134 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



point considered. It thinks, at least its corres- 

 pondent does, that it is absurd to give a rose any 

 premium at all if it has no odor. A rose is not 

 a rose unless it is sweet, by what name soever 

 called 



Value of tjie Americak Linden. — The 

 European Linden is so poor a tree in most parts 

 of the United States, as to be rarely in demand 

 now. The American Linden on the other hand, 

 is one of the most popular and most valuable 

 ornamental trees we have. By the following 

 from the Garden^ it would seem that even in 

 Europe, the American species has a good char- 

 acter. The paragraph seems to be from Mr. 

 Robinson's own pen : 



" "We have so often condemned the common 

 Lime tree for towns, that we make haste to do 

 Justice to the American Lime as a street tree. 

 It retains its leaves quite fresh long after those 

 of the European Lime have perished. There is 

 a very fine variety of this lime, raised a good 

 many years ago by M. Frcebel, of Zurich, of 

 which there is one specimen tree planted in a 

 street in Zurich, where it may be seen and com- 

 pared with Tilia alba, from which it was raised, 

 and the European Lime. Judging from what is 

 seen there, it would seem to be a very valuable 

 variety. It is called spectabilis by the raisers." 



Cultivating I^'ative Flowers.— Miss Car- 

 rie Brown, in her report on botany to the Mont- 

 gomery Co., Horticultural Society of Dayton 

 Ohio, has this to say for plant culture at the 

 soldiers' home of that city : 



" Mr. Beck, the well-known landscape gar- 

 dener at the home, has already made a begin- 

 ning in the way of a collection of native ferns. 

 Every one who visited the home last Summer, 

 must have noticed the rock-work in the ravine 

 encircling the large flower bed at the western 

 end of the garden. Upon this rock-work Mr. 



Beck has now many varieties of native ferns, 

 and proposes to keep adding to them as he i» 

 able, and will be glad to plant there any contri- 

 butions of ferns, that this society or any others 

 1 may send him. It is also his expectation to 

 I make in the space inclosed by the rock-work Just 

 ; mentioned, a pond, in which to raise native 

 aquatic plants, and has already several varieties 

 of water-lilies to plant in it. And here he will 

 place any contribution suitable for such a loca- 

 ! tion." 



! The Iris. — There are few kinds of plants bet- 

 ter adapted to Summer blooming in American 

 gardens, than the various varieties of Iris. By a 

 Judicious selection, they will afford flowers from 



: early Spring to Autumn. They do admirably in 

 borders in front of shrubbery. 



The Hollyhock Fungus. — The rust or 

 " disease" which has nearly swept the Hollyhock 

 out of existence in American gardens, is nearly 

 as bad in Europe. Prof. De Barry believes the 

 fungus originally came from South America. 



^N'lEREMBERGiA RivuLARis. — In the remark- 



\ ably full catalogue of hardy herbaceous plants, 



issued by Thomas S. Ware, of Tottenham Eng- 



\ land, is a pretty figure of ITierembergia rivula- 



i ris, which reminds us that during the past season, 



! we saw it in our own country in several gardens, 



and that it is one of the best Summer blooming 



hardy plants that we know of, and would be 



1 particularly affective in rockeries. 



The Winter Aconite. — A visitor to the Bar- 

 : tram gardens early in March, tells us that wild- 

 like under the trees the Winter Aconite, Eran thus 

 I hyemalis, with its brilliant buttercup-like flow- 

 ! ers, was in full bloom. In a country like our.s^ 

 'where the first "blush of Spring" is so wel- 

 comed in early flowers, it is remarkable that the 

 Winter Aconite is not more often seen. 



Green House and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



or heard of it before hitting on it, I thought there 



might be some of your readers like myself. 



It is nearly always desirable to increase new 



PROPAGATING RARE PLANTS. plants, and plants of slow growth faster than 



BY THOMAS LAWRENCE, OGDENSBURG, N. Y. they fuHiish wood for the pur^pose. It can be in- 



There may not be anything new in the follow- creased from two to ten fold by commencing at 



ing method of propagation ; still as I never saw the point of a well established plant, and split- 



