206 



[November, 



f he fWer flsplei. 



COMPENSATION, 



Written for The American Garden. 

 The turfy slope is crisp with heat 



E^side the poor man's door. 

 The path, worn smooth by childish feet 



Winds in and out before ; 

 Tbe autumn evening-waxes late — 

 He slowly swings the creaking gate, 

 With h-isty strides o'ertakes its close,— 

 His day's rewards, his night's repose. 



He marks, with shrewd, approving eye, 



His heaps of unhusked Maize; 

 Like lanterns In the curious dusk 



His yellow Pumpkins blaze; 

 Aud, prettiest in the rustic show, 

 Some clir.aps of rosy Asters grow, 

 Like hardy, happy children, cheer 

 The weary night, the waning year. 



His blundering finders lift the latch; 



A moment's pause I see,— 

 Then stumbling o'er the narrow sill. 



He enters silently ; 

 There's something lends the action grace, 

 For, stamped upon her withered face, 

 A new contentment, strangely deep, 

 His mother rocks his child to sleep. 



You rarely hear that rugged speech 



The charm of life confess, 

 That hardened hand is tit for toil, 



Reluctant to caress: 

 The sigus of pleasure, sweet and shy 

 They lighten in the still blue eye, 

 And up the sun-bronzed cheek take flight 

 In one red flash of shamed delight. 



To this in many a burdened hour 



His secret thoughts return; 

 For this he's lived laborious days, 



Such frugal joys to earn ; 

 And yet, if flowers will thrive by toil, 

 With scanty suns and sterile soil, 

 Thank God for home and homely ch r, 

 We'll pay the price, nor count it dear. 



Elaine Goodale. 



SEASONABLE HINTS, 



Spring-flowering bulbs of all kinds, if not 

 already in the ground, should now be planted 

 without delay, so that they may form strong 

 root-growth before winter sets in. It is the 

 amount and vigor of this growth upon which 

 success mainly depends, whether the bulbs 

 are grown in the open ground or in pots. 



To those who have not enjoyed the pos- 

 session of a bulb-bed before, we would say, 

 no matter what the condition of your soil is, 



— unless it is a swamp, — by all means plant 

 some Hyacinths, Tulips, Crocus, Narcissus, 

 and as many more kinds as you feel inclined, 

 and you will be well repaid next spring. 

 There is nothing that can give so rich and 

 cheering a return as spring-flowering bulbs. 



Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissus should be 

 planted four inches deep and six inches 

 apart; Crocus, Scillas, and similar small 

 bulbs, two to three inches deep and four 

 inches apart. After the ground freezes hard, 



— uot before, — cover with leaves three to 

 four inches, held down with evergreen 

 branches or eorn-stalks. In spring, exam- 

 ine the ground occasionally, and as soon as 

 the pointed shoots appear above ground re- 

 move the covering, and wait for the results ; 

 and when gorgeous Tulips excite the admira- 

 tion of visitors, and rich trusses of Hyacinths 

 in pure white and all imaginable shades of 

 red, blue, and yellow, spread delicious fra- 

 grance through the garden and house, let us 

 know how you like your bulb-bed. 



ALPINE PLANTS AND ROCK-WORK, 



As European travel becomes more fre- 

 quent from year to year, and the number of 

 those who climb the Eigi and Faulhorn, who 

 traverse Wengernalp, and feast their eyes 

 on the indescribably grand and beautiful 

 scenery of Switzerland, many become ac- 

 quainted with its charming alpine flora, and 

 naturally would transplant some of these 

 lovely companions of the glaciers and eter- 

 nal snows to their far-off gardens, if such 

 were possible. In many botanical gardens 

 of Europe, extensive collections of alpine 

 plants are cultivated, and thrive there nearly 

 as well as in their mountain homes. But 

 the American climate is about as different 

 from that of the alpine regions of Switzer- 

 land as can well be imagined, and to succeed 

 here with these plants requires special prep- 

 aration and attention. Messrs. Woolson <f- 

 Co. have made a specialty of the culture of 

 alpine and other hardy plants, and the fol- 

 lowing practical directions given by them 

 may be relied upon by those who intend to 

 give these interesting plants a trial : 



"There are many plants found growing wild 

 only in alpine regions ; a portion of these will 

 succeed in ordinary soil in the garden bor- 

 der, another portion can only be satisfac- 

 torily grown by imitating, as far as may be, 

 their natural locations ; this has led to the 

 rock-work, or rock-garden. The popular no- 

 tion of a rock-work is very far from the cor- 

 rect one. A structure arising abruptly from 

 a lawn, built up with stones and mortar in 

 such a manner as to contain pockets, and 

 these filled with any plants that can bo 

 coaxed or forced to grow there, without 

 reference to their natural habitats, may be a 

 rock-Hw*, but is not a rock-garden. Neither 

 is a promiscuous heap of stones with the in- 

 terstices filled with earth a rock-garden. 



