192 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Dkckmbeu 23. 1S9T. 



built its nest in the strong crotch of an 

 elm or oak. The lonL;tailed tit, whose 

 nest looked like a hunch of leaves with 

 a tiny opening at the side, and whose 

 warm lining was a veritable bower of 

 feathers ; alas the golden crested wren 

 was roblied of her exquisite nest, si> beau- 

 tifully made of moss picked from the 

 bark of trees. The chaff finch, the 

 green finch and bull finch follow the de- 

 sign laid down by their parents, follow it 

 faithfully, ideuticall)', for how many gen- 

 erations, who shall say? 



Old countrymen who do me the favor 

 to read these lines will rememlier the ex- 

 citement, the rapid heartbeat, that is 

 produced by the sound of "hounds;" old 

 men are as susceptible to this fever as the 

 young. Nowhere in the British Isles or 

 Ireland is it possible to be many miles 

 away from a pack of foxhounds ; a pack 

 hunting a country say of twenty miles 

 square, so ever)' week or two they will 

 be in your neighborhood. If they 

 should pass "full cry" after Reynard, 

 within half a mile of where you are 

 working or loafing, the music of the 

 hounds is irresistible. .\ workman is e.x- 

 cused for dropi)ing his hoe or rake or 

 scythe and rushing to a favorable spot to 

 get a view of the pack as they pass from 

 thicket across the park to copse. There 

 is a sentimental and hypocritical sneer 

 made at this sport by a certain class in 

 this country. They know nothing about 

 it. 'Tis not half so cruel as taking a 

 lamb to slaughter. It is grand exercise 

 for those who have the leisure. It makes 

 courageous men and women, it produces 

 a grand breed of horses, and not half the 

 time does Mr. Fo.x get caught. He lives 

 to run another day, but a real live fox is 

 so nmch more interesting than the anise 

 seed bag with which man}- of our hunt- 

 ing clubs have to be satisfied to follow in 

 imitation of their cousins across the water. 



It is ver\' comical to hear a lad con- 

 verse about the time his voice is break- 

 ing. He starts in with his newly ac- 

 quired man's voice but at the en<l of a 

 sentence up goes his voice involuntarily 

 to his original treble. You laugh but 

 the boy is confused. All this was spared 

 me, for when about thirteen I caught 

 sight of a magnificent fox passing across 

 the park within two hundred yards of 

 where I stood. I don't think we are 

 taught it at school but by instinct we 

 know that the right thing to do when 

 you sight the fox is to give the view 

 halloo. As the sweet music of the hounds 

 was heard a mile behind I spared not m}- 

 lungs. When I began I had a treble, in 

 ten minutes I had nothing, and at the 

 end of two weeks' silence .speecl^was re- 

 stored to me. It was a rich (?) baritone; the 

 transition state I was spared. My efforts 

 so accelerated the speed of the fox that 

 he also was spared, and the fifty-two 

 dogs supped on butcher's meat that 

 night. 



At the south end of the three paths we 

 enter the flower garden. At the entrance 

 we have passed under a canopj- of roses. 

 The flower garden, or rather this one, 

 was perhaps two acres in extent, bor- 

 dered b)- beautiful evergreens. The 

 flower garden of that day antedated the 

 ribbon border, the pin cushion or the 

 carpet bed. Beds of verbenas and helio- 



trope and old Tom Thumb geraniums, 

 mesembr\-anthemums and other old fav- 

 orites were sufficient to produce a most 

 pleasing effect. How differently verbenas 

 were used then and how strong and 

 healthy they grew. They occupied the 

 center of some beds, grew a foot or eight- 

 een inches high and were bordered with 

 geraniums. (Jne large irregular bed in 

 the lower corner I will never forget. It 

 was a mixture of slender growing vari- 

 egated geraniums with pink flowers 

 called "Mangold" and Purple King ver- 

 bena. It is a most cha.ste and pleasing 

 combination and I have seen almost the 

 same arrangement this past summer, 

 variegated geraniums and Verbena ve- 

 uosa. In the center of many of the b-'ds 

 were hybrid perpetual roses with their 

 healthy gro%rth tied down to a circular 

 iron hoop some six feet in diameter, and 

 raised off the ground about a foot. When 

 looking down on them it was a veritable 

 bed of roses. 



It may be I look back at these roses 

 through childhood's ev-es, but never have 

 I seen such roses since I could walk 

 blindfolded to the spot where bloomed a 

 Souvenir de Malmaison with its hundreds 

 of flowers and buds. I could step a few 

 feet farther and point to where once 

 grew the giant Baronne Prevost. I can 

 see the spot where thousands of blooms 

 of Coupe de Hebe, Jules Margottin, Giant 

 de Battles, Mad. Laffay and other beauties 

 yielded their matchless blossoms for 

 beauty's sake alone. It was no sin (if 

 you were not caught ) for a bo},' of fifteen 

 to cut off an armful ( they never would 

 be missed ) and trudge off after supper a 

 mile and a half to the little near-l)v town 

 and lay them at the feet of some damsel 

 ten years older than him.self, reward 

 only a sweet goodbye at the gate. 



