PARK AND CCnCTCRY 
169 
purplish-brown flowers. Southwards this is nearly 
evergreen. 
Bcrbcris is a large genus of 60 or more species, 
some evergreen and many deciduous shrubs. They 
are very ornamental in flower and fruit. They are 
distributed widely in Europe, Asia and America. 
The evergreens are fine under light shade. 
Epinicdiiiniy “Barren Worts,” have 9 or more 
herbaceous species, E. macranthum, from Japan, 
being one of the best. The species are found in 
Europe, Asia and Algeria. They flower early and 
die down, sometimes flowering in autumn. 
Podopliyllinn peltatiiin and P. Einodi are the 
only “May apples” known. The Himalayan one 
has bright red berries. 
Cabomba, with 2 or 3 species, all American, 
and Brasscnia peltata, with a very wide distribu- 
tion over the American, Africa and Asiatic conti- 
nents and also found in Cuba and Australia, is some- 
times seen in collections of Water-lilies. 
NiipJiar has 3 or 4 species, all found in tlic 
Northern temperate zones. 
EfyniphcBa has 25 known good species and a large 
number of beautiful, natural and garden varieties. 
Recent additions have made it possible to repre- 
sent all the colors except blue in the hardy water- 
lily pond, and as N. scutifolia is hardy south of 
Washington and a blue variety of N. gracilis has re- 
cently been rediscovered in Texas, it may be expected 
that blue will soon be added to the hardy kinds 
without waiting for Central Asia, which is pretty 
sure to produce one. A good way to manage the 
tender kinds is to plant them in baskets of wire, 
which arc lighter than boxes or pots, and permit 
the roots to reach the mud of a pond more freely. 
A good list of day bloomers, N. alba candidissima, 
white; N. X. Marliaca, chrom yellow; N. X. Mar- 
liaca, rose; N. scutifolia, and the blue varieties of 
N. gracilis, Southwards. 
I'he night blooming kinds are only known in red 
and white. N. dentata gigantea, white, and N. 
Devonienis, red, are as good as any. For their 
best development they require a tropical heat of 
80 degrees in the water. 
One of our growers ventured the opinion that 
these tropical night bloomers would not hybridize 
with the day bloomers; it has been done, however, 
I understand. The truth is, the time of blooming 
varies a good deal in the different countries, and 
we will soon have all the merits of a Nymphea by 
daylight at the present rate of progress. 
Nchimlmim is given 2 species. I declare I 
hardly know why. There seems to be little be- 
tween our native creamy one and the Asiatics, and 
1 doubt N. luteum being a true native anyhow. It 
does not behave like one. Why is it found in such 
wide apart isolated stations, and why so hard to es- 
tablish north? I think some one has suggested in 
print that Indians carried it around. I believe they 
brought it across Behrings Straits as food. Any- 
way it may be duplicated in color in Asia, and it is 
curious that the yellow one alone should be found 
in America. It is now twenty years since I first di- 
rected attention to the probable hardihood of these 
splendid Asiatics, and although Saunders failed with 
his first seedlings through too early planting, and 
Buchanan, in 1881, through planting in a cold run- 
ning stream, yet as others followed with more suc- 
cess I feel attention was not directed to them in 
vain, and the same may be said in the matter of 
growing the Victoria regia outdoors. Has any- 
VICTORIA REGIA. 
one tried to cross this with E,iiryale ferox? which is 
quite hardy south. Perhaps it might succeed, who 
knows? 
Trenton, N. J. James MaePherson. 
Good Garden Son,. — What is, or what is not 
good garden soil, is often a great question. The 
customer often complains to the nurserymen that, 
though he planted his trees in the very best soil, 
yet he had little success. Very few people seem 
to understand that good soil is one in which the 
atmosphere can freely circulate. The earth must 
not allow the air to circulate to such an extent as 
to lose its moisture; but it must have an abundance 
of small spaces which will contain small quantities 
of air before plants will thrive. We sometimes 
speak of “air plants,” but in truth, all plants are 
air plants, no matter whether growing on rocks or 
trees, or whether growing in the earth. Air is of 
far more consequence to the roots than to the leaves, 
When, therefore, we have a stiff, clay earth to deal 
with, we make a good soil by applying sand, or 
vegetable matter which, when it roots will leave 
small spaces in which air may be collected. It is 
for the same reason that we crush hard clods, for a 
hard clod has no air spaces. When broken to 
pieces, — pulverizing is the technical term, — we 
simply give the chance for atmospheric air to spread 
throughout the whole mass. For the same reason, 
what is known as a wet soil is a bad soil, because 
water drives out the air.” — Meehans’ Monthly {ox 
December, 
