3§4 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



in which the highest peaks of dazzling 

 white are touched with rosy glow when 

 all else in the picture is bathed in shadow ; 

 this masterpiece forms part of the col- 

 lection at Neuchatel. Hisbest work deals 

 with the scenery of the higher Alps, 

 treated in a way peculiarly his own and 

 well shown in his " Region of the High 

 Alps after a Storm," "The Lake of the 

 Four Cantons," " Mont Blanc," "An 

 Avalanche of Rocks," and many other 

 pictures. Though comparatively young 

 at his death, Calame lived to reap the 

 reward of his industry and talent, his 

 house at Geneva being the common 

 ground of all the great men of Europe 

 of his own time ; he died in 1 864, when 

 in his fifty-fourth year. Our engraving, 

 from one of his works in black and 

 white, exhibits skill to which few have 

 attained; it represents a group of Oaks 

 growing upon the margin of one of the 

 smaller Swiss lakes. Thelife-like render- 

 ing of the gnarled branches is admirable 

 in its boldness, as is also the contrast of 

 the water- worn rocks stretching out to 

 some distance in the shallows of the 

 lake. 



Calceolarias as Flowering Shrubs. — The 

 article on Calceolarias in Flora and Sylva 

 leads me to send you two photographs of C. 

 integrifolia in South Devon. Here it may be 

 considered one of our best flowering shrubs. 

 I have never met with it in such quantity as 

 at Kingswearand itsimmediatevicinity ; other 

 places in which I have seen it have had con- 

 nection with Kingswear, so that it was pro- 

 bably obtained from there in the first instance. 

 I sent it up to Kew and found that I was right 

 in my surmise that it was C. integrifolia. They 

 wrote me that they did not possess it so I sent 

 themcuttings. In the photograph of the larger 

 plants these are growing by a gravel path and 

 are over 5 feet in height. One plant here was 

 6 feet high and 7 feet through, but has since 



j been cut back. They are at their best in July, 

 J but continue to flower through the autumn, 

 shrubs in my garden being now (end of Octo- 

 ber) full of bloom. The flowers here are not 

 lemon-yellow as stated in the article, but bright 

 golden-yellow. It will grow and flower any- 

 1 where, as shown by the second photograph, 

 ; which represents a row of plants growing in 

 stoney soil at the top of a retaining wall with 

 a line of Laurustinus planted immediately be- 

 hind. Mesembryanthemum edule is also planted 

 among the Calceolarias. The soil is naturally 

 very poor, and the roots of the Laurustinus 

 and Mesembryanthemums must rob it of that 

 little nourishment it possesses, while in hot 

 summers the place becomes absolutely dust- 

 dry, yet the Calceolarias never fail to flower 

 though they make but little growth and their 

 lower leaves are brown. This Calceolaria is 

 never injured by the winter, and I daresay if 

 J grown in rich soil and well manured periodi- 

 cally would attain a height of 7 or 8 feet, but 

 ! it is so common and submits so uncomplain- 

 ingly to neglect that no care is ever taken of 

 it. C. Burbidgei also has grown here in the 

 open for two years but does not flower freely, 

 and can in noway compare with C. integrifolia 

 for effect. — Wyndham Fitzherbert. 



SONGS OF THE WOODS AND , 

 FLOWERS : An October Allegro. 



We are yellow autumn leaves, decked with russet and 

 with red, 



Pranked in gold and in the proudest of attire ; 

 But the wild October breeze hath lured us from the trees 

 And hath piped to us to dance to his desire. 



; Such a tone he now hath blown, full of revelry and glee, 

 Like the fluting of the orioles in May, 

 That we yield us to the course of his dominating force 

 And come drifting down his mandate to obey. 



We refuse to borrow sorrow from the morrow ere 'tis here 

 For the music of the day doth make us mad ; 



And the fate of leaf or man must befall as best it can 

 When the wind doth will to wanton and be glad. 



What intoxicating pleasures are the measures of our 

 dance 



When a thousand of us rise as in a cloud ; 

 Or when, as from a sleep, we awake in sudden sweep 

 And around do reel a swiftly eddying crowd. 



How we twirl in merry swirl as aslant the wind we whirl 



To seem to shun his rapturous embrace ; 

 Till he lifts us in his might to the glory of the height, 



Where the swallows dip and swing in airy chase. 



And as Jove wooed Danae in the fabled days of old, 

 When the gods, for love, did stoop to visit earth, 

 j So in showers of splendent gold hath the wind his passion 

 told, 



With the promise of the springtime's joyous birth. 



W. D. Ellwanger. 



