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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



THE CARDINAL FLOWER. 



Clare, Anabel, and little Hugh, 

 Brush from the grass the morning dew. 

 In quest of flowers. With laughter sweet. 

 They press with eager, tireless feet, 

 Down lanes ablaze with Golden Rod, 

 Where white and crimson Thistles nod. 

 Where purple Asters, leaning, look 

 At purple Asters in the brook. 



Tliey gather wreaths of Clematis, 

 And blithely, deeming naught amiss, 

 Where pale pink Roses lately grew, 

 Pluck shining spheres of scarlet hue, 

 And berries like red ivory gleam 

 From stems of glossy Wintergreen. 

 And now their bright, enraptured eyes 

 Are fasteiied on a rarer prize ; 

 Upon a steep bank, just beyond 

 The confines of a marshy pond. 

 In lonely grandeur brave and tall, 

 There flames a scarlet Cardinal. 



They pick their way among the rocks, 

 Their pains the radiant vision mocks. 

 All reaching is in vain, and they. 

 With backward glances, turn away, 

 Till, flushed and weary with their toils. 

 And laden with the brilliant spoils, 

 That, wilting now within their arms. 

 Are losing fast their early charms, 

 They rest beside the roadside brook. 

 With half a disappointed look. 



Ah, Clare and Anabel and Hugh, 



Not if you search the meadows through. 



And gather more than you can hold 



Of autumn's purple, red, and gold, 



Will you find aught so fair to each. 



As that one flower you could not reach ! 



Congregationalist. 



COVERING STRAWBERRY BEDS. 

 The Germantown Telegraph says : 

 " Often there is much said, and especi- 

 ally at this season of the year, about cover- 

 ing strawberries ; and many persons are 

 induced by what they read to act so as to 

 heartily regret it when the spring comes 

 round. We have known people to act on 

 this suggestion, and cover their strawberry 

 beds with manure, and find the whole com- 

 pletely rotten in the spring. And yet a 

 little covering with the right kind of 

 material is not a bad thing. If the plants 

 are left entirely unprotected the leaves are 

 browned and often destroyed ; while it 

 must have been noted by every observant 

 gardener that the best fruit comes from 

 plants that have managed to keep their 

 leaves bright and green till their spring 



flowers appear. And this is why a cover- 

 ing of snow the whole winter is so good 

 for the strawberry crop. As we have 

 remarked, when the leaves are browned 

 the crop is small ; but when the snow 

 covers the plants all the winter long, they 

 come out in the spring in the best possible 

 condition. 



*" But we cannot always depend on the 

 snow. It does not always come, or con- 

 tinue in the regular way. So if some light 

 material can be put over the plants, that 

 will not smother and rot them, and yet 

 will be just enough to make a shade from 

 the winter sun and a screen from frosty 

 winds, it will be doing a good turn to the 

 strawberry plant. Manure is bad. There 

 is salt in it, especially when fresh, which 

 is destructive to foliage ; but clean straw, 

 or swamp or marsh hay that is free from 

 weeds, answers the purpose very well. But 

 it must not be put on very thick. The 

 idea is, just enough to make a thin screen, 

 and yet not enough to hold the moisture 

 long. Shade without damp is the idea. 

 Sucli light protection is good for the straw- 

 berry plants." 



The Cardinal Flower. — There is no 

 diflficulty in cultivating the Cardinal 

 Flower {Lobelia Cardinalis). It prefers 

 damp, rich soil, but with a little care it 

 can be grown almost anywhere. The best 

 way is to get a good load of swamp dirt, 

 which is mainly leaf mould, and make a 

 bed in a shady or half-shady position. Of 

 course the plants will do better if they 

 can be removed from their native place 

 with care, retaining a good quantity of 

 soil with the roots, and be speedily re- 

 planted ; but we have taken them up with 

 but little soil, kept them several days, 

 carried them a hundred miles, and planted 

 them in conditions not particularly favor- 

 able with very good results. Among the 

 many too much neglected native wild 

 flowers there are none whose form and 

 color better challenge our admiration ; 

 and when we know with what ease they 

 are started, and that, being perennial, 

 they continue from year to year to repay 

 the attention once bestowed, we wonder 

 they are not more frequently seen in our 

 gardens. 



PRINTED AT THE STEAM PRESS ESTABLISHMENT OF COPP, CLARK * CO., COLBOfiNE STREET, TORONTO. 



