AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
Beautiful "Foliage Plants."— Begonias. 
The old Begonia fuchaiokhs andi?. incarnata 
have long been prized by cultivators for their 
flowers, and they still remain among the favor- 
ite tenants of the green-house. It is com- 
paratively recently that a set has been in- 
troduced, -which are valued more for the 
beauty of their foliage than that of their 
flowers. The first notable one of this kind 
was Begonia Rex, with its enormous leaves 
of rich green, with a broad silver zone. 
One of the first plants of this sent to this 
country came, from Kewto Cambridge, and 
we well recollect the pride with which 
Doct. Gray placed the plant in a proper 
light, to show its beauty, and our astonish- 
ment that a leaf could be so charming. 
Greater was our astonishment to find that 
this plant could be propagated from the 
leaf, and that from a leaf planted in a pot 
a dozen plants would spring up. But all 
this was years ago; now leaf propagation is 
a common thing, and Begonia Bex — then so 
rare and so wonderful to us — we have seen 
cut out of Ellwanger & Barry's green- 
houses by the armful to get it out of the 
way. Since then the reign of Bex has been 
contested by many others ; new species 
have turned up, seedlings and hybrids have 
been obtained, until it would take a long 
list to catalogue all the fine Begonias. The 
shape of the leaves — they being unequal 
sided — is quaint in all; in some, the leaf 
stalk and under side of the leaf are clothed 
with long hairs, and have the appearance of 
a beautiful crimson plush; in others, the colors 
of the surface of the leaf are strikingly beauti- 
ful, often like the richest satin, and again pre- 
senting a metallic appearance that is really 
charming. Messrs. Olm Bros., of Springfield, 
Mass., imported a lot of the finer sorts last year, 
and sent us specimens of the leaves. "Where 
all were so beautiful it 
was difficult to choose, 
but we selected two that 
we thought best adapt- 
ed for illustration, and 
we think that our artists 
have succeeded in giv- 
ing an idea, as well as 
can be done in black 
and white, of these two 
varieties. Though chief- 
ly seen in green-houses, 
these finer Begonias arc 
admirably adapted to 
out-door decoration, and 
did florists properly put 
them forward they 
would soon take a high 
rank among what are 
absurdly called " foliage 
plants." For banging 
baskets, rustic vases and 
stands, they are most 
admirable, and were 
they cheap enough, as 
they might easily be, 
they would come in play 
for decorative beds up- 
on the lawn. Of course 
they are not at all hardy, and neither is Co- 
leus and others of our ornamental plants, 
though one species, Begonia discolor, usually 
stands the winter in France, and doubtless many 
of these fine sorts, when tested, will be found 
to winter in an apartment where they can be 
kept from freezing. The Begonias do best in 
a rather substantial soil which contains a good 
share of vegetable matter. The name was given 
in honor of Michel Begou, a patron of botany, 
who lived in France in the 17th century. 
BEGONIA riCTURATA. 
Paths in Public and Private Grounds. 
The old gravel walk has had its clay. The 
scuffling, raking, dressing, rolling, weeding, 
and other matters of care, are to be avoided, if 
possible. A good gravel for making walks is 
only to be found here and there, and in the 
Fig. 3. — BEGONIA— QUEEN OF ENGLAND. 
majority of cases a walk instead of being a 
pleasure is a nuisance. Some years ago we 
published an account of the experience of a 
friend in making walks with gas tar and sand. 
Some combination of this kind is destined to 
supersede gravel. It is permanent when once 
put down, it does not allow the growth of 
any weeds, and requires no fussing. There is 
an elasticity about a path of this kind that 
makes it especially pleasant to walk upon. 
There is an asphalt walk across City Hall 
Park, and in crossing from our old office to 
our new one, we prefer to go a little out of 
our way for the sake of enjoying this walk. 
Thousands of people traverse it daily, and 
it retains its shape without losing its elas- 
ticity. ■ It was put down with a layer of 
coarse gravel and tar, then coal ashes, and 
upon the top a layer of fine gravel or 
coarse sand. The friend above alluded to 
simply grades his walks, flows them with 
gas tar, and then puts on all the sand that 
will stick. In a few days the walk may be 
used. Paths of tar, etc., have been tried 
in Central Park, and the Controller, Mr. A. 
H. Green, in his recent admirable report 
says — cautiously, it is true — as follows: 
" Several pieces of walk have been laid in 
the Park during the fall, with a composition 
of tar, gravel, and cement, coal tar having 
been first used, and subsequently the or- 
dinary tar of commerce. The appearance, 
when properly mixed and laid, is thus far 
the most satisfactory of anything that has 
yet been tried : it is readily formed and 
shaped to meet the various conditions of 
the ground through which it is laid — it is 
compact and pleasant to walk upon — it is 
claimed to be free from dust, and that it is 
not so materially affected by the heat or 
cold as to diminish its practical usefulness. 
It is not intended to express any opinion 
as to the merits of this combination of material. 
If experience proves that it answers all that 
is promised, it will be very serviceable in 
all places where walks of a rural character 
are desired, especially on those which, from the 
steepness of the acclivity, are liable to wash." 
Now, we have thus replied to many letters, 
and told all we know 
about walks of this 
kind. "We cannot find 
that there is any exact 
formula for making 
them. Doubtless gas- 
tar with sand, cement, 
coal ashes, gravel, or 
any similar substance, 
will harden into a good 
walk. If any of our 
readers have any expe- 
rience in this matter 
that will benefit others, 
we hope they will 
kindly communicate it. 
A Long Sleep op a 
Plant. — The following 
remarkable case of sus- 
pended animation in a 
tree is recorded by 
Shirley Hibbard in the 
Gardener's Magazine, 
(London), as having oc- 
curred under his obser- 
vation. A large bay-tree 
having been injured by 
the winter of 1860-61, 
was cut down to the ground, but the stump was 
not removed. No signs of vegetation were 
visible until the present spring, (1868), when, 
after remaining dormant for seven years, new- 
shoots appeared from the roots. We have known 
plants to remain in this way for a year only. 
