196 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



lJ"iy. 



schools that happen to have little gardens attached- 

 The Newton School in West Philadelphia, has 

 a nice garden, and there is one in Frankford that 

 has a very beautiful fern rockery in the front yard. 

 These efforts, however, all come from the local 

 School Boards. The Board of Education that has 

 the matter wholly in their hands, has done nothing 

 to loster or encourage this love. 



Magnolia cordata.— All that we have seen of 

 this rare Magnolia is nothing but the common 

 Cucumber tree. Magnolia acuminata, which some- 

 times has cordate or heart-shaped leaves. We 

 have good reason for believing that the true plant, 

 which grows wild in Georgia, has never yet been 

 introduced to nurseries, either in the Old World 

 or here. 



Preserving Iron Surfaces from Oxidation. 

 — Pulverulent zinc is mixed with oil and a dryer, 

 and the mixture is applied with a brush. For 

 ordinary exposure, one coating of this mixture is 

 affirmed to be sufficient, but a double coat, it is 

 claimed, will afford a sure protection against both 

 the atmosphere and sea water. A good formula for 

 this zinc paint is the following ; Zinc in powder, 8 

 parts; oil, 71 parts; dryers, 2 parts. The mixture 

 should be prepared freshly, and only so much 

 made as is required for the time. The zinc coating 

 imparts to the iron a steel-grey color, and does not 

 interfere with the application of another coat of 

 paint. — English Mechanic. 



Portraits from Bedding Plants. — Leaf 

 plants, or carpet bedding, as they are called, are 

 quite familiar in the form of lettering, out in our 

 park, or spelling the names of rural railway 

 stations. Town Topics tells how, two years ago, 

 the superintendent of the Allegheny Park at Pitts- 

 burg, Pa., planted on a sloping bank, in medallion 

 form, likenesses of Washington and Lincoln, that 

 were so true to life that they could be recognized 

 three hundred feet distant. The design was so 

 original and so cleverly brought out that thousands 

 of persons repaired from all parts of the country 

 to see how well the products of nature were made 

 subservient to art. 



Root Insects on the Clematis. — Galls that 

 appear on the roots of the Clematis, much resem- 

 bling those which appear on the roots of grapes 

 attacked by the phylloxera, are well-known ene- 

 mies to cultivators of the Clematis. Prof. William 

 Trelease has examined critically these galls, and 

 contributes to the Country Gentleman a very in- 

 teresting account of what he finds. He finds the 

 galls are formed by worms that belong to the 



group Nematodes, and similar to the Trichinia 

 found in pork. A number are known as parasites 

 on the roots of plants, just as others are parasitic 

 in flesh of animals. 



Spir.ea astilboides.— Under this name an 

 herbaceous plant with something the appearance 

 of Astilbe japonica has appeared in the English 

 gardens. No one knows its origin. The heads of 

 flowers on the panicle are arranged in cylindrical 

 spikes about two inches long and a quarter of an 

 inch thick. For cut flower work the feathering 

 character of Astilbe will be superior, but still as 

 an ornamental herbaceous plant this one has 

 charms of its own. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



One 



to 2 



it be 



The Hen and Chicken Daisy. — "S. T. W.," 



'Forest Grove, Oregon, writes: "I send by this 

 mail a box containing a daisy which you will see 

 has assumed a somewhat singular form ; viz. A 

 number of small daisies around the central. One 

 or two of my bunches show this tendency, 

 flower had 18 smaller ones on stems from 'i 

 inches long. Is it common, and would 

 worth while to perpetuate it by propagation ? 

 There has been no seed formed as yet, but may 

 be. It is a seedling with the following history. 

 Some years ago D. M. Ferry sent to the Warm 

 Spring Indian Agency a box of seeds. They were 

 sent to me by the clerk. For several years 1 had 

 planted them in boxes without getting a plant. Last 

 year I mixed them in with a lot of old seeds I had on 



I hand and sowed them with a hand-drill for a wild 

 garden. This spring I found them and trans- 

 planted them on the east side of the house, where 

 they are in rich ground and shaded most of the 

 day." 



' [The peculiarity is not uncommon, and is known 

 as the " Hen and Chicken " daisy. When a plant 

 once takes on this form it can be perpetuated by 

 offsets, and probably by seeds. The law that in. 



I duces these changes in plants has never been dis- 

 covered. People have been satisfied to call them 

 sports, monstrosities, freaks, and so forth ; but 

 these names explain nothing. — Ed. G. M.] 



Lavatera arborea variegata. — Mr. Slo- 

 combe sends a flowering branch of this beautiful 

 shrub, which ought to be hardy where the ex- 

 posure is not too severe. The green and white 

 are distinctly marked, and the abundance of the 

 I minute althxa-like purple flowers set oflf the 

 I variegated flowers to great advantage. 



