258 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



fusely studded with flowers. It is, in- 

 ndeed, a valuable plant, and one that 

 could be made to produce a bright effect 

 in a garden if properly placed ; but to 

 obtain the best results from it, it must be 

 seen en masse, say in a bed 6 feet square, 

 and it never looks better than when 

 placed in a retiring nook, not too shaded, 

 on a lawn surrounded by greenery, and 

 rising from a carpet of grass. It is a 

 plant which does best in a moist loamy 

 soil, and yhich well repays good cul- 

 ture. It is a perennial, and quite hardy 

 enough in England to last several sea- 

 sons, and the best plan is to raise seed- 

 lings of it in autumn and plant them out 

 the following spring. — W. G. in The 

 Ga/rden. 



THE EARLY PEACHES. 

 A few years ago we counted up about 

 fifty named varieties of the very early 

 peaches, a considerable number of which 

 claimed to be ealier than all the rest, 

 and all as early as the Amsden. H. M. 

 Engle of Marietta, Pa., wrote to the 

 Gardener's Monthly a year ago, that he 

 had fruited twenty-six varieties of these 

 early peaches and they had borne on 

 his grounds from two to ten years. 

 He regards the method which he adopt- 

 ed as the only true one for testing com- 

 parative earliness, namely, fruiting them 

 on trees of other varieties ripening at 

 the same period. Dates of ripening 

 have been changed every year, and he 

 has given up saying positively which is 

 the earliest, but he is satisfied that the 

 twenty-six sorts tested do not vary 

 three days in maturity. His experi- 

 ence of this year confirms this opinion. 

 In size, appearence and quality, they 

 prove to be so near alike, that he is sure 

 he could select specimens of any which 

 would puzzle good judges. He is still 

 waiting for a freestone to make its ap- 

 pearence as fine and as early as the earli- 

 est. In his statement last year, he nam- 

 ed the following which did not vary 



three days, namely, Amsden, Alexan- 

 der, Wilder, Musser, Bowers' Early, 

 Baker's Early, Alpha, Governor Gar- 

 land, Sherfey's Early, Nectar, Early 

 Oanada, Waterloo, Downing, Saunders, 

 Cu mberland. Honey well. Climax, Briggs' 

 May. The first eleven named have 

 leaves with globose glands, Waterloo 

 has reniform glands, and the six named 

 last are glandless with cut leaves. Mr. 

 Engle finds that comparative earliness 

 varies in different seasons with the same 

 varieties, on the same ground, and in the 

 same trees ; and hence we may conclude 

 that some years will yet be required to 

 place all in their true position for merit 

 and early maturity. — Country Gentle- 

 man. 



HARDY FERNS FOR SHADED 

 GARDEN. 



One frequently hears the remark 

 made that plants do not succeed in cer- 

 tain gardens, but on inquiry it gener- 

 ally turns out that the plants selected 

 have not been suited to the positions 

 they occupy. Although some plants 

 delight in abundant sunlight, others are 

 equally at home in deep shade, and it 

 is only by observation as to what con- 

 ditions are most favorable for certain 

 plants, and selecting them accordingly 

 that success can be achieved. In this 

 locality, wherever the situation is open 

 to sunshine, bright-flowering plants are 

 the favorites, and thus many of our 

 villa gardens are kept gay nearly the 

 whole year round, the latest Chrysan- 

 themums not being long removed before 

 early flowering bulbs and many other 

 plants are in blossom. But all gardens 

 cannot have full south aspects, and it is 

 refreshing on bright summer days to 

 find instead of summer bedding plants 

 gardens in shady places filled with the 

 verdant foliage of hardy Ferns and of 

 other plants that dislike sunshine. 

 When well established it is surprising 

 how effective even the commonest of our 



