PLANTS ON THE WORLD'S FAIR GROUNDS. 143 



respect. Among these was the ordinary wooden tree tag, with 

 a light copper wire, which soon became brittle and broke off, 

 or with a copper wire so stiff that the bark was cut or the twig 

 broken in twisting the label into a readable position, or an 

 iron wire which soon rusted off. Many labels were unpainted, 

 with the names effaced by the weather, or they were painted 

 with a poor chalky paint, from which the name soon disap- 

 peared entirely. This poor paint was used on most of the 

 stake and pot labels in the displays of herbaceous plants. The 

 stake labels in use were generally so light that they would rot 

 out in a season or be broken off by careless workmen. The 

 Japanese had light cedar stake labels, very neatly lettered with 

 what appeared to be a permanent black ink. They would 

 probably resist decay, but not the rough usage of the careless 

 weeder. The pot labels were, of course, too small to remain in 

 place long. Manilla paper or cardboard labels may be very 

 convenient for temporary use, but they are soon destroyed by 

 outdoor exposure. Japanned sheet iron labels, if they were 

 bent sharply, soon lost parts of their coating, and the name 

 became obscure, In an exhibit of mostly low growing plants, 

 a painted and lettered rectangular sheet metal label about 

 three by four inches square was used. It had a hole in the center 

 of one of its longest edges, by means of which it was slipped on 

 to the top of a straight iron rod ; it was then held in place 

 with a rubber band above and below the label, and hung at 

 such an angle that it could be easily read. A modification of 

 this label, with a square hole fitting on to a square rod, so bent 

 at the top as to keep the label always at the right angle and to 

 prevent it from slipping off, would make an excellent, cheap 

 and permanent label for exhibits of low plants, and in a large 

 size for larger plants. 



"I have thus gone into details with reference to labels, 

 because labeling is of little value, however correct the names, 

 unless it is distinctly legible. As to errors in naming, there 

 were very few exhibits of hardy plants that were free from 

 them. More or less misnaming of horticultural named varie- 

 ties was to be expected, for they are to be numbered by the 

 hundreds, and many are very much alike. Some errors showed 

 evidence of being the result of a careless misplacing of labels, 

 but there was no excuse for labeling Cornus paniculata as Cor- 

 nus florida, or Halesia tetraptera as Hamamelis Virginica; and 

 one is disposed to consider a nurseryman very much behind 

 the times who still uses Pinus Abies for Picea excelsa, Pericly- 

 menum and Caprifolium for nearly all Loniceras, and who calls 

 all American oaks Quercus Americana. It is hardly to be 

 expected that nurserymen can keep their catalogues up to the 



