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THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



its buds about a month later. The young leaves 

 have a rusty-brown color. — Gardeners' Chronicle. 



Alternanthera aurea nana. — The golden 

 alternanthera is an indispensable plant in modern 

 carpet-bedding. Messrs. Wood, Beach & Co., of 

 New Brighton, Pa. send us specimens of one they 

 claim to be dwarfer than the common kind, and 

 in this event would be very much more desirable. 



A Variegated Austrian Pine. — M. Carriere 

 notes the appearance in French nurseries of an 

 Austrian Pine with ivory white, and green leaves, 

 and thinks it will be an indispensable ornament in 

 every large garden. 



HovENiA DULCis.— Though with a Linden-like 

 leaf, and vigorous habit of growth, this is of the 

 Buckthorn or Rhamnaceous family. It comes 

 from Japan, and proves perfectly hardy. Mr. 

 Brackenridge says of it: 



"Rare, beautiful, hardy, useful and ornamental 

 tree, which is about as hardy as the European 

 Linden, and has a habit very much resembling it. 

 Some of our trees are 30 feet high, and have a 

 spread of about 20 feet. These have bloomed 

 and borne fruit with us for several years : the 

 peduncles of the fruit are edible, and of a pleasant 

 taste, resembling that of a ripe pear. The flowers 

 are borne on branching panicles, and make their 

 appearance about the first of June, and afford a 

 supply of honey for swarms of bees for a period 

 of two to three weeks. Our original plant was 

 brought from Japan by Thomas Hogg, Esq., of 

 New York, to whom the country owes a debt of 

 gratitude for this and many other fine plants and 

 trees he has been the means of introducing." 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Propagation of Clematis. — " M. S. B.," Port- 

 land, Oregon. A great many clematises seed very 

 freely, and are then easily propagated. The seeds 

 are sown as soon as ripe, if one has a greenhouse or 

 cool pit, using a shallow box or pan for sowing the 

 seed. The young plants come up before spring, 

 and may be put into small pots, and in May planted 

 in the open ground, placing leaves, corn-stalks or 

 some htter over them in fall to keep them from 

 being drawn out by frost. Sometimes the seeds 

 are saved in paper bags till spring and then sown 

 in the open ground, but in such cases some, and 

 sometimes all, the seeds will remain in the ground 

 a year before they grow. 



Some kinds do not produce seeds freely. These 



have to be raised by layers or by grafting. Lay- 

 ering is a certain and sure way of raising the 

 plants where no great numbers are desired. About 

 mid-summer, when the branch is half mature, a 

 slit half through the stem is made with a pen-knife, 

 and this slit portion bent down into very rich soil. 

 Roots will come out from the slit part, and the 

 branch will generally be well enough rooted to 

 make a good new plant by autumn. To increase 

 in large numbers every joint can be used as a 

 graft if desired. These sections are best taken 

 when half ripe, and spliced by whip, cleft, or any 

 form of grafting on to a piece of root of any kind 

 that can be easily obtained, and the grafted root 

 then kept in a frame or under a glass for a week or 

 two to check evaporation till the union has been 

 accomplished. By one or another of these three 

 modes all clematises are raised. — Ed. G. M. 



Hollies and their Berries. — "S. M. C," 

 Olney, 111., writes: "Growing on my lawn are 

 three American Hollies, one of which is fifteen 

 feet high, also half a dozen Ilex verticillata ; all 

 of which bloom annually, the blossoms drop, and 

 no berries are produced. I have also a large bush 

 of Rosa rugosa that blooms well, followed by green 

 tips, which soon drop, not one of which has ever 

 come to maturity. Can you suggest the cause ? I am 

 much pleased with the " Hibiscus coccineus," 

 which I got some years ago of Woolson & Co. 

 It is hardy here, the thermometer last winter 

 falling to 15O below zero. It begins to bloom 

 the first of August and continues until frost." 



[The American Holly varies very much in its 

 sexual characteristics. Some are wholly male, 

 and others wholly female. Isolated plants of these 

 bear no berries. There are others which have 

 hermaphrodite flowers, but even these seem to 

 have the anthers more highly developed in" some 

 flowers, and the pistil more highly developed in 

 others ; the flowers can therefore be scarcely 

 regarded as truly hermaphrodite. The perfection 

 of these flowers varies in different plants, and 

 hence there are some plants which never have 

 more than a few berries scattered over them, 

 while others are always profusely adorned with 

 berries. Most purchasers take plants young, and 

 hence it is chance whether they get a prolific 

 plant or not. 



The deciduous Holly, Ilex or Prinos verticillatus, 

 so far as our observation goes, is always dioecious, 

 and those who desire to have the benefit of its 

 lovely berries should take care to get a staminate 

 plant with the pistillate ones. — Ed. G. M.] 



