i8o 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



hirsute leaved varieties of the true Rex Be- 

 gonia. These varieties propagate from the 

 leaves (or sections of the leaves), similar to 

 the Rex Begonia, and are not as liable to 

 suffer from leaf rot in winter time as the 

 rougher leaved varieties are. The illustra- 

 tions, as shown, give a very true idea of the 

 form and color of these comparatively new 

 varieties of this interesting class of begonias. 

 —Wm. Hunt, O. A. C, Guelph. 



The P^onia belongs to the vast fam- 

 ily or natural order of ranunculacse, 

 among which are found many plants of 

 medicinal value. The paeonia is a hardy, 

 perennial plant, a native of Europe, northern 

 and temperate parts of Asia, northwestern 

 America, China and Japan, so you can see 

 it is an accommodating plant to nearly all 

 tolerably cold climates. The situation should 

 be remembered at the time of planting, for 

 the cooler the situation the better will be the 

 quality of the flowers, and the longer the 

 season of flowering. It is only within the 

 last twenty or thirty years that this now be- 

 coming popular flower has been considered 



of much intrinsic value, excepting as an 

 early, summer-flowering plant for the her- 

 baceous border. 



Fig. 2583. Lady Annesley, 

 (Hybrid Rex). 



OTTAWA CHILDREN'S EXHIBIT. 



FOR a number of years the Ottawa 

 Horticultural Society has consid- 

 ered that some effort should be 

 made to interest the school children of the 

 city in the cultivation of flowers, and instill 

 them with a greater love for nature. Ow- 

 ing, however, to the small government grant 

 which the society receives, nothing has been 

 done up to the present, but this year the 

 children will be given an opportunity to 

 show how well they can grow flowers. 



Mr. R. B. Whyte, late president of the so- 

 ciety, offered at the directors' meeting Sat- 

 urday night to give special prizes to school 

 children for flowers grown from aster seeds, 



which he would provide, if the directors 

 would give space for the exhibits during the 

 September show and provide judges. The 

 directors readily agreed to the plan. 



MR. WHYTE'S plan. 



Mr, Whyte's scheme is to furnish ten chil- 

 dren in each fourth form in the city with 

 three packets of seed, each containing two 

 hundred seeds, one white, the other two 

 mixed of different varieties. The children 

 are to show a certain number of blooms of 

 each variety at the September show. Four 

 prizes are offered for each variety, making 

 twelve prizes in all. The first prize is $2 



