1882 J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



fall into the hands of ignoramuses? Can any- 

 one tell? 



[Our correspondent has not exaggerated the 

 state of affairs. The city squares are in the De- 

 partment of City Property, which means a very 

 varied species of supervision. A Commissioner 

 of City Property may be remarkably well fitted 

 for some of those duties, and yet not know a 

 maple tree from a cedar of Lebanon. For any 

 thing he know^s, a man who is able to distinguish 

 a wheelbarrow from an express wagon is a first- 

 class gardener, and the employment of such a 

 one will seem to him all the more proper per- 

 haps if he is able to command a few votes at 

 election times ; for even a commissioner is hu- 

 man, and will stretch a little to hold a fat office 

 if he possibly can. 



The best remedy for the disgraceful state of 

 things referred to by our correspondent, would 

 be to place these small city parks under the care 

 of the Park Commission. But the Commissioner 

 of City Property, by virtue of his office, is a 

 member of the Park Commission, and it might 

 be that he would still be a "sub-committee " to 

 superintend the squares. There would, however, 

 be this advantage, that a body of men with more 

 intellectual pride than a mere "City Commis- 

 sioner" is supposed to need, would be responsi- 

 ble for the disgrace.— Ed. G. M.l 



A BLUE BEDDER. 



BY W. ROBERTSON, GOVERNMENT GROUNDS, OTTAWA. 



In bedding, some of the principal points seem 

 to be often lost sight of. One is in the use of 

 plants dissimilar in height, and that cannot 

 be trimmed to it. If flowering plants are used 

 in conjunction with foliage, the lowest grower 

 should be chosen, as foliage can be trimmed 

 to any height almost ; but flowering plants can 

 only be pegged down, and many of them do 

 not well admit of that. 



Let us take as an example W. D.'s bed, where 

 he wants to represent a flag, red, white and blue, 

 and use C. W. Warde's plants. The first point 

 is to look from what point this bed is to be most 

 seen, and place it so that the design can be 

 best distinguished; the lowest side to that point ; 

 now, by the use of Ageratum Mexicanum, the 

 highest will be closest. This plant grows two 

 feet, pegs badly, and will be one foot higher than 

 the others, Centaurea and Achyranthes, and the 

 effect is lost and confused, as an even surface is 

 indispensable to show this design. The Agera- 



tum, John Douglas, is a low, compact grower, 

 and will show a compact mass of blue the whole 

 season if treated properly ; there is no better blue 

 — is one of our best bedders. I never strike them 

 sooner than a month before I use them, as they 

 are very liable to red spider, and if put out old 

 and affected with them, they soon burn up and 

 make a poor show. Let the cuttings be put in 

 soft a month before use, and they will be one 

 mass of blue in a short time. There is no doubt 

 but the Ageratum Mexicanum is good in rib- 

 bon lines. 



Browallia, recommended by C. E. Parnell, is a 

 plant growing one and a-half feet ; flowers late 

 and small, with much foliage, and will make a 

 very poor show of blue. Now, if W. D. does not 

 get his bed to show an even surface, the effect 

 will be lost, and like many designs, we have to 

 be told what it is. before we can tell what is 

 meant by it. 



It will never do to plant and expect that lines, 

 &c., will be complete without frequent trim- 

 mings. When plants are growing rapidly, I 

 look over them once a week, and see if leaves 

 or shoots are getting out of place, and have them 

 trimmed ; never wait till you see them in disor- 

 der, so that when you trim you take the most 

 beautiful part of the foliage; in fact, never allow 

 them to grow so that trimming will be noticed. 



NOVELTIES. 



BY EDWARD KOETHEN, PITTSBURG, PA. 



It is difficult for purchasers who are com- 

 pelled to buy by catalogue to judge of the value 

 of horticultural novelties, and probably always 

 will be so. Many new things are thrust on the 

 market with what seem to be the best of recom- 

 mendations, and are advertised in all available 

 ways, which have only been tested in one 

 locality, and in many cases not in this country 

 at all; but even in this country the climate is so 

 varied that but few things do well and are valua- 

 ble acquisitions all over the States. Yet the de- 

 mand for novelties is so great that dealers are 

 compelled to buy most of these much-heralded 

 varieties, and grow them for sale, until they are 

 either admitted among the standard articles, or 

 are rejected as worthless, and in most cases they 

 are catalogued at high prices, with their original 

 descriptions, without first being tested at all. 

 Thus the purchaser who buys from these deal- 

 ers, is no more certain of getting a good thing 

 than the dealer was, and the public it seems 



