102 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\Api il, 



is expected that an appropriation of $3,000 will 

 be made for this purpose, either by councils or 

 the park commission. Tlie books will be sold 

 for twenty-five cents each. It is hoped by this 

 means to render Horticultural Hall and its sur- 

 roundings more popular with the general public, 

 and also to afford persons desiring to make them- 

 selves familiar with the appearance and habits 

 of the trees, shrubs, etc., and the picturesque 

 features of landscape gardening, an ample op- 

 portunity to do so." 



It is not necessary to publish a work which 

 shall give the "Latin and common name of each 

 tree," but a little book which should give a con- 

 cise account of any which may have some popu- 

 lar interest, Avould be in great demand and pay 

 for itself. It is surprising that such a useful 

 work has not been done long since. 



Epping Forest.— This tract of 5928 acres of 

 land near London, once a forest but now a forest 

 no more in the strict sense of the term, has 

 been set apart by the corporation of the city of 

 London to be uninclosed and unbuilt on, as an 

 open space for the enjoyment and recreation of 

 the public — that is to say a sort of public park 

 forever. This is a large tract, and shows the Eng- 

 lish people to be widely awake to the necessity 

 for rational recreation for the people. 



Bananas as Sum3ier Bedding Plants.— It 

 is not as generally known as it ought to be that 

 banana plants are very easily kept over the 

 Winter, and make admirable ornaments in the 

 open ground in the Summer season in every part 

 of our country. In very exposed situations they 

 have the leaves split by wind storms, and it will 

 be best,thoughnot essential to some great beauty, 

 to plant in a wind-sheltered spot. One of the 

 noblest of bananas is the Musa ensete, about 

 which we find the following practical paragraph 

 in Mr. Henry A. Dreer's excellent garden cal- 

 andar : 



'' The noblest of all greenhouse plants is this 

 great Abyssinian banana. The fruit of this va- 

 riety is not edible, but the leaves are magnificent, 

 long, broad and massive, of a beautiful green, 

 with a broad crimson mid-rib. It is used with 

 success for bedding out, and stands the rain and 

 storms without laceration. Before planting out 

 in May, dig a hole two feet square and about 

 thirty inches deep, filling the hole half full of 

 fresh stable manure pressed in solid, and then 

 fill up with compost of good, light, rich soil, 

 mixed with well-decayed manure; plant the 

 Musa, but do not let the roots touch the fresh 



manure. In our hot summers it luxuriates and 

 and attains gigantic proportions, from eight to 

 twelve feet high, producing a really tropical ap- 

 pearance, and should find a place in every col- 

 lection where there is a conservatory or green- 

 house, for planting therein during the winter, 

 from the fact of its presenting an ornamental 

 appearance among other plants. Those not 

 having the above convenience, by cutting the 

 leaves off", can store it in a light cellar during 

 the winter, with a covering of soil, or planted 

 in a tub ; water sparingly. The seeds germinate 

 freely if started in a hot-bed or on bottom heat 

 in the greenhouse." 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Fringed Gentian — A correspondent inquires 

 whether anyone ever succeeded in raising the 

 fringed gentian from seed ? 



Variegated Honeysuckle. — J.C. S. writes : 

 " I send a leaf of honeysuckle from a branch 

 which sported into variegated leaves, this being 

 the only one which was variegated half yellow 

 and half green, the others being spotted, not 

 reticulated like the Japanese sort. Please in- 

 form me, if I strike cuttings of the branch, if the 

 variegations are likely to prove constant." 



[There is no certainty. Sometimes such sports 

 will perpetuate themselves on being taken off 

 and rooted, but very often they go back to the 

 original. — Ed. G. M.] 



Celastrus scandens. — M. asks : " Is it pos- 

 sible to have this plant so as to perfect its beauti- 

 ful seed vessels without planting two together ? 

 A gardener tells me it is a dioecious plant, and 

 one planted by itself will not seed." 



[It is rather polygamous than dioecious, that is 

 to say there are some plants wholly barren when 

 alone, but there are other plants which have 

 perfect flowers, and by themselves produce seeds. 

 Cultivatoi's should select these perfect flowered 

 plants for propagation. — Ed. G. M.] 



Propagating Clematises, etc. — A. F. B., 

 Foxboro, Mass., asks : " What is the best way 

 to propagate Clematis, and also Ampelopsis 

 Veitchii ?" 



[For those who want but a few plants, the 

 best mode is to layer a few branches in the 

 ground. Those who grow largely root graft, 

 using Clematis flammula chiefly for roots. AD 

 the species of Ampelopsis are easily raised from 

 cuttings. — Ed. G.'M.] 



