1878. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



291 



surrounded by strips of tin, and poison can be 

 used with good effect. 



The small red and black ants are also among 

 the enemies of horticulture in general, and of 

 seed sprouting in particular. We fervently ad- 

 vise every novice in the ancient art of garden- 

 ing to study the ways of these restless and im- 

 pudent rascals. If the tiavor of any kind of 

 seed suits their fastidious palates, they will form 

 in sedate military lines, and carry off every seed 

 in the box before you really discover the trick. 

 I believe that ants are responsible for at least a 

 few of the failures usually attributed to poor 

 seed. If the seed they fancy are too large for 

 one to shoulder, a number will unite, or else they 

 will dig into it, and carry off the kernel piece- 

 meal. I have watched several minute red ants 

 thus dissecting a Canna seed and displaying as 

 luuch zeal as if they were scientific men trying 

 to discover the secret of life. Now and then 

 they stop to consult, or to announce progress, 

 thrusting their antennae close together, then , with 

 renewed energy pushing the work of excavation, 

 till all the kernel was removed. Against ants, 

 therefore, we must declare war of the relentless 

 ■order. To save the boxes attacked make a heavy 

 mark with chalk or tar on the edge of the box, 

 trace the marauders to their nests, and drown 

 them out with boiling water. Move your boxes 

 and pots occasionally, and if they have started 

 fresh colonies make matters impleasantfor them. 

 It is not cruel, because it is better for them to 

 move out-doors, and study nature. Besides — 

 and here is the gist of the matter — we want the 

 flowers. 



The greatest danger which threatens seeds 

 ])lanted out-doors, and also small plants, especi- 

 ally conifers, arises from the presence of so many 

 small birds through the winter in our mild cli- 

 mate. Salpiglossis,Nemophila, Ten-week Stock, 

 Lobelia, and many other flowers, will be eaten 

 off as soon as they appear. Vegetables often suf- 

 fer. Pines and Cypress, whilst small and tender 

 will be completely destroyed. If it were other- 

 wise, field culture Avould be the cheapest way of 

 growing our hardy evergreens,but the little birds 

 snap them off as soon as they appear, and skip 

 <n\ the bushes saucily when the excited owner 

 comes along, to astonish him with a flood of twit- 

 ters, and a multitude of vibrant, melodious calls 

 that half atone for the injury. The only effect- 

 ual metliod of saving the plants is to cover them 

 with lath frames until they are a couple of inches 

 in height. 



The growth of plants from seed, to sum up all 

 in a sentence, requu'es the most patient, endless 

 vigilance. It is the straight forward, natural way 

 of propagation, but it is beset with minor diffi- 

 culties. No one can start seed, except by accident, 

 who does not think of their welfare, and examine 

 them several times a day, until they ai-e up, and 

 large enough to transplant. Bye-and-bye you 

 will learn how long it takes this and that kind of 

 seed to germinate, you will know just how they 

 look as they shake the soil from their brown gar- 

 ments, and unfold their new apparel of green ; 

 you will discover that from theu- very first ap- 

 pearance no two plants are precisely alike, and 

 you will study their habits and progress. So 

 seed planting will become the delight of delights, 

 and seed-growth the mystery of mysteries. 



CEANOTHUS. 



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



Of the many species of flowering shrubs which 

 decorate the hills and valleys of California, few, 

 if any, strike the beholder as more worthy of 

 cultivation than the several Ceanothus. Of this 

 species of shrub, belonging to the natiu-al order 

 Rhamnacese,we have some nineteen varieties in 

 California. By far the handsomest variety is C. 

 thyrsiflorus, or the California Lilac, discovered 

 and named by the Russian botanist Eschscholtz. 

 This is a strong grower, forming handsome, well- 

 branched plants, five to eight feet liigh. Tlie 

 flowers are joroduced in dense compound racemes 

 about five inches long. The flowers are of a 

 bright ultramarine blue and have a pleasant odor, 

 they are produced in abundance in May and June. 

 C. cordulatus, well known in California as Snow- 

 bush, is a beautiful companion for the first named 

 variety ; the flowers are produced in dense panicles 

 of a pm-e snow white color. In habit and growth 

 it resembles C. thyrsiflorus. C. integerrimus, is a 

 fine variety with racemes of pure white flowers. 

 It grows from tliree to five feet high, forming strong 

 well-branched plants ; this variety, while not as 

 handsome as the other two, is well worthy of a 

 place in any collection. 



C. dentatus is a fine variety of a lower growth 

 than the former; the flowers are produced in 

 racemes of a dark blue color, and in such abund- 

 ance that the plant is literally covered with 

 blossoms, and forms an object when in bloom 

 that the beholder will long remember. C. diva- 

 ricatus is known as the wliite flowering Cali- 

 fornia Lilac; the flowers are produced in long 

 racemes, often six inches long, of a pure white 



