Part 4

BEGONIAS. Tender bedding and house plants. Next to the geranium, Begonias are probably the most popular for house culture of the entire plant list. The ease of culture, profusion of bloom or richness of foliage, together with their adaptability to shade, make them very desirable.

Begonias may be divided into three sections: the fibrous-rooted class, which contains the winter-flowering varieties; the tuberous-rooted, those which bloom through the summer, the tuber resting through the winter; and the Rex forms, or Beefsteak Geraniums, having large ornamental leaves.

The fibrous-rooted kinds may be propagated by seed or cuttings, the latter being the usual method. Cuttings of half-ripened wood root easily, making a rapid growth, the plants flowering in a few months.

The tuberous-rooted varieties are propagated by division of the tuber or from seed, the former being rarely done except to increase the stock of some extra fine variety. The seeds, like those of all Begonias, are very small, and should be sown with great care. Simply sprinkle them on the surface of the soil, which should be a mixture of leaf-mold and sand, with the addition of a small amount of fibrous loam. Watering should be done by setting the pot or box in which the seeds are sown in water, allowing the moisture to ascend through the soil. When the soil has become completely saturated, set the box in a shady situation, covering it with glass or some other object until the tiny seedlings appear. Never allow the soil to become dry. The seedlings should be transplanted, as soon as they can be handled, into boxes or pots containing the same mixture of soil, setting each plant down to the seed-leaf. They will need three or four transplantings before they reach the blooming stage, and at each one after the first, the amount of fibrous loam may be increased until the soil is composed of one-third each of loam, sand and leaf-mold. The addition of a little well rotted manure may be made at the last transplanting. These tuberous-rooted Begonias make superior bedding plants if given a shady situation and deep soil; but for the amateur they are perhaps better grown as pot-plants, for one is able to give them better conditions by that method. The flowers are both double and single, ranging in color from pure white and yellow to pink and red. After flowering the plants will die down and the tubers, after drying off, may be placed in a dry, warm place until spring.

The Rex type, having no branches, is propagated from the leaves. The large mature leaves are used. The leaf may be cut into sections having at the base a union of two ribs. These pieces of leaves may be inserted in the sand as any other cutting. Or a whole leaf may be used, cutting through the ribs at intervals and laying the leaf flat on the propagating bench or other warm, moist place. In a short time young plants having roots of their own will form. These may be potted when large enough to handle, and will soon make good sized plants. Rex Begonias usually grow little during winter. Be sure that the pots are well drained, so that the soil does not become sour. New plants--those a year or so old--are usually most satisfactory. Keep them away from direct sunlight.

An insidious disease of Begonia leaves has recently made its appearance. The best treatment yet known is to propagate fresh plants, throwing away the old stock and the dirt in which it is grown.

BELLIS PERENNIS. See _Daisy_.

BLACKBERRIES. The one essential to the successful growing of Blackberries is a moist soil,--not one in which water will stand, but one rich enough in humus to hold sufficient moisture to carry the crop through the growing season. It is usually found best to plant in the fall, earthing up slightly around the plants. The distance between the plants should be regulated by the variety. The smaller-growing kinds (as Early Harvest and Wilson) may be planted 4 x 7 ft., the rank-growing varieties (as Snyder) 6 x 8 ft. Thorough cultivation throughout the season will help in a material degree to hold the moisture necessary to perfect a good crop. The soil should be cultivated very shallow, however, so as not to disturb the roots, as the breaking of the roots starts a large number of suckers that have to be cut out and destroyed.

Blackberries, like dewberries and raspberries, bear but one crop on the cane. That is, canes which spring up this year bear next year. From 3 to 6 canes are sufficient to be left in each hill. The superfluous ones are thinned out soon after they start from the ground. The old canes should be cut out soon after fruiting and burned. The new shoots should be pinched back at the height of 2 or 3 ft. if the plants are to support themselves. If to be fastened to wires, they may be allowed to grow throughout the season and be cut back when tied to the wires in winter or early spring. Tools for the cutting out of the old canes are well represented in the pictures. Shears are used for shortening-in the canes.

Blackberry plants are sometimes laid down in cold climates,--the tops being bent over and held to the ground by earth or sods thrown on their tips.

Snyder is the most popular commercial variety; but Agawam, Ancient Briton, Taylor, and others are better in quality. A new patch should be planted every five or six years.

BLUE BOTTLE. See _Centaurea Cyanus_.

