THE CANADIAN HCitTICCLTURIST. 



27T 



all particularly rich in color. In fact, 

 they are all that the good old German's 

 cubtomers wanted : they are " every- 

 dings " in one rose, and besides are all 

 " moondly,"' " nice gooler ," " fragrant 

 and ever-blooming." — Peter Henderson. 



CAN WE IMPROVE OUR PRESENT 

 VARIETIES OF ROSES. 



K. MITCHELL, IN.NERKIP, O.VT. 



I am at present engaged in an experi- 

 ment which will take me some years 

 yet to fully prove the value of, by which 

 I am in hopes that varieties of Roses 

 and other plants, which we now possess, 

 may be vastly impi'oved. I find that 

 in our Hybrid Perpetual roses, (with 

 their intermixed and diverse ancestry) 

 certain plants will show characteristics 

 varying from the ordinai-y type of the 

 variety to which it belongs. As ex- 

 amjiles, among others in my own gar- 

 den, I may mention the case of a plant 

 of Prince Camille de Rohan, which has 

 for years proved itself a true ever-bloom- 

 ing rose, although this variety is gen- 

 erally known as rather a shy bloomer, 

 except at the ordinary blooming season. 

 Again on the other hand I notice a 

 Marguerite de St. Amande, which year 

 after year ignores the fact that this 

 variety is noted as a prolific autumn 

 bloomer, and has never given me one 

 bloom after the first blooming season is 

 over. I might go on and give many 

 other examples where certain indivi- 

 dual plants have their own marked 

 variations from the ordinary tyjje of the 

 variety, but these are enough to illus- 

 trate the principle upon which my 

 present experiments are based. I have 

 propagated from those plants where I 

 have noted a desirable departure fi'om 

 the original type, and from these I will 

 again select and propagate, until I have 

 fully tested my theory. I would be 

 very glad to hear from anyone who has 

 any knowledge of what it is possible to 

 do in this direction. 



CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS. 



Very pretty decorations can be made 

 for Christmas by using heads of wheat 

 and oats. They can be mixed with ever- 

 greens with good effect. Dried grasses 

 can be made useful in working out some 

 of the smaller designs. Mountain Ash 

 and Bittersweet berries are charming 

 when used in evergreen wreathing:. If 

 they ai-e not to be obtained, the seed 

 clusters of the Sumach make good sub- 

 stitutes. If you have autumn leaves in 

 considerable quantities, they will work 

 in charmingly with whatever may be 

 used as the foundation of your decora- 

 tive work. To use nothing but ever- 

 greens gives the place you use them in 

 a somewhat sombre look, and touches 

 of bright color are needed to produce a 

 more cheerful tone, and one more fittins 

 to the season. If clusters of leaves or 

 berries are placed Avherever festoons of 

 evergreens are fastened against the 

 walls, the general eflect will be vastly 

 more pleasing than it would be if they 

 were not used. 



For the altar nothing is prettier, es- 

 pecially by lamplight, than crystallized 

 grasses used liberally against a back- 

 ground of evergreen. They sparkle like 

 gems, and suggest natural frostwork. A 

 most beautiful effect can be produced by 

 Hiaking the words, " A Merry Christ- 

 mas," with letters formed of these 

 grasses against evergreen. The back- 

 ground can be made on a strip of cloth 

 of whatever width is thought desir- 

 able, covered with ground pine or 

 hemlock. These are better for such 

 pui'poses than ordiiaary pine or cedar. 

 This cloth can be suspended back of 

 the pulpit or stage, and when the light 

 falls on the letters they will seem to be 

 formed from bits of icicles. As the 

 grasses are brittle and easily broken 

 after being crystallized, it is well to 

 make each letter on a foundation of 

 pasteboard and put it in place aiter the 

 evergreen background has been hung 

 up. — Vick's Magazine for December. 



