2o8 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
greatest yard improvement in other parts of the 
town. 
Some such plan as this should be followed in 
many towns and would doubtless be productive of 
excellent results in exciting comment and interest. 
It would be especially to the advantage of railroad 
towns to use every legitimate effort to induce resi- 
dents to improve the appearance of grounds facing 
on railway rights of way which are notoriously 
neglected and unsightly. 
Improvement societies using their influence to 
so alter for the better the railway rights of way 
passing through their towns, would doubtless be 
able to secure the aid of railway companies in 
doing larger work along similar lines after such de- 
monstration of their interest and influence. 
Prizes for vine planting on old buildings, 
fences, etc., facing on railway rights of way should 
result in a wonderful amelioration of the squalor 
and general unsightliness that usually line a rail- 
road the moment corporation limits are entered. 
F. C. S. 
A SUMMER SCENE IN THE ISLE OF WIGHT. 
The visitor to Europe who includes the Isle of 
Wight in his tour, and all should do this, will find 
there many plants flourishing which he will not 
find hardly anywhere else in England, and this, 
should he be one familiar with horticulture, will 
give him a very great deal of pleasure. In the 
illustration accompanying these notes there are, 
for instance, two or three kinds which will not give 
satisfaction on the mainland. 
On the walls of the dwelling are three “vines,” 
English ivy. Yellow Banksian rose and Edwardsia 
microphylla, the New Zealand laburnum. This 
has yellow, pea shaped flowers, belonging to the 
natural order Leguminosae. It is classed as So- 
phora by late authorities. It is not a vine, but 
needing protection in many parts of England and 
doing well when grown to a wall, it is often found 
in places where vines are looked for. 
The lovely Banksian rose is not hardy enough 
for use here, excepting in the southern states. 
The little girl nearest the dwelling is hiding 
behind a fine bush of the beautiful Leycesteria 
formosa. It is a distinct a-nd interesting plant, and 
one which, fortunately, will live out as far north as 
Philadelphia, and no doubt still further if protected 
at the root. And as the shoots from the ground 
flower freely in late summer, there is but little loss 
in permitting the tops to be frozen down. I have 
seen fine plants of it in the public grounds at 
Washington, D, C., as well as smaller ones in the 
gardens of Philadelphia. The flowers are in droop- 
ing racemes, are white, tinged with purple, and are 
followed by berries of a purplish color which are 
as pretty as the flowers. It is a native of the tem- 
perate Himalayas. 
Hardly visible by the side of the Leycesteria is 
a New Zealand plant, Cordyline indivisa, a plant 
not unlike a dracaena in appearance, and generally 
found here in collections of indoor plants. 
Quite close to the dwelling, its branches reach- 
ing almost to the top, will be seen a vigorous 
young tree of the Australian Blue Gum, Eucalyp- 
tus globulus. This ornamental and valuable tim- 
ber tree is not reliably hardy even in the Isle of 
Wight. It can stand but a degree or two of frost 
without injury. The wood of this and other Euca- 
lyptus is very hard, besides that a tincture from its 
bark and leaves finds a place in druggists’ lists. 
A SUMMER SCENE IN THE ISEE OF WIGHT, ENGEAND. 
Seeds of this plant sown indoors in March, the 
seedlings planted out of doors in May, give highly 
ornamental plants six to eight feet high by autumn. 
On the left of the building is a good sized 
shrub of pomegranate. This is hardy there, as in 
fact, it is here to some extent. Though flowering 
there it does not bear fruit, the summer not being 
warm enough. In our southern states it perfects 
fruit, and this fruit sometimes finds its way to 
northern markets. But while passably well flav- 
ored they are not of the melting sweetness of those 
which found their way to Selim’s table, as described 
in “The Light of the Harem”: 
“The board wa.s spread with fruits and wine, 
With grapes of gold, like those that shine 
On Casbin’s hills; pomegranates full 
Of melting sweetness, and the pears 
.■\nd sunniest apples that Caubul 
In all its thousand gardens bears.” 
