166 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 1907 



bs.*-'-'. *Ti'--'~~ .-/j-.r \~r. 



STEVENS 



The name — on a rifle or shotgun — that guarantees perfection in 

 accuracy, reliability and safety. It would require many columns of 

 this publication to tell all about "Stevens" famous guns. We want 

 you to know about them and we make it worth your while to learn. 



Send two 2-cent stamps to cover postage for our FREE CATA- 

 LOG — it tells all about guns, rifles, pistols, ammunition, sights, 

 targets, reboring old barrels, and a hundred things a sportsman wants 



to know. 



Don't let your dealer persuade you some 

 other is as good. Insist on "Stevens." 

 You can order direct from us if you find 

 any difficulty. We send any " Stevens " fire- 

 arms express prepaid, on receipt of catalog 

 price. 



J. Stevens Arms and Tooi Co., 420 Pine St., Chicopee Falls, Mass., U.S.A. 



RIFLES FOR 



BOYS 



Little Scout 





$2.25 



Stevens-Mayna 



rcl, 



Jr. $3 



Crack Shot - 



- 



$4 



Little Krag 





- $5 



Favorite No. 17 



- 



$6 



A HAMMOCK THAT'S RIGHT 



NO DOUBLE UP 



The only hainmock made that combines Quality, 

 Durability and Beauty with Comfort. Can be 

 used indoors or out. For further particulars write 



QUEEN HAMMOCK CO. 

 1 88 West North St. Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S.A. 



Horsford's 

 Hardy Plants 



son FOR COLD CLIMATES ^ 



WHEN you buy hardy plants, get 

 them from a hardy climate. 

 Horsford's new catalogue offers 

 the plants he can grow up in cold Ver- 

 mont which are all right for any winter 

 south of Alaska. It contains a long list of 

 perennials, trees, shrubs, bulbs, ferns, Old 

 Fashioned Flowers, hardy orchids, forsun 

 or shade, wet or dry ground. You can 

 save cost of transportation in price and 

 quality of stock. Write for catalogue. 



FRED'K H. H0R5F0RD 



Charlotte, Vt. 



The Largest Blue Flower of the 

 Composite Family 



r I TIE largest blue flower of the wonderful 

 -*- composite family, which includes 

 China asters, chrysanthemums, dahlias and 

 many other extremely varied flowers, is 

 Stokes's aster (Sfokesia cyanea), a flower 

 that once seen is never forgotten, because of 

 the unique shape of its florets, which are like 

 five-pointed trumpets. The whole flower 

 head has the appearance of a monstrous 

 glorified cornflower. It is a hardy perennial 

 plant which may be treated as an annual. 



While I was acting as propagator for one 

 of the largest seed firms in America, I had 

 the pleasure of developing this flower in a 

 way that led directly to its extraordinary 

 popular success. This development illus- 

 trates several important points in plant- 

 breeding that every amateur should 

 understand. 



1. Most of the important improvements 

 that have been in floriculture have origin- 

 ated by selection, not hybridization, i. e., 

 simply by sowing seeds and saving the new 

 varieties thus secured. This fact should 

 greatly encourage the amateur who wishes to 

 do plant-breeding in his own backyard. 



2. There is a splendid opportunity for 

 amateurs in developing American wild 

 flowers, which have hitherto been improved 

 in Europe, and often in a climate unfavorable 

 to producing the best results. 



3. It is a most surprising fact that many 

 Southern plants have proved hardy in the 

 North, and a good number of plants actually 

 thrive better in cultivation under conditions 

 widely different from those we find in Nature. 



I find that Stokes's aster was introduced 

 into England as long ago as 1766, and that 

 it furnished the chief supply of blue flowers 

 to the Covent Garden market from Septem- 

 ber to November, in the early days of its dis- 

 covery. Possibly the climate of Europe is 

 not as well adapted to this flower as our 

 own, but the chances are that it never 

 amounted to anything there simply because 

 of our blind habit of following literally 

 Nature's hints. 



Stokes's aster grows wild in the wet pine 

 barrens of the Carolinas, yet strangely enough 

 the plant is easily killed in cultivation in the 

 North if it is allowed to have "wet feet" in 

 winter. The soil must be perfectly drained, 

 if the plant is to be cultivated as a perennial. 



Another one of Nature's false clues is the 

 fact that it grows in the Coastal Plain of the 

 Southern States, and, therefore, ought not to 





■m^U 



