1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



327 



are so catalogued by a Holland firm. Any infor- 

 mation in regard to their culture, time of planting, 

 &c., will be gratefully appreciated." 



[The Alstrcemerias are not very hardy. The 

 Fritillaria is regarded by some as but a white va- 

 riety of the common F. nieleagris of Europe. 

 Though somewliat hardy, we should not consider 

 it safe to regard them as hardy in Minneapolis. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Callicarpa Americana. — " \V. F. H.," Hunts- 

 ville, Ala., writes: " I take the liberty of sending 

 the fruit and leaves of a very showy plant common 

 here on the hillsides and open places in the for- 

 ests ; but mostly confined to the mountain and 

 hillsides, I believe. It grows to the height of from 



3 to 5 feet, of bush form, with open head. It 

 stands here perfectly hardy when the thermometer 

 sometimes shows 10° below zero. I wonder not 

 to have seen it introduced North. I will be glad 

 to know its name." 



[The Editor has gathered this abundantly along 

 the line of the Black River in Mississippi, which 

 shows that it is as common in low as in high land. 

 The pinky-purple berries are very attractive ; but 

 a similar one from Japan — Callicarpa purpurea — 

 common in Northern gardens, seems hardier, and 

 has a prettier habit of growth. This is the plant 

 originally named Johnsonia, in honor of the editor 

 of the third edition of " Gerard's Herbal." — Ed. 

 G. M.] 



Greenhouse and House Gardening. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



The recent sale of the late Mrs. Morgan's Or- 

 chids has been the theme of so many articles in 

 the daily papers, that people who do not even 

 know that such a magazine as the Gardeners' 

 Monthly is in existence, have been brought to 

 inquire about them. This collection was estimated 

 to be worth S2oo,ooo, and brought at the sale 

 about ?45,ooo. Considering how comparatively 

 few people know of their worth and beauty in our 

 country, even this figure is very good, though it 

 must be said that most of the best bargains, Vanda 

 Sanderiana for $750, for instance, were bought by 

 English people to send back again to England 

 from whence they originally came. It takes a 

 lifetime to grow a large specimen, or a small for- 

 tune to send to the tropics to search for and suc- 

 cessfully get a large specimen ; and aside from 

 the unique beauty and fragrance of an orchid, 

 they have an intrinsic money value wholly inde- 

 pendent of mere " fancy " in the price. The pub- 

 licity given to the sale will however undoubtedly 

 lead to a greatly increased culture of these beau- 

 tiful plants. 



There has been a great deal said about steam 

 heating in our columns of late. It might seem, on 

 the first thought, that this was only of interest to 

 commercial florists who desire to erect houses on 

 a large scale. But it was our conviction that in- 

 directly the matter was of interest to all who loved 



winter flowers ; whether in rooms or small green- 

 houses. Many large dwellings are now heated by 

 steam, and where this is the case, a branch to the 

 small conservatory or plant window solves the 

 whole difficulty about heating these cosy little 

 places. Besides, many people now prefer to buy 

 cut flowers rather than grow them themselves, and 

 hence if the perfection of steam heating will re- 

 duce the cost of raising flowers it becomes a ques- 

 tion of interest to everybody. 



There will still be many who want windows and 

 small plant houses heated for plants, who have no 

 chance to do it by steam. These will yet have to 

 depend on the ordinary cellar heaters ; or, if these 

 cannot be had, wood stoves or other contrivances. 

 As a rule, coal oil stoves are the best. Shutters, 

 outside or inside, which keep in the heat, are often 

 as valuable as inside methods of supplying heat 

 which is lost. 



Again, it is wise to attempt to grow in these 

 places only such plants as require little heat. The 

 old camellia and azalea are still among the best 

 for small greenhouses. 



Greenhouses attached to dwellings were former- 

 ly called conservatories. They were used simply 

 to keep plants in bloom, not to grow them. After 

 blooming they were sent back to the greenhouse, 

 or to the florist where they came from. But of 

 late years small greenhouses attached to dwellings 

 are called conservatories, whether the plants are 

 grown as well as flowered or not. 



