138 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



that the use of it has saved me many dollars as 

 well as much hard labor. 1 can readily under- 

 stand that it might injure by being on the heating 

 pipes where the heat was sufficient to melt or burn 

 it off, but if used as I have mentioned there is no 

 danger, and it is certainly a great saving in time 

 and money in the building and repair of houses. 

 Joliet, Ills., March 15th, 1885. 

 [It is too often the case that evils incident to 

 the use of an article, obscure the real good it may 

 do. The worst decay in lumber comes from fun- 

 gus, or as some would say dry or wet rot. But 

 this fungus cannot grow when gas tar is present. 

 Mr. Starr makes a good point here for gas tar. 

 But it must also be remembered that the dark 

 color of tar absorbs heat, and therefore tar is only 

 a preservative when it is used in the shade. A 

 tarred fence or a tarred roof will not last as long 

 as one untarred, because the sun's heat really 

 chars the wood, and causes it to crumble very 

 fast. The charring is worse than fungus. For 

 fence posts underground, as well as for the pur- 

 poses noted by our correspondent, gas tar is a 

 very useful article. — Ed. G. M.] 



FLORAL NOTES FROM NEW ORLEANS. 

 BY M. H. LESTER. 



I wish some benevolent person would send me 

 for love or money (1 have abundance of both) a 

 plant of Lasiandra macrantha, var. floribunda. I 

 have L. macrantha, but this life is almost too short 

 to wait for it to get strong enough to bloom. 



If there be such a thing as a poor Cattleya, 1 

 should call Triana one. It is such a great, over- 

 grown looking flower. I have two others in bloom 

 along side, one a variety of the labiate section, 

 and the other C. Eldorado ; both, I think, better 

 colored and marked ; still, Triana is very inter- 

 esting. 



I grow several Francisceas — namely, Hopeana, 

 latifolia, macrantha, and calycina major ; the latter 

 is the best of all. The flowers are 3 to 4 inches 

 across ; good dark blue, changing to rose ; of 

 good substance, and the most admired of any- 

 thing I have in bloom at present. 



The first season we had Clematis coccinea, I 

 waited all summer for the flower buds to open. 

 Now, I think my Pavonia Wrightii is going to act 

 the same way ; it has been covered with buds for 

 the past two months. I can not see any beauty in 

 such miserable things. 



I believe if there be any plants that never do 

 bloom I get them all. Now is the first time 



Toxicophelia spectabilis has bloomed on this 



place ; the flower is not conspicuous, but it fills the 

 house with perfume. 



A number of articles were published in the 

 Monthly some years ago ; I believe, under or 

 over the heading of " Recollections of a Cactus 

 Man." I am sorry 1 was not in a position to save 

 my copies. Have those articles ever been published 

 in book form ? If not, they ought to be. But few 

 people will ever realize how little they know about 

 Cactuses, until they visit the Mexican exhibit at 

 Horticultural Hall, and also that of T. H. Wisher, 

 of Texas, for which have been awarded 10 first 

 prizes. Those collections embrace some speci- 

 mens that would grace any exhibit in the world ; 

 and every inch of space occupied by them is full 

 of interest. I believe embrace is not the proper 

 word to use with respect to Cactuses. 



There are between two and three hundred 

 varieties in the exhibits, all the way in size from a 

 button up to more than one could get their arms 

 around. 



The exhibit of Agaves is also very complete. I 

 noticed a beautiful specimen of A. Shawii coming 

 into bloom. 



In connection with the exhibit from Jamaica, in 

 Horticultural Hall, there is also an exhibit of great 

 interest in the Main Building, including roots and 

 herbs used for medicinal purposes, manufactured 

 articles from native fiber of different plants ; ladies 

 and gentlemen's hats made from a variety of 

 Carludovica, that for style and finish get ahead of 

 anything in the Tuscan or Panama line. I take 

 the liberty of sending you by this mail a tuber of 

 Exocgonium purga, or Ipomcea Jalapa. 

 Gardener to Prof. Richardson, New Orleans, La. 



ENCOURAGE WINDOW GARDENING. 



BY T. BENNETT. 



Whenever you make reference to window gar- 

 dening, as you often do, I am very much pleased. 

 When we walk along the streets of our cities and 

 inadvertently give a glance at a few well-cared-for, 

 well-kept flowers blooming in a window, one forms 

 a good opinion of the inmates; especially of the 

 good lady of the house. We naturally say : "There 

 is a good exhibition of taste," .'vnd good taste im- 

 plies refinement of manners. Occasionally the 

 vicious love flowers — but usually all the virtues 

 that can bless a happy home arc found where flow- 

 ers evidently love to dwell. 



Here, too, is the source from which our city 

 florist derives his principal compensation and re- 



