286 
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 
From Here There and Everywhere \ 
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RANUNCULUS The Mountain Buttercup is one of the most 
MONTANUS. tractable of its race, a plant of the easiest cul- 
ture and producing, when doing well, a perfect 
sward of shining golden-yellow flowers. A fibrous-rooted species 
attaining 4 inches to 8 inches high, the plant produces tufts of 
dark, glossy, green leaves from which in April and May issue tic- 
sheets of glistening golden flowers not unlike those of the common 
Buttercup in color, though rounder and more densely clustered on 
the plant. 
Native of alpine and sub-alpine pastures and woods, the plant 
presents no difficulty to the cultivator, and is usually a success in 
cool, moist, sandy loam, appearing to resent dryness more than 
aught besides. The accompanying illustration is useful as show- 
ing the free flowering of the plant, though no picture can convey 
an adequate idea of the richness of coloring when the plant is at 
its I icst. — Uardening. 
The Mountain Buttercup. 
LIVERWORTS. Almost, if not quite, coincident with that of 
trailing arbutus is the coming of hepatica "i 
liverwort, writes Dr. W. \V. Bailey in tic Amer- 
ican Botanist. I' possesses, along with trailing arbutus, the habit 
of hiding itself amidst fallen leaves, the coy flowers usually appear- 
ing well in advance of the foliage. Yet the last year's three lobed 
leaves, now bronzy or purplish, generally accompany the blooms 
ami very shortly one detects the new leaves neatly folded, or better, 
rolled inward, glossy green in their young state and clothed with 
silky hairs. 
It is one of those plants that depend upon their calyx, rather 
than upon their corolla for their beauty. Indeed, it presents in 
this respect some deceptive features. At a varying distance from 
the white, pink or violet sepals appear three ovate bodies often 
so near the flower as to resemble a calyx. These are really bracts 
and are often remote enough to be recognized as such. The eight 
or ten or more sepals are all distinct, somewhat elliptical in shape 
and early deciduous. There are numerous stamens and pistils, all 
distinct. These features and the insertion of the parts on the re- 
ceptacle, i. e. beneath the pi-tils, help to identity the plant as one 
of the multifarious group of crowfoots or plants of the buttercup 
family. 
As is well known. thi- family possesses strikingly dissimilar 
members which yet possess marked characters, like those men- 
tioned above, by which one learns to know them. Thus it may 
have both calyx and corolla or one circle of floral envelopes only, 
when it is always the calyx which is present. The petals, if there 
arc any. may lie long and spurred as in the columbine, or curious 
sacs as in goldthread or indescribable bodies. as in larkspur and 
monkshood. The simple pistils usually free from each other are 
a marked feature as in our liverwort, but in the peony they are 
more or less united. 
The name, liverwort, and its Latin equivalent, Hepatica, was 
given to our little plant from a fancied resemblance in the leaves 
to the form of the liver. There followed from this, by the ancient 
doctrine of signatures, a belief that the foliage was useful in com- 
plaints of that organ. I fancy it may be used, even now, by some 
persons with this idea in view. It is probably no longer found 
in any authentic pharmacopeia, but of it might be said what Asa 
(■ray said of some other plant, "It is probably as efficacious as 
many other things." 
770,000 
CO-OPERATORS. 
Nearly 770.000 persons, largely successful 
farmers, are now aiding the United States 
Department of Agriculture by furnishing 
information, demonstrating the local usefulness of new methods, 
testing out theories, experimenting and reporting on conditions 
in their districts — by helping, in short, in almost every conceiv- 
able way to increase the knowledge of the Department and to 
place that knowledge at the service of the people. This army of 
volunteers receives no pay from the government. Many of these 
co-operators are actuated solely by a wish to be of service to 
their neighbors. Others take part in this work because of their 
own keen interest in testing new methods, or in trying out for 
themselves crops either new to their own sections or imported 
from foreign countries through the Department's plant explorers. 
It is estimated that at least one farm out of every twenty is 
working in some way with the Department of Agriculture and 
thus has become a center of advanced agricultural information for 
it- community. In addition to the farmers who work directly 
with the Department of Agriculture, there are thousands of others 
who render a similar valuable service to the scientists and field 
workers of the State agricultural colleges and experiment stations. 
With such a large number of farmers willing to work with 
the Department and the colleges and test out their recommenda- 
tions, it is clear that a significant change has taken place from 
the day when the average farmer was decidedly skeptical about 
scientific agriculture and slow or unwilling to give attention to 
the recommendations of what many used to designate as "book 
farmers." 
The wide use made by the Department of this large number 
of practical farmers indicates clearly how erroneous was the once 
prevalent idea that agricultural scientists held themselves aloof 
and that the Department of Agriculture consisted mainly of col- 
lege-trained men, who were far more at home in their offices or 
laboratories than on actual farms. 
THE MARSH 
MARIGOLDS 
Most of the members of this small family of 
plants greatly resemble one another in habit and 
Bowers. They are spread all over the north tem- 
perate regions, usually growing in damp meadows and waterside 
places. In mil native Marsh Marigold (Oalfhas) we possess one 
of the brightest and best of early flowering bog plants, and those 
who are considering the formation of a bog garden will do well to 
make free use of this when planting. Its favorite position, where 
it grow- most luxuriantly and produces the largest flowers, is in 
valley bottoms of black muddy sod. on the edges of streams, or 
often partly submerged. Under these conditions the golden yellow 
flowers are particularly attractive, and fully justify a prominent 
position in the bog garden. Calthas should also be employed in 
beautifying the edges of lakes and other ornamental waters, by 
being planted in large groups. Once established, the plants in- 
crease freely by mean- of self-sown seeds, which germinate readily. 
Plants may also be increased by division of the roots in autumn 
or spring. — Exchange. 
Of Interest to Estate Owners 
The NatioDal Association of Gardeners maintains a Service Bureau 
which is at the disposal of all who may require the services of efficient 
gardeners in their various capacities. 
The association seeks the co-operation of estate owners in its efforts 
to secure opportunities for those engaged in the profession of garden- 
ins who are seeking to advance themselves. It makes no charge for 
services rendered. It endeavors to supply men qualified to assume the 
responsibilities the position may call for. 
Make your requirements known to 
M. C. EBIX, Sec'y, National Association of Gardeners, Madison, N. J. 
