144 
AMERICAN AG-RICTJLTtmiST. 
.j 
[APRIL, 
rience. This is not so; any careful person, of 
good judgment, haying access to the works now 
published, may successfully manage, in twelve 
months' practice, to make the green-house a 
steadily profitable business. My experience of 
over twenty years as a florist has shown me 
that just as soon as flowers are offered for sale, 
in any town with a population of ordinary in- 
telligence the demand has a rapid and steady 
increase. Fortunately flowers are fashionable, 
and even those ladies who have no strong love 
for them, purchase them freely for the decora- 
tion of their rooms. It is not rare to see ladies 
of means striving to outdo one another in the 
abundance and beauty of their floral decora- 
tions. The rivalry here becomes just as lively 
as in bonnets, dresses-or carpets, and the florist, 
like the man of dry goods, reaps the benefit. 
How to make the green-houses that have been 
devoted to the grape business available for the 
cultivation of flowers, would require too much 
space here, the varieties being too numerous to 
allow us to give the necessary details for each. 
Suffice if to say that they may be made perma- 
nently profitable to those who will take the 
trouble to consult the works on the subject. 
Achyranthes Lindenii. 
Among the novelties offered by the florists 
this season is the Achyranthes (or Iresine) Lin- 
denii, one of those plants now so much esteemed 
for their deeply colored ornamental foliage. 
The Achyranthes Versahaffeltii,m\,xoAwaeA some 
years ago, never became very popular, on ac- 
count of its unsatisfactory color as well as the 
difficulty with which it was kept over winter. 
The present species is from Ecuador, and is 
claimed to be more robust in habit, and to winter 
perfectly well in a cold green-house. It will be 
seen from the engraving which we give of a 
ACHYRANTHES LINDENII. 
small shoot, that the leaves are very different in 
form from the older kind. The color is, more- 
over, richer, it being of an intensely deep red. 
This, like all such new introductions, has to 
undergo the test of our hot and diy summers 
before its value can be ascertained. At the 
European shows it has been awarded several 
first prizes as an ornamental plant. As far as 
can be judged from the small specimens we 
have seen in the green-house, this new Achyran- 
thes promises to be a valuable bedding plant. 
The Ivy-leaved Toad-Flax. 
— » — 
The little Ivy -leaved Toad-Flax, Linaria Gym- 
oalaria, is a native of the south of Europe, but 
has become perfectly naturalized in England, 
and is entirely hardy with us. Unlike the Toad- 
Flax we are most familiar with — the trouble- 
VARIEGATED IVY-LEAVED TOAD-FLAX. 
some weed known as Butter and Eggs and 
Ranstead Weed — this is a delicate trailer, which 
has long slender stems, neatly lobed leaves, 
which are dark green above, and purplish be- 
low, and very small lilac flowers. It shows to 
the best advantage when growing in positious 
where its branches can hang down, and where 
it grows wild it prefers crevices in rocks, old 
walls, and such situations. This habit adapts 
it for growing in suspended vases or baskets, as 
well as upon rock work, for which purposes it 
is quite popular under the names of Kennil- 
worth Ivy, and Coliseum Ivy — though it is 
hardly necessary to say that it is not an Ivj^. 
When grown in the border it makes a neat lit- 
tle mass; the long leaf-stalks become much 
entangled, and the plant is more compact and 
less graceful than when the branches have a 
chance to trail. Every season brings some 
novelties in the way of variegated leaves, and 
tills year this well-known old plant is offered 
with leaves which are blotched with green upon 
a yellow grouud. The engraving represents 
the variegated plant which differs from the 
common form only in its blotched leaves. 
Should the plant hold its variegation, and prove 
reasonably hardy, it will become very popular. 
We are cautious about recommending plants 
with variegated foliage until they have been tested 
in out-door culture. Neither the descriptions of 
the European journals, nor the appearance of 
the plants in the green-houses, will allow us to 
judge of their fitness for our gardening. A 
large number, if not the majority of variegated 
leaves, become green before the summer is over. 
t 
The New Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums. 
The Old Ivy-leaved Pelargonium (Pelargoni- 
um peltaium), or Geranium, as it is most com- 
monly called, is a much neglected plant. When 
well grown it makes a fine plant for a hanging 
basket and is handsome for both its foliage and 
flowers. Within a few years new varieties have 
appeared which show a marked improvement 
in the flowers, and some have the now esteemed 
variegated foliage. Duke of Edinburgh, Silver 
Gem, and I? Elegante, all have their leaves mar- 
gined more or less broadly with white. The 
last named, of which a small bit serves for an 
illustration, has large clusters of pure white 
flowers. Princess Thyra has flowers of light 
salmon color, with white center and a crimson 
spot on the upper petals. Peltalum elegans has 
fine foliage and mauve colored flowers. Bridal 
Wreath has, unlike the other kinds, hairy leaves 
and white flowers. Besides these, other new 
kinds are given in the florist's catalogues. 
MAmrrtE for the Garden. — The letters of 
our correspondents indicate that there are some 
who have the impression that success in gar- 
dening depends upon the use of some especial 
manure. Good, well-rotted stable manure, and 
plenty of it, will grow almost anything in the 
garden or field. The point where most fail is in 
not using enough manure. For a large share of 
garden crops the soil cannot be too rich. This 
is especially the case with all succulent vegeta- 
bles, such as cabbage, lettuce and the like. 
Spent brewers' hops are found to be a useful 
substitute for stable manure, but few are able to 
avail themselves of these. Guano is highly val- 
uable, as are hen manure and fish guano. These 
are best composted with soil before using 
them. Night soil composted with dry earth 
is odorless, and is a fertilizer almost al- 
together neglected except in the expensive 
and uncertain form of pondrette. Earth- 
closets should be introduced for the sake of the 
manure, even if they were not advisable upon 
sanitary accounts. The use of dry earth in the hen- 
house not only serves to keep the atmosphere 
wholesome, but it allows the manure to beeome 
composted at the same time. Sods laid in a heap 
IVY-LEAVED PELARGONIUM — V Elegante. 
and allowed to decay, or thrown into a pig pen,, 
and there composted by the animals, make an 
excellent application, especially to old gardens, 
needing fresh soil. Ashes and plaster, sepa- 
rately or together, may be applied to most crops 
with benefit. A well made phosphate is a val- 
uable manure, but one should be careful to pur- 
chase only of manufacturers of good reputation.. 
Finely ground bones applied directly, or used 
in compost, are excellent. Gardens which 
have been long in cultivation, often need lime. 