I see the rustic summer house on the 

 east side of the flower garden in whose 

 ivy-covered roof roosted hundreds of 

 that sprightly little bird, the wagtail, the 

 smallest bird that walks ( all smaller hop). 

 We will stroll down the west garden bor- 

 dered on each side with a rare collection 

 of herbaceous plants, with here and 

 there great clumps of pampas grass that 

 reared their feathery plumes high above 

 the background of arbutus and laurel. 

 Near the margins were hundreds of little 

 patches of annuals, the nemophila, the ery- 

 simum and the eschscholtzia (Californian 

 poppy) are among the best remembered. 

 The maize (our Indian corn) grew seven 

 or eight feet high in this border, a few 

 seeds sown in the houses and planted out 

 in June. It grew and ripened its ear as 

 well, 1 think, as it does in New York 

 state. How many times I have been con- 

 ducting a party of visitors through the 

 garden, when in the company there 

 would be some lady or gentleman, who 

 was either an American or had lived in 

 this country; man)' times have I listened 

 to the merits of the maize as a vegetable 

 and how it was cooked and eaten ' 'in the 

 States." Little did I think then that I 

 would ever be surrounded with a family of 

 young Americans who devour corn with 

 the relish of a Narragansett papoose. 

 The)- can have it, I prefer cauliflower. 



At the end of this interesting walk, 

 were two immense clumps of Arundo 

 Donax, which I believe grew to a height 



of twelve feet. We boys used to make 

 fishing rods of them and catch carp from 

 the little lake. By the bye. our friends 

 and neighbors, the Germans, make a 

 great deal of fuss about carp. Their 

 carp must surely lie a different variety. 

 Our carp were interesting to catch, so is 

 any fish that weighs five or six pounds 

 and is strong enough to pull a small boy 

 into the lake, but as a table delicacy, 

 preserve us from them, they are com- 

 posed principally of mud and bones. 

 The only sensible method of cooking 

 them was discovered by the proprietor of 

 the estate. He said "they should be 

 Ijoiled in port wine and then thrown 

 away." 



We now enter the arboretum, where 

 fine specimens of most of the choice 

 conifers hardy in that latitude, showed 

 otT their perfect symmetry. No crowd- 

 ing, but each one was given ample room 

 to show its perfect form. Araucaria im- 

 bricata, whose branches swept the grass 

 and would defy even a rat to enter among 

 its fierce points ; Picea pinsapo, I will 

 never forget for its symmetry was 

 matchless. Pinus Douglasii, a grand 

 specimen, and even Sequoi gigantea was 

 a good sized tree before I was fifteen. 

 This is the California giant that makes 

 man feel very new on earth. Perhaps 

 some fine specimens were flourishing in 

 California when Noah drove the vSouth 

 .American sloth into the ark. 



To enter the first of the glass structures 

 we must pass under a trellis roof cov- 

 ered for many feet with the Dutchman's 

 pipe (Aristolochia Sipho). and while you 

 are admiring this curious flower, it will 

 be a good place to leave )'Ou and say 

 good night. Bibber. 



[To be continued.] 



BEDDING AT LINCOLN PARK, 

 CHICAGO. 



The engraving on opposite page gives a 

 view of the parterre at Lincoln Park, 

 Chicago, looking from the south end. In 

 the distance is seen the palm house and 

 in the foreground is a bed of cannas 

 bordered with acalyphas. The various 

 beds will be described in detail. 



THE "POINT SYSTEM" OF JUDG- 

 ING. 



Those who are not familiar with the 

 subject, may suppose that the adoption of 

 this plan will secure absolute accuracy in 

 judging, prevent favoritism, satisfy every- 

 body, ami do away with the, heretofore, 

 all too prevalent "kicking" by exhibit- 

 ors. Average exhibitors, however, will 

 not be satisfied until some system is de- 

 vised whereby each one will be awarded 

 a first prize; and a great deal ofnonsen.se 

 has been spoken and written about judg- 

 ing by points. 



"The plan is not new, but has been in 

 use for many years; if not in flower 

 shows, at least in the case of other exhibi- 

 tions; and it will not prove to be the 

 wished-for panacea for the ills of judg- 

 ment; but after being tried with varying 

 results for some time, it will probably be 

 dropped, for the older and better way of 

 judging by comparison. 



If the various qualities that go to make 

 up a complete flower or plant were capa- 



