SPRAGUEA, Nat. Orel. Portulacacea:. 



The Spraguea umhellata is a really pretty plant, and as curious as it is beautiful. The 

 leaves are rounded, somewhat succulent, and arranged in a crown-like cluster, as shown in the 

 engraving. The flowers form dense umbels, on leafless flower stems, six 

 inches or more in length. The blossoms are pink, and though not an 

 everlasting flower, with a very little drying 

 will equal the best for winter use. The 

 Spraguea is a native of California, but we 

 .-aw it there only in one place, within reach 

 of the spray of the Nevada Falls, and there 

 it grew most luxuriously, and when we 

 informed the ladies that these flowers were 

 everlastings and would keep for years, every one appropriated a good bunch as a memento of the 

 Yosemite and Nevada Falls. Sow the seed under glass or in a sheltered bed in the garden. 



STOCK, TEN -"WEEKS, (Mathiola annua,) Nat. Ord. Crudferce. 

 The Ten-Weeks or Annual Stock presents nearly or quite all the requisites of a perfect flow- 

 ering plant good habit, fine foliage, beautiful flowers of almost every delicate and desirable tint, 

 delightful fragrance, early flowering, and 

 abundance of blossoms. Although not a 

 constant bloomer like Phlox, Petunia, etc., 

 the flowers endure for a long time, and the 

 side shoots give a succession of flowers 

 under favorable circumstances for months. 

 Indeed, the growth and flowering seems 

 almost perpetual, where the plant can ob- 

 tain a needed supply of moisture. Cool, 



dewy nights and moist days are the delight of the stock. The 

 best seeds of this flower are grown by German florists, in pots, on 

 stages, in open houses, the 

 object being to protect the 

 plants from rains and dews, 

 and severe winds. The double 

 flowers give no seeds, but by 

 crowding several plants into 

 small pots, thus starving them, 

 and by other operations known 

 to skillful flower seed growers, 

 seeds are produced that will 

 grow plants with double flow- 

 ers. Three - fourths of the 



plants raised from the best seeds will usually produce 

 double blossoms. Seeds may be sown in the open ground, 

 or in the hot-bed or cold-frame ; but if transplanted, let this be done when the plants are 

 quite small, just out of the seed-leaf. They should be removed from the seed-bed before they 

 become " drawn," or slender, or the flowers will be poor. Make the soil deep and rich. Set 

 the plants about twelve inches apart. If the plants that are not too far advanced are taken 

 up carefully in the autumn, and potted, they will flower elegantly in the house in the winter. 

 It is a good plan to sow a few late in the season for this purpose. After growing in the house 

 they can be put out in the ground, and will generally flower well the second season. 



