6 Retrospective View of the 



last year, and much attention has been given to the increase 

 of the stock. In Philadelphia, there is an immense number 

 of plants, and the low prices at which they are sold, is a 

 great inducement to buy. In the Southern States, the Ca- 

 mellia is quite hardy, and we can conceive of no more 

 splendid addition to the garden than this plant. Some new 

 seedlings of merit have been produced in Baltimore and 

 Washington. On our late visit to Philadelphia, we found 

 that the old system of inarching is again resorted to by 

 some of the cultivators, who formerly propagated principally 

 by grafting. 



The Rose Fancy is rapidly extending ; the great beauty of 

 the new kinds, particularly the Bourbons and Hybrid per- 

 petuals, has created a great demand for the plants. Hardy 

 as both of these classes are, they are well adapted to every 

 garden, and, when judiciously pruned, produce their flowers 

 until late in autumn. The La Reine, Cloth of Gold, Ophirie, 

 Comtesse Duchatel, Souvenir de la Mahnaison, Persian Yel- 

 low, and several other new ones, are exquisite varieties, fully 

 equalling the reputation which preceded their introduction. 

 Some fine acquisitions have been made to the mosses, by 

 hybridization with the Bourbons, and LafFay's Princesse Ade- 

 laide produces its superb pale rosy flowers in clusters like 

 Madame Desprez. Two true perpetual mosses have been 

 produced, and we may reasonably anticipate, in a few years, 

 large additions to this desirable section. With the exception 

 of the Prairie rose, our cultivators have done but little to- 

 wards producing new varieties ; but the splendor of the roses 

 of this truly American family, shows that we have only to 

 make the trial to produce those which will equal any of the 

 foreign varieties. The individual, as well as combined 

 beauty of the Prairie roses, must for a long time place them 

 preeminent among all other climbing sorts. 



The bulbous tribe of Gladioli is now receiving much atten- 

 tion abroad, and many new and beautiful kinds have been 

 raised by the Belgian cultivators and florists. Insignis, gan- 

 davensis, ramosus, dueen Victoria, and some others, have 

 already flowered in our collections, and they may well claim 

 a high rank in every collection of plants. Perfectly easy of 

 cultivation, they will take the place of some of the amaryllises 



