220 gardenijh^g for pleasure. 



things wanted in a Rose, fragrance, hardinecs, and eyer- 

 blooming, and the price but fifty cents apiece. He had 

 got them, he said, from the boss, and was selling them on 

 a commission. The poor darkey was only an innocent 

 agent. He no doubt believed he was selling Rose bushes, 

 but the boss, whoever he might be, undoubtedly knew 

 better, for the plants were not Roses at all, but the com- 

 mon Cat Brier (Smilax sarsaparilla), one of the worst 

 pests of our hedgerows, but the plant of which is near 

 enough in appearance to a Rose to deceive the ordinary 

 city merchant. 



That same season at every prominent street corner 

 could be seen the venders of the ** Alligator Plant,'* 

 which some enterprising genius cut by the wagon load 

 from the Jersey swamps, and dealt them out to those 

 who retailed them on the street. 



The " Alligator Plant" was sold in lengths of twelve 

 to twenty inches, at from twenty-five to fifty cents apiece, 

 according to its straightness and length ; and by the 

 number engaged in the business, hundreds of dollars* 

 worth must have been sold. The " Alligator Plant " is 

 the rough, triangular branches of the Sweet Gum Tree 

 {Liquidamhar styraciflua), common in most parts of the 

 country. There is no doubt whatever that these pieces 

 of stick have been planted by thousands during the last 

 six years in the gardens in and around New York, with 

 about as much chance of their growing as the fence 

 pickets or paving stones. 



The bulb peddlers, a class of itinerant swindlers, de- 

 serve brief attention. They have always some wonderful 

 novelty in bulbs ; and their mode of operating, to the 

 uninitiated, has a semblance of fairness, as they are lib- 

 eral fellows, and frankly offer to take one-half cash on 

 delivery, and if the goods do not come up to the repre- 

 sentation, the other half need not be paid. For example, 

 when the Gold-banded Japan Lily was first introduced. 



