the well known Paris Daisy or Marguerite, one of the most popular of the genus. This makes a very fine pot-plant for the window-garden, blooming throughout the winter and spring months. It is usually propagated by cuttings, which, if taken in spring, will give large blooming plants for the next winter. Gradually transfer to larger pots or boxes, until the plants finally stand in 6-inch or 8-inch pots or in small soap boxes. There is a fine yellow-flowered variety.

In variety of form and color, and in size of bloom, the florists' Chrysanthemum is one of the most wonderful of plants. It is a late autumn flower, and it needs little artificial heat to bring it to perfection. The great blooms of the exhibitions are produced by growing only one flower to a plant and by feeding the plant heavily. It is hardly possible for the amateur to grow such specimen flowers as the professional florist or gardener does; neither is it necessary. A well-grown plant with fourteen to twenty flowers is far more satisfactory as a window plant than a long, stiff stem with only one immense flower at the apex. Their culture is simple, much more so than that of many of the plants commonly grown for house decoration. Although their season of bloom is short, the satisfaction of having a fall display of flowers before the geraniums, begonias and other house plants have recovered from their removal from out of doors, repays all efforts.

Cuttings taken in March or April, planted out in the border in May, well tended through the summer and lifted before frost in September, will bloom in October or November. The ground in which they are planted should be moderately rich and moist. The plants may be tied to stakes. When the buds show, all but the center one of each cluster on the leading shoots should be picked off, as also the small lateral branches. A thrifty bushy plant thus treated will usually have flowers large enough to show the character of the variety, also enough flowers to make a fine display. As to the receptacle into which to put them when lifted from the border, it need not be a flower pot. A pail or soap box, with holes bored for drainage, will suit the plant just as well, and by covering the box with cloth or paper the difference will not be noticed. If cuttings are not to be had, young plants may be bought of the florists and treated in the manner described. Buy them in midsummer or earlier.

It is best not to attempt to flower the same plant two seasons. After the plant has bloomed, the top may be cut down, and the box set in a cellar and kept moderately dry. In February or March, bring the plant to the sitting-room window and let the shoots start from the root. These shoots are taken for cuttings to grow plants for the fall bloom.

There is a hardy race of Chrysanthemums, very excellent for the border. Mulch in winter. The best bloom is usually given the first and second years.

CINERARIA. A tender greenhouse plant. It may be grown as a house plant, although the conditions necessary to the best results are hard to obtain outside of a greenhouse. The conditions for their growing are a cool temperature, frequent repotting and guarding against the attacks of the greenfly. Perhaps the last is the most difficult, and with one having no facilities for fumigating, it will be almost impossible to prevent the difficulty. A living room usually has too dry air for Cinerarias. The seed, which is very minute, should be sown in August or September to have plants in bloom in January or February. Sow the seed on the surface of fine soil and water very lightly to settle the seeds into the soil. A piece of glass or a damp cloth may be spread over the pot or box in which the seeds are sown, to remain until the seeds are up. Always keep the soil damp, but not wet. When the seedlings are large enough to repot, they should be potted singly in 2- or 3-inch pots. Before the plants have become pot-bound, they should again be repotted into larger pots, until they are in at least a 6-inch pot in which to bloom. In all this time, they should be grown cool and, if not possible to fumigate them with tobacco smoke, the pots should stand on tobacco stems, which should be moist at all times. The general practice, in order to have bushy plants, is to pinch out the center when the flower buds show, causing the lateral branches to start, which they are slow to do if the central stem is allowed to grow. Plants bloom but once.

CIVES. These belong to the onion family, and are propagated by division of the root. They may be planted in a permanent place in the border, and, being hardy, will remain for years. The leaves are the parts used, as the roots are very rank in flavor. The leaves may be cut frequently, as they readily grow again.

CLARKIA. The Clarkias are among the popular hardy edging and vase annuals, bearing rose, white or bordered flowers in great profusion. The double-flowering varieties are the most showy, but the single ones will prove very satisfactory. The seeds may be sown where the plants are wanted, or started in frames for earlier flowers. 6-18 in. high. Thin to 6-12 in. apart. Plant in a warm soil and sunny place.

