1880.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



811 



fectly formed embryo should grow into aa vigor- 

 ous a plant as a mature one ; but, when we un- 

 derstand the general plan of growth in plants, 

 the phenomenon is intelligible. Thus, ferns ac- 

 tually develop from a single detached cell. This 

 property of premature germination may be 

 taken advantage of in practice in propagating 

 plants that do not fully ripen their seeds in our cli- 

 mate. A rather longer period elapses before un- 

 ripe seeds actually germinate, but frequently the 

 progeny is equal to the best from mature seeds. 

 Formerly it was supposed that only ex-albumi- 

 nous seeds would germinate when unripe, but 

 M. Sagot, a Frenchman, succeeded in germinat- 

 ing green grain of wheat in which the albumen was 

 soft, semi-liquid and milky, and several other 

 experimenters have raised different cereals from 

 grain collected a fortnight to three weeks before 

 the crops from which it was taken were ripe. 

 Although the practice of sowing unripe seeds is 

 not likely to become general, and would not be 

 profitable under ordinary circumstances, it 

 might be useful to know in the case of a rare 

 plant suddenly dying before its seeds were ma- ' 

 ture, that there was a possibility of their germi ! 

 nating, and thus preventing the loss, may be, 

 of a valuable plant.'' 



QUERIES. \ 



I 



Genista tinctoria. — Mrs. Marj' P. G., Lynn, I 

 Mass., writes : " The golden-flowered plant which I 



J. H. D., of Peacedale, R. I,, saw at Salem, Mass., 

 is the Genista tinctoria, as you suppose. It grows 

 abundantly in the rocky hills of Essex County, 

 and when in bloom lightens and brightens the 

 landscape wonderfully. I have never heard it 

 called " wax-wort," but can understand how it 

 might get that name from " wood waxen," which 

 is given by Wood as one of its common names. 

 I thought you might like to know that you were 

 correct." 



[To this obliging note we may add that the 

 editor had the pleasure of a brief ride about 

 Salem recently, and saw the plant in great 

 abundance everywhere, as was also another 

 English plant, Leoctodon autumnale, the pretty 

 yellow flowers of which were abundant every- 

 where. It may be also noted that the Buttercup 

 which prevails in that part of the world is 

 Ranucunlus acris, and not Ranunculus bulbosus, 

 which is the common Buttercup of Pennsyl- 

 vania.— Ed. G. M.] 



Caladium Wild.— J. M. H., Houston, Texas, 

 says: "I had a laugh some months since at a 

 statement in the Gardent:r's Monthly, taken 

 from a German paper, that Caladium esculen- 

 tum was growing indigneous on the Brazos in 

 Texas. While aquatic plants of many kinds 

 grow in great profusion in the lakes and swamps 

 on the Brazos river, I have failed to see anything 

 very nearly like Caladium esculentum after a 

 look of one hundred miles or more." 



Literature, Travels l Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



GARDENERS AND SITUATIONS. 



BY J. B., FREDKRICTON, N. B. 



Referring to the articles in May and August 

 numbers of the Gardener's Monthly — I for 

 one would heartily endorse your editorial re- 

 marks. The Scriptures teach us to do good to 

 all men, especially the household of faith. Now 

 we, as gardeners, should do good to those of our 

 own occupation. It is our duty to help each other, 

 either by advice or in other ways suggested by 

 our mutual needs. It is evident that the supply 

 of gardeners far exceeds the demand, both here 

 and in Europe, especially England. Ten years 

 ago a private gentleman advertised in the Gar- 



dener's Chronicle and bad fifty applicants. The 

 advertiser generally gets the worst man in the 

 lot. Men are like merchandise in this respect, 

 when the sujjply is an over stock of either it 

 makes the article cheap and a drug in the 

 market. 



I have served some twenty years in commer- 

 cial and private places ; have often being con- 

 demned by young men for spending too much 

 time in what we term "the trade." My present 

 remarks are more especially intended for young 

 men and for their good. Having saved a few 

 pounds about home, I started to improve myself 

 in larger cities than my native place, and in due 

 time I arrived in the city of London. I found my 

 way to Laing's Nursery, Twickenham, near Kew. 

 From there to Lord John Chichester, Cam- 



