144 



CASSELL'S POPULAR GAEDEXIXG. 



from six inches to a foot long. J. angnstifolia is a 

 beautiful kind not unlike this, hut perhaps more 

 graceful, being narrower in all its parts. The leaves 

 do not exceed three-quarters of an inch in diameter, 

 T. minima is an interesting kind in comparison with 

 these on account of its diminutive size, and may be 

 grown in complete collections. Reputedly distinct 

 kinds are grown as intermedia and stenophyUa, and 

 lately we have received T. Shuttleicorthii, an ally of T. 

 latifolia, but distinct. All Typhas, except T. minima, 

 grow without care ; the rhizomes merely require 

 to be fixed in the mud of a pond, in water a foot or 

 more deep. They spread considerably, and clumps 

 should be kept within bounds, or great masses may 

 have to be removed at considerable expense. The 

 rhizomes are not easily taken up Avithout draining 

 the pond in which they grow. The first two species 

 are British, extending from Europe to North xlfrica, 

 Asia,, and North America. Typhacece. 



Utricidaria vulgaris (Greater Bladder- wort). — All 

 the kinds of Utricularia are curious and interesting, 

 but of those that are hardy this is the most usually 

 cultivated. It has submerged floating stems and 

 leaves, with flower-stalks rising above the water. 

 The leaves are ovate, much divided into fine segments, 

 and upon them are borne numerous shortly-stalked 

 tiny bladders, which serve to catch minute aquatic 

 animals, for the purpose of absorbing the products 

 of their decay, so that this plant, like its ally the 

 Butter-wort, is insectivorous, although by very 

 different but extremely interesting means. The 

 flow^ers are yellow and somewhat Snapdragon-like. 

 If stems of this plant are broken and brought in 

 from the wild, they are usually very difficult to 

 establish. The proper plan is to raise from seeds, or 

 to secure those hybernaculae, or buds, which remain 

 dormant during winter and start fresh plants in the 

 spring. These are formed at the ends of the 

 branches in autumn. Flowers in July and August. 

 Native of Europe (Britain), North Africa, Siberia, 

 and North America. Lentlhulariacece. 



Villarsia nymphaoides = Limnanthemum. 



Zizania aquatica (Canada Rice).— This grass, when 

 planted in or close to water, produces fine masses 

 of bright green leaves, but it is of little orna- 

 mental worth, and is only of interest on account 

 of its enormous value in North America, where the 

 seeds have contributed essentially to the support of 

 Indian tribes, and feed immense flocks of waterfowl. 

 It has grown for several years in the Cambridge 

 Botanic Garden, but has never flowered. Trials of 

 its economic A'alue have also been made in this 

 country, but without success. Pieces of the plarit 

 are easily imported if taken up just as growth com- 

 mences, packed in damp moss, and sent by post ; 

 but seeds always fail, as they lose vitality when dry. 



THE EOSE AND ITS CULTURE. 



By D. T. Fish. 



G^KDEX EOSES. . 



" There [iu tlie girdeii] will we make our beds of Eoses 

 And a thousand fragrant posies." 



IN these days, when so many Roses seem only 

 grown for cutting, either for showing or decora- 

 tion, it is refreshing to cite Shakespeare's reverence 

 for the Rose as seen in Othello's sensible plea for its 

 being enjoyed to the full in the garden, on the tree : 



" When I have plucked the Rose, 

 I cannot give it vital breath again. 

 It needs must wither. I'll smell it on the tree." 



So far as possible, then, we shaU see that our garden 

 Roses are worth smelling. Some will, perhaps, be 

 chosen for other reasons, but fragrance shall be 

 one of our chief grounds of selection. It may be 

 doubted, however, whether Shakespeare's dictum — 



" That which we call a Eose, 

 By anj' other name would smeU as sweet," 



is quite tenable. But it is certain that a Rose with- 

 out fragrance is hardly more than half a Rose at 

 best, and about as poor as a garden without Roses, 

 were such an anomaly possible nowadays. 



Next to fragrance, age should distinguish true and 

 real garden Roses. None need be excluded because 

 they are new, but many may and ought to find a 

 place because they are old. The older Roses, such 

 as the old Moss, the Maiden's Blush, Rosa Mundi, 

 and Tillage Maid, the Cabbage, the York and Lan- 

 caster, are not only brimful of fragrance, but over- 

 flowing with sentiment. How many Corisandes 

 have had their life-history determined, their fate 

 sealed, by the gift of one of these simple Roses I 

 What records of fact, what fairy webs of fancy 

 could these old-fashioned Roses unfold, could the 

 loves as well as the wars of the Roses be faith- 

 fully chronicled ! How strangely blended, how de- 

 lightfully mixed, the human and floral become in 

 the romance of the older Roses, as we read — 



" Thf ir lilis were four red Eoses on a stalk, 

 Which in their summer beauty kissed each other." 



{Kichard. III.) 



Vigour of constitution is the third point to be 

 considered in the selection of veritable garden Roses. 

 Unfortunately, as in other matters, so among Roses, 

 quality has often been obtained at the sacrifice of 

 constitution. Not a few of the finest show Roses 

 are mi:ffy growers, and have little or no fragrance. 

 Our fathers planted Roses as they did their Apples 

 and Oaks, once in their lives, or even for theii' 

 children. We moderns have to plant them annually. 



