For Februarv, 1Q20 



59 



should be sown preferably during the autumn <jr 

 winter months, so that, vegetating in the earliest days 

 of Spring, there is still a full season ahead for the 

 plants to make good growth. These would be best in 

 a cold frame. Seeds sown in February or later should 

 be given greenhouse treatment, a temperature of 

 about 50° being ample. In either case the seedlings 

 should be potted off singly when large enough to han- 

 dle and grown without a check from the start, so as 

 to be ready for their permanent quarters in the open 

 ground early in May. — Excliaiii^c. 



CULTURAL NOTES ON ANTIRRHINUMS 



'T'HERE are three distinct classes of .\ntirrhinunis : 

 dwarf, medium and tall, ranging in height from six 

 inches to two feet or even more. All are worth growing. 

 They make a fine display among the borders, and the 

 dwarf variet)' furnishes a nice edging plant. In the sow- 

 ing of the seed it is advisable to sow in pans or shallow 

 boxes, with a layer of some rotten manure over the crocks. 

 Sow the seed ven,- thinly and cover with a pane of glass. 

 This tends to keep in evaporation and thus result in a 

 quicker germination. Cover the seed with just enough 

 fine soil to hide the seed, and gently press the surface. 

 Place the pans or boxes in a temperature of 65 degrees 

 to 70 degrees while germinating. Immediately the iilauts 

 are large enough prick oft' into plant boxes, and as 

 growth ensues, gradually harden. Private gardeners. 

 who do not grow for commercial purposes, might shift 

 the plants from the seed pans into shallow boxes. \\'hen 

 thev have shown the third leaf grow them on in three- 

 inch pots, as they make a large plant for the bedding out 

 season, and at the same time ensure a longer blooming 

 period. February is the most important month for sow- 

 ing the seed. No time should be lost m securing a true 

 strain of seed where the aim is to get the best possible 

 results from these flowers. 



In the growing of these plants under glass they require 

 not too rich a compost, but more feeding, according to the 

 length of time space can be afforded to them. Encourage 

 the plants by straight growths, cutting away weak lat- 

 erals. Spraying is necessary to keep down fly, and air- 

 ing must be given freely on favorable occasions or 

 growth will be on the weak side. 



Antirrhinum can also be secured by cuttings, and are 

 easily rooted in sand. This process should be resorted to 

 where special colors are needed, or in the selection of 

 any true variety. Insert short, not long, cuttings as it is 

 easier to keep them up so that they cannot flag. — Cana- 

 dian Florist. 



ARTEMISIA LACTIFLORA 



'T'HIS plant is comparatively new to our gardens, and is 

 one of the many fine things introduced from China 

 by Mr. Wilson. It has proved a great acquisition to 

 the lurbaceous border not only for the beauty of the 

 individual [)lant. hut for the length of time it remains 

 in bloom. From carlv in .August, until the end of Sep- 

 tember, its elegantly cut foliage terminating in li.ght 

 and graceful panicles of creamy white flowers, re- 

 minds of the old Spiraea arunctts. 



I consider it one of the most attractive and desirable 

 plants for the garden when used for grouping, or as 

 "foils" when planting for color effect. 



Planted as a background for Tritoina Pfitzcrii. or 

 late Phlox, Zinnias, etc., the feathery plumes make a 

 fine contrast to the more stiff plants, and tend to main- 



tain the jjroper balance. It grows from 4>4 to 5i4 feet 



high. 



It is easily propagated by divisions which can be 

 done in the Fall or Spring, personally I prefer Spring. 



This plant is presumably hardy, but of course it de- 

 pends to a great extent on the position, and the ex- 

 posure it may be subjected to. It often happens after 

 sudden thaws, when robbed of nature's blanket of 

 snow, the temperature may fall to zero; then if caught 

 without adequate protection, it is often fatal to the 

 green foliage. Therefore, I would advise removal in 

 the fall to sheltered quarters. These little attentions 

 well repay the little trouble taken. When used for 

 cutting it makes a fascinating decoration, especially 

 if used with such subjects as the long spikes of Del- 

 phinium. It is easy of culture doing well in ordinary 

 garden soil. 



AN ARBOREAL SLATTERN 



"W^IU-IX the Park Board forbade the planting of box 

 elders along the streets of this town, (^linne- 

 apolis) they did a good day's work, well seasoned with 

 clear foresight and wise retrospect. The only flaw in the 

 proceedings was the failure to limit the life period of 

 every tree of that variety already on the street. 



The chief charge against this tree weed is that it has 

 no fixed purpose in life, no wholesome pride of per- 

 formance, no sense of its own unworthiness. It is cursed 

 with a boorish forwardness, and a painful lack of that 

 nice sense of dress common to trees of better breeding. 

 A poor tramp among the matrons of the forest, it is 

 endowed with a shocking fecundity and its offspring with 

 a vulgar vitalit}-. 



The pine, now, for instance, is a purposeful dignified 

 and self-respecting tree. Its aim from infancy to age 

 is to build its central shaft. Forgetting the things that 

 are below, it presses upward. Nothing stops its terminal 

 bud in its direct reach for the sky ; and no lower limbs 

 retard the building of the one well determined bole. It 

 is this quality that has made the pine and its kin, the 

 most useful tree on earth. 



The oak aims to endure ; the maple to shape a nable 

 head : but the weak minded, ungainly, sprawling box 

 elder has no connnercial ambitions. It is content to squat 

 and s])rawl. 



The box elder leaf has no outstanding character. ^len 

 do not honor it. But the maple leaf has reached regi- 

 mental honors in the United States Army : and the oak 

 leaf, a commander's order in the Xavy. .\rt loves to 

 twine these two leaves into its best ornamentations. But 

 who ever saw even a Digger Indian adorn himself with 

 the trifling foliage of the box elder? 



.\utumn gets no responsive tint from this tree's fading 

 sunnner skirt. Drab, frayed, flabby, it waves no gay 

 kerchief in farewell to the departing year. Nor does it 

 lay its garments down with a will, as do the linden and 

 the poplar; nor hold grimlv on to them, as does the red 

 oak. 



Half-heartedly it strips itself of a part of its shriveled 

 covering, leaving the raveled rags to flap in the winter 

 wind, like the weather beaten remnants of a cornfield 

 scarecrow. 



Yet this cheap tree |)ers!sts. It rushes in where oak 

 trees fear to root. It immodestly offers to re|)opulate the 

 forests where its betters have been slain for their wealth ; 

 for knowing nothing, it fears nothing. \'erily, in the 

 woods as in the rest of the world, "the poor ye have 

 always with you." — Minneapolis Journal. 



