IM 



HENDERSON'S HANDBOOK OF PLANTS. 



inland parts of Jamaica, where the plant is 

 much cultivated. Eton. Monatia-Monadelphta. 

 Nat. Ord. Cucttrbitac(a>. 



S edule, the type of this genus, is an annual a 

 native of the West Indies, where it is extensively 

 grown for its fruit, which is considered extreme- 

 ly wholesome, and commonly used as an article 

 of food by all classes. The plant is climbing 

 supporting itself by tendrils. The fruit is about 

 four inches long, nnd in substance between 

 succulent and fleshy, and is exceedingly nutri- 

 tious. Besides its utility as food for man, it is 

 much used for fattening animals. The roots are 

 large, and in substance resemble the Yam. They 

 are also used as an article of food. 



Sedum. Stonecrop. From sedere, to sit; the plants 

 are found growing upon stones, rocks, walls, and 

 roofs of houses. Linn. Decandria-Pentagynia. 

 Nat. Ord. Crassulacece. 



A very extensive genus of succulent annual, 

 hardy herbaceous perennial, and evergreen 

 plants, common to almost every country and 

 climate. The hardy species of this genus are 

 well adapted for ornamenting rock-work. Some 

 of the species are remarkable for their varie- 

 gated foliage, of which S. Sieboldii variejatum is 

 one of the prettiest. It grows about one foot 

 high, the leaves being blotched with yellow. It 

 is hardy. It is a variety of S. Sieboldii, a native 

 of Japan. There are a number of beautiful spe- 

 cies indigenous to this country. All the spe- 

 cies are of the easiest culture, and may be grown 

 from cuttings put in the place where they are 

 to grow, or by division. Nearly all the species 

 are worthy of a place in the garden. S. Tele- 

 phium is the common Live-forever of our gar- 

 dens, a native of Europe, but has escaped from 

 cultivation, and become naturalized in many 

 localities. Most of the species are, from their 

 succulent character, and resisting drought, well 

 adapted for vases, or for covering rough walls 

 or rocks. S. acre, a beautiful yellow flowered 

 variety, is a well-known type of the genus, and 

 its variety, S. acre variegalum, is even more beau- 

 tiful. S. nlbida has beautiful white flowers early 

 in spring. Propagated by cuttings or division. 



Seeds. Geographical distribution of the localities 

 where iliey are grown in the United Stales. The 

 subjoined article from the Report of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington for 

 1878 was written by us in that year, and we be- 

 lieve it will be found to be of sufficient interest 

 and importance to warrant a place here. It is 

 entitled, "IswWes Best Suited for Maturing Seed," 

 and is as follows: 



Seed-growing is now getting to be one of 

 the industries of the United States, as it has 

 long been of Europe. Our great variety of lati- 

 tude, soil, and climate is such that in many 

 things we are now supplying Europe with that 

 which a few years ago we imported; and I think 

 it is safe to predict that in a majority of the 

 seeds of the garden the balance of trade will 

 ultimately be in our favor, as it is now with a 

 majority of the seeds of the farm. I say a ma- 

 jority, for as seed-growing is a matter of lati- 

 tude, there always will be some kinds that will 

 attain perfection better in Europe than America, 

 particularly such seeds as require a low tem- 

 perature for perfect development. Hence, when- 

 ever a full variety of seeds is attempted to be 

 grown in any one district, either here or in Eu- 

 rope, some crops will be a complete failure and 

 many partially so, for we might as well attempt 

 to "acclimatize "the white bear of Iceland to the 



SEE 



jungles of Africa, or the Bengal tiger to the for- 

 ests of Norway, as to perfectly develop the seeds 

 of Oats in our Southern States, or the seed of 

 Maize in Northern Europe. Still, we find these 

 attempts are made, and will be made by inex- 

 perienced cultivators of seeds, resulting not 

 only in ultimate failure to the grower, but also 

 seriously injuring those to whom such unde- 

 veloped seeds are sold. When seeds are grown 

 in a latitude unsuited to their development, 

 they will invariably perpetuate weak progeny. 

 A marked case in point is the Oat, a grain re- 

 quiring a low temperature for perfect develop- 

 ment; hence the superiority of the Scotch or 

 Irish Oats over those grown in the hot and dry 

 summers of the United States. The average 

 weight per bushel of Scotch Oats may be given 

 as forty-four pounds, while the average of Oats 

 grown in the United States is about thirty-two 

 pounds per bushel; yet we find that Scotch Oats 

 weighing forty-four pounds per bushel, when 

 sown in the Middle States under favorable 

 conditions, deteriorate to forty pounds per 

 bushel during the first season from the imported 

 seed; that product being again sown, they still 

 further deteriorate to thirty-five or thirty-six 

 pounds per bushel, which again being sown the 

 third year, falls down to the normal condition 

 of the American Oats, say thirty or thirty-two 

 pounds per bushel. These facts suggest the 

 query whether it would not pay our farmers io 

 import their seed Oats in order to get this im- 

 proved quality. In my opinion there is no other 

 way to do it; for no matter how carefully the 

 selection of seeds is made, deterioration will 

 take place when the crop is grown under cir- 

 cumstances uncongenial to it. A lifetime spent 

 in' the practical study of horticulture, which is 

 close akin to agriculture, has forced me to the 

 conclusion that there is no such thing as accli- 

 matization of plants. The Maize of the Ameri- 

 can continent resists all attempts to bring the 

 crop to full maturity in the climate of Great 

 Britain, while the Oat (Avena saliva) gives com- 

 paratively abortive results when grown in our 

 semi-tropical summers. Hundreds of instances 

 in families of plants grown for their fruits, flow- 

 ers, or seeds, could be given to show that, when- 

 ever any attempt is made to change character- 

 istics incident to their natural origin, no per- 

 ceptible advance is ever made. We all know 

 that in attempts to acclimatize the Fig, the 

 Olive, and the Orange tree in the open air in 

 any locality where the thermometer falls below 

 zero, the complete destruction of the trees would 

 be the result, unless artificially protected. This 

 result is marked and complete, and is univer- 

 sally known, even to such as have not made 

 these matters a special study. But every culti- 

 vator of large experience knows that the eame 

 rule runs through all grades of vegetation, and 

 that the hardening or acclimatizing of plants has 

 not advanced, as far as the records go. We re- 

 member when the Chinese Wistaria was grown 

 only in our green-houses; now it is seen every- 

 where as a hardy vine ; but it was in ignorance 

 of its hardy nature that it was ever protected, 

 for it was equally as " hardy " the day of its first 

 introduction as it is to-day. The garden and 

 farm seeds in general use in the United States, 

 I have said, are mainly grown here, though some 

 are better grown in other countries. I will 

 briefly state the localities so far found to be best 

 suited to the greatest development of the differ- 

 ent kinds, and the sources from which seedsmen 



