YO 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[Maech, 



desert us for the Southern skies, his chirp and 

 lively flitting cheer away the gloom of a murky 

 sky and chilling blast. Though he is not a pretty 

 bird, or a sweet singer, nor fills the measure of 

 his promise in the line of worms, yet, like the 

 teaching of a friend when the clouds and storms 

 of fate hang o'er us, his lively chirp close to our 

 door steps, in face of the chill and glower of 

 winter, binds him to our hearts despite his 

 faults. 



I hope to hear from others a more welcome 

 record of his ways. In the meantime, is there 

 no bird who will eat the hairy and thorny coated 

 worms, which are as bad as any ? 



There is another English bird whose cheery 

 notes I would like to hear, defiant of the wintry 

 blast and storm — the English robin, the true robin 

 redbreast. Our robin is not truly a robin, but a 

 species of thrush. Isnotthatso? Yes. I do not 

 know his habits or his food. But if he never eats a 

 worm, the reality at our doors of his picture, sing- 

 ing from the snow-clad, red-borried holly, under 

 a murky sky, gleesome, defiant and hopeful, 

 would well pay for his passage and his feed. 

 Wont some enterprising bird man get us the 

 English robin redbreast? 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Rattan trelli.-^.— One of the neatest of trel- 

 lises for training strong growing vines on, we saw 

 last summer in the yard of Mr. Isaac Burk, of 

 Philadelphia, made of Rattan. 



The Hou.yhock.— So far as we know this has 

 quite disappeared from our vicinity during the 

 past few years, through the operations of a fun- 

 gus that destroys the leaves. If any of our 

 friends have any this summer with diseased 

 leaves, we should be glad of some specimens for 

 examination. 



Aralia PAPYRiFERA, HARDY.— We Were aston- 

 ished recently to meet with aspecimen of this popu- 

 lar greenhouse leaf plant which had stood the 

 severe winter unharmed. 



An avenue ok Oranges.— The head-quarters of 

 the Jockey club, at New Orleans, was a private 

 residence before the war, and is one of the most 

 beautiful and tasteful buildings in the vicinity of 

 the city. The gardens are very elaborate. The 

 main path to the garden is lined by two long 

 rows of orange trees, forming a beautiful avenue. 



A Hedge of Geraniums. — The Gardener't 

 Chronicle says, that on the Scilly Isles, which re- 

 ceive the full force of the warm gulf stream as it 

 dashes against the coast of England, there is 

 rarely frost, and it speaks of a garden there in 

 which there is a hedge of scarlet geraniums 

 fourteen feet high. 



The Mistletoe grows on the Norway spruce 

 and Scotch pine in some parts of Europe. It is 

 supposed the seeds do not grow in many cases, 

 through not being properly fertilized. It can be 

 propagated by grafts inserted just under the 

 bark. 



Chimonanthus fragrans. — This old-fashioned 

 shrub is not near as common in gardens as it 

 deserves to be. The buds are formed in the fall 

 and grow larger with every warm winter's day. 

 If these branches are cut off and placed in water 

 in a warm room, they will expand in a few days, 

 and fill the room with their delightful fragrance. 

 A new branch so treated every week, will keep 

 up a succession all win^r. 



The Umbrella Pine (Sctadopitys verticil- 

 lata). — " It does not appear to be generally known 

 that this fine Japanese Conifer, so distinct in 

 habit and yet so beautiful, is hardy in sheltered 

 positions on well-drained soils, as far north as 

 Edinburgh. Two healthy little si^ecimens of it 

 in the Botanic Gardens there, planted out some 

 four years ago, aie thriving most satisfactorily. 

 There are, at least, two distinct forms of this 

 plant in cultivation, one being dense in habit, 

 and the other more lax and luxuriant." 



The above is from the Gardm. We believe it 

 is one of the hardiest of coniferous plants, but of 

 remarkably slow growth. We know of one plant 

 that has stood 17° below zero without the slightest 

 injury, but it is not yet much over one foot high, 

 though now very branchy, and it is over fifteen 

 years old. Besides the above, we give the follow- 

 ing from the Gardener's Chronicle: 



"Indigenous to Japan, from whence it was in- 

 troduced by Mr. Fortune in 18G1. It is described 

 as a large pyramidal tree, with horizontal spread- 

 ing branches, attaining from 100 to 150 feet in 

 height, and from, 3 to 4 feet in diameter. Dr. 

 Siebold, who previously discovered it, described 

 it as a large bush or small tree, from 12 to 15 

 feet in height. Judging from the progresg 

 making, and the specimens to be seen in this 

 country, Dr. Siebold's description is likely to 

 prove correct. It is very satisfactory to know 

 that this very distinct, indeed unique, tree, ha« 



