Notes and Gleanings. 235 



Of course, you will take off the pods as they become ready for the table, and so 

 3'our bedder will be useful as well as beautiful. The color, as every one knows, 

 is a peculiarly cool brick-red, unapproachable, in my opinion, by that of any 

 known bedder. Combined with blue salvia behind it, and Centaurea, or Mrs. 

 Holford verbena, in front, the effect is magnificent. If you object to Salvia 

 patens from the uncertainty of its bloom, try a border composed of the follow- 

 ing materials: First ro\w, Lobelia speciosa; second row, scarlet-runners; third 

 row, Calceolaria aiiiplexicanlis. Though professional chromatists may be hor- 

 rified with the combination, I venture to say that your border will be the admi- 

 ration of the neighborhood. 



Another annual which I never omit to use as a bedder is Saponaria Cala- 

 brica. As a border close to grass, it is, I think, unequalled for beauty, and dura- 

 tion of bloom ; and, when thus used, it saves the labor of trimming the verges of 

 shrubberies on the lawn. It contrasts admirably with Calceolaria aurea flori- 

 bunda, and I have seen it used with excellent effect to fill a small bed on a lawn. 

 It should be sown thickly, and should not be thinned out too much. — F., West- 

 moreland. 



LiBOCEDRUS DECURRENS. — In reference to the propagation of this fine 

 hardy tree by cuttings, which is well known to be a difificult process, a corre- 

 spondent of " The Gardener's Chronicle " observes, " I have rooted upwards 

 of a hundred : but I consider it a ' slow coach ; ' and, by grafting it upon Biota 

 orientalis or Chinese arborvitas, I have plants in one-third of the time. I have 

 had cuttings in the propagating-bed for upwards of a year, and with a callus 

 as large as a hen's egg before rooting." This is the tree commonly called Thuja 

 gigantea in gardens ; a name which really belongs to the plant known as Thuja 

 Lobbii. 



To form alum crystallizations over fresh flowers, make baskets of pliable 

 copper-wire, directs " The American Journal of Pharmacy," and wrap them with 

 gauze. Into these tie to the bottom violets, ferns, pelargonium-leaves, chrysan- 

 themums, — in fact, any flowers except full-blown roses, — and sink them in a 

 solution of alum, of a pound to the gallon of water, after the solution has cooled, 

 as the colors will then be preserved in their original beauty, and the crystallized 

 alum will hold faster than when from a hot solution. When you have a light 

 covering of distinct crystals that cover completely the articles, remove carefully, 

 and allow them to drain for twelve hours. These baskets make a beautiful par- 

 lor ornament, and for a long time preserve the freshness of the flowers. 



ROBINIA Pseud- Acacia fastigiata. — M. Carriere states, in " Revue Hor- 

 ticole," that while, if a cutting or a graft of this variety be taken from the upper 

 portion of the tree, the fastigiate habit will be reproduced, and the branches 

 will be furrowed, and covered with short prickles, yet if the plant be multiplied 

 by detaching portions of the root, then, instead of a pyramidal tree with erect 

 branches, a spreading bushy shrub is produced, with more or less horizontal 

 cylindrical branches destitute of prickles. 



