of Rural Art and Taste. 



155 



impossible to conceive anything more novel 

 and charming than a free-growing Spruce, 

 with young shoots almost as white as the Acer 

 Negundo variegata. It seems to have no ten- 

 dency to reversion. The whole stock of 

 grafted plants is perfectly true to the original." 



Again, in the Gardeiiers'' Chronicle^ Mr. 

 Fish says : " xVt the head of them (the varie- 

 gated or colored trees), in value as a pictorial 

 tree, I would place the Abies Douglasii Stairii, 

 a perfectly hardy, free-growing Spruce, as 

 much so, I believe, as its green parent, and 

 almost wholly silver throughout the spring and 

 summer months. Fancy a white Spruce in 

 landscape scenery. In this tree, contrasted 

 with others, we virtually have it. It is the 

 very tree that has long been wanted to lighten 

 up the too sombre colors of Fir woods and 

 even Pinetums." 



l*i'itchardia Granditt. — A strikingly 

 handsome Palm, with this name, has been in- 

 troduced by Wm. Bull, into England, from 

 the South Sea Islands. Its height is about 

 three feet. The stock appears to be some- 

 what angular, and is surrounded with a fibrous 

 net-work. The leaves are about two feet in 

 length. The color is dark shining-green 

 above, paler beneath, and the surface is 

 quite destitute of pubescense. The leaves 

 are originally flat, but become convex as they 

 grow older. They remind one of a large 

 palm-leaved fan, with ends drooping. Al- 

 though its name has been given only tempora- 

 rily by Mr. Bull, and it is not considered 

 permanent, yet it is considered, by The Gar- 

 doier^s Chronicle, a plant so fine for orna- 

 mental purposes that few can surpass it. The 

 sketch which we have seen of it is most grace- 

 ful and attractive. 



Flotver Garlands.— Y lowers are an es- 

 sential part of a bridal array in all countries, 

 and it would be difficult to name the nation 

 where they are most lavishly used. All Eu- 

 ropean nations are profuse in their use on every 

 possible public occasion and family meeting. 



The flowers selected for bridal purposes 

 vary with the tastes of the diff"ercnt citizens. 



In Normandy, roses are the bridal flower. 

 When a man has little or no dowry to give 

 his daughter, it is a saying there that he will 

 give her a chaplet of roses. In Italy, the 

 jasmine is the rose selected. In Grermany, 

 the myrtle wreath prevails, as in the classic 

 days of Greece and Rome. 



It is a frequent practice, says the Argosy, 

 for a young girl to plant myrtle, and to watch 

 and tend it till the time arrives when she re- 

 quires the delicate blossoms for her bridal 

 wreath. Should she die unmarried, the same 

 myrtle furnishes her coffin. It is considered 

 extremely unlucky to present another with 

 myrtle from a plant dedicated to one alone, 

 either for life or death. 



The myrtle crown of the bride is frequently 

 alluded to by German poets. 



In the northern provinces of Germany, and 

 in Scandinavia, the bridal crowns are com- 

 posed of artificial myrtle, ornamented in a 

 manner more showy than tasteful, with addi- 

 tional flowers in gold and silver. 



These crowns are often a foot or more in 

 height. In the evening the garlands are put 

 up and danced off"; a lively tune strikes up, 

 and the bridesmaids and other girls dance 

 round the bride, who is blindfolded. Sud- 

 denly the music stops, when the bride places 

 the crown on the head of the girl who happens 

 to stand before her at the moment. Of course 

 the maiden thus crowned will be the next to 

 be married. 



A Splendid Si(jht.—\]^on the grounds of 

 John E. Boyd, Ballymacool, in North Ireland, 

 there bloomed the past year a monster Rhodo- 

 dendron {K. lancifolium). It is about sixteen 

 feet high, fifty feet in diameter of branches, and 

 expanded upward of 400 splendid scarlet trus- 

 ses of flowers. Mr. Boyd says the brilliancy 

 of its color, the admirable shape of its blos- 

 soms, and the way in which the foliage falls 

 down about the trusses, so as to set ofi" to the 

 best advantage, render this the most beautiful 

 Rhododendron ever seen in the kingdom. 



Mildew ou, J?ose*r.— Carbolic soap and 

 water is recommended to destroy mildew on 

 roses, to be applied by sprinkling. 



