1878. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



32'J 



er use, and might attract bii'ds to the seed ; then 

 rub or press the seed firmly on with the point 

 of the finger, and the sowing is completed ; but 

 a little dry, bird, or fowl's dung, a little old lime, 

 mortar, or dr}' earth, may then be dusted on to 

 conceal the seed from birds. This will aftbrd 

 sufficient protection if the seeds be put on so 

 thickly that a large proportion can be spread, 

 but when these are scarce, it is better to cover 

 them with a gauze or fine netting held at least 

 one inch oft" the seed, with pieces of furze or 

 branch spray. Or, the}' may be surrounded at a 

 distance of one or two inches by a few fine will- 

 ows, wrought basket-like, and just sufficiently 

 close to keep out birds' heads and beaks. It is 

 not only unnecessary but improper to cut or 

 open the bark, as the hardened wounded surfaces 

 prevent, or at least impede the insertion of the 

 young rootlets, which only take hold and insinu- 

 ate themselves where the bark is tender, fresh, 

 and devoid of outer dried or dead skin. Suppos- 

 ing the seeds to be rubbed on, either February or 

 March, they will put out small knob-pointed rad- 

 icles or rootlets in April or May, by which they 

 become more firmly attached to the bark, but I 

 liave never seen them put forth leaves till the 

 second summer; and this last season we had 

 a considerable number of seedlings, none of 

 which showed leaf till the third summer, and 

 some look as if they would not do so till the 

 next or fourth summer ; but the trees on which 

 their seeds Avere sown had to be all transplanted 

 the second spring, which might have retarded 

 their progress for a year. — B. G., in Garden. 



"White Lobelias. — What "aristocrats" are 

 these lowly-growing flowers, blossoming away 

 all the Summer in pure white loveliness, and yet 

 as proud of their bit of blue blood as is the ver- 

 iest Bond Street dandy ! An ordinary observer 

 would scarcely imagine that the blood that circu- 

 lates in the veins of these floral Albinos was as 

 deeply infected with blue as are their cerulean 

 brethren ; but so it is. Singularly enough, the 

 seed produced b}' the white kinds is also of a 

 silvery whiteness, and thus differs materially 

 from that of the blue forms, the seed of which is 

 in color a dark red. Purchasers of white 

 Lobelia seed can therefore easily ascertain by 

 looking at it that they have seed of the right 

 color, and mixing to avoid detection is an im- 

 possibility. Still, in spite of this fact, it will be 

 found when the seedliiisis grow, that at least two- 

 thirds of them come l)lue. the taint of blue blood 



being so strong in the constitution of the white 

 kinds. All the white forms have originated in 

 in sports from Speciosa, and are in fact white 

 reproductions of that variety ; therefore, the ten- 

 dency to revert to its original character is not re- 

 markable. The only possible means of eradicat- 

 ing the blue tint is to select seed carefully every 

 year from seedling plants of the purest white 

 that are grown quite away from other colors, 

 and thus by persistence a strain of pure white 

 seedlings may eventually be ensured. — Gar- 

 denerh Magazine. 



DAFFODILS. 

 I waiiiU'red lout'ly as a cloud 

 That floats on high o'er vales and hills, 

 When all at ouce I saw a crdwil, 

 A host of golden Daffodils; 

 Beside the lake, V)eneath the trees, 

 Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. 



Continuous a.s the stars that shine 

 And twinkle on the milky-way, 

 They stretch'd in never-ending line 

 Along the margin of the bay : 

 Ten th(5usand saw I at a glance, 

 Tossing their hea<ls in sprightly dance. 

 The wave-i beside them danced, but they 

 Outdid the sparkling waves in glee : — 

 A poet could not but be gay. 

 In such a jocund company : 

 I gazed — and gazed — but little thought 

 What wealth the show to me ha<l brought. 



For oft when on my couch I lie, / 



In vacant or in pensive mood, 



They flash upon that inwai'd eye 



Which is the bliss of solitude. 



And then my heart with plea.sure fills, 



And dances with the Daffodils. — AVords \v o rth 



The Day Lily, (Hemerocallis). — This very 

 pretty plant is not so generally used as it 

 should be in shrubberies and flower borders, in 

 semi-wild situations, and on the margins of ponds 

 and lakes. For nearly two months past in 

 my grounds it has been an object of general 

 admiration. The first to flower was H. Sieboldii, 

 with its fine orange colored flowers and grace- 

 ful narrow foliage. After that came II. fulva, 

 with bronze orange-red flowers shading otf to 

 crimson, the center being yellow. Next came 

 II. Thimbergi, clear beautiful yellow. Then H. 

 Kwaiiso flore pleno,with large double flowers of 

 a fine rich apricot color, shading ofl" to crimson, 

 and along with it H. disticha flore pleno, with 

 rich glowing orange finely formed double flowers, 

 shading oft* to intense crimson. H. fulva and 

 Kwanso flore pleno attain a lieight of four feet \ 

 Thunbcrgi, three feet; disticha flore pleno, a 

 little over two feet ; and Sieboldii, about two feet. 

 Besides these I have other varieties of Hemero-' 



