ILLINOIS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 269 



Roses must not be forgotten. Do not be carried away by expen- 

 sive novelties in your selection. Devoniensis, Souvemr ik la Malviaison, 

 Saffrano, Hermosa, LaPactole and Agrippina, are hard to beat, and are 

 the most satisfactory and abundant bloomers we know, and only need 

 to be grown to become general favorites. Petunias are remarkably 

 adapted for pot-culture, especially the double varieties, as they bloom 

 more profusely than when planted in the open ground. Take Madame 

 Mallaise and William White for your first trial and thus prove the cor- 

 rectness of our statement. 



For hanging baskets we would select the different varieties of Ivy- 

 leaved Geranium, Maurandia Barclay and Cerastium Tomentosum, 

 Linaria Cyrnballaria, and the many fine varieties of Lobelia Evinus. 

 One word of caution — do not run after novelties : too many have suf- 

 fered shipwreck on that rock. Begin cultivating those flowers you know; 

 or that some reliable floricultural friend recommends. Let novelties be 

 twenty years old before you purchase, rather than make a failure. Be 

 satisfied with those plants which others have been successful in grow- 

 ing, and have made a source of pleasure; and all fears of failure will be 

 dissipated and success certain. 



One word with regard to soils, and our task is ended. Had all the 

 writers who have treated this subject but gone and studied under dame 

 Nature, there would have been less mystery. We hold that well rotted 

 sod, decayed leaves and charcoal rubbish is all that is needed for the 

 tyro. 



We love Floriculture. It has been the pursuit and the joy of our life. 

 We know of nothing more conducive to health and happiness than the 

 cultivation of flowers. We have not followed their culture for pelf, but 

 for their beauty, their sweetness alone. To us they have been a con- 

 tinuous source of enjoyment, and have had a refining influence on our 

 soul. No wonder, then, that we devote our spare moments in efforts 

 (very humble efforts we confess) to teach our fellowmen that floricul- 

 ture is a real blessing, and one of the greatest agents in Nature for civ- 

 ilizing and ennobling humanity. 



On motion, the Corresponding Secretary was requested to tender 

 the thanks of this Society to Mr. J. W. Robson, for his very valuable 

 essay. 



Mrs. Harris, of Galena, read the following ]japer on Landscape 

 Gardening: 



LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 



We are fully conscious of the boldness of attempting to grasp this 

 theme. 



Has not the lamented Downing, in a large, beautiful and elaborate 

 volume exhausted the subject .' And has not one of the brightest 

 luminaries of our society promised to shed his beams upon it at the 

 present meeting? And yet, even yet, we dare throw a woman's mite 

 into the store of council upon it. 



