196 
= NNN 
The steadily increasing pop- 
ulatity of Perennials is not sur- 
prising when you consider the 
ease with which they are grown 
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About fifteen years ago the Pali- 
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Specialists For Fifteen 
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k 1 We have over thirty acres under cultivation and can give 
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Our Catalogue is of More Than Ordinary Interest 
because we have, in this large, finely illustrated book described ‘‘Palisades Popular Perennials” in a 
manner that places a vast amount of information before the reader in language that is perfectly 
plain and not confused by a number of Latin names. 
Greek, and we have, after considerable patient effort, translated the 
names and descriptions into plain English and presented the infor- 
mation in a form easy to understand. Not only are the “Old 
Fashioned” names given, but the association of the name is given 
with its Latin or Greek synonym. The height, color, period of bloom 
and proper location are also given under each title. 
that in doing this we have made this catalogue of much more value 
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and let it help you make the right selections for this year’s planting—and besides, 
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The Palisades Nurseries 
Sparkill, New York 
SMUT es 
SeEnp For Descriptive LITERATURE 
AW Teh 1 TG AU IR IDI INE Sy WE AY (Ge IL INT 18; 
APRIL, 1916 
MIC 
We tealized that we no longer speak Latin or 
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soil appeared superior, although all the veg- 
etables grown in the leafmold were more tender 
and more delicate in flavor. For white and 
sweet potatoes, beets, string beans and radishes, 
the leafmold proved itself the better soil. In 
the case of the white potatoes, one hill in the 
leafmold yielded twenty-six edible tubers, while 
the corresponding hill in the garden soil yielded 
but eight edible ones, all inferior in size, shape, 
smoothness, and flavor. 
The one difficulty about using pure mold is 
its liability to dry out; but this objection may ~ 
be successfully met by the use, over the surface 
of the planted beds, of straw, lawn-cuttings, or 
some similar mulch. Though prone to lose its 
moisture readily, leafmold is capable of absorb- 
ing water in extraordinary quantities. It will 
hold a great deal more water than any other 
kind of soil. 
The use of leafmold should be avoided when- 
ever the conditions are in favor of its drying 
out quickly; it should never be the chief ingre- 
dient in potting plants, though, when used in 
small quantities, it is beneficial. It is admir- 
able as a light covering for planted flower 
seeds; and for supplying to open, ready-to-plant 
trenches a mild, safe, natural fertilizer. 
When not obtainable from the woods, leaf- 
mold may be made by packing leaves in a pit. 
So treated, the leaves will be ready for use in 
| a year’s time. 
Penna. ARCHIBALD C., RUTLEDGE. 
Irises Laevigata and Kaempferi 
Fe some years I have been collecting beau- 
tiful garden forms of Iris, particularly the 
bearded species, and for the past year have been 
much interested from a botanist’s viewpoint. 
Inadvertently, I have started a discussion 
among the botanists in Washington, D. C., by 
an inquiry as to where, in this country, I might 
obtain a root of Iris laevigata, as distinct from 
Kaempferi, and so described in the monograph 
on the Iris by W. R. Dykes of England. The 
botanists at Washington take issue with Mr. 
Dykes. I infer from this book that Mr. Dykes 
has never been in Japan and has based his 
divisions upon collected forms in large public 
gardens in England. In a small gardening 
series volume, which I have, he states that 
Tris laevigata is one of the most beautiful of 
blue irises. The true Iris Kaempferi he des- 
eribes as a reddish purple which, in his experi- 
ence, always comes true from seed. This is an 
interesting statement in view of the myriad 
hybrid forms obtained by the Japanese. Can 
Mr. H. H. Wilson, with his wider experience of 
travel and observation of plants in their native 
conditions, help me in a decision as to who is 
right? 
ErLia Porter McKinney. 
—On the moist, grass-clad moorlands and in 
the swamps of northern Hondo and in Hok- 
kaido, an Iris with reddish-purple flowers (the 
tint varies somewhat) is very abundant and 
this Iris is considered by the Japanese to be the 
wild parent of the garden Iris we term collect- 
ively Japanese Irises. Personally, I see no rea- 
son to question this and am firmly of the 
opinion that the multifarious forms of Jap- 
anese Iris are seminal variations and color 
sports from this one wild prototype. This Iris 
was named and figured by Lemaire (“Ill. 
Hort.” V. t. 157, 1858) Iris Kaempferi. But 
in 1839, Fischer and Meyer (‘“Ind. Sem. Hort. 
Petrop.” III. 36) gave the name Jris laevigata 
to an Iris from the Transbaickal region of 
eastern Siberia (Irkutsk and Dahuria) and bot- 
anists—American, Huropean and Japanese— 
have considered this Iris and that of Lemaire 
one and the same, and by rules of priory the 
older name of I. laevigata had to be used and 
Lemaire’s I. Kaempferi became a synonym. 
I have not Mr. Dykes’ book, neither have I 
sufficient knowledge of the Iris family to delve 
into the question as to whether the continental 
and the Japanese plants are identical. Cer- 
-tainly I have no reason for questioning the cor- 
rectness of the view of those botanists who do 
so consider them. But, this question aside, my 
observations in Japan have convinced me that . 
the so-called Japanese Irises have all been de- 
rived from the one common species with ‘“red- 
dish-purple flowers,” and not from two different 
species. 
EK. H. WiLson. 
The Readers’ Service will give you suggestions for the care and purchase of cats and dogs and other pets 
