350 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



sons in each and all of these groups, and no end of 

 favorites. A complete account and history of rose culti- 

 vation, with descriptions of all the varieties, would fur- 

 nish sufficient material for several pood-sized volumes, 



THE NARCISSUS 



Pig. 7. Our Paper-white Narcissus, here shown, is a flower beau- 

 tiful in form and possessed of an unusually rich perfume; it is, 

 with its relatives, related to the daffodils and jonquils.. 



while the entire subject is brimful of interest. In not 

 a few instances, the changes wrought through cultivation 

 are truly remarkable, and often no semblance of the wild 

 flower is to be seen in what some people call the im- 

 proved varieties. Apart from the interest they have 

 for us, such studies and invest^ations are of extreme 

 importance. For the most part, with respect to flowers, 

 the experiments and their results shed a flood of light 

 on the possibilities of evolution in the plant world, and 

 the facts derived may be applied to various other prob- 

 lems. Commercially, too, they have a modicum of value ; 

 for. in the case of roses, we obtain attar or oil of roses 

 from th.n, and the petals of the rose of France give 

 i> a u>uu- and an astringent. So, if in the production of 

 some (,f thex- varieties we produce a rose with a super- 

 abundance of petals, and these carry a large amount of 



the aforesaid constituents, the economic value of the 

 transformed flower is greatly enhanced. 



Although some flowers change enormously under cul- 

 tivation, the most highly cultivated ones never suffi- 

 ciently lose their identity so as to mask their origin. This 

 is seen in the extravagant varieties of pansies that horti- 

 culturists have obtained one can always see the wild 

 species in them. Again, speaking of pansies, it is re- 

 markable to note how promptly some of the escapes 

 from gardens markedly transformed varieties will 

 pass back to the parent stock from whence they came 

 when allowed to run wild in nature. Amateur horticul- 

 turists would do well to make such experiments as these 

 and record the results, as in their course some of the sur- 

 prises carry very good lessons. Then, too, the flores- 

 cence of some of our garden fruits and vegetables offer 

 attractive material for such purposes, as in the case of 



HYACINTHS ARE POPULAR 



Fig. 8. The flowers of this particular specimen were of a deep 

 purple shade ; other varieties are pure white ; while still others 

 arc pink. This cut gives a good idea of the plant, including, as it 

 does, flowers, leaves, bulb, and short, straight, white roots. 



peas, beans, strawberries, and others; bu|t this is a 

 branch of the subject that does not fall within the 

 limits of the present article. Moreover, we have several 



