THE OA.NADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



MY TREASURES. 



Homely and liumblo, these my oottage rooms ; 



No fine upholstery or gilded walls, 

 No woven threads from Persia's costly looms, 



No fair, arched entrance into stately halls : 



No marble Clytie, with its frozen veins, 

 All bloodless, wandering over snowy breast ; 



But, one sweet Cupid, touched with richer stains 

 Of rosy life on lip and cheek and crest ; 



Witli shining curls whose s]3irals catch the glow 

 Of every sunbeam — this my kingly boy. 



And my one; window, wisely made for show 

 Of greenest foliage — tlicsc insure me joy. 



And yet another — look the vista through — 

 See yoiiiliT, with the red upon his cheek. 



And slVc'iiinj; lanj;liter in his eyes of blue. 

 And strtiigtli that dreams no honest effort weak. 



The sturdy keeper of this garnered bliss, 

 Who lives for those he loves, who made this wild 



A garden spot, well paid by wifely kiss, 

 Or the sweet chatter of a happy child. 



He made my cottage window, framed in vines. 

 Where gladness laughs in every lusty leaf, 



Where Fuchsias hang their bells, and Pausies shine 

 Like violet eyes touclied with some tender grief. 



Here blooms the Rose, and there the spicy Pink, 

 Here lifts the Calla, grand and pure and fair. 



And here sit I, to read or work or think. 

 Or twine briglit flowers in baby's golden hair. 



Call me not poor, such treasure-trove is mine ! 



With flowers and fruits in loving likeness blent ; 

 My child, my husband and my household shrine, 



The wealth of boundless love and sweet content. 



Mary A. Dbnison. 

 Vick'x Magazine, February. 



Celery. — The B. N. Y. has tried every 

 kind of celery and it prefers for a late kind 

 the Golden Heartwell. It is a half-dwarf, 

 healthy and hardy. It is a good keeper 

 and the quality is excellent. It gives 

 more tender stalks to a plant than any 

 other variety we know of. 



Mad. Sallekoi Geranium. — This new 

 geranium is a good addition to our varie- 

 gated-leafed kinds. It was sent out by 

 that fertile geranium raiser, Mons. Lem- 

 oine of France. It is a perfect gem for 

 summer bedding, enduring well the bright 

 sun, which cannot be said of any of the 

 other silver-leafed sorts. Growing only 

 about six inches high, and about the same 

 across. As an edge plant, it should be 

 used in the flower garden. Some of the 

 dark, bright-colored leafed alternantheras 

 will make suitable plants for contrasting 

 with the variegated foliage of this gera- 



nium. It has one advantage over all other 

 beautiful-leafed geraniums, being easily 

 propagated from cuttings. — Country Oen- 

 ihman. 



Beech Trees and Beech-nuts. — The 

 Beech is one of the most valuable and cele- 

 brated trees indigenous to the Northern 

 Hemisphere. It is true that the Ameri- 

 can Beech has not been so widely cele- 

 brated in story and song as its European 

 namesake, still, it is in no way inferior, 

 or less worthy of all the praise that has 

 been bestowed in centuries past upon its 

 near relative of the old world. Our Am- 

 erican Beech {Fagots ferruginea), as found 

 in nearly all of our Northern forests, is a 

 noble tree with an exceedingly graceful 

 liabit ; for while the main branches are 

 very strong and sturdy, they are always 

 furnislied with an abundance of small 

 branchlets, tliat give to the tree a graceful 

 outline, no matter liow large or old the 

 specimens may be. The bark of the tree 

 is also somewhat peculiar, it being smooth, 

 with no cracks, fissures, or corrugations, 

 to hold dust or afibrd lodgement for 

 mosses and lichens. The stem of a beech 

 tree is a solid, firm and smooth column, 

 almost as rigid as marble, and far more 

 valuable than stone. This smoothness of 

 bark extends to the minutest twigs, and 

 even the buds in winter ; and the expanded 

 leaves in summer are smooth and glossy. 

 To call the beech a " clean tree " is but 

 faint praise ; for, in addition to its neatness 

 in appearance, it is peculiary free from 

 insect enemies and is seldom injured by 

 these pests. Even the dead-trees are 

 not very attractive to the wood des- 

 troyers of the insect kingdom. The beech 

 is also a very hardy tree, thriving in very 

 cold regions far to the northward, and its 

 flexible and tough branches withstand 

 high winds well, when planted in exposed 

 situations. It will also thrive in very thin 

 soils, rocky or otherwise, the roots keep- 

 ing near the surface, and are so numerous 

 that they will penetrate the smallest inter- 

 stices among the rocks, and seek every 

 spot where nutriment can be found. Any 

 one who has had experience in clearing a 

 beech forest will bear me out in saying 

 that beech roots will fully occupy all the 

 land within their reach. — A. S. Fuller «/- 

 American Agriculturist for March. 



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