298 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[October, 



me is manifest, is its quickness of growth, its 

 sturdy character and fecundity in early Summer. 

 Mr. C. tells me it is a mass of bloom rangino; 

 through nearly all the gradations of color, from 

 a bright scarlet to the various shades of orange 

 to yellow and creamy white. If as I am im- 

 formed this hedge is but four years old from the 

 seed and is now, as any one can see who may 

 choose to visit his nursery, loaded with fruit, 

 his estimate of the crop being more than twenty 

 bushels, the advantages of raising the plants 

 from seed will be readily understood, especially as 

 they can be raised with the same facility that 

 apple seedlings can. The usual mode has been 

 to raise the plant from root cuttings, but this is 

 a tedious process especially in unskilled hands. 

 When the fact is taken into consideration that 

 nearly all plants that are raised from seed are 

 not only of quicker growth but stronger and 

 more durable than those raised from cuttings, it 

 becomes obvious that if by raising the plants 

 from seed at less expense and with half the 

 trouble a good hedge can be obtained in four 

 years, whereas by the old method of root cut- 

 tings it takes from seven to eight years to obtain 

 the same results, the new one will receive the 

 most favor. If these seedlings continue to bear 

 fruit, as they now promise, and the fruit can 

 ever be utilized as an article of commerce, it 

 will become doubly valuable as a hedge plant. 

 Having seen and grown the Cydonia Japonica 

 as an ornamental plant in various parts of the 

 country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I can 

 testify as to its hardiness and adaptability as a 

 hedge plant in nearly all parts of the United 

 States and Canada, and doubt not that it could 

 be made to succeed even on the plains or 

 wherever water can be obtained to irrigate when 

 necessary. 



«-m-m 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



might otherwise have yielded to mischief. To- 

 day (Saturday) the Aldenham Street Sunday- 

 school has a grand children's flower show for 

 the young gardeners of Somers Town, and in 

 many other districts the pretty idea is being 

 carefully worked out." 



Moss Culture —The Revue Horticole for July 

 16th, says that those who have had any doubt 

 about the success of growing plants in moss, 

 were surprised at a recent exposition by the col- 

 lection of M. Chate, of Paris. It goes so far as 

 to say that it doubts whether the best earth cul- 

 ture could produce plants like them. 



Imitation Flowers. — A correspondent of a 

 London paper asserts that imitation plants, in 

 pots, are so perfect that a fashionable lady in 

 London bought one, and after "growing"' it for 

 three months "under the rules," sent it to a 

 floral exhibition, and had it returned with an 

 indignant letter. It is at least a satisfaction to 

 know that floral judges cannot yet be deceived. 

 Some of these judges might find employment 

 in American flower shows. 



NEW OR RARE PLANTS. 



Fostering a Love for Flowers — A London 

 correspondent says : " Window-gardening is for- 

 tunately not confined to a class. It is vastly on 

 the increase among the poor, and in many a 

 side street and alley now green leaves and mod- 

 est flowers are nursed and coaxed and petted, 

 to try and make them * grow up good.' The 

 local schools, in many places, have fostered and 

 encouraged the nurseries, and by offering prizes 

 have provided a humanizing and a useful em- 

 ployment for many a pair of little hands that 



Yellow Calla Lily. — At the Rochester meet- 

 ing, flowers of the Richardia hastata were ex- 

 hibited by Messrs. Hallet & Thorpe. Thespathes 

 are of a greenish yellow and dark base, and it is 

 a very interesting addition to cultivated plants. 



Heliconia aureo striata. — In America such 

 plants as Strelitzias, Marantas, Hedychiums, Ba- 

 nanas, and others which must be preserved in 

 greenhouses most of the year in the old world, 

 make admirable plants for the adornment of 

 our open-air gardening, and we are always glad 

 of every addition to this class of plants. When 

 they have served their purpose as summer orna- 

 ments, they are re-potted and adorn our green- 

 houses or rooms during the winter season. The 

 plant which we now introduce to our readers 

 promises to be one more of these beautiful 

 things. It was introduced by Mr. Wm. Bull 

 from the South Sea Islands, and he gives the 

 following account of it : "A bold-looking stove 

 plant of noble aspect, resembling some dwarf 

 Musa in its general appearance. The stems, 

 which are formed, as in Musa, of the closely 

 enfolded sheathing stalks of the leaves, are 



