THE CANADIAN H0RTICULTURI8T. 



COLEUS FIREBRAND AND GOLDEN 

 BEDDER. 



Mr. N. Robertson, Superintendent 

 of the Government grounds at Ottawa, 

 writes to the Floral Cabinet that Col- 

 eus Firebrand is a grand object ; under 

 glass it assumes a brilliant fiery appear- 

 ance, and that in the open ground, 

 though the sun destroys this delicate 

 color, it yet is superior as a dark bed 

 der over any other he has tried, Jind is 

 a fine addition to our bedding plants. 

 Golden Bedder under glass seems to 

 him to have no particular attraction, 

 being of a greenish white, but when 

 bedded out the sun changes this to a 

 bright golden yellow that in the dis- 

 tance is most attractive and pleasing 

 and makes a splendid contrast with the 

 other, either planted alternately or in 

 lines. Mr. Robinson remarks that 

 Golden Bedder with him is much 

 dwarfed in outside planting and requires 

 to be kept on the front line. 



QUESTION DRAWER. 



What variety besides Concord would 

 you recommend for our climate and 

 soil 1 The latter is a light, gravelly 

 ridge, Iving between Blenheim and 

 Buckhorn. R. B. B. 



Reply. — If wanted for your own 

 table, you will find the Jessica a most 

 delicious white grape ; the Brighton an 

 excellent red, and the Wilder a mag- 

 nificient black variety. 



WORMS ON grapl: \i:si^. 



Dear Sik, — I send for your investi- 

 gation and opinion in regard to what 

 these small worms are on this grape 

 vine. This is one I was transplanting 

 this fall. Please let us know through 

 the Canadian Horticulturist. 

 Yours truly, 



W. C. Webster. 



Reply. — We received with the above 

 a piece of a rooted cutting that was 

 quite dry, and could find no worms, or 

 appearance of worms, on it. They must 

 have left the vine during its transit in 

 the mail bajrs. 



WHAT THE PEOPLE SAY. 



NUTS. 



p. E. BUC'KE, OTTAWA, 



Although in Canada we have a 

 variety of nut-bearing trees growing 

 wild in our woods, it cannot be said 

 that any of the nuts produced on them 

 are to be compared with the English 

 or Spanish walnuts, the Barcelonas, 

 Filberts, or sweet chestnuts of the Old 

 World ; and after all, this state of 

 thiugs is reasonable enough. We do 

 not go to the woods to find snow apples 

 or Smith's improved gooseberries. In 

 the forests are found the original types 

 of cultivated fruits only ; it is left to 

 man to improve on nature. Some- 

 times, however, we have been able to 

 adopt the improved forms of plants 

 that a long course of civilization has 

 produced, but the attempts at growing 

 the walnut, filbert and chestnuts im- 

 ported from England to Canada have 

 met with but little success. In Ottawa 

 the cold of winter is entirely too severe 

 for any of the above to flourish. The 

 filbert has dragged out a miserable ex- 

 istence from year to year, but the cat- 

 kins which form in the autumn do 

 not pass sufficiently safe through the 

 winter to shed their pollen in spring, 

 or else the female flower buds are de- 

 stroyed by the severity of the cold. 

 Whichever is the case, certain it is that 

 when the time for nuts is at hand the 

 trees are found to have produced 

 ** nothing but leaves." There is little 

 doubt, however, but the hazel, which is 

 wild over a large portion of the Domin- 

 ion, might be hybridized by pollen 



