¥"1.\ THE AMERICAN GARDENER. 221 



in size, height, and in flower ; and on account of the 

 gayness of that flower. The seed pods of some are 

 of the bulk of a three pound weight, while those of 

 others are hot so big as even a small pea. The 

 smallest, however, contains about a thousand seeds, 

 and these come up, ar>d the plants flourish, with very- 

 little care. A pretty large bed, with two or three 

 hundred sorts in it, is a spectacle hardly surpassed 

 in beauty by any thing in the vegetable creation. It 

 is an annual, of course. It is well known as a me- 

 dicinal plant ; but, it is not so well known as a plant 

 from the seed of which sallad-oil is sometimes 

 made I The Germans, on the Rhine, cultivate whole 

 fields of it for this purpose. It may be as well, 

 therefore, for us to take care not to use German 

 Sallad-Oil, which, however, can with great difficulty 

 be distinguished from oil of olives. 



379. PRIMROSE.— A beautiful little flower of a 

 pale yellow and delicate smell. It comes very early 

 in the spring; and continues a good while in bloom. 

 Of the fibrous rooted flow^ers it is the next to the 

 Daisy in point of earliness. It is a universal fa- 

 vourite ; and, in England, it comes abundantly in 

 woods, pastures and banks. It is perennial like 

 the Cowslip, and is propagated in the same manner. 

 How beautiful a Long Island wood would look in 

 April, the ground beneath the trees being decked 

 with Primroses ! 



380. RANUNCULUS.— Is a flower of the nature 

 of the Anemone, which see. It is propagated and 

 cultivated in the same manner. These two flowers 

 are usually planted out in beds, where they make a 

 very fine show. 



381 RHODODENDRON.— It never occurred, 

 perhaps, to any American to give this fine name to 

 the laurel with a long narrow leaf and great bunches 

 19* 