CLEMATIS. One of the best of woody climbing vines. The common _C. Flammula_, _Virginiana_, _paniculata_ and others are used frequently to cover division walls or fences, growing year after year without any care and producing quantities of flowers. _C. paniculata_ is now planted very extensively. The panicles of star-shaped flowers entirely cover the vine and have a pleasant fragrance. One of the best of all fall-flowering vines, and hardy North. Clings well to a chicken-wire trellis.

The large-flowered section, of which Jackmani is perhaps the best known, is very popular for pillar or porch climbers. The flowers of this section are large and showy, running from pure white, through blue, to scarlet. Of this class, the most serviceable purple is Jackmani; white, Henryi; blue, Ramona; crimson, Madame E. Andre.

The Flammula class may be propagated by division of the roots. The large-flowered kinds are propagated by layers or root-grafting on _C. Flammula_ and others.

A deep, mellow, rich soil, naturally moist, will suit the requirements of Clematis. In dry times apply water freely, particularly for the large-flowered kinds. Also provide trellis or other support as soon as they begin to run. Clematis usually blooms on the wood of the season: therefore prune in winter or early spring, in order to secure strong new flowering shoots. The large-flowered kinds should be cut back to the ground each year; and other kinds may be similarly treated unless they are wanted for permanent bowers.

The Clematis root disease is the depredation of a nematode or eel-worm. It is seldom troublesome in ground which thoroughly freezes.

CLIMBERS. Treated under _Vines_.

COBAEA. This is most commonly seen in the greenhouse, although it is one of the best of tender climbers for porches. Seed sown in February or March, and grown in gentle heat, will make suitable plants for setting out by June. It may also be grown from cuttings of the young wood, taken in February and rooted in brisk heat. The flowers of _C. scandens_ are shaped very much like those of the Campanulas, but are larger. They open a greenish white and deepen to a dark purple in the course of a few days. The vines in full bloom have a gradation of colors as the flowers are in different stages of development. The variegated form of _C. scandens_ should be propagated by cuttings to hold the variegation. Grows 10-15 ft. Tender. Climbs by means of tendrils.

COCKSCOMB. _Celosia cristata_ is the well known Cockscomb, having combs or heads of scarlet, crimson, rose and yellow. The combs are often saved for winter bouquets by cutting them off before thoroughly ripe and drying them. The feathered section comprises tall-growing plants with plumes of various colors which, with the colored leaves of some varieties, make a striking feature in a border. The Celosias, being tender, should be started in a hotbed or frame, potted off when out of the seed-leaf, and planted out in well enriched soil after danger of frost is past, 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 ft. high.

COLDFRAME. A Coldframe is a simple, low structure, covered with glass or oiled paper or cloth, in which plants are grown without artificial heat. It differs from the hotbed in the fact that it has no bottom heat. The atmosphere in the Coldframe is warmer than that outside, because it is protected from the winds and because there is more or less of the sun's heat stored up in the earth. For the details of construction of the Coldframe, see _Hotbed_.

A Coldframe is ordinarily used for later work than the hotbed: that is, seeds may be sown in a Coldframe from two to three and sometimes four weeks in advance of their sowing in the open; whereas in a hotbed the seeds may be started from one to three months earlier than they may be out of doors. Coldframes are sometimes used for the wintering over of hardy plants which are started in the fall. For example, cabbage seed may be sown in September in a Coldframe and the young plants may be protected therein during the winter. If they are properly grown and hardened off, they will not be injured by the winter, even though they freeze. Lettuce and sometimes cauliflowers are carried over in the same way. Coldframes are also used to receive plants which have outgrown the hotbed and must be transplanted. Plants which need hardening off may also be transplanted from the hotbed into the Coldframe. The Coldframe in these cases is an intermediate stage between the hotbed and the open field.

COLEUS. A well known foliage plant for pot culture or bedding. It was used very extensively at one time in ornamental bedding and ribbon borders, but owing to its being tender has lost in favor, and its place is largely taken by other plants. Cuttings root very readily. It may also be grown from seed, although the types have not become fixed, and a large number of differently marked plants may be had from the same packet. This would not be a drawback in the window-garden, unless a uniform effect is wished. Sow the seed in gentle heat in March. Make new plants from cuttings each year, and throw the old ones away.

