I88s.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



119 



better take good care of ' Charley ' for you will 

 not keep him over two years," so slender and deli- 

 cate was his physique and precarious his health. 

 She nobly redeemed her promise, and so fully did 

 she appreciate his worth and amiability and such 

 good care did she take of her " Charley " that 

 (had her own health permitted at the time) they 

 could and would have celebrated their golden 

 wedding several years ago, and I was promised 

 an invitation and assured of a hearty welcome. 

 At its anniversary Mrs. Downing was suffering 

 intensely from cancer on the stomach, which ter- 

 minated her life a few months later. 



I have reason to believe that all the citizens of 

 Newburgh fully appreciated his intrinsic worth 

 and high character. In the city directory one 

 may read: "Charles Downing, gentleman." I 

 believe his was the only name so honored. He 

 was indeed a gentle man. Peace to his ashes. 



Kirkwood, Mo., Feb. igth, 1885. 



LADIES' TRESSES OR TRACES. 

 BY W. R. GERARD. 



In a recent number of the Gardeners' Month- 

 ly, the Editor, in reply to a query from a reader, 

 explains the name " Ladies' Traces" as being due 

 to the fancied resemblance of the twisted spikes 

 of the plants to which it is applied, to the silken 

 cords called "traces," used in olden times to lace 

 up dresses. I am inclined to think the Editor is 

 wrong. I can find no authority for such use of the 

 word. Trace, as a synonym for lace [a cord. Ed. 

 G. M.] would be as inelegant as "gallusses" for 

 suspenders. "Lady's" or "Ladies' Tresses" is a 

 very modern plant-name, and was invented, pro- 

 bably, as a supposed correction of " Lady's Traces," 

 the old and correct name of the plant. When 1 say 

 the plant, I mean the species to which the name 

 was originally applied, Spiranthes autumnalis. 

 Rich. "Lady's Traces" is an abbreviation of "Our 

 Lady's Traces," just as " Lady's Slipper" is an ab- 

 breviation of " Our Lady's Slipper," the reference 

 being to the Virgin Mary. I can see but one 

 meaning to the name "Our Lady's Traces:" it is 

 undoubtedly due to an old, and now forgotten, le- 

 gend which ascribed the origin of the plant to the 

 " traces" or " footprints " of the Virgin. 



[Not perhaps lace, but "rope" or "cord," and 

 the word is yet used for the ropes, cords or straps 

 that enter into draught harness. Tracing or truss- 

 ing was synonymous with cording up or lacing, by 

 the peasantry among whom the writer of this was 

 educated in the Old World. The part of the 



country in which that was located had been cut 

 off for centuries with much intercourse with the 

 more progressive portions, and words dropped for 

 a hundred years elsewhere were still common 

 there. By a note in Sir Walter Scott's Monastery, 

 chapter 14, it would seem to have been in as com- 

 mon use in the north of England as in the extreme 

 south. " I will," answered Father Eustace, " but I 

 hear the gull clamorous for some one to truss his 

 points." (Note. — "The points were the ends of the 

 strings of cord or ribands, so-called because 

 pointed with metal like the laces of women's 

 stays which attached the doublet to the hose. 

 They were very numerous and required assistance 

 ; to tie them properly, which was called truss- 



ling-") 



Aside from all this. Ladies' Traces is the early 

 name. So far as we know, it was changed first 

 by Dr. Curtis, a writer about a hundred years ago, 

 simply because he did not know what traces were. 

 Because he did not know, he guessed it to be tresses. 

 Moreover, there is nothing in the flower of a 

 Spiranthes to suggest a tress ; for, if we understand 

 the word, hair when done up in the cord-like twist 

 that this flower presents, would be anything but a 

 "tress." Our correspondent's reference to traces 

 or foot-prints, may have been due to some forgot- 

 ten legend in which the Virgin Mary had a place; 

 but, there is nothing whatever in the flower its- 

 self to suggest any such an application. Is there 

 such a legend ? 



It seems better to stick to the original word as 

 handed down to us — :trace — and leave to the acci- 

 dental stumbling of some explorer in old hterature 

 for the true meaning of it. 



Our sole object is, to protest against the modem 

 change of traces to tresses, and to show that there 

 is quite as good reason, if not better, for the original 

 orthography than for the modern change. In this 

 at least Mr. Gerard agrees with us. — Ed. G. M.] 



LADIES AND HORTICULTURE. 

 BY N. ROBERTSON. 



Any one holding a public position, where flow- 

 ers are grown, will soon find out that ladies not 

 only love flowers but take great interest in their 

 culture. If we look at the humblest cottage win- 

 dow we are almost sure to see plants therein. A 

 flower-pot may be something the poorer cannot 

 reach, and so a box or broken dish takes its place ; 

 yet they would not consider their house complete 

 without the plants. It often happens that ladies 

 call on me for advice ; and they are always ready 



