1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



125 



varieties do not '' mix," when we hear so much 

 about cross-fertilization by insect agency. Here 

 are beds of the different kinds of varieties — not 

 only of Drummond Phlox, but of numberless 

 other kinds of flowers, yet year after year the}' 

 retain their characters. Now and then a mon- 

 grel, or perhaps a sport occurs, — these are 

 pulled out and thrown away if indifferent, or 

 saved for a new race if desirable, and this is the 

 end of them. These grounds of Mr. Vick com- 

 prise about 60 acres, — and besides flower seeds, 

 are used as trial grounds for plants as well ; and 

 at my visit were quite gay with numberless 

 forms of Coleus, Geraniums, and other bedding 

 plants. 



Public Squares of Boston. — When some 

 time ago we noticed the filthy condition of the 

 public squares of Philadelphia, and which give 

 the city such an unfavorable impression in the 

 eyes of strangers, much discussion ensued about 

 the way in which the public money was squan- 

 dered, and a great deal of talk about the putting 

 of the right men in the right places, and so 

 forth. There is no doubt from what any one 

 can see that the men employed in these squares, 

 do comparatively little work. Men who under- 

 stand garden work ought to do more than these 

 do. But when the appropriations were made 

 the past month we noted that only about $5000 

 were voted for the keeping of all the city 

 squares; of course it is not possible that very 

 much can be done for so small an amount, and 

 the fact ought to go to the credit of the city 

 commissioners. We are led to these remarks 

 by the report of the Superintendent of Boston 

 Public Squares now before us. From this it ap- 

 pears that S44,000 were appropriated for the 

 squares of that city. There are, we believe, 

 about eight of these in Philadelphia, all of 

 some considerable extent, while, exclusive of 

 the Common and Public Garden there are thirty- 

 eight in Boston. As however, very small sums 

 such as $5, $15, $20, etc., are given as the 

 amount of expenses on some of them, it is pro- 

 bable that many of these "squares," so far as 

 the gardening goes, are but a few feet of grass 

 around a monument. We will take out the 

 Common and the Public Garden from the ex. 

 pense fund, and this will leave about $15,000 for 

 the same work that Philadelphia appropriates 

 $5,000; so that Boston ought to be much 

 brighter in her garden apparel than Philadelphia. 

 This is also in Boston's favor that in Mr. Wil- 

 liam Dougue, she has an intelligent superin- 



tendent ; and, as we can see by this clear re- 

 port, in such hands $15,000 can be made to dou- 

 ble the work it would do when mere " politics " 

 fills the bill. 



Forest Hill Cemetery. — Boston cannot 

 boast of fine public parks, with all its advance- 

 ment iri horticulture ; but it does have places for 

 the burial of its dead which are equal, if not su- 

 perior, to any in this or any other countr}', for 

 the manner in which they are laid out, and the 

 excellent taste displayed in arranging the per- 

 manent trees and shrubs on the grounds ; also 

 the striking manner in which the beds are plant- 

 ed for summer decoration. Forest Hill Ceme- 

 tery is a place which should be examined by 

 every visitor to Boston or its suburbs ; its beauty 

 during summer well repays any extra exertion 

 which may be given to see it. Xature and the 

 immense labor which has been expended on it 

 by man, have made it a place to satisfy even the 

 most sesthetical. 



Mr. Farquhar, the gardener, informs me that 

 it requires about 200,000 plants for summer 

 decoration, 30,000 of which are geraniums of 

 such varieties as Gen. Grant, Master Christine, 

 Gertrude, Bijou, Perilla and Crystal Palace 

 Gem. Of other soft-wooded plants, the follow- 

 ing are a few of such as are most extensively 

 used for this purpose : Ageratum Mexicanum 

 and Imperial Dwarf, a little gem for edging beds 

 not too much exposed to the direct rays of the 

 sun ; Alternanthera amabilis, amoena and paro- 

 nychioides. — Country Gentleman. 



Injustice to Gardeners.— Employers are 

 often imposed on by bad gardeners ; and again 

 there are often good gardeners who are imposed 

 on by bad employers. Of this last class the Gar- 

 dener^ s Chronicle gives the following illustration : 



"A case of peculiar injustice to a gardener of 

 my acquaintance has come to my knowledge, 

 the publication of which may perhaps be of use 

 as a warning to others to be careful in trusting 

 to letters when taking new situations. The gar- 

 dener is a man whom I knew as gardener for 

 several years to a lady. He left and went to 

 America. Not finding the climate to agree with 

 him he returned, and has held two good places 

 since, where he gave good satisfaction, leaving 

 the one on account of the owner giving it up, 

 and the other through his wife's health. I have 

 always known him as a respectable, steady man. 

 In March last he went into a situation in an 

 Eastern county; when he got there he found 