COLLARDS. This is a name given to a kind of kale, used when young as greens; also to young cabbages used in the same way. The seed of any early cabbage may be sown thickly in rows 18 inches apart, from early spring to late fall. The plants are cut off when 6 or 8 inches high and boiled as are other greens. The kale Collards is grown in the South, where cabbages fail to head. It grows to the height of 2 to 6 feet, furnishing a large quantity of leaves.

COLLINSIA. A hardy annual that should be sown in the fall, where wanted, if early flowers are desired. The flowers of all the varieties are showy, either in masses or planted in a border. Give them a position near the front, as the plants rarely exceed 18 inches in height.

COLUMBINE. See _Aquilegia_.

COMPOST. See _Manure_.

CONVOLVULUS. See _Morning-Glory_.

COREOPSIS, or CALLIOPSIS. Very showy hardy annuals, growing from 1 to 3 feet high, and covered throughout the season with a profusion of bloom. The colors range from lemon-yellow to dark velvety brown. Excellent for cutting, and very effective in mixed borders. They thrive in any garden soil if they have full sunlight. Sow where they are to grow, letting the plants stand 6-12 in. apart for mass effects.

CORN SALAD. This is one of the earliest spring salad vegetables, coming into condition to use with spinach, and needing the same culture. Sown in the fall, and covered with straw or hay when cold weather sets in, it will start into rapid growth when the covering is removed in March or April. Or the seed may be sown in early spring, and plants will be fit to use in six or eight weeks. One packet of seed will suffice for a small family.

CORN, SWEET, is not so generally used as it should be. Usually when planted at all, only one planting of one kind is made. The ears come to edible maturity almost simultaneously, and a short season of Sweet Corn is the result. The first planting should be made from May 1 to 10, planting early, intermediate and late varieties at the same time, then at intervals of two weeks until the middle of July, when the late varieties should be planted, thus having a succession from the first crop until October. The soil for Corn should be rich in plant-food, and the coarser manure left from the preparation of the ground for small crops may be used to good advantage. Corn for the garden is better planted in drills, the drills 3 feet apart, dropping the seed from 10 to 12 inches apart in the drills. One quart of seed will plant 200 hills.

For extra early, Marblehead, Adams, Vermont, Minnesota and Early Cory are favorites. For later crop, Crosby, Hickox, Shoe Peg and Stowell Evergreen are now popular.

COSMOS. The Cosmos grown in a locality free from early fall frosts is certainly a beautiful thing, but there are probably few flowers that have caused so much disappointment to the flower lover in the North. The seed germinates very freely. The plants grow with great vigor, and if the season permits, an abundance of bloom may be had in September. An early-flowering strain of dwarf Cosmos has been offered by the trade for several years; and each year there seems to be an improvement in the size and colors, so the time may shortly come when this will equal the late-flowering varieties, making the culture of Cosmos more satisfactory. Cosmos flowers are borne on long stems, and the colors are in white and fine shades of red. The foliage is also fine. Seed should be sown in gentle heat, in the greenhouse, hotbed or window in early April, and the young plants transplanted when 2 inches high, setting the plants well down in the soil and giving at least 3 inches between the plants, as they are very likely to spindle up, with weak stems, if crowded. When danger of frost is over, set them out in a warm, well sheltered position, 3 feet apart. After the plants start into growth, pinch out the top to induce a bushy growth. If situated where the wind can whip them, they should have a stake driven close to the stem, and be tied to it for support. Flowers of Cosmos are on the order of single Dahlias.

CRANBERRY. The growing of Cranberries in artificial bogs is an American industry. The common large Cranberry of markets is also a peculiarly American fruit, since it is unknown in other countries except as the fruit is shipped there. Cranberries are grown in bogs, which may be flooded. The whole area is kept under water during the winter time, largely to prevent the plants from winter injury by the heaving and freezing and thawing of the bogs. Flooding is also employed at intervals for the purpose of drowning out insects, mitigating drought, and protecting against frost and fires. Every good Cranberry bog should have facilities for flooding. The ordinary practice is to choose a bog which has a creek running through it, or through which some creek or ditch may be diverted. At the lower side of the bog flood gates are provided, so that when the gates are shut the water backs up and floods the area. It is best that the bog be comparatively flat, so that the water will be of approximately equal depth over the whole area. At the shallowest places the water should stand about a foot above the plants. The water is usually let on the bog early in December and kept on until April or early May. No flooding is done during the rest of the year unless there is some particular occasion therefor.