BORDEAUX MIXTURE is a fungicide, used to combat mildews, leaf-diseases, blights, etc. It is sprayed on the plants with a spray pump or syringe, or it may be applied with a whisk broom. Apply enough of it so that the foliage looks blue. It is made as follows: Copper sulfate, 6 pounds; quicklime, 4 pounds; water, 40 to 50 gallons. Dissolve the copper sulfate by putting it into a bag of coarse cloth and hanging this in a vessel holding at least four gallons, so that it is just covered by the water. Use an earthen or wooden vessel. Slake the lime in an equal amount of water. Then mix the two and add enough water to make 40 gallons. It is then ready for immediate use, but will keep for some time. If the mixture is to be used on peach foliage, it is advisable to add an extra pound of lime to the above formula. When applied to such plants as carnations or cabbages, it will adhere better if a pound of hard soap is dissolved in hot water and added to the mixture. For rots, molds, mildews, and all fungous diseases.

Whilst Bordeaux Mixture is the best general fungicide, it discolors the plants until it washes off. On ornamental plants, therefore, a colorless fungicide may be preferable. In such cases, use the ammoniacal carbonate of copper solution, as follows: Copper carbonate, 1 ounce; ammonia, 1 volume 26 deg. Baume, 7/8 volumes water (enough to dissolve the copper); water, 9 gallons. The copper carbonate is best dissolved in large bottles, where it will keep indefinitely, and it should be diluted with water as required. For the same purposes as Bordeaux Mixture.

BORDER. The word border is used to designate the heavy or continuous planting about the boundaries of a place, or along the walks and drives, or against the buildings, in distinction from planting on the lawn or in the interior spaces. A border receives different designations, depending upon the kinds of plants which are grown therein; that is, it may be a shrub border, a flower border, a hardy border for native and other hardy plants, a vine border, and the like. As a rule, the most effective planting is that which is thrown into masses, for one plant reinforces the other, and the flowers have a good setting or background. Very striking displays of foliage and flowers and plant forms can be made when massed together. As a rule, plants are more easily grown when planted in a border, since the whole area can be kept cultivated with ease; and if a plant becomes weak or dies, its place is readily filled by the neighboring plants spreading into it. Planting in masses is also essential to the best arrangement of the yard, since the basis of any landscape is a more or less continuous greensward (see _Lawn_). The house occupies the central part of the area, and the sides are heavily massed or planted so as to make a framework for the whole place. The border may be mixed,--that is, composed of a great variety of plants,--or it may be made up of one continuous thing. In long and very striking borders, it is often best to have the background--that is, the back row--of one general type of plant in order to give continuity and strength to the whole group. In front of this a variety of plants may be set, if one desire.

The land should be rich. The whole ground should be plowed or spaded and the plants set irregularly in the space; or the back row may be set in a line. If the border is composed of shrubs, and is large, a horse cultivator may be run in and out between the plants for the first two or three years, since the shrubs will be set from 2 to 4 ft. apart. Ordinarily, however, the cultivating is done by hand tools. After the plants are once established and the border is filled, it is best to dig up as little as possible, for the digging disturbs the roots and breaks off the crowns. It is usually best to pull out the weeds and give the border a top-dressing each fall of well rotted manure. If the ground is not very rich, a sprinkling of ashes or some commercial fertilizer may be given from time to time. The border should be planted so thick as to allow the plants to run together, thereby giving one continuous effect. Most shrubs should be set 3 feet apart. Things as large as lilacs may go 4 feet and sometimes even more. Common herbaceous perennials, like bleeding heart, delphiniums, hollyhocks, and the like, should go from 12 to 18 inches. On the front edge of the border is a very excellent place for annual and tender flowering plants. Here, for example, one may make a fringe of asters, geraniums, coleus, or anything else which he may choose (see _Flower Beds_).

The border is an excellent place in which to colonize native or other interesting plants. A person comes across an attractive plant on his tramp and wishes it were in his garden. Whatever the time of year, he may break off the top close to the ground, take up the roots and plant them in the border. If a little attention is given to the plant for the first two or three weeks, as watering or mulching or shading, it should become established and give satisfactory bloom the following year. Two-thirds of the herbs which one would take up in this way, even in midsummer, should grow. Into the heavy borders about the boundaries of the place the autumn leaves will drift and afford an excellent mulch. If these borders are planted with shrubs, the leaves may be left there to decay, and not be raked off in the spring. The general outline of the border facing the lawn should be more or less wavy or irregular, particularly if it is on the boundary of the place. Alongside a walk or drive, the margins may follow the general directions of the walk or drive.

There are three rules for the choosing of plants for a hardy border. Choose (1) those which you like best, (2) those which are adapted to the climate and soil, (3) those which are in place or in keeping with that part of the grounds. See _Herbs_, _Shrubs_, _Trees_.

BORECOLE is _Kale_.

BORERS. There is no sovereign remedy for borers except to dig them out. Do not rely upon washes or other applications. If trees are examined two or three times a year, it is not a laborious undertaking to dig them out, as they will not be deep in the wood. If they do get deep in the wood, thrust a wire into the burrow. By the chips cast from the holes, or by the dead bark, the presence of borers may be detected. Apple and peach trees are particularly liable to attack. The flat-headed apple-tree borer works just underneath the bark on any part of the trunk or large branches. The round-headed apple-tree borer eats into the wood at the crown.

