BUDS, BLOSSOMS, FHUJTS. 



757 



thing that's worth having, costs something." One 

 spring I spent two dollars for seeds for hot-house plants, 

 cyclamen, cineraria, calceolaria, etc. Not one of them 

 sprouted. The next spring I bought one package of 

 choice primrose seed, carefully followed directions, and 

 six thrifty plants gladdened my eyes the following win- 

 ter. I learned not to put two dollars into plants, the 

 successful culture of which required a good deal of ex- 

 perience, but to take one package at a time, and care 

 for it thoroughly. Another mistake is to buy large 

 plants of a florist if you do not know how to treat them. 

 Buy a small one in a thumb-pot, and ask the florist how 

 to care for it. As a general thing, the florist is very 

 willing to advise you. Don't try everything you hear of 

 as good for plants. A friend of mine, having several 

 thrifty geraniums, heard that wood-ashes was good, 

 and mixed a quantity in the soil of each pot. Every 

 one of the geraniums died. Another lady heard that 

 arsenic was good for fuchsias. She did not have any 

 arsenic, but thought rough-on-rats to be the same thing. 

 So she put a teaspoonful in each pot. Every leaf on 

 her fuchsias the next morning was withered. Every 

 plant raiser has plenty of these mistake ladders to 

 climb on. — Sister Gracious. 



The Myrtle. — One plant deserving of garden culture 

 in the south is the myrtle. While seldom seen, it is 

 quite as valuable as the sweet olive, if not more so. 

 Certainly it is more beautiful in appearance, and the 

 leaves as well as the flowers are fragrant. The culture 

 of the plant is of the easiest possible kind, as it requires 

 only to be planted to insure success here ; but further 

 north it would require some protection from severe 

 frosts. The plant may be readily propagated from cut- 

 tings taken with a small heel just as the wood is begin- 

 ning to harden. These cuttings should be planted, 

 several together, in pots filled with sand, and placed in a 

 warm spot out of the reach of the sun. They will root 

 more readily if covered with a glass. The plant may 

 also be increased by layering. In a garden where a 

 small screen might be considered desirable, the Roman- 

 leaved myrtle would be the most suitable plant for the 

 purpose. The sprays and flowers are very useful for 

 mixing with bouquets. The plant will endure ten 

 degrees of frost without harm. — H. W. Smith, East 

 Baton Rouf^e Co., La. 



Possibilities of Our Native Grapes. — The October 

 number of the Garden did not reach me in time to have 

 some printer's errors in my grape article corrected in 

 the next issue. The following are the errors : (i) On 

 page 580, D. Bunsly should be D. Bundy ; (2) on page 

 581, first column. Highland is put down as " Seedling 

 of Triumph X Jura Muscat." It should have been 

 Concord instead of Seedling of Triumph ; then Seedling 

 of Triumph is ditto-marked opposite Irving, Jefferson, 

 Lady Washington, Mansfield and Niagara. Had Con- 

 cord been used in the first place, instead of Seedling of 

 Triumph, the ditto mark would have been all right. (3) 

 Highland is put down as originated by Munson, whereas 

 it should bave been J. H. Ricketts. (4) D. Crehone, 



page 581, second column, should be D. Crehore ; (5) on 

 same page and column, the parenthetic note under On- 

 derdonk seems to apply to that variety, whereas it 

 should have been a starred foot-note to Imperial, above, 

 and S. Ricketts following Imperial should be J. H. 

 Ricketts. (6) After the name Onderdonk, under cut on 

 page 581, should have been inserted "(Seepage 584)." 

 My theory of Thompson's Seedless may be erroneous, 

 as a note received from Pomologist H. E. VanDeman 

 indicates. Under date of October 22, i8gi, he writes : 

 "I noticed in your very excellent article on native 

 grapes, in the last number of The American Garden, 

 what I feel sure is a very grave mistake on the part of 

 whoever wrote the sentence in parentheses under figure 

 I, which relates to a grape called Onderdonk. This is 

 certainly a very different thing from the variety known 

 in California as Thompson's Seedless. I have seen and 

 examined the latter carefully, and it is a true vinifera. 

 Now I know that you did not originate the one that they 

 have in California, as it went there from Rochester, 

 New York, and is known as Lady de Coverley by some 

 persons. Mr. Gustav Eisen, of California, is here now, 

 and he corroborates this statement. I have had this 

 information for some months, but have been looking 

 for some other name for this grape which I think it 

 must have in Europe. It is quite distinct from Sul- 

 tana." This matter should receive further investigation. 

 — T. V. Munson, Texas. 



The Heliotrope in the Greenhouse. — I have 

 found this an excellent plant to grow about a post in 

 the greenhouse. The roots are confined in a large pot, 

 and this is lowered 

 so that its top is 

 about even with the 

 bench bottom as 

 shown by my sketch. 

 A well established 

 plant under such 

 c o n d i t ions, in a 

 houseof 60° atnight, 

 will throw off a large 

 amount of bloom 

 during the winter, 

 and prove a most at- 

 tractive ornament 

 as well. When the 

 soil in the pot be- 

 comes somewhat ex- 

 hausted, the plants 

 should be watered 

 with weak liquid 

 manure at intervals. 

 In bringing on the 

 plants from the Heliotrope Trained to Post 

 cuttings of the pre- in Greenhouse. 



vious summer, they 



should be frequently pinched back, especially in the side 

 shoots, to induce a strong upward growth. I must not 

 neglect to warn those who grow the heliotrope in this way. 



