AMERICAN iNSTITUTE. 83 



vessel of a nelumbium, from China. It contains twenty-eight seeds, re- 

 sembling in size and figure acorns without their cups, each seed in a cell, 

 very hard. Mr. Paine observed that it was not easy to break one of them 

 with a hammer. The great leaves of this water lilly fold up at night, and 

 unfold at sunrise. The seed contains the leaves of a new plant, perfect, 

 and of a beautiful green. Some' fanciful myths are attached by the Orien- 

 talists to this noble lotus. 



R. Gr. Pardee distributed among the members some seeds of the highly 

 improved hollyhocks. 



H. Meigs said that he had obtained some from London several years ago, 

 which were of all tints from white to black (as called), many pctaled, — 

 out-rivalled dahlias, which were alternated with them. The varied splendor 

 of the colors attracted great numbers of butterflies. It was their third 

 year from seed. 



R. G. Pardee, an amateur culturist of flowers and fruits, said : The first 

 requisite in raising flowers is drainage. Every little garden needs an un- 

 der-drain. The soil must be deeply tilled, and at least 25 per cent of the 

 earth should be pulverized as fine as flour. For manure, never use any- 

 thing but compost. In the city, fanjilies may get an excellent compost 

 from the street. Such as the street sweepers usually gather is about half 

 sand or loam and the balance droppings of live stock and other good fer- 

 tilizing substances, containing woody fiber and some lime and free potash. 

 People should strive to grow a few good plants rather than a variety, and 

 there are many of the old sorts that are quite as good for ordinary cultiva- 

 tion as the newer ones. If a family have but a single plant, and that is well 

 cultivated, and the selection good, it will always be very attractive, and 

 generally give better satisfaction than a great variety. It would be hardly 

 worth while for any private family to grow one-half of the two hundred 

 sorts of Dahlias. Of roses, I have named a small variety with which I 

 would be contented, out of the very large list given by florists ; and what 

 we want of Dahlias is, one or more that is good, rather than a great assort- 

 ment, for many of them are not worth cultivating in our common gardens. 

 Chrysanthemums are a most excellent plant ; they are so hardy and easily 

 propagated. Verbenas should have a place in all gardens, great or small, 

 and you can get new varieties from seed of your own plants. Perhaps no 

 plant in England at the present time is attracting more attention than the 

 Hollyhock. The fine double ones are very beautiful. I hold in my hand 

 a catalogue of over 900 flowers, yet I would not care to cultivate more than 

 a dozen sorts. It is a little hard to keep sorts perfect. German Asters 

 are very apt to produce single flowers from the seed. The only course is 

 to watch the flowering, and pull up every one that shows a single flower. 

 The same fact is applicable to many other sorts. None but the best Pinks 

 and Carnations should be allowed to grow. Some of the Carnations have 

 been dwarfed to get rid of the long stem. One of the best climbers is the 

 Cobea Scandens. It grows rapid and the flowers are very fine. In plant- 

 ing flower seed, you will find great advantage in scalding some of them. 