All the wild and turfy growth should be taken off the bog before the vines are set. This is done either by digging it off and removing it bodily, or by drowning it out by means of a year's flooding. The former method is generally considered to be the better. After the turfy growth is removed, the bog is smoothed and covered 2 or 3 in. deep with clean sand. The vines are now set, the lower ends of them being shoved through the sand into the richer earth. In order to prevent a too rapid and tangled growth of vine, it is customary to resand the bog every three or four years to a depth of one-fourth or one-half inch. When sanding is not practicable, the vines may be mown off when they become too luxuriant.

The plants for setting are merely cuttings or branches of the vines. These cuttings may be from 5 to 10 in. long. They are inserted into the ground in a hole made by a crowbar or stick. They are usually planted at distances of 12 to 18 in. each way, and the vines are allowed to cover the entire ground as with a mat. In three years a good crop should be secured, if the weeds and wild growth are kept down. A crop ranges between 50 to 100 barrels per acre.

CRESS. The Upland Cress, or the true PEPPER GRASS, may be grown on any garden soil. Sow early in the spring. It makes a rapid growth and can be cut from four to five weeks. Succession of sowings must be made, as it runs quickly to seed. The curled variety is the one usually grown, as the leaves may be used for garnishing as well as for salads. One packet of seed will be sufficient for each sowing. Any good soil will do. Sow thickly in drills 12-18 in. apart. In summer it runs to seed quickly, so that it is usually grown in spring and fall.

The Water Cress is more exacting in its culture, and can only be successfully grown in moist places, such as edges of shallow, slow-running creeks, open drains, or beds excavated near such streams. A few plants for private use may be grown in a frame, provided a retentive soil is used and attention given to watering the bed often. Water Cress may be propagated from pieces of the stem, used as cuttings. If one is fond of Water Cress, it is well to colonize it in some clean creek or pool. It will take care of itself year by year. Seeds may also be used for propagating it.

CROCUS. A hardy bulb, easily grown and giving good satisfaction either in the border or scattered through the lawn. They are also forced for winter (see _Bulbs_). They are so cheap and lasting that they may be used in quantity. A border of them along the edges of walks, little clumps of them in the lawn, or masses in a bed, give the first touch of color as the spring opens. They may be forced with ease planted in pots or shallow boxes, put away in a cool place and brought into the house at any time through the winter. A low temperature will bring them into bloom in perfection in about four weeks from the time they are brought in. They can be had in the window-garden in this way.

A sandy soil suits the Crocus admirably. Plant in the fall, in the open, setting them 3 to 4 inches deep. When they show signs of failing, take up the bulbs and reset them. They tend to rise out of the ground, because the new bulb or corm forms on the top of the old one. If best results are desired, it is well to renew the bed occasionally by buying new bulbs. Crocus beds may be filled later in the season with quick-growing annuals.

CROTON. Under this name many varieties and so-called species of Codiaeum are grown for conservatory decoration, and latterly for foliage bedding in the open. The colors and shapes of the leaves are very various and attractive. The Crotons make good window-garden subjects, although they are very liable to the attack of the mealy bug. They are propagated readily by cuttings of half-ripened wood any time during winter or spring. The plants should be given an abundance of light in order to bring out their fine colors; but it is usually advisable to screen them from the direct rays of the sun when they are grown under glass. If the red spider or the mealy bug attack them, they may be syringed with tobacco water. Plants which are propagated indoors during the winter may be massed in beds out of doors during the summer, where they make very striking effects. Give them rich, deep soil, and be sure that they are syringed frequently enough on the under side of the leaves to keep down the red spider. If the plants have been gradually subjected to strong light before they are taken out of doors, they will stand the full sunlight and will develop their rich colors to perfection. In the fall they may be taken up, cut back and used for window-garden or conservatory subjects. Crotons are shrubs or small trees, and they may be transferred into large pots or tubs and grown on into large tree-like specimens.

