1880.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



at a stump, he unfortunately missed the wood 

 and struck his foot, inflicting a severe gash, but 

 the wound is not dangerous.'" 



Improved Roads. — The Woodbury Liberal 

 Press tells of one of our coiTCspondents, John 

 H. Twells, who has gone to work and improved 

 the public road in front of his property, at his 

 OWQ expense. It has always seemed to us that 

 the road laws of man}- of our States are very de- 

 fective. Often the preliminary step necessary 

 before a good road can be made, requires as 

 much loss of time and money to one or two pub- 

 lic spirited men, as would nearly build the 

 whole road. Every little bit of a road has to 

 have a special and tremendous effort made, be- 

 fore it can be done. All this could be very well 

 ■done under a general law. There can be no 

 question but the condition of the public roads is 

 the measure of the civilization of the inhabit- 

 ants. At present as we know instances, pro- 

 perty owners are often forced to pay for expen- 

 sive roads out of all proportion to the value of 

 their property, — and at other times roads lie as 

 perpetual mud holes, which could be made good 

 at a very small per centage of the value of piop- 

 •erty along their course. In Pennsylvania, roads 

 are made at the expense of the property owners, 

 and after once made, kept in repair at the pub- 

 lic expense. We know of many roads in a dread- 

 ful state that could be macadamized by an assess- 

 anent of five per cent- on the line property. 

 Why cannot a general law be enacted, whereby 

 -when this is the case, a i*oad should come "na- 

 iturally" or without any tremendous effort? 



Azalea mollis. — It is not as generally known 

 •as it might be, that this particular species of 

 hardy azalea is far superior to the old class of 

 Belgian varieties ; and that varieties almost as 

 numerous as the old kind gave us have been pro- 

 duced. The Gardener''s Weekly Magazine has re- 

 <;ently given an account of their great improve- 

 iment in continental gardens, from which we 

 take the following : 



" The varieties of Azalea mollis forming part 

 of the group referred to in the preceding note 

 were unquestionably the most important sub- 

 jects of which it consisted, for they bloom so 

 profusely, force so well, and are so wonderfully 

 attractive, that it would be no easy task to over- 

 praise them. When Messrs. H. Lane «fe Son first 

 presented several of the varieties to the notice 

 of English horticulturists some five or six years 

 ago, I formed a very high opinion of them, and 



the more I have seen of them the more 

 thoroughly am I convinced of their merits for 

 decorations in and out of doors. The majority 

 of the varieties of A. mollis, or rather of those 

 known under name, were raised by Yan Houtte, 

 and are quite hardy in this country. They are 

 somewhat similar in habit to the well-known 

 Ghent Azaleas, and deciduous. The flowers are 

 nearly as large as those of a hardy rhododen- 

 dron, and stout and waxy in texture ; the colors 

 comprise red, yellow, salmon, primrose, white, 

 and flesh color, and afford a pleasing contrast to 

 the coloi's of the flowers with which they have 

 to be associated. Thei-e are about twenty-four 

 varieties in trade collections under name, and of 

 these the undermentioned can be specially re- 

 commended to the notice of those who require 

 a few of the best only : Alphonse Lavallee, 

 orange shaded with red; Baron de Constant Re- 

 becque, nankeen; Charles Kekute, orange washed 

 salmon-red; Charles Francois Luppis, rose 

 shaded magenta; Chevalier A. de Reali, straw- 

 white ; Comte Papadopoli, rose shaded with 

 orange ; Comte de Gomer, bright rose ; Comte 

 de Quincey , bright yellow ; Consul Pecher, bright 

 rose ; Ernest Bach, bright salmon ; Madame 

 Caroline Legrelle Dhanis, rose. With reference 

 to their cultivation, it may be said that, like 

 the varieties of Azalea pontica, they can be 

 grown in beds and be lifted and potted in the 

 Autumn, and they are so grown if I remember 

 rightly, by Mr. Douglas, the able gardener at 

 Loxford Hall, who had a fine display the other 

 day, and regards them as most valuable acquisi- 

 tions." 



LiLiUM Caroliniense. — American Lilies 

 have been supposed to have no fragrance, but 

 Mr. Watson, in a letter to Mr. Yick, says the 

 above named old but little known species is 

 sweet scented. 



Cultivating the Epig^a repens. — Cor- 

 respondents often complain they cannot culti> 

 vate the trailing arbutus. It does very well 

 when ordinary skill is called in. It does not 

 like to be treated as a cabbage or tomato plant. 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



Tea Rose Jean Ducher. — The rose without 

 a thorn is not deemed of much importance. 

 This ought to be an extra valuable species, for 

 it is the thorniest Tea Rose that ever was per- 



