THE NOVELTIES. 



345 



yellow variety extant." It was somewhat of a relief to 

 me to find that the flowers in the store windows of this 

 firm last fall averaged little better than my own. There 

 were, however, some magnificent exhibition blooms of 

 Mrs. Hardy and Louis Boehmer. The great ado made 

 over the latter last season, which is now being repeated, 

 reminds one of " much ado about nothing." Of course 

 the pink ostrich plume is, in one sense, an advance, as it 

 gives promise of still other varieties of this class ; but 

 it suffers by comparison with Mrs. Hardy, as the color 

 is a dull pink, by no means pleasing to my mind. Sunny- 

 side, a beauty on exhibition, is so poor a grower that the 

 firm to whom I applied for it advised that it be left se- 

 verely alone, saying that they could scarcely get cuttings 

 from it to supply their trade. Nevertheless, it is being 

 greatly praised. 



Among geraniums, the "absolutely perfect " Bruant, 

 the " flowering-at-all-seasons-most-profusely " Mary 

 Hill, the " best-single-pink-bedding-geranium-ever-intro- 

 duced " Katie Schultz, the "grand" I^astien Le Page, 

 the "novel and magnificent" Souvenir de Mirande, all 

 came to me. I was satisfied with all but Bastien Le 

 Page, which may have been "grand" in size of floret 

 but was of a detestable color, a dull magenta. Why 

 was this color ever discovered ! As far as my knowledge 

 goes, but one or two firms secured Souvenir de Mirande 

 last year ; this year they all have it, and all are in ecsta- 

 sies — the same ecstasies, by the way — over it. "No 

 engraving or description can do justice to its rare beau" 

 ty." The strangest part of the story is, that there is re- 

 ally no discount on this geranium. It is a true instance 

 of a " good grab. " 



Among begonias. Countess Louise Erdody is one to 

 attract the masses who see the description of the triple 

 spirals formed at the base of each leaf. The young 

 growth is beautiful, but as the leaves mature they de- 

 velop a bad fold or bend in the center which injures 

 'heir appearance greatly. The catalogue descriptions 

 fail to note this, and the cuts ingeniously conceal it. 

 Gloire de Sceaux has not grown or bloomed well for me, 

 although its great claims to favor were fine growth and 

 freedom of bloom ; it is of a fine color. Clemence 

 Denisart is a lovely double pink tuberous variety, but 

 the beauty could not hold up her head at all, so slender 

 was she. 



The carnation Tidal Wave was free in bloom and of 

 excellent growth. It has been constantly in flower 

 throughout the winter, but the color is not pleasing nor 

 the size satisfactory. My specimen has the curious fault, 

 also, of having the leaves stick together at the tip of the 

 shoots, so that the buds have to fairly bend or force their 

 way out. At first this was thought to be the work of in- 

 sects, but proved not so. Wm. Swayne, although now 

 a year old, has not deigned to give a single bloom as yet. 

 Many of the roses are never heard of after the first year. 

 Madam Andre Duron has come over to this year, and is 

 greatly praised ; with me it had but two good points : it 

 is very sweet and a free bloomer. The form is not pleas- 

 ing, and the color is decidedly indifferent. Captain Le- 



fort is an excellent bloomer, but small ; I could see no 

 reason why it should have been sent out. Madam 

 Schwaller did as well as any rose I have ever grown. 

 Clothilde Soupert also promised well, and though the 

 promise with all was better than the performance, I may 

 say in their defence, that the season was a bad one, and 

 our soil unsuited to roses. 



An uncertain investment in a new vine proved certain 

 as far as the fact of its entire failure went. Atitigonon 

 leptopiis is its name, and it was to grow rankly and to 

 bear lovely racemes of rose-colored flowers ; but flowers 

 of the future they are still. I could nowhere find a hint 

 as to its proper treatment, and, therefore, do not condemn 

 it entirely ; but the fact that the firm that fathered it last 

 year is silent with regard to it this year is not re-assur- 

 ing. 



" G/ei'/io 111(1 Iifdeyacea " utterly refused to flourish in 

 sun or shade, in heat or coolness, in house or open 

 ground, although it grew luxuriantly in a greenhouse 

 where I saw it. 



A survey of the above notes shows that out of twenty- 

 seven carefully selected novelties, less than one-third the 

 number proved worthy to have "satisfactory" written 

 after their names. — Mvra V. Norvs, ISfe-o Jersey, 



A Talk about New Plants. — Every year brings 

 something new in the plant domain, obtained by what is 

 called " sports." I am aware that many look with dis- 

 trust upon all novelties in this line, but the choicest 

 flowers we have were at one time novelties. We must 

 not be too ready to denounce the florist as dishonest be- 

 cause he baptizes some old-time plant with a new and 

 taking title, writes it up in his catalogue with high- 

 sounding words, and by affixing a fancy price realizes a 

 large income from its sale, until the purchaser finds out 

 that he has been sold as well as the plant. 



But the unprincipled florist suffers loss in his reputa- 

 tion eventually. There is, of course, a strong temptation 

 to set forth in too strong colors the attractiveness of a 

 novelty, so that it may attain a great sale the first year, 

 when the price is high ; but one must not forget the fact 

 that a florist cannot offer a new plant when the stock is 

 limited, at what seems to the public a reasonable price. 



Again, the purchaser who fails to bring his dearly 

 bought seeds or plants to perfection must not hastily 

 blame the florist, for the amateur, as a rule, is far from 

 possessing those advantages which enable the florist to 

 produce plants which may be fully up to the standard he 

 describes. My own experience has taught me not to be 

 hasty in judgment, for the very seed sown at one time 

 with failure, may at another be successful. A few years 

 ago I had a package of Celestial pepper seed from a flor- 

 ist in whom I had perfect confidence. Wishing to share 

 with my neighbors, I gave some to three, and saw them 

 sown in good soil. I sowed some in two places in my 

 own garden. Not one plant came up in any of the 

 four gardens. Surely there was good reason for doubt- 

 ing the goodness of the seed, yet some of the same sown 

 in July came up well and thrived ! I have sown seeds 

 in my hot-bed which failed to grow, while many others, 



