1852.1 THE PHILADELPHIA FLORIST. 231 



rjjfelt sorry that they could not be taught better in the same way, viz: 

 J? by cutting their fingers. We have always thought figs in this climate 

 / perfectly hardy. We have known them attain 12 ft. of height in ex- 

 posed situations in city gardens. 



Indigenous Trees. — It is with these as with our shrubs and herbace- 

 ous plants — they are not valued in their own country. There are 

 many fine old places, however, in this neighborhood, where our forest 

 friends have full sway, being either left when the place was cleared, 

 or transplanted near the house many years ago. We were brought 

 up under the shade of an avenue of the Liriodendron tulipifera, mingl- 

 ed with Castanea. The city government could certainly not do a 

 wiser thing than to give the occupancy of Lemon Hill to the Penn- 

 sylvania Horticultural Society for a Botanic garden. 



Penrfa. Hort. Society. — As the Society has a good reason (the oc- 

 cupation of the large hall by the Franklin Institute) for not admitting 

 plants and vegetables for the October meeting, the rule excluding con- 

 tributions should be enforced. It would be so in England, as many 

 other rules are which are overlooked here, such as awarding premiums 

 before the exhibition is opened, disqualifying fruit and plants for not 

 being ripe, or in proper quantities. It is gratifying that donations to 

 the Society have commenced ; we hope that the rich ladies and gen- 

 tlemen of this city will follow Mr. Cope's excellent example. 



NATIVE ORCHIDS. 



W T e extract from a late number of the Gardener's Chronicle some 

 remarks by the editor, (Dr. Lindley) on a subject which we know to 

 be interesting to many of our readers. 



" A discussion has found its way into our columns, concerning the 

 possibility of growing hardy terrestrial Orchids as ornamental plants. 

 Opinion is divided as to this, one side insisting upon their being per- 

 fectly cultivable, and well suited for bedding out or forcing ; the other 

 maintaining first, that they are not cultivable, in the horticultural sense 

 of the term, or if they are cultivable, they are not worth the trouble 

 they occasion. 



In this as in many other disputed matters, both sides are right; but 

 there is more right on one side than the other. Some are certainly 

 not worth cultivating, except in botanical gardens. Others are per- 

 haps not cultivable at all, such as Neottia nidus avis, some kinds of 

 Epipactis and other fibrous rooted species. But to say that the tuber- 

 ous kinds of Orchis and allied genera, Platanthera, Ophrys, Serapias, 

 and the like are either uncultivable or difficult to cultivate, or un- 

 Od worthy of cultivation, is to evince a singular acquaintance with 

 lij notorious facts. Orchis mascula, latifolia, maculata, &c, are frequent- 