CUCUMBER. For early use, the Cucumber is usually started in a hotbed or coldframe by sowing the seed on pieces of sod 4 to 6 inches square, turned grass side down. Three or four seeds are placed on or pushed into each piece of sod and covered with 1 to 2 inches of fine soil. The soil should be well watered and the glass or cloth placed over the frame. The roots will run through the sod. When the plants are large enough to set out, a flat trowel or a shingle may be slipped under the sod and the plants moved to the hill without check. In place of sod, old quart berry boxes are good; after setting in the hill the roots may force their way through the cracks in the baskets. The baskets also decay rapidly. Flower pots may be used. These plants from the frames may be set out when danger of frost is over, usually by the 10th of May, and should make a very rapid growth, yielding good-sized fruits in two months. The hills should be made rich by forking in a quantity of well rotted manure, and given a slight elevation above the garden--not high enough to allow the wind to dry the soil, but slightly raised so that water will not stand around the roots. One ounce of seed will plant fifty hills. The hills may be 4-5 ft. apart each way.

The White Spine is the leading general-purpose variety. For very early or pickling sorts, the Chicago, Russian, and other picklings are good.

The striped beetle is an inveterate pest on Cucumbers and squashes. Following is the latest advice (Hall and Sirrine, New York State Experiment Station): "Poisons can be used with success against these beetles for only a short time in the spring, when they begin to feed; and again, in the fall, against beetles of the new brood. This fall poisoning will succeed only where there is not an abundance of wild fall flowers; for the beetles will desert any poisoned crop for the unpoisoned flowers and will feed upon the flowers to a considerable extent, anyhow, if they are to be found. Green arsenite, dry, gave best results. It was found a waste of the poisons to apply them in Bordeaux mixture, as the mixture so repelled the insects that they would not eat the sprayed vines to secure the poison. These poisons, applied in water, are liable to burn or stunt the plants. It is necessary, then, if we wish to poison the beetles, to use a trap crop to attract the insects and to apply the poison to this crop instead of to the plants we design to protect. On small areas it may be advisable to shut in the small plants of the growing crop by the well known cloth-topped boxes; by the tent-like cloth covers spread over arched hoops or wires; by boxes made from a rectangular piece of cloth and two short 6-inch boards with cleats attached to insert in the soil and hold the boards upright; or even 6-inch wire plate-covers. Covers, however, are too expensive on large areas, and they have the disadvantage of frequently making the plants weak, so that winds will snap them off or twist and ruin them when the covers have to be removed. If covers are used alone, their removal leaves the unprotected vines not only for feeding places but for breeding places for the beetles.

"Bordeaux mixture, if thoroughly and frequently applied, makes as efficient a protection as the covers, is much cheaper, and at the same time protects the plants from diseases. This mixture (1-to-11 formula) should be sprayed upon the Cucumbers when they are just well up, again when they show the third leaf, and the third time just before the plants commence to form runners. The early application can probably best be made with a knapsack sprayer, and later ones by any good pump sprayer. The three applications should not cost over $2 per acre. The Bordeaux mixture is a much better repellant, according to station tests, than kerosene, turpentine, tobacco dust, cow manure, burdock infusion, slug shot, bug death, or any other known compound. Indeed, all materials of this class, supposed to drive away the beetles by their distasteful odor, proved failures when used alone. Air-slaked lime, dusted over the vines, will make them unpalatable to the beetles, but the lime is liable to stunt the plants. It may be used, with care, by those whose crop is not large enough to warrant purchase of a spraying outfit.

"All of these appliances or applications, covers, Bordeaux mixture or lime, merely protect the young plants until they are strong enough to stand the injury from the beetles; they do not kill the insects. To do this, trap crops are needed. As the squash is the beetle's favorite food plant, this vegetable should be planted--in single rows along the margins of small patches, in several rows around large fields--about four days before the Cucumbers or melon seeds are sown. When these trap plants are up and the beetles appear about them, dust about half the plants with green arsenite, reserving the other half for use if rain or heavy dew makes the poison soluble and kills the vines first treated. The beetles, attracted by their favorite tidbit, will feed upon the squash vines and be poisoned by the arsenite. When the Cucumbers or melons are up, unless they are protected by covers, spray with Bordeaux, and poison more of the squash vines. When the beetles commence to pair, the squashes may be cultivated up, leaving only a few vines for the beetles to feed upon at flowering time, as the insects prefer the squash flowers and will not molest the others. Beans may be used with some success as a fall catch crop, where wild flowers are not too plentiful. They should be planted on the Cucumber or melon fields; and when the beetles leave the old vines to feed upon the fresh bean plants, they should be treated to liberal doses of poison as well."

The mildew on the vines can be prevented by Bordeaux mixture spray.