isn.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



133 



Its wood is said to have a fine satin tinge, and 

 to make in veneering or inlaid, graceful cabinet- 

 work. For chests to preserve furs and woolens, 

 it must rival Cedar or the Camphor wood. I 

 doubt not it may equal the Palmetto, in resist- 

 ance to the remorseless worm which honey- 

 combs timber wherever reached by the ocean's 

 Baity tide. Let the Ailanthus be well tried in all 

 these directions, before you take up a howling 

 Hoodlum's'cry over this other Heathen Chinee. 



But beyond this, there is some mystery de- 

 serving our notice, about the Ailanthus. John- 

 son says there are two species. The glandulosa 

 whose flowers are so nauseate to most people, and 

 whose suckers are so annoying. The other va- 

 riety is not named or described, and I think it 

 must be in this country, and bear the character 

 I am about to give. The glandulosa I have never 

 known to vary in its tinge of leaf or seed pod 

 till stricken off by frost. But the other kind is 

 therein most marked and lovely. There are 

 trees of this latter Ailanthus hereabouts, bearing 

 the same style and growth with the glandulosa, 

 but which, from along in August, and stretching 

 into frost, gradually take on leaf and seed pod, a 

 rich tint of gold running into scarlet. Some- 

 times the shades are richer and more brilliant 

 than at others ; perhaps owing to the season, 

 or the feelings of the tree. The dryness of the 

 period has possibly something to do with this. 

 At any rate, in Autumn, they are very marked 

 ornaments of the landscape, and tower into 

 grand bouquets. Now, are these two varieties in 

 this country, and is this one I admire, that 

 other? 'W\\\i\\Q Monthly, or some one answer, 

 and tell us its name? 



PANSIES. 



BY WM. C. L. DREW, EL DORADO, CAL. 



The Pansy, though an old favorite, is very sel- 

 dom met with in flower-gardens as well grown 

 specimens ; and although you will find what is 

 styled " pansy plants " in nearly all collections, 

 they very seldom deserve the name, being long 

 straggly careless-looking plants with perhaps 

 half a dozen flowers, whereas, they should be 

 nice close plants with twenty or thirty fine large 

 blossoms. 



With the Pansy I have had the best of suc- 

 cess, and as it may interest many of the read- 

 ers of the Monthly, I shall give my mode of treat- 

 ment, by following which, any one can have 

 success, provided they have good seed. 



The first of May, or thereabout, I plant my 

 seed. I always get the best of seed to be had ; 

 good seed will always cost more than poor seed, 

 but it is the cheapest in the end. I plant in very 

 light rich soil, in a warm sheltered place. After 

 planting I cover with a paper until the seed 

 comes up, when it must be removed ; when they 

 have four or five leaves, transplant to the bed 

 where wanted ; have the soil of this bed rich and 

 light; in transplanting, disturb the roots a» little 

 as possible; if a little well decayed manure is put 

 in each hole it will help wonderfully. 



The plants should be kept clean, the bed free 

 from weeds, and the soil should always be moist, 

 never dry or very wet ; if green lice get on the 

 plants, and they sometimes do, make a wash of 

 stroiig soap suds, and wash the plants with it, 

 using it when luke warm : one application 

 will be sufficient; wash both sides of the leaves, 

 and in a day or two wash off" with clear cold 

 water. 



The plants will usually make a good growth 

 by September, and many will blossom during 

 the Summer. In September trim the plants 

 back close to the root, leaving the branches about 

 an inch or so long, when in a few weeks they 

 will all come out nice and close. By this treat- 

 ment you will have close compact plants, that 

 will bear the Winter ; for while six plants out of 

 ten will die if left untrimmed, you will not lose 

 one in twenty if trimmed, because they are young 

 and strong, while those not trimmed are weak 

 from flowering. Trim them every September, 

 and you will have nice plants next year. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Zanthoceras sorbifolia. — We have given ftill 

 accounts of this new small tree from English 

 sources, and the promising accounts of its 

 beauty from English periodicals. It will be of 

 additional interest to our readers to know that 

 Mr. John Saul finds it quite hardy at Wash- 

 ington. 



Effect of Wind on Evergreens. — There was 

 never a better illustration of a point we are con- 

 tinually urging — that it is wind much more than 

 frost that is so destructive to evergreens, and 

 gives a tender character to many beautiful va- 

 rieties — than the equinoctial storm of this season 

 afforded. The thermometer was only ten de- 



