166 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[June, 



least connection with the disease in a single 

 house in the town.' " 



Kew Gardens. — These gardens, under the able 

 management of Dr. Joseph Hooker, Director, 

 and Mr. John Smith, Curator, have become the 

 pride of the great mass of English people, and 

 the admiration of the world. Even the French, 

 close neighbors of the English, are moved to 

 desire something as grand and as useful. At a 

 recent meeting of the Socieie' Nationale d'Hor- 

 ticidture de France, the subject was discussed, 

 and M. Ch. Joly concluded an excellent address 

 on the subject by remarking that if the French 

 people were like those of London, to wake up to 

 the wonderful resources offered by the collections 

 gathered together in their Jardin des Plantes at 

 Paris, their garden might also be among the 

 admirations of the world. 



But to our mind the Paris garden is not as well 

 situated to attract as the Kew garden is. The 

 latter is far in the suburbs, and offers a fine 

 holiday excursion ; and, besides, the Hookers — 

 father and son — have had the good sense to unite 

 a certain measure of horticultural attraction to 

 pure scientific features, and in this way all 

 classes of the public feel themselves interested 

 in its support. This can scarcely be done in the 

 Paris garden, and it will always be against its 

 friendly competition with the Kew institution. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Propagating Hydrangeas. — A. H. Abbott, 

 Little Blue, Farmington, Maine, says : " Last 

 spring I cut off two twigs from Hydrangea 

 paniculata grandiflora and stuck them into the 

 ground for plant stakes. To my surprise they 

 began to grow, and even flowered. On examin- 

 ing them in the autumn I found them well 

 rooted. In next number of the Gardener's 

 Monthly please mention the fact, and state 

 whether it is generally known that this plant 

 will root as readily as the willow." 



[It is not generally known that this plant can 

 be propagated in this way, and the information 

 is valuable.— Ed. G. M.J 



Indian Cherry.— This is the name of the 

 pretty spring flower referred to in the following 

 card from a correspondent at Walkertown, King 



and Queen's County, Virginia. Botanically, it 

 is Amelanchier Botryapium, and though popu- 

 larly known as a cherry, it is really more 

 nearly allied to the apple. It has other com- 

 mon names — Snowy mespilus, June berry and 

 Shad-berry : 



" I send you by this mail a little box contain- 

 ing bloom of a tall shrub which I found bloom- 

 ing on the side of a swamp. It is fifteen to 

 twenty feet high, slender rather than bushy, and 

 presents a very handsome and striking appear- 

 ance. Please give me the name and some 

 information about it. I thought at a dis- 

 tance it might be Chionanthus Virginica, but 

 it seems to be quite different on closer in- 

 spection." 



Cattle in Cities. — A Burlington, Iowa, cor- 

 respondent says: *' We are still outraged in this 

 town with roaming cattle, horses and geese. 

 Why is it that I never see any articles in the 

 horticultural nor agricultural papers in reference 

 to this roaming at large of stock in most of the 

 United States ? Why will people spend so much 

 money for fencing out stock, instead of the 

 owners fencing their animals in, or herding 

 them ? Millions of dollars spent for fencing and 

 lawsuits, in reference to this relic of barbarism ; 

 consequently not much money is left for beauti- 

 fying and improving the roads and streets. In 

 journeying through life many a person wonders 

 at the general ' cussedness' surrounding us all in 

 one shape or another." 



[When we say that this strong language is 

 from the pen of a gentle lady, the reader will 

 understand how badly she feels about this de- 

 grading and disgusting nuisance. It is amazing 

 not only that the press is generally silent on this 

 outrage ; and further, we have wondered that 

 local agricultural societies do not protest against 

 it.— Ed. G. M.] 



Variegated Arbor Vit^s. — Messrs. Douglass 

 & Sons, Waukegan, Ills., send us specimens of 

 some silver and golden forms of American arbor 

 vitse. They are very beautiful, and it is good 

 work to watch the beds of seedlings, and select 

 these beautiful forms for publication— yet our 

 pleasure has its sad shades. Only think of 

 the terrible, long Latin names these little varia- 

 tions will receive when they get to England ! 

 If our very good but somewhat sensitive neigh- 

 bor of the Garden would strike for a reform 

 here, how gladly would we not co-operate with 

 him ! 



