August 1, 1872. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENEB. 



93 



seed is sown in February and planted out in May, when by 

 autumn the bulbs are fairly formed. It is particularly adapted 



M 



Kohl Rabi, one-eighth cliam. 



lor dry summers, as the hotter and drier the summer, the fruer 

 the bulbs." 



HAKDY GEMS.— No. 2. 



Aquilegia cjeeulea. — Resuming my notes upon a few of the 

 ■choice plants which every amateur and gardener should have 

 an his flower-borders, few finer plants can be recommended for 

 flowering throughout June -and July than this blue Columbine, 

 •which is also known by the name of A. leptoceras. It is a 

 native of the Rocky Mountains, and is undoubtedly one of the 

 very finest species of the genus yet introduced to our gardens. 

 It usually grows about 18 inches high, and the fact of its 

 "having withstood the severity of our' winters for the last three 

 years is sufficient guarantee of its hardiness. The leaves are 

 broad, irregularly lobed, and dark green. The flowers are 

 large, erect; the outer portion, including the five long spurs, 

 rich blue, whilst the petals are white, the whole forming a 

 charming flower, and producing a grand effect in a mixed 

 border ; the only regret being, that as so few amateurs have 

 added this plant to their collections, it is too seldom seen. 



Ieis ibekica. — This is a member of a large family far too 

 much slighted by everyone, for one and all, from the commonest 

 and poorest-flowered kinds up to the very finest, produce a 

 grand effect in the early spring months, whilst the peculiar and 

 beautiful blending of colours displayed by many of the species 

 is truly exquisite. I have not the slightest hesitation in say- 

 ing, that were the particular plant now under consideration but 

 an Orchid, it would command any price its lucky possessor 

 chose to put upon it. In Iris iberica we have a gem for our 

 hardy borders ; it is very dwarf, seldom exceeding 6 inches in 

 height, and it produces immense flowers of the richest hues 

 imaginable. The large inner segments which turn downwards 

 have a ground colour of greenish yellow, the latter prevailing 

 over the former colour to a great extent ; this is again thickly 

 streaked and lined with a network of dark purple veins, the 

 ■centre or disc being of a deep shining black. The outer seg- 

 ments are broad and stand erect like a crown, snow white, 

 saving at the inner base, where they are freckled with a few 

 cherry-red dots. Think of this, brother gardeners and ama- 

 teurs, and say, Can you not one and all make a place for such a 

 plant, even at the expense of one of your much-loved Tricolor 

 Geraniums ? Without wishing to disparage Geraniums, I have 

 no hesitation in saying that if you only make a start with this 

 one plant you will soon be breaking out in praise of the mixed- 

 border system. 



Ieeris gibe.altap.ica. — In my first acquaintance with this plant 

 I was much disappointed, not that my specimen did not pro- 

 duce fine flowers, but because they did not answer the descrip- 

 tion I had heard. The reason of this, however, was that I 

 had not the true plant. Now the fault is rectified, and I would 

 strongly urge the culture of this Iberis upon everyone having a 

 border. It is of robust growth, and a profuse bloomer, the 

 heads of flower usually measuring 3 inches in diameter. The 



colour is white, beautifully suffused with pale rosy purple. It 

 succeeds as well in the rock garden as in the open border, and 

 thrives best when planted in good, somewhat light loam. 



Sisyeinchium geandifloeum is a lovely member of the Ind- 

 uces ; it usually grows about 9 inches high, and produces its 

 large, purple, bell-shaped flowers about March. There is a 

 variety called album which blooms at the same time, and is 

 an exact counterpart in every respect saving colour. They 

 are charming border plants, and succeed well in rich loamy 

 soil. This plant is also known by the names of S. Douglasii 

 and S. vernum. 



SiSYBiNCHiuir multifloeum. — This is a magnificent kind ; it 

 grows about a foot high, and flowers at the end of May and 

 beginning of June. The flowers are large and bluish purple. ■ 

 It is both handsome and effective. 



Sparaxis pulcheekima. — This is an Iris-like plant of sur- 

 passing beauty ; it usually grows from 2 to 3 feet in height. 

 The flowers are produced from long arching stems, and are 

 pendulous, each bloom measuring between 1 and 2 inches in 

 length, whilst the colour varies from deep crimson to soft rose. 

 No words can do justice to the elegance of this plant. — Ex- 

 peeto Ceede. 



BECENT CLIMATIC CHANGES. 



Greenland is a name which seems ironical under present 

 conditions of climate. It has always seemed to me that the 

 land there has changed its appearance very considerably since 

 that name was applied to it. The Esquimaux were apparently 

 not known as inhabitants of Greenland to the Saga writers. 

 The skzellings they met with were on the coasts of Labrador 

 and farther south. They first appeared after the black plague 

 had nearly destroyed the Norse settlements, and they com- 

 pleted the work the pestilence had commenced. They came 

 from the north, probably from the area now occupied by the 

 so-called Arctic Highlanders. The Indians who now live along 

 the march, or frontier, bounding them and the Esquimaux in 

 North America, have an apparently uniform tradition that the 

 Esquimaux were formerly not neighbours of theirs, and that 

 they came south across the sea from the islands beyond. I 

 believe that I have sufficient facts by me to justify the opinion 

 that the Esquimaux of both shores ofJSehrings Straits have 

 been constantly drifting westwards and southwards, and that 

 they are but recent occupants of their present 'area there. 

 This will appear in a future communication to the Anthropo- 

 logical Institute. These facts are quoted to show that the 

 Esquimaux race has been uniformly leaving its more northern 

 habitat and seeking a more southern one. It is remarkable 

 that the recent Swedish expeditions to the eastern coasts of 

 Greenland found abundance of reindeer and musk-oxen there 

 in areas formerly n ninVi n.riit.ftd by both animals. This emigra- 

 tion must have come from the north. I can see no adequate 

 cause for a revolution affecting men as well as other animals in 

 such a uniform manner, except the continuously increased 

 severity of local climates, which has driven the inhabitants 

 farther south. 



Iceland has notoriously tiecome more harsh and untenable 

 in its climate since the days of the Norsemen. I will quote 

 from a capital authority, Henderson's Journal in Iceland, 

 pages 6 and 7: — "It is evident from ancient Icelandic docu- 

 ments that on the arrival of the Norwegians, and for centuries 

 afterwards, pretty extensive forests grew in different parts of 

 the island, and furnished the inhabitants with wood both for 

 domestic and nautical purposes. Owing, however, to the im- 

 provident treatment of them, and the increased severity of the 

 climate, they have almost entirely disappeared, and what 

 remains scarcely deserves any other name than that of under- 

 wood, consisting for the most part of Birch, Willow, and 

 Mountain Ash. That grain was produced in former times in 

 Iceland appears from the names of many places, such as 

 akkrar, akkiances, akkraheron, &c, the word akr signifying a 

 cornfield, and from certain laws in the ancient code, in which 

 express mention is made of such fields, and a number of regu- 

 lations are prescribed relative to their division and cultiva- 

 tion." Grain is no longer raised there. The Black Death, 

 and other reasons, have been adduced for this cessation ; but 

 these are clearly inadequate causes, the real reason being no 

 doubt the same which has caused grain culture to be discon- 

 tinued elsewhere — namely, the increased severity of the climate. 



What is true of Iceland is also true of Norway, in the most 

 northern parts of which we find many names compounded with 

 the Norse word for Barley, proving, as the best authorities 



