1876.] 



AND HORTIGULTURIST. 



125 



a package of seeds at this store. Not one of 

 those seeds arose from the sile ! " 



He was ordered out, and he went out. He was 

 was there the next morning as soon as the jiro- 

 prietor was, and he said : 



" Seven years ago this coming spring you sold 

 me a package of seeds. Not a single seed ma- 

 tured to manhood ! " 



He was put out that time, but returned in the 

 afternoon, when the store was full of customers, 

 and exclaimed : 



"Seven years ago this coming spring I was 

 swindled by that man there! He sold me a 

 package of garden seeds, not one seed of which 

 ever thruv ! " 



When he went out something hit him three or 

 four times in the back. He went down the street 

 for awhile, and then returned and stood in front 

 of the store, and said to the people who passed : 



" Seven years ago this coming spring this store 

 here sold me garden seeds that never sprouted ! " 



He repeated the words over and over, until a 

 crowd began to gather, when he was called in 

 and given a dozen papers of seed, and told to 

 forgive and forget. 



"Six papers of onion seeds to pay for the chok- 

 ing ! " he said as he buttoned his overcoat. 



They were given him, and when stowed away 

 he remarked, " Six papers of cucumber seeds to 

 pay for four kicks ! " 



After some argument these were handed him, 

 and as he backed out of the doors he said : 



" It's all right ! You've acted like a man about 

 it, and if you want any vegetables next fall I'll 

 make a discount to you." 



The Gakdex. — We have a notice from the 

 Garden that it will in future discontinue its ex- 

 changes with American publications — the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly among the number. It seems to 

 us that most, if not all, of the success which the 

 Garden has met with in this country, is due to 

 the free, and, w^e think, cordial notices of the 

 American press. Still it has a right to decide its 

 own course. It is a little strange, however, at 

 the same time that we are i^olitely shown the 

 door, to be asked to say a good word for the in- 

 mates ! However, we will say, in finally parting 

 with the Garden from our exchange list, that it 

 is a credit to horticulture, and in every way 

 worthy of the success it has earned. 



Mk. Robert Df.mcker. — This gentleman, well 

 known by his former connection with Central 

 Park, and one of the most intelligent gardeners 



in Amerida, has just concluded a series of admi- 

 rable articles in the Pen and Ploxo on "Floral 

 Decorations." In regard to the form of flower- 

 beds he gives this good advice : 



"We will now ask an important question, 

 \^^lich is the best and most advisable form of 

 flower beds for all kinds of gardens ? This ques- 

 tion could be easily answered if fashion, human 

 desires and caprice, co.uld always be ruled or 

 governed by good taste. In compliance with 

 good taste, the oval form for flower beds seems 

 to have been adopted, but it will be wrong to use 

 this form as a rule. When used too freely and 

 too frequently its sameness defeats the object in 

 view ; for there are also other good forms. In 

 gardens laid out in geometrical style, the form 

 of the flower beds should correspond with the 

 style of the garden itself, as well as harmonize 

 with the buildings, and other structures, such as 

 bridges, terraces, fountains, statues, &c. For par- 

 terres a composition of Arabesques, or a large 

 circular form of rosettes, with its divisions, allow- 

 ing a variety of single groups as a display of 

 flowers, may be used with the greatest success. 

 In small gardens, only a few beds of a simple 

 shape are to be recommended, as ovals, circlets, 

 reniform, or trifolium-shaped beds." 



HooPES Bros. & Thomas, West Chester, Pa. — 

 Catalogue of Alpine and perennial plants. The 

 number of horticultural catalogues that pour in 

 on a horticultural magazine is so great that we 

 found it took up several pages of our limited 

 space to notice them, and so had to give up all 

 such notices in common fairness, unless there 

 were some special j)oints of public interest. 

 This catalogue is just such an exception. We 

 doubt whether such a catalogue has ajDpeared 

 from any nursery in the world, and this well- 

 known firm deserves this notice for its enterprise, 



Gould Nursery Co., Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, 

 Annual Catalogue of Greenhouse Plants. — 

 The publisher desires to return thanks to this 

 company for a kindly notice of the Gardener's 

 Monthly on its title page. It says, and we believe 

 truly, " each number during the year furnishes 

 some new idea that is useful and instructive, and 

 very frequently worth more financially than the 

 price of a year's subscription." 



The Evergreen. — This is a valuable monthly 

 serial, devoted solely to the growing interests of 

 tree culture, and published by Mr. Geo. Pinney, 

 of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, for the low figure 

 of 60 cts. per year. 



