214 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



the former winter residence of the late Lord 

 Brougham, and its neighboring seaport, Nice. 

 There are over 70 factories in Grasse — which is a 

 flourishing town of over 12,000 inhabitants — and 

 they give employment in the various departments 

 of field and in-door labor to fully 5,000 persons. 

 In Cannes and Nice there 30 more factories of 

 the same class. 



Many manufacturers grow their own plants and 

 flowers, others buy them daily in the market, and 

 still others are supplied by contract. The latter 

 system prevails among the best houses. Con- 

 tracts are made at a fixed price for a term of 

 years, for the total product of a farm. The aver- 

 age price, stated in American currency and 

 weight, was about as follows per pound — 



Rose leaves 4 to .Scents. 



Je^-samine leaves 20 to 25 " 



Orance Flower leaves 2.5 " 



Acacia buds 30 to 40 " 



Tuberose leaves 50 " 



Violet leaves 40toU0 " 



The latter are grown in the shade of groves 

 near Nice. 



These are the principal garden flowers used in 

 Grasse. A great breadth of land is devoted to 

 Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Sweet Marjoram, 

 Cherry Laurel, Sage, Balm, and other medicinal 

 and cuhnary plants, which are sold at much lower 

 rates than the products of the flowers above-named. 

 The preparations from all these plants and flowers 

 divide themselves into four classes ; Essential 

 Oils, Distilled Waters, Floral Pomades and Oils, 

 and Dried Leaves and Flowers. 



(To be coucluded.) * 



COMMON NAMES OF PLANTS. 

 BY R. THOMSON, JR. 



I was induced to refresh my botanical (local) 



lore by reading the query to our good Editor, to 



see if I could help him out, but I failed in every 



instance but one; yet I came across so many 



names just as ridiculous that 1 offer them for what 



they are worth, i. e. nothing, only as a probable 



guide to some in making out orders: 



Botanical Name. Local Name. 



Aletris farinosa Colic Root 



Asclepias tviberosa Pleurisy Root 



Calncliortus clegaus liutterliy Tulip 



Clielonc Klabra Snake llead 



Claytonia Virginica Spring Beauty 



Coptis trifolia Uolil Thread 



Dicentra ('anadensis Sfiuirrel's Corn 



cucullaria Dutchman's Breeches 



Esfpiisetum arvense Coninnni Horse Tail 



Hypoxia crecta Star Grass 



Liatris spicata Spikeil Blazing Star 



Miniulus ringens >ionkey Flowc'r 



Miti-hella rcpcns Partridge Berry 



Nardosniia palni.-ita Sweet Colt's Foot 



Bcutcllaria galcritnilata Skull Cap 



" latcritlora Mad iJogs 



Andromeda Mariana Stagger Bush 



K.-ihuia angustifolia Sheep's Laurel 



Kalmia l.atifolia Calico Bush 



Lindera Benzoin Spic-e Busli 



Aristolochia Sipho Dutchman's Pipe 



Sarracenia purpurea Huntsman's Cap 



Saururus cernuus Lizard's Tail 



Symplocarpus foetidus Skunk Cabbage 



Spartanburg, S. C. 



[The names here given are not merely local, 

 but are accepted common names ; yet even here 

 there may be trouble, for Aletris farinosa is called 

 Star Grass as well as Hypoxis stellata, and the 

 poor florist would not know which of the two to 

 send if he should get a Star Grass order. . 



We should be very glad if our correspondents 

 would from time to time contribute notes on local 

 names of plants, for common names are very de- 

 sirable when they really are common. No one 

 would want to talk of their beds of Viola tricolor 

 when they had the Pansy in mind, nor of Dianthus 

 barbatus in a chat on the Sweet William. It is 

 the utter recklessness with which anybody or 

 everybody has lately claimed the right to start 

 a name of their own as a common name long be- 

 fore it is common or even local, to the utter confu- 

 sion of everybody, that is condemnable. As in 

 ancient Babel, nobody knows what the other is 

 talking of. If by common acceptance names are 

 widely known locally, we shall indeed be very 

 glad to have notes of them. We do not want a 

 name sent to us because Mr. this or Mrs. that calls 

 it so.— Ed. G. M.] 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Selaginella involvens variegata. — The 

 cause of variegation or the green parts of plants 

 blanching is not clearly made out. When it comes 

 to a question of a plant growing in darkness, we 

 say in explanation it is for want of light, that light 

 gives the delightful green color to vegetation. 

 But this explains nothing. When we see plants 

 growing in full light, with part green and part as 

 colorless as if growing in darkness, we can under- 

 stand that it is not darkness in itself that blanches 

 vegetation, but something that accompanies dark- 

 ness, and which can and docs exist at times even 

 when light abounds. 



And it is further worthy of remark that white 

 variegation is found more frequently among the 

 flowering plants than among ferns and lycopo- 

 diums, and we may infer from this that whatever 

 may be the cause of the absence of the green col- 

 oring matter, that cause is less operative among 

 the lower than the higher classes of plants. 



It is by obvervations such as these that some 

 one some day may render good service to intel- 



