44 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[February, 



turned to charcoal, with here and there spots of 

 white ashes, showing that ignition had actually 

 taken place. It seems probable that if the cas- 

 ing had not been excluded from the air by the 

 ■earth covering it, it would have blazed and been 

 ■entirely consumed. It is generally believed 

 that a steam pipe cannot set fire to wood, but 

 this case seems to prove the contrary, and it 

 may explain the origin of many mysterious 

 fires." 



Ornamental Grasses.— These are now very 

 numerous, but one of the easiest raised from 

 •seed, and a very pretty one, even when the hosts 

 of new candidates come before us, is the old 

 l^uaking-grass, Briza maxima and Briza minor. 



Floral Horse-shoes— There is hardly any 

 telling where floral " taste" will bring up. Just 

 now it is the thing to have horse-shoe designs 

 everywhere. Cloven hoofs will be perhaps the 

 next thing. 



Everlasting Flowers.— Many of the com- 

 posite flowers have dry involures, which retain 

 their form and appearance long after they have 

 been cut, and enter largely into winter ornamen- 

 tation of parlors and dwelling-houses generally. 

 "There is now quite a good bit of them which 

 may be grown as annuals from seed sown in the 

 spring. In this connection may be named the 

 Acroclinium roseum, Helichrysum of many spe- 

 cies, Helipterum Sandfordi, Waitzia aurea, Xer- 

 anthemum annuum, and varieties Rhodanthe 

 Manglesii and Ammobium alatum. 



Alyssum as a Basket Plant.— For baskets 

 in rather open sunny places, Mr. Yick finds the 

 •Sweet Alyssum an excellent thing. Our readers 

 probably know that there is now a double va- 

 riety under culture. It is much superior to the 

 •old kind. It has to be raised from cuttings, as 

 it rarely if ever seeds. 



Chrysanthemums. — It was thought that 

 these had about reached the climax of improve- 

 ment, but by some new kinds we saw recently 

 in the grounds of W. K. Harris, of Philadelphia, 

 we learned that new beauty comes even here. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Origin of Fuchsia Earl of Beacons- 

 PiELD.— C. E. P., asks: "Will some of the 

 readers of the Monthly please inform me who 

 originated Fuchsia Earl of Beaconsfleld ; in what 

 year was it raised? And between what varie- 



ties is it a hybrid? I think that it is one of the 

 best and most free flowering of the new varie- 

 ties. It is a vigorous growing plant." 



Flowering of the Catalonian Jasmine. 

 — A " Sub." says : " Is it intended that the Cata- 

 lonian Jasmine should bloom in Winter? If 

 so, will you please tell me in your paper what 

 course to i^ursue. I have tried in vain to make 

 one I have flower in Winter." 



[It is one of the most popular plants with 

 florists who grow for winter flowers. Their 

 plan is to cut in the plants pretty well in spring 

 time, and then to plant out in the open ground. 

 They are carefully lifted and repotted in Sep- 

 tember, when the}" flower delightfully all Win- 

 ter long.— Ed. G. M.] 



AcHYRANTHUS Emersonii. — W. T. Bell 

 writes : " In reply to ' jST,' who asks, in January 

 number for a description of Achyranthus Emer- 

 sonii, I would say that in habit and the shape of its 

 leaves, it is similar to A. Lindeni; but the 

 leaves are lighter in color, and the stem and 

 branches a beautiful pink, as in well grown 

 plants of A. Gilsoni, or Gibsoni, — which is cor- 

 rect? I consider Emersonii so superior to Lin- 

 deni, that I have entirely discarded the latter 

 variety. A. Hoveyi, so far as I have tested it, 

 is not so good as Gilsoni, which it resembles." 



Names of Plants. — Mrs. S. E. P., says: 

 "Enclosed please find two plants to be named, 

 one of them I found in a collection of ferns, un- 

 named, and it resembles a minature " Arbor 

 vitpe." The other is a greenhouse shrub. The 

 flowers are pea-shaped, canary-yellow, and are 

 produced upon the ends of stiff" twig shorts. 

 The original plant was purchased at the Cen- 

 tennial Exhibition as a rare thing. Lastly, how 

 can I flower a "Mandevilla." I have a plant 

 grown from seed, three years old. It has a tre- 

 mendous growth every season, but has never 

 blossomed. Please inform me through the col- 

 umns of the Gardener's Monthly, and 

 oblige. 



[The plant well characterized as a " miniature 

 arbor vitfe" is Selaginella Willdenovii. The 

 other is the pretty Genista Canariensis, an old 

 but not common greenhouse plant. It is very 

 pretty and easily grown. — Ed. G. M.] 



Diseased Cyclamens. — A Wilmington, 

 Delaware, correspondent, writes: "You would 

 confer a favor upon me, if you could enlighten 

 me on the following subject, either through the 



