CAN A 1)1 A N 110 li TICIJI. Til HIST 



10! » 



are you not? And is he not really at'tei- 

 all a real benefactor -opinions may dif 

 fer, we rose lovers don't agree with 

 him, but there seems to be no help for 

 us, th<! business is practised so system- 

 atically and so universally. If you 

 order a Mme. Norman as I did one 

 season from three different firms in 

 Canada and the United States — you 

 will be likely to get, as I got from all 

 three, Coijuette des Blanches. I had 

 already live Coijuettes, but that was of 

 no con.se(juence to the noble army of 

 nurserymen, who, in their wisdom had 

 decided that it was better for me to 

 have another than the frail and lovely 

 Norman. For tiabrielle Luizet I get 

 La France, and would one not lie very 

 unreasonable not to think that quite 

 near enough. For A. K. Williams, 

 Fraticois Michelon, Julius Finger, 

 Countesse de Sereneye, etc. You never 

 are sure what you will get — anything 

 will do for an order for one of these. 

 I must, however, make one notable 

 exception — I have never had a rose un 

 true to name from Ellwanger it Barry, 

 of Rochester, but their prices and the 

 duty and freight make their roses just 



double the price of English roses, while 

 their stock of the new roses is tjuite tbo 

 far behind the times. After years of 

 martyi-dnm I have found relief and 

 satisfaction, and reliability and (cheap- 

 ness in English roses, which, at one 

 shilling (24 cents) each, for large Ijushes 

 (guaranteed true to name), when .several 

 combine an order, supply one with the 

 very choicest stock at nett price of 

 forty three cents per bush. George Paul, 

 of Cheshunt, fferts Co., Wm. Paul, of 

 Waltham Cross, Herts Co., Benjamin 

 Cant, of Colchester, Es.se.\ Co., 

 and Geo. Prince, of Oxford, Oxfoid 

 Co., (who grows exclusively on 

 seedling briar), may be implicitly relied 

 upon. 



In closing T would recommend tho.se 

 who have failed to coax such weaklings 

 into vigor as Louis von Houtte, .Marie 

 Baunian, A. K. Williams, Julius Fin- 

 ger, Francois Michelon, Xavier Olibo, 

 and a host of other beauties, when 

 grown on their own roots, or on the 

 manetti, let me beg them to get the.se 

 from Prince on the seedling briar and 

 await the result without fear of disap- 

 pointment. 



CULTIVATION OF ASTERS. 



BY IIKllMAN.N .SIM.MKRS, TOIIO! 



NEARLY every person is more or 

 less actjuainted with the grow- 

 ing of Asters ; but to give a brief 

 sketch of their general mode of cul- 

 ture is all 1 wish to attempt, hop- 

 ing that the reader may benefit by 

 the advice. In the majority of cases 

 the amateur sows the seed in the 

 open air as soon as the weather is 

 warm enough, but that way is not so 

 sure of obtaining a perfect flower, be- 

 cau.se in many rases the plant has hard- 

 ly time to thoroughly develop before 

 our early frosts come and nip them ofl", 

 also because in sowing in the oj)en air 

 the plants are often not transplanted 



from the place where they have been 

 .sown, and they throw up a small stem, 

 with a small flower. The sower fre- 

 quently blames the seed, when on com- 

 parison with others he finds his flowers 

 .so much smaller. In order to obtain a 

 robust, healthy plant the best mode is 

 to start the seed in the hou.se, con.serva- 

 tory or hotbed. Asters rank aniongst 

 the most beautiful of half-hardy an- 

 nuals, and whether grown in pots for 

 the window, in l^eds as decorative 

 l)lants, in choice soils for the production 

 of exhibition flowers, or in out-of the- 

 way spots, to furnish an aljundance of 

 cut flowers, they are full of beauty and 



