226 Double Pyrethrums. 



blue ; others used blue muslin for a shade, and had so done for several 

 years. At home I have a house one hundred and twenty-five feet long, 

 and twenty-four feet wide, used for growing geraniums for bedding pur- 

 poses ; every year they lost color about the end of April. The glass 

 used is ten by twelve. This season I gave a coating of Prussian blue 

 paint, six inches wide up the centre of each row of panes ; the result 

 was electric, and they assumed their beautiful green color in a few days, 

 and the trusses of bloom came to their full maturity. That house is now 

 filled with grape vines in pots ; they look vigorous, full of fine foliage, 

 and there is not a burnt spot on them — there is no border tinder them. 

 These hints are merely thrown out before your many readers, and will, 

 in part, answer the many letters that I have received on the subject, even 

 to the shade of glass for several departments of a hospital. I omitted 

 to observe that I saw several glass structures with their interiors painted 

 blue, and certainly it was a very agreeable and refreshing color to 

 the eye. 



On this subject there is no axe grinding with us ; every man can try it 

 at a cost of from one dollar to any other amount. With your permis- 

 sion I will again trouble you on this subject. 



ROSEDALE, July, 187I. 



DOUBLE PYRETHRUMS. 



By John C. Hovey, Cambridge, Mass. 



One of the most gratifying results which have been obtained by arti- 

 ficial hybridization is the production of Double Pyrethrums. 



The first double, or approach to that, was raised by a French cultiva- 

 tor about the year 1856, from Pyrethrum roseum, a species much 

 resembling our common white weed {Leucanthe?mim vulgare)^ but 

 hardly as showy. Since then improvements have been progressing 

 rapidly, and now many of the varieties nearly equal in form and bril- 

 liancy of color the best chrysanthemums and French asters. The 

 colors are crimson, carmine, rose, and pure white. They grow from 

 one to two feet in height, and flower during the months of May and 

 June, thriving well in most any soil or situation not too dry. They are 

 also perfectly hardy, and easily raised from seed. Under ordinary 

 treatment they flower the second year from the time of planting, but if 

 started early in the green-house or frame, will generally bloom the same 

 season. 



