In this department Mrs. Lora S. La Mance will answer the inquiries of those asking information about plants, their culture, etc. The subject of inquiry will be touched upon in a general way, instead of being made a personal matter, in order that the information conveyed may be useful and interesting to the greatest number. We will forward to Mrs. La Mance for answering such inquiries as our readers may send in.—Editor
Notice. Correspondents will please observe these rules: Give with every letter your name, town and state. They will not be published. If you wish an immediate or personal answer, enclose stamp for reply. Do not ask for greenhouse plans. The space cannot be given. In reporting a failure with anything, tell what treatment you have given it.
Agapanthus. In early housekeeping days, when as yet I was ignorant of the A B C's of floriculture. I bought an Agapanthus. No pains were taken with it, but it grew right along and blossomed freely. I was much astonished afterwards to learn that the Agapanthus is considered an obstinate plant that can neither be coaxed nor driven to bloom. Poor Agapanthus! It has been unjustly censured. Be liberal with it in the way of providing a rich potting soil, and giving plenty of water while it is growing. With autumn, let it have a taste of adversity. Put the pot on a back shelf. Keep the earth in the pot decidedly on the dry side, giving plenty of water when you do water, but making the intervals between long enough for the soil to dry out well. The plant can even be placed in the cellar to winter, provided this absolute rest is not unduly prolonged. After three months of inaction give light, warmth and moisture. Agapanthus will at once respond, and flowers usually follow.
Training a Rubber Plant. A tall, straight stemmed Rubber tree finds more admirers than branched specimens, which are more squat in shape. Those who like the bush form best can make their Rubber Plants branch at any desired height by cutting off the end of the stem. The part cut away may he rooted in heat in damp sand. The best time to cut them is in late winter, just before the time for spring growth. Branches will soon be sent out after the top of the main stem has been cut away.
Moles. A lady piquantly relates her trials with an army of moles that she cannot "catch, kill, or drive away," although she has tried everything she has ever heard of. It is a bad case when mole traps will not catch, or corn soaked in Fowler's solution of arsenic and dropped along their runways will not finish them. In this case I can only refer her to other said-to-be cures that other people have tried and have faith in. A dozen witnesses testify that the seeds of Ricinus (Castor Bean,) dropped here and there in their tunnels will make them leave. A Connecticut lady says a sure remedy is to drop handfuls of salt here and there in their runways. Others put ball potash or concentrated lye in their runs but that is cruel, for it burns wherever it touches. Some use sawdust soaked in tar, or with a stick punch holes here and there along their tunnels and drop in each hole a small quantity of kerosene (coal oil). These two last substances will kill choice plants if used close to their roots, so use caution. An ingenious soul, rightly conceiving that the mole is highly sensitive to smells made a number of stiff pasteboard tubes and put in the center of each a stinking moth-ball. Buried in the runways there was a dearth of moles directly. I heartily approve of the mole's judgment in leaving moth-ball-scented premises. I have felt like it myself.
Trouble with Lilium Candidum. Some of our friends have had trouble with Lilium Candidum. They purchased fine, large bulbs, potted them, and had only leaves for their pains. That was because they were procured too late. They are not nearly so tractable as Lilium Harrisii. It is their natural disposition to start to growing early in autumn. If kept dormant beyond this period their flower-buds blast. Get them if possible in August or the first half of September. There is no difficulty in getting them to blossom then.
Badly shaped plants. Every little while someone asks what to do with a one-sided or badly shaped pot plant. Plants, and particularly pot shrubs, ought never to be allowed to get in bad shape. It is an easy enough matter to correct a bad or awkward tendency at the first. It is a difficult matter to remedy it later. When a plant begins to grows coxcomby, or develops a long, switchy growth, or twists about in an ugly crook, begin at once to overcome it. One-sidedness is usually arrested by turning that side away from the light. A crooked, knotted limb can be straightened by tying to a stout support or trellis, tying it every two or three inches to take the kinks out. Long, leggy, or whip-like shoots need the ends pinched off. If done at an early stage no sap will waste. It is old wood that bleeds when the knife is put into it. I always hesitate to advise re-shaping an old specimen if it is so contorted that over half of the old wood must be cut away. It is a great shock to a growing plant to lose half or more of its wood. It sometimes kills it, particularly if injudiciously watered. If severe cutting is required do it while the pot shrubbery is nearest at rest, and a little before renewed growth may be expected again. Usually this is about the close of mid-winter. Such shrubs as Rubber Plants, that bleed profusely, should have grafting wax or paint daubed on the end of cut branches. If nothing better is at hand paste a jacket of clay over the cut end until the wound can heal. Water with much moderation until new growth appears.
Spotted Calla from Seed. Spotted Callas are easily grown from seed if it is sown as soon as ripe. Plant out in garden rows like dwarf peas, and hoe them and keep weeds down. After frost dig the little tubers up and keep in dry sand in the cellar. Plant out in the garden the next year. Some will bloom the second season, the rest will require another year.
Soil For Variegated Shrubs. Do not manure the ground for golden or variegated leaved shrubs. The color is not as clear where fertilizers are used. Very rich ground means a quick, lush growth. Green is the normal color of leaf vegetation. Any departure from this rule is an abnormal one. Whatever imparts vigor to a plant tends to make it throw off its acquired markings and revert to its original stage. Abundant plant food supplies more chlorophyll or green coloring matter to the sap also.
About Broad-leaved Evergreens in Winter. A lady asks, "Is it the summer sun that is harmful to Rhododendrons, Andromedas and Mahonias, or is it the winter sun they should be protected from?" It is the winter sun. The reason broad-leaved evergreens are such a hard class to bring through the winter in good condition is because the sun shines upon their foliage while it is frozen, blistering, and searing it. It is not the winter's cold but the winter's sun that does the mischief. Plant all such evergreens on a north slope, or at the north side of a building where they are protected from a glare of sunshine on their frozen wood and leaves.