1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



I have made a rough diagram of a hot- 

 bed which I find much better than the old style. 

 First, for durability; second, the difference in 

 cost of making ; third, to regulate the heat at 

 will. The arqh and furnace walls only made of 

 common brick, and the flue made of small 

 stones which generally abound in this section of 

 country. 



BERMUDA CRASS. 



BY ELBERT S. CARMAN. EDITOR RURAL NEW YORKER. 



Referring to your note (page 311 Garden- 

 ers Monthly) let me say : Early in the sum- 

 mer I received a sod of Bermuda grass about 

 a foot in length by three inches in width 

 from Tennessee. It remained in the office 

 until thoroughly dry and apparentlj'^ dead. 

 It was then taken to the Rural Farm and 

 planted in a very dr^"- muck-and-sand soil. In a 

 few days it showed signs of life, and in a few 

 weeks was a mass of green, of a bright blueish- 

 green color. It soon began to send out its short- 

 jointed, wiry shoots in all directions, which grew 

 on an average an inch and a half in twent\'--four 

 hours, rooting at each joint as they proceeded 

 a,long the surface of the ground, easily making 

 their way under stones, pieces of wood, etc., 

 which had been placed to ascertain in how far 

 these would obstruct or in what way change the 

 growth. From so small a sod a little plot seven 

 feet .in diameter had formed by the latter part of 

 August. It has bloomed freely during the entire 

 summer, and is blooming now (November 12). 

 While all other grasses were browned or killed 

 by the severe drought which prevailed from mid- 

 summer until mid-October, this retained its 

 fresh, pale green color throughout. Its flowers 

 are borne in spikelets of from three to five, two 

 inches long, similar to those of common crab 

 grass (Panicum sanguinale). Though nearly 

 positive, it would neither seed nor prove hardy 

 so far North, my object in the experiment was 

 to settle those questions beyond doubt. You 

 are aware how the rootstocks of couch grass 

 (Triticum repens) grow. They run underground, 

 rooting at every joint, from each of which an- 

 other plant grows. The rootstocks (as we may 

 call them) of Bermuda grass creep on the sur- 

 face of the ground by preference, rooting like 

 couch grass at every one of its joints. Though 

 the leaves are narrow and short, this grass forms 

 a network of roots, rootstocks, stems and leaves 

 that soon become an entangled mat, and take 

 complete possession of the soil. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Golden Plume Arbor ViT.ii:.— We are glad to 

 find our excellent contemporary, the American 

 Agriculturist, in the field with us against the 

 European absurdity of long Latin names for 

 mere garden varieties. It christens Retinospora 

 plumosa aurea, "golden plume arbor vitae." In 

 this crusade against the absurd, it will, however, 

 be necessary to guard against confusion. The 

 names should be given at the first introduction, 

 and then stick to them, just as Americans have 

 done with the "George Peabody" and "Tom 

 Thumb" arbor vitae, in spite of European re- 

 pudiation, and attempt to stick on the fearfully 

 useless Latin abominations. 



For some years past this Retinospora has been 

 known as "Golden Japan Cedar," and it may be 

 as well to decide at once which one of the two 

 to retain, the old one or the new one suggested 

 by the Agriculturist. In regard to botanical 

 names, the decision is on the question whether 

 it is best to have to learn for one plant one 

 "hard" Latin name, or several score of "easy" 

 English or vernacular ones. 



An Avenue of Cryptomeria Japonica. — Mr. 

 Maries writes to the Garden, that starting from 

 Nikko, which is two days journey from Yeddo, 

 in Japan, there is an avenue of Cryptomeria 

 Japonica, along the roadside, extending for fifty 

 miles. One of these trees, blown down, meas- 

 ured one hundred and seventy-three feet long. 

 The common Brake fern of our country and 

 Europe, Pteris aquilina, was also abundant in 

 the Japanese forests here. 



History of the Manetti Rose.— This variety, 

 once very popular in America as a stock to bud 

 garden roses on, is said, in a recent treatise on 

 roses, to have been obtained "from Como by 

 Mr. Rivers over thirty years ago." We do not 

 know exactly what may be meant by "over" in 

 this connection. Certainly a good many years 

 over thirty years ago it was in common use 

 about Philadelphia for stocks, and it is very 

 nearly about that time since the force of public 

 opinion caused florists to utterly discard it. 



It has long been a matter of conjecture with 

 us what this rose sprung from. A recent mono- 

 graph of roses, by a distinguished Russian 

 botanist, classes it with Rosa sempervirens, a 

 native of Southern Europe. It may be, but the 

 botanical characters agree exactly with our own 

 native Rosa lucida in every thing except the 



