5^^ 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



ties, says the writer above quoted, we unite 

 in awarding the blue ribbon to the Paper 

 White narcissus. We started in by pur- 

 chasing a dozen Paper Whites, but before 

 the winter was over we had planted nearly 

 two hundred of them, and there was hardly 

 a day from October first until the crocus 

 blossoms outdoors had hailed the advent of 

 spring when we did not have a pot of these 

 flowers in bloom. The last were not even 

 planted until the middle of February, but the 

 flowers were nearly as fine as those grown 

 months before. The Paper Whites possess 

 nearly every quality that makes a bulb de- 

 sirable, as they are cheap, grow rapidly, are 

 sure bloomers, the foliage remains green 

 and attractive long after the blossoms are 



gone, and the fragrance, grace and beauty 

 of the flowers themselves are unexcelled. 

 We consider them superior even to the fa- 

 vorite Chinese lily, is the flowers last longer 

 and the fragrance is much more delicate. 

 We discovered a novel and very successful 

 method of growing the Paper Whites, a 

 half-dozen or more bulbs being placed on a 

 two-inch layer of sand in a jardiniere or 

 deep lily bowl, and covered nearly, to the 

 tops with sand and gravel, with stones of 

 sufficient size to hold them firmly in place. 

 They were kept in a dark corner of the room 

 for two or three weeks, and in about six 

 weeks the flower-buds, each containing i 

 dozen flowers, were readv to burst. 



THE WITCH HAZEL 



(HAMAMELIS VIRGINICA) 



^HIS peculiar shrub, or small tree, is of 

 the Hamamelaceae family. It differs 

 from hazel-nut, filbert, or cob-nut, which 

 are all of the Corylacese. 



The witch hazel is common in damp 

 woods all over the United States and its pe- 

 culiarity of producing flowers in the au- 

 tumn is the same irrespective of'cHmates. 

 From the shores of Lake Michigan, south, 

 the bushy, many angled little tree will 

 clothe itself in light yellow flowers after the 

 leaves have fallen from all the trees of the 

 forest surrounding it ; and although Gray 

 and Wood are good authorities, in their 

 botanies, that " the witch hazel blooms from 

 November to January," observation has 

 shown the writer that the blooms begin to 

 open in September before the leaves are 

 cast. In October the leaves fall and still 

 more flowers appear, and in Novemb.^r 

 every leaf will have been stripped from he 

 tree and the full flush of blooms will clothe 



the branches from end to end. The flow- 

 ers are perfect, or merely polygamous and 

 in clusters on the curiously and sharply an- 

 gled branches, and the stamens and petals 

 show plainly how they are inserted in the 

 calyx. Now, after November the stamens 

 appear deadened, but the petals retain their 

 golden hue, which is the reason our botan- 

 ists have for saying it blooms till January. 



By a right combination of circumstances 

 the witch hazel in yellow blooms will be 

 covered with sribw and the holly ice, when 

 side by side with it is bright with berries. 

 Until after January the flowers cling to the 

 leafless branches, and then another curious 

 phenomenon appears. At this stage the 

 fruit, or seed, is edible, and hangs on the 

 branches until spring. The little fruit con- 

 sists of an. oblong, woody case, about half 

 an inch in length, inclosing two hard nut- 

 lets somewhat resembling the seeds of an 

 apple. These seeds are expelled with a 



