Editors' Letter- Box. 6i 



O. L. M. — Pasonies may be propagated by root-cuttings, by seed, or by divis- 

 ion. The rarer kinds of tree-paeonies are often budded on the more common. 



Inquirer. — Save aster-seed from the best flowers, but only take the seed 

 from the circumference of the flower: the centre-flowerets seldom give good 

 seed. Let it ripen on the plant. 



Idem. — You will find in our pages, during the past year, several articles on 

 the diff"erence between perlargonium and geranium. 



Almost all the plants known in greenhouses 2ls, geranituus t^xq pelargotiiunis. 

 Our wild geranium is not a pelargonium. 



The difference is botanical. While we believe in calling things by their 

 proper names, we fear pelargonium will never be commonly used. 



Idem. — Stove-plants are such as require more heat than is ordinarily 

 afforded by a greenhouse. 



Many stove-plants, however, will grow at a much lower temperature ; and 

 there is no fixed line of demarcation between the two houses or classes of plants. 

 In general, however, the lowest temperature of a greenhouse should not be be- 

 low tbrty degrees ; while, for a stove, the thermometer should never be below 

 fifty to sixty degrees. 



A chill often injures stove-plants as much as a frost. 



G. W. I., Cumberland, Marion County, Ind. — - The plant sent is Tradescantia 

 Virginica, or spiderwort. 



Idem. — Names of Ferns and Plants. The ferns are not in spore, and 

 it is impossible to identify the species. No. ii is Trilliuin erecttiinj No. 

 lo, Adiantum pedatuni ; No. 9, Osmiinda regalis j No. 7, Dicksonia piinctilo- 

 bula J No. 2 is an Aspleniuin ; Nos. 3 and 4 are Aspldlunis. 



Puzzle. — The botanical name of the syringa is PJiiladelphus. Svrhiga is 

 the botanical name of the lilac. Rather confusing, we admit, but easily under- 

 stood. 



Mr. Tiltox, — I have allowed the one hundred plants of the President 

 Wilder Strawberry, received from you for p'opagation last fall, to bear a small 

 crop this year ; and I find, that, in size and quality, the berries are equal to those 

 we saw on Mr. Wilder's vines last season, as you will see from the basket I 

 send you to-day. The plants were set out the 2\st of September, have not 

 received extraordinary cultivation, and have been encouraged to make all the 

 runners possible. A row of fifty Triomphe de Gands, set alongside the Wilders 

 at the same time, and cultivated in the same manner, have borne only a small 

 crop of medium-sized berries. Yours truly, J. M. M., Ju7i. 



W.\LPOLE, Mass., June 30, 1869. 



