1880. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



1C5 



Hollywood Park and its various attractions will 

 be long remembered by those who have had the 

 good fortune to visit it, and I advise all lovers 

 of horticulture to visit it at their very earliest 

 opportunity, as at any time of the year it pre- 

 sents innumerable attractions, which, be it said 

 to the credit of its liberal minded owner, are 

 not kept for a selfish purpose, but with a gener- 

 ous and whole-soul feeling are offered to the in- 

 struction and delight of our fellow-men. And 

 I feel assured that, to true lovers of nature, 

 the expense of going, and the time lost, will 

 never be regretted. 



But I cannot conclude this article without 

 saying that never before, in all my wanderings, 

 which have extended nearly half way over the 

 civilized world, did I receive so much courtesy 

 as that shown me by Mr. James McKay, the 

 skillful director at Hollywood Park, who holds 

 a position that would baffle the best gardener 

 in the country to fill, and Mr. Hoey is fortunate 

 in having secured the services of such a thor- 

 ough horticulturist. And as Mr. Hoey has face- 

 tiously named one of his Cactuses Rip Van 

 Winkle, I cannot do better than wish him my 

 friend Rip's Toast : " May he live long and 

 prosper." 



the plants might be liable to injury by water 

 remaining around them after heavy rains. 



The lawn run all over with tortuous lines but 

 a single plant in width, would furnish an attrac- 

 tive arrangement; or the decoration might be of 

 spots and figures of small size, each figure or 

 spot requiring from one to as many as six or eight 

 plants. 



In a general way, the Alternanthera varies 

 considerably in color, and this variation may be 

 made use of to greatly increase effects. 



With some planning there may be several 

 suitable styles of ornamental treatment. I 

 have some drawings exhibiting the Alternan- 

 thera in the pits and the grass on either side 

 trimmed down by the machine to an equal 

 height. Still another section shows a band 

 of Alternanthera on the lawn, and a second band 

 forming one of a series of ribbons of foilage 

 plants, this latter, starting from the grass line 

 and being rounded upwards until it touches the 

 adjoining ribbon. These suggestions are, of 

 I course, for the amateur ; the professional gar- 

 dener will follow his own fancy. 



THE ALTERNANTHERA AS A LAWN 

 PLANT. 



BY M. DIGRAM. 



A carpet-like effect may be produced with the 

 Alternanthera on a smooth lawn in the following 

 manner : cut strips or figures out of the turf of 

 any shape determined on, from three to four 

 inches deep, and in width considerably narrower 

 than the width of the ordinary mowing machine. 

 The object of restricting the width of the shallow 

 pits is, that after they are occupied by the pro- 

 posed plant, the hand mower may be forced over 

 the lines or figures without falling into the sun- 

 ken space and crushing its contents. The plants 

 should be of good size when set in the ground, 

 that the narrow space allotted them may soon 

 be filled up. And in order to maintain a distinct 

 outline, the Alternanthera should be planted 

 near the sides of the pit, thus preventing en- 

 croachments from the grass, and at the same 

 time admitting of free growth upwardly, and 

 inwardly toward its centre. The earth in the 

 pits, if of too close a character, should be re- 

 moved to a depth of from six to twelve inches 

 and replaced with a more open soil; otherwise, 



TWO HARDY FERNS. 



BY JOSEPH MEEHAN. 



The Wissahickon is the name of a creek 

 which coming from the north for some dis- 

 tance, empties into the Schuylkill river, Phila- 

 delphia. For several miles before reaching 

 the Schuylkill, the Wissahickon runs its course 

 between rugged and high hills. These hills and 

 the occasional stretches of low lauds furnished 

 materials for study to many of Philadelphia's 

 older botanists, and to-day it is the home of 

 many a rare plant which botanists delight to 

 find. 



The beautiful and very interesting Walking 

 Fern, Camptosorus rhyzophyllus grows there, as 

 also does the rarer Asplenium pinnatifidum. 

 The older botanists and collectors, if asked for 

 the locality of the Walking Fern, would name 

 but one or two places where it could be found. 

 It may have been with them as with many now, 

 they feared to tell of localities where few existed^ 

 lest their favorites should become exterminated. 



The writer of this, within a couple of years, 

 has found no less than five places along the 

 Wissahickon where this fern exists in tolerable 

 abundance. 



The A. pinnatifidum however, is not nearly so 

 abundant. The location of the banks of the 

 Schuylkill where Nuttall found it, still retains 



