AND THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOMED 



ties. I would purchase none of them, as the 

 mixed seeds alone will furnish abundant variety, 

 and if you do get the " New Emperor " or the 

 " Old Guard," you will wonder when they bloom 

 wherein they differ from, or are in any wise better 

 than hundreds of varieties in your mixed beds. 

 It is said to be a half-hardy annual, but be that as 

 it may, it grows well from seed sown in the open 

 ground in early spring, and the seed will germi- 

 nate and produce earlier flowers if sown in the fall. 

 Whether all flower-lovers will agree with me 

 or not, I can delay no longer in introducing our 

 old and valued friend, the Nasturtium, of which 

 there are three species in cultivation, Tropaolum 

 majus, the common Nasturtium, has two varie- 

 ties, — the Climbing, and the Dwarf, or Tom 

 Thumb Nasturtium. 7*. minus is the smaller 

 Nasturtium, properly so called, for its flowers are 

 smaller than the common. It is oifered by the 

 seedsmen under the name of Trailing Nastur- 

 tium, Tom Pouce. It is said to do better in 

 poor soilthan the majus species, but I have not 

 tried it. We have also the well-known T. Lob- 

 bianum, a climbing species from Colombia. It is 

 easily distinguished from all other forms by the 

 fact that it is hairy all over, excepting only the 



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