I go Editors Letter- Box. 



Brewer, Boston. — Seedling geraniums will not indicate the color of foliage 

 they will retain at maturity until they are of some size. 



The first leaves of plants rarely show the character of the foliage. After 

 your geraniums have eight or ten good leaves, you can rely upon them. 



H. M. Piatt, Gardiner, Me. — The flower you send is Stuartia pentagynia. 

 which is probably the finest summer-blooming shrub we have. Can it be hardy 

 with you ? We did not suppose it would stand the winter so far north, though 

 in Massachusetts it does well. 



It was introduced to notice by Parsons of Flushing, L.I., who, however, has 

 most unaccountably no stock of it, as he replied to correspondents of ours this 

 last spring. Will not some nursery-man get up a stock ? It is a shrul) which 

 should be in every garden ; for, whether in foliage or flower, there are few things 

 that can equal it in beauty. 



Peter Puzzled, Kutsee, lo. — We can hardly turn our Letter-Box into a 

 botanical dictionary for you. Most of the terms whose meaning you inquire, you 

 can find in any dictionary. There is a valuable little work by Rev. J. S. Hens- 

 low, published byGroombridge, London, called " Dictionary of Botanical Terms," 

 which will tell you all you wish. 



We give you, however, the meaning of a few you might not readily find. 



Lasianthus comes from two Greek words, meaning " rough " and " a flower," 

 and means when the pubescence on a flower is like velvet. 



Oxycanthus, from the Greek "sharp" and "a spine," and means having 

 many sharp thorns. 



K pepo is a gourd. 



You confuse "order," "family," "genus," "species," and "variety." 



I. " Order " and " family " are the same. 2. " Genus " is tlie smallest natural 

 race composed of distinct species. 3. " Species " is an assemblage of forms, 

 which (as it is empirically assumed) might have emanated, according to the laws 

 of reproduction, from one or more individuals of a particular form as this was 

 impressed by the Creator when such form was first called into existence. 



" Variety " is an individual possessing a form to a certain degree modified 

 from that which is considered to be most characteristic of the species. 



New Subscriber, Wellington, Md. — Liliutn longiflorjun very frequently 

 has three flowers. Our plant in the July number showed only the common 

 form. 



I see you advertise seed from the President Wilder Strawberry for sale. 

 Will you please send me a package, and say when will be the proper time to 

 plant it ? 



Thanks for your early reply to my former question : it has proved perfectly 

 satisfactory. G. M. 



Strawberry-seed may be sown as soon as it is cleared from the fruit. A part 

 will germinate in about two weeks. These young plants should be protected by 



