282 



When first planted, slugs and snails are very fond 

 of them. To prevent the ravages of these pests, 

 plant with them a batch of lettuce, and while there 

 is a young lettuce left the phloxes will be untouched. 

 When established, vermin will not touch them. 

 Phloxes make a good third or fourth row in the 

 rear of geraniums and other bedders. 



The older and hardier kinds are superb shrubbery 

 ornaments ; some of the pure whites, and and pur- 

 ple selfs, make huge tufts if let ^alone for several 

 years, and flower earlier than the choicer kinds 

 which are annually propagated. Bat for a fine 

 bloom fii for exhibition purposes, the system of 

 annual propagation should be followed, and a luxu- 

 riant growth should be promoted by affording them 

 abundance of food. Named phloxes are classed in two 

 sections : the first bears more or less affinity to P. 

 suffruticosa, which flowers in July and August ; 

 the second to P. decassata, which flowers in August, 

 September and October, As may well be under- 

 stood, many of the varieties partake pretty equally 

 of the characteristics of both sections. 



The selection which follows is made to comprise 

 an equal number of each section ; but it may be well 

 to add that the late-flowering varieties are those 

 which are in the highest repute. There is great 

 sameness among phloxes, yet in the selection here 

 offered the most distinct kinds only have been taken ; 

 and though in many instances the brief descriptions 

 are the same, the varieties themselves differ suffi- 

 ciently to make them individually interesting, as 

 they are all extremely beautiful, and well adapted 

 to engage the attention of discriminating cultivators. 



Twenty-four J^arly-floweriag Phloxes. — Abdel de 

 Lepidinum, shaded rose ; Abdel M. Khan, white 

 and ro:-e ; Addisonii. white, carmine centre ; Atlas, 

 light rosy lilac ; Colonel Dundas, dark purple ; Col. 

 Maclean, rosy purple, shaded maroon ; Countess of 

 Haddington, purple-lake, crimson centre ; Countess 

 of Home, white, dark crimson eye ; Countess of 

 Morton, pure white. Lady Abercromby, white, 

 crimson eye ; Lady Musgrove, white, rosy crimson 

 eye; Lydia, French white, rosy eye; Madame Breon, 

 lilac striped ; Magnet, shaded peach ; Magnifica, 

 shaded white, violet eye; Miss E. Spedding, white, 

 crimson eye ; Mr. Hollandre, white, pink eye ; Mr. 

 Lithgow, shaded rose-puce ; Mrs. Bald, silvery 

 white, crimson eye ; Mrs. Gillon, silvery white, 

 pink eye ; Pearl, french white ; Princess, deep 

 peach ; The Bride, white, light rose eye ; Volcano, 

 dark rose, red eye. — Gard. Weekly. 



The Champagne Country.— Eh eims is the 

 heart of the Champagne country. The city is about 

 120 miles from Paris, and is divided into an old and 

 a new part. The hotels are old, and one has been 

 a family property for three generations. The great 

 cathedral is remarkable for its unity, and its porches 

 are crowded with figures and decorations. Some 

 seven hundred statues fill the. three porches; five 

 hundred being nearly life size, ane the rest colossal. 

 There is also humorous and bad sculpture. The 

 foundation was laid in 1212, where Christian church- 

 es had stood since 401. The Maid of Orleans as- 

 sisted at the coronation of Charles VII here. The 

 church of St. Remi is another ornament of Bheims, 

 and was built in 1041. 



The principal importance of town originates more, 

 however, in its champagaes than its churches. It 

 sends 13,000,000 bottles to market annually, of which 

 the United States takes 2,000,000. England, Rus- 

 sia and the East Indies compete w^ith the United 

 States ; then follows France and other countries. 

 The Heidsieck (PiperJ brand exports 40,000 bottles 

 to the United States annually ; Gr. H. Mumm & Co. 

 and Charles Heidsieck & Co. 12,000 each; King & 

 Co. 11,000, Heidsieck & Co. 10,000, and others in 

 lessening amounts. 



The wine is mostly genuine. Some producers of 

 less note manufacture from a grape which does not 

 grow on the hills near. The chief exporters say 

 that the wines sent here are inferior to those sent 

 elsewhere and retained. The great vintage of 1858, 

 known as the " Consular Seal," is the best, and is 

 drank by the manufacturers. Moot & Chandon, in 

 same department, but out of Bheims, sell 2,000,000 

 bottles yearly ; have an establishment covering 122- 

 acres, with two miles of vaults. Some of the 

 Bheims' manufacturers have their vaults at Eper- 

 nay. 



The Heidsieck may always be relied on as a pure 

 wine, but not of the highest quahty. Madame 

 CHcquot was a dwarfish old lady, and died in 1866. 

 Her wine is brandied and sugared to suit the Rus- 

 sian taste. Louis 'Roederer & Co. won repute by 

 charlatantry, and now sell 75,000 dozen annually. A 

 well known brand is sure wealth. The Mumms 

 make a fair average wine. De St. Marceaux is the 

 most expert and conscientious manufacturer, and 

 when a connoisseur wants the best in the country he 

 can surely get it from him. 



The vin mosseux or champagne hardly dates be- 

 yond the eighteenth century. In 1780, 6000 bottles 

 was a large year's manufacture for Moet & Chan- 

 don, who now sell 150,000 dozen. At Hautvilliers, 

 an hour's ride from Rheims, lived Dom Perignon 