The reasons why alpine plants flourish 

 better on a properly constructed rockery 

 than elsewhere are, that while the plant 

 itself is exposed to full sun, its very long 

 and fine roots can run down in the crevices, 

 where the soil is cool, and while continually 

 moist is also constantly well drained. Un- 

 less a rock-garden secures these, the chances 

 are that the plants will do better in an ordi- 

 nary border than on any rockery that fails 

 to provide them. 



" In building a rock-garden, let there be an 

 abundance of pockets and crevices of differ- 

 ent sizes, filled with leaf-mold if possible, 

 but see that each one has a soil-connection 

 quite down to the earth. When this is done, 

 the roots will receive moisture from below 

 by capillary attraction ; if it is neglected, 

 the plants will be as badly off as if in 

 flower-pots, and will probably fail. This 

 essential being secured in a rock-garden, it 

 should be made to appear as much like 

 nature as possible, and should be situated in 

 some place where natural rocks might prop- 

 erly be left, and never upon the lawn or in 

 the ornamental part of the grounds. 



" While alpine plants, when well estab- 

 lished, are in nature exposed to the full 

 action of the sun and winds, when planted 

 in the rookery they should be sheltered at 

 first until their roots become well estab- 

 lished. 



"alpine plants in common gardens. 



" Those who have neither the locality nor 

 the materials for a proper rock-garden may 



cultivate most of the alpine and rock plants 

 with fair success by imitating the above 

 conditions, as far as may be, in the border. 

 Select a spot that is naturally well drained, 

 and excavate the earth to the depth of 

 twenty-four inches ; put in six inches of 

 small stones, broken bricks, etc., to make 

 sure of good drainage ; fill up with leaf -mold 

 or peaty soil, with sufficient sand to keep it 

 open. When the plants are set, mulch them 

 with stones, i. e., have a lot of small stones 

 from the size of a filbert up to the bulk of 

 half a hen's egg, — all the better if flattish 

 rather than round, — and put these around 

 the plants to the depth of two inches or 

 more. This covering of stones, while it 

 allows the rain to enter the soil, cheeks 

 evaporation, and keeps the soil moist, cool, 

 and loose." 



AN INTERESTING NATIVE PLANT. 



THE ZAUSCHNERIA. 



This somewhat harsh name has been be- 

 stowed upon a handsome little fuchsia-like 

 plant of the far West, which is well worthy 

 of a trial iu our gardens. The genus includes 

 but the single species, Z. Californica, which 

 is found throughout southern and central 

 California, and eastward to New Mexico and 

 Utah. The plant is herbaceous, or slightly 

 woody at the base, with a strong, hard, per- 

 ennial root. The stems — about a foot long 

 — are decumbent and ascending, and grow 

 so thickly as to quite cover the ground. The 

 stems and branches are terminated by loose 

 racemes of scarlet flowers. The latter are 

 about an inch long, the parts in fours,— 

 tetramerous, as the botanists say, — with the 

 calyx and corolla colored alike. The style 

 and stamens, as in the Fuchsia, are exserted 

 to some distance beyond the petals, and the 

 anthers are loosely attached by the middle, 

 presenting that pendulous appearance which 

 is so prettily seen in the anthers of the Lily, 

 and which gives to the latter flower its chief 

 grace. The leaves are about an inch long, 

 lance-shaped, slightly toothed, of a deep 

 green, and more or less hairy. Altogether, 

 the habit of the plant, the disposition of the 

 flowers, the highly colored calyx, and the 

 exsert style and stamens, render it strikingly 

 like a Fuchsia, while it has a charm pos- 

 sessed by no variety of the latter — a brill- 

 iant scarlet color. 



In its native mountains its specific attrac- 

 tions are heightened by the surroundings. 

 Where the canon broadens out into a little 

 garden-like expansion, it loves to take pos- 

 session of the gravelly bottoms on either 

 side of the stream, where it grows to the 

 exclusion of almost everything else. The 

 surrounding cliffs, covered with vines and 

 ferns, form a rich setting for the garden 

 beneath. 



In the flower garden it would doubtless 

 admit of great improvement, as even at 

 home its appearance varies greatly with soil 

 and altitude. As it is accustomed in the 

 Sierra Madre to severe cold and very sudden 

 and frequent changes, it would probably 

 prove nearly, if not quite, hardy in this lati- 

 tude. It should be grown in a light, rich, 

 well-drained soil, with an abundance of 

 water, especially about the time of flow- 

 ering. During winter it should be well cov- 

 ered with mulch, or be placed in a frame. 



H. H. Rushby. 