BOXES of many sizes can be utilized in which to grow plants. Excellent effects of bulbs and annuals may be had in old soap boxes. The boxes may be placed in the best situations for the growth of the plants, and they can receive better attention than the large flower bed. Vines planted about the edge will hide the sides,--such vines as Kenilworth ivy, moneywort, maurandya, trailing fuchsia, and the like.

BRACHYCOME. See _Swan River Daisy_.

BROCCOLI. This is almost identical with the Cauliflower, except that it usually requires a longer season and matures in the fall. It is grown more generally in Europe than in this country. The special merit of Broccoli is its adaptability for late summer planting and its rapid growth in the late fall. It is said that a large proportion of Broccoli is used in the manufacture of pickles. The culture is the same as for Cauliflower,--deep, moist soil well enriched, cool weather, and the destruction of the cabbage worm.

The young plants may be grown in a coldframe or in a well protected border, sowing the seed about the 15th of May, transplanting into rows in July. In sections in which early fall frosts are not to be feared, the plants may be set two weeks later, say August 1, as all vegetables of the cabbage family make the best growth through the cool months of September and October. The plants should be set 18 in. apart in the rows, the rows being from 2-1/2 ft. to 3 ft. apart.

BROWALLIA ELATA is a very fine tender annual, giving a border or mixed bed a dash of amethyst blue not often found in flowers. It is a strong-growing plant with a profusion of bloom, and no doubt one of the choicest plants of its color in cultivation. There are other species with white flowers that serve as contrast, and may be grown with this. All of the kinds may be taken up and potted in the fall, cutting the plant well back, and a profusion of bloom may be obtained through the winter months if attention is given to pinching off the seed pods. In the garden, let the plants stand 12 in. apart. The plants grow 1-2 ft. high.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS. This is a vegetable that should be more generally known, as it is one of the choicest of the cabbage family, and may be had at its best after the season for cauliflower has passed. It is the better for being touched by the fall frosts. The parts used are the buttons or sprouts (miniature cabbage heads) that grow thickly along the stem. These should be cut off rather than broken. The very small hard "sprouts" or buttons are the best. The culture is essentially the same as for late cabbage or broccoli. One ounce will sow 100 ft. of drill, or make upward of 2,000 plants. Set plants in field 2-3 ft. apart. They require the entire season in which to grow.

BUDDING. See _Grafting_.

BULBS. The outdoor culture of bulbs is extremely simple. They care for themselves throughout a greater part of the year, many of them flowering when no other plants are able to grow and bloom out of doors.

While all the so-called Holland bulbs will thrive in any kind of soil, they will all do better by being planted in a deep, sandy soil well enriched with well rotted manure. But do not let the manure come into direct contact with the bulb. Even heavy clay soil may be fitted for the growing of bulbs by the addition of sharp sand, either worked into the soil or placed directly under the bulb when planted. To make a bulb bed, choose, if possible, a sandy soil and throw out the top soil to the depth of 6 in. Put into the bottom of the bed about 2 in. of well rotted manure and spade it into the soil. Throw back half of the top soil, level it off nicely, set the bulbs firmly on this bed and then cover them with the balance of the soil; in this way one will have the bulbs from 3 to 4 in. below the surface. In the fall months the top of the ground is cooler than at the depth of 5 or 6 in. and the top of the bulb will not want to grow, while the bottom, which is always in a hurry, will send out roots, to push out the leaves and flowers the next spring. When the weather is cold enough to freeze a hard crust on the soil, the bed should have its winter overcoat. This may be straw, hay, cornstalks or leaves spread over the bed to the depth of 6 in. if the material is coarse; but if leaves are used, 3 in. will be enough, because the leaves lay close together and may smother out the frost that is in the ground and let the bulbs start. What we want is to keep them asleep until spring, because if they start too early the hard freezes of March and early April will spoil their beauty if the leaves or flowers are near or above the surface. Early in April, in New York, the covering may be removed gradually, and should all be off the beds before the leaves show above the ground.

If there is no sandy place for the beds, make them as directed, leaving the stones in the bottom of the bed for drainage. Then, when ready to set the bulb, place a large handful of sand where the bulb is to go and set the bulb on it. This will keep the water from standing around the bulb. Very fine results may be had on heavy soil by this method.

As to kinds of bulbs, select hyacinths, tulips or narcissus or daffodils, with snowdrops or crocuses of various colors around the edge. For the culture of these and other bulbs, see the various articles throughout the book.

