248 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



{August, 



productiveness of bulbs. Some yield an im- 

 mense number of offsets, while others reproduce 

 very slowly. In the case of one variety of tulip, 

 called the " Goldham's Mary," only one new 

 bulb is made every year. Many varieties of 

 tulip "think nothing" of yielding a dozen or 

 more. Among the Gladiolus of our gardens the 

 same was found to exist. From one varietv. 



called " Brenchliensis," the observer could get 

 a thousand young bulbs in a half-dozen years, 

 while many will not give half a dozen new bulbs 

 a year. There is, of course, a reason — some 

 law governing this productiveness, and which 

 when discovered, will throw light on many 

 other problems; but the reason has not been 

 made clear yet. — Pacific Rural Press. 



Literature, Travels I Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



NOTES AND QUERIES-NO. 3. 



BY JACQUES. 



It is a pleasing task to transfer to iNTotes and 

 Queries the following well expressed thoughts 

 from a late Saturday Review : 



The Love of Flowers. — Miss Maling and her 

 coadjutors deserve well of humanity for what 

 they have done to diffuse among us an inclina- 

 tion for one of the most wholesome as well as 

 fascinating pursuits. Nobody who has not tried 

 it, can imagine what is the continued stimulus 

 of plant rearing as a pursuit for leisure hours, 

 when once a sufficient progress has been made 

 to insure a fair proportion of successes. The 

 most rudimentary love of flowers, if genuine, 

 and a couple of hyacinths or pots of musk, are 

 enough to begin with. As we watch the plants 

 and feed them and wait upon them, a strange 

 sort of sympathy with them grows up within 

 us. Their innocent green natures become a 

 part of our own, and we acquire something of 

 their willing gladness and patient tenacity. 

 The way in which they respond to every gleam 

 of sunshine and adapt themselves to all sorts 

 of accidents is a constant source of pleasant 

 surprise ; it seems such a miracle when they 

 unfold before our eyes, such a joyful encourage- 

 ment when they prosper, and even when they 

 die the pang is so free from bitterness, that it 

 soon becomes impossible to live without them. 

 The work of tending them is one of the few al- 

 most unalloyed pleasures we can give ourselves. 



Great praise is given this year to the straw- 

 berry " Monarch of the West," and deservedly. 



A newspaper observing rows of young men 

 at church doors, calls them "daudv lines." 



Cowley's translation from Claudian, which a 

 correspondent wishes to recall, is this : 



"A neighboring wood born with himself, lies.'es, 

 And loves liis old contemporary trees." 



Susanna. Don't be troubled at the ignorance 

 of foreigners regarding American geography, or 

 American botany and trees. What do most of 

 us know of South America? You remind us of 

 an anecdote. Two young Englishmen, or Irish 

 were they? when just out of college, got the 

 awful habit of imbibing too much liquor, and 

 were sent in a sailing vessel to be cured by the 

 climate of the United States, their pockets well 

 lined with gold. The captain of the ship soon 

 saw their ignorance of the land they were bound 

 for, and played upon their credulity. When 

 opposite Nantucket island, he told them the 

 natives were Cannibals and came aboard ships 

 for a favorite meal, and they had better lock 

 themselves in their staterooms ! This they did 

 for a whole day. No cures being effected these 

 travellers were ordered home. The last that 

 was seen of them, they were rolling down 

 Broadway with a demijohn of whiskey in the 

 front. They got aboard the home vessel and 

 were last heard from as having emigrated to 

 Australia. Don't be too anxious for the good 

 opinions of Europe ; that is all settled. 



Why are the best things of all kinds the 

 scarcest — men and women, fruits, etc.?— is a ques- 