_The growing of flowering bulbs through the winter_ adds to the list of house plants a charming variety. The labor, time and skill required is much less than that of growing many of the larger plants more commonly used for winter decorations. The larger number of winter bulbs may be left out of doors until within four to six weeks of the time when they are wanted in flower. Hyacinths, narcissus, tulips, and crocus can be made to flower in the winter without difficulty. Secure the bulbs so as to be able to pot them by the middle or last of October, or if earlier all the better. The soil should be rich, sandy loam, if possible; if not, the best one can get, to which add about one-fourth the bulk of sand and mix thoroughly. If ordinary flower pots are to be used, put in the bottom a few pieces of broken pots, charcoal or small stones for drainage, then fill the pot with dirt so that when the bulbs are set on the dirt the top of the bulb is even with the rim of the pot. Fill around it with soil, leaving just the tip of the bulb showing above the dirt. If the soil is heavy, a good plan is to sprinkle a small handful of sand under the bulb to carry off the water, the same as is done in the beds outdoors. If one does not have pots he may use boxes. Starch boxes are a good size to use, as they are not heavy to handle; and excellent flowers are sometimes obtained from bulbs planted in old tomato cans. If boxes or cans are used, care must be taken to have holes in the bottoms to let the water run out. A large size hyacinth bulb will do well in a 5-inch pot. The same size pot will do for three or four narcissuses or eight to twelve crocuses.

After the bulbs are planted in the pots or other receptacles, they should be placed in a cool place, either in a cold pit or cellar, or on the shady side of a building, or, better yet, plunged or buried up to the rim of the pot in a shady border. This is done to force the roots to grow while the top stands still; as only the bulbs with good roots will give good flowers. When the weather gets so cold that a crust is frozen on the soil, the pots should be covered with a little straw, and as the weather gets colder more straw must be used. In from six to eight weeks after planting the bulbs, they should have made roots enough to grow the plant, and they may be taken up and placed in a cool room for a week or so, after which, if they have started into growth, they may be taken into a warmer room where they can have plenty of light. They will grow very rapidly now and will want lots of water, and after the flowers begin to show, the pots may stand in a saucer of water all the time. When just coming into bloom the plants may have full sunlight part of the time to help bring out the color of the flowers.

BUSHES. See _Shrubs_.

CABBAGE. For an early crop, the plants must be started either in February or early March, or the previous September and wintered over in coldframes. This latter method was once a common practice by gardeners near large cities, but the building of greenhouses to replace the many hotbeds of the market-gardener has changed the practice in many localities, and now most of the early Cabbages in the north are grown from seed sown in January, February or March. The plants are hardened off in March and early April and planted out as early as possible. The private grower, or one with a small garden, may often procure his early plants from the market-gardener much cheaper than he can grow them, as usually only a limited number of early Cabbage plants are wanted; but for the midseason and main crop, the seed may be sown in May or June, setting the plants in July.

For early planting, the number of varieties is limited to three or four. For an intermediate crop the list is more extended, and the late varieties are very numerous. The early list is headed by the Jersey Wakefield, a variety which heads very quickly, and, although not one of the solid kinds, is generally grown. The Early York and Winnigstadt are good varieties to follow it. The latter especially is solid and of very good quality. For the midseason, the Succession and All Season are of the best, and for the winter supply the Drumhead, Danish Ball and Flat Dutch types are the leaders. One of the best of the Cabbages for table use is seldom seen in the garden--the Savoy Cabbage. It is a type with netted leaves, making a large, low-growing head, the center of which is very solid and of excellent flavor, especially late in the fall, when the heads have had a slight touch of frost. Savoy should be grown in every private garden.

The seed-bed should be made mellow and rich. A good border will do. The seed is sown preferably in rows, thus allowing thinning of the plants and the pulling of any weeds that germinate. The young plants will well repay attention to watering and thinning. The rows should be 3 or 4 in. apart. When the plants are large enough to transplant, they may be planted where early vegetables have been grown. Set the plants from 18 to 24 in. apart in the row, the rows being 3 ft. apart for the medium-growing kinds. One ounce of seed will furnish about two thousand plants. All Cabbages require deep and rich soil, and one that holds moisture well.

The best remedy for the Cabbage worm is to kill the first brood on the very young plants with Paris green. After the plants begin to head, pyrethrum or salt water may be used. On a small area, hand-picking may be recommended.

The maggot is the most serious Cabbage pest. After studying the seventy odd remedies proposed, Slingerland concludes that 6 are efficient and practicable: growing the young plants in closely covered frames; tarred paper cards placed snugly about the base of the plants to keep the fly away; rubbing the eggs from the base of the plant; hand-picking of the maggots; treating the plants with emulsion of carbolic acid; treating them with carbon bisulfide. The insecticidal materials are injected or poured into the soil about the base of the plant.