1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
65 
while after in the garden of a skilled horti¬ 
culturist in Massachusetts, I asked if he had 
found it hardy, he replied: “I have no 
tim e to spend in trying if Cape plants are 
hardy in Massachusetts.” As a rule, Cape 
the cape hyacinth (Hyacinthus candicans.) 
plants ought to be tender, but there are ex¬ 
ceptions, and this proves hardy in England, 
and last winter—a very mild one—it was left 
out in New Jersey, and came up unharmed 
in the spring. The plant has vigorous foli¬ 
age, in the center of which arises a stout 
stem, three, and in strong bulbs, four feet 
high, upon the upper part of which are sym¬ 
metrically arranged numerous large drooping 
pure white flowers, at least two inches long. 
Ifciflowers after mid-summer, and is one of 
the best of recent introductions .... When 
all without is snow-covered, how pleasing is 
A Bright Bit of Greenery: 
I saw not long ago a symmetrical tuft of a 
common moss of the wood ( Dieranum ), placed 
upon a soup-plate and kept moist; it gave 
an air of cheer and refinement to the room, 
though it cost nothing but the trouble of 
taking up and bringing home, and would last 
for weeks. Many of the evergreen bits in our 
woods, besides mosses, may be treated in the 
same way, and afford in-door ornaments, not 
the less pleasing for being inexpensive. One 
of the prettiest things of the kind we ever 
saw was an old wire ox muzzle, lined with 
moss, and filled with a large clump of com¬ 
mon cranberry vines, which were in full fruit. 
[The conclusion of our correspondnt’s Euro¬ 
pean “Notes” having been crowded out last 
month, it is given here.—E d.] 
The Meat Shops in Paris, 
are often surprisingly beautiful. They are 
furnished in fine woods, marble counters, and 
everything is temptingly clean. The manner 
of showing their wares is remarkable. A leg 
■of lamb has around it a beautifully-cut “ bou¬ 
quet paper” put about it like a cape, and 
fastened in front with an artificial green leaf 
or flower. Chops have the bone part scraped 
as clean as a k ni fe handle ; the scrapings and 
other meat-scraps are laid upon a cabbage 
leaf and sold for a ragout or stew. In Paris, 
as elsewhere on the continent, 
Vegetables are Served as a Separate Course. 
If , in a restaurant or at a hotel, one orders 
meat and two or three vegetables, only one 
will be served at a time, unless special direc¬ 
tions are given—cauliflower, spinach, aspara¬ 
gus, etc.—are regarded as a separate course. 
It was a surprise to find green peas abundant 
in October; this, as well as the absence of 
other things, showed the great difference 
between the European climate and our own. 
The Abundance of Trees, 
in small cities, as well as in Paris, strikes one 
accustomed to the treeless streets of New 
York. In Paris, when a building is to be put 
up, the first thing the contractor does is to 
build a wall of brick or stone several feet 
high around the street trees that might other¬ 
wise be injured by his operations. The ab¬ 
sence of posters on trees (the few trees that 
remain in New York are full of tacks put in 
by bill-stickers) and other mutilation, shows 
the respect in which trees are held. In some 
towns, especially in Switzerland, the street 
trees are disfigured by having their tops cut 
out; this causes a few of the branches to 
spread to a great distance horizontally, and 
furnish shade, but entirely destroys the habit 
of the tree. This is most frequently done 
with the Oriental Plane, but I saw one tree so 
treated that greatly puzzled me, until I had 
a chance to examine it and ascertain that it 
was our own Locust. In visiting the gardens 
and parks about Paris I was glad to notice 
A Favorite Old Texan Plant. 
Gaura Lindheimeri, in frequent use. It is 
better appreciated abroad than than with us, 
and it is often introduced with fine effect, 
giving an airy grace to a bed of stiffer plants 
that is most pleasing. It was quite abundant 
at the Jardin des Plantes, the Jardin d'Ac- 
climatation, the Champs Elysees, and else¬ 
where. . . . In former “ Notes ” I mentioned 
the beauty of our Virginia Creeper in Eng¬ 
land, but I had not then seen it in Switzer¬ 
land, where it is very frequent. All along 
the Lake of Geneva, as well as the smaller 
and equally beautiful lakes of Thun and 
Brienz, as the boat neared a landing, we were 
sure of a home-like greeting by the scarlet 
banner this grand American plant flung out 
to welcome us. Its scarlet was all the more 
brilliant from being contrasted with the gen¬ 
erally deep green of other foliage. The plant 
seems to ripen here earlier than it does with 
us, and, as it is quite as intense in color as we 
ever have it at home, this effectually disposes 
of the notion, still held by some, that the color 
is due to frost. In travelling through France 
and Switzerland I was struck with 
Tbe General Absence of Weeds. 
This confirms a notion that I have long held, 
which is—it is not alone human importations 
that “put on airs” after they cross the At¬ 
lantic, but the weeds take on a development 
that is not possible for them at home. At 
this time of the year the Swiss vegetable 
gardens presented but little but turnips and 
that form of beet which we know as Swiss- 
Chard, but which the Swiss themselves call 
“ kraut.” It there makes a splendid growth, 
and I do not wonder that it is generally popu¬ 
lar. Switzerland shows some strange con¬ 
trasts. At Grindenwald there were tomatoes 
and castor oil plants flourishing in the gar¬ 
den, yet in two hours’ slow horse-back ride 
one could reach a glacier, where there was 
ice all the summer. There were geraniums 
trained by the side of the house, tall enough 
to reach the second stoxy, and from beneath 
them one could look upon 'perpetual snow. 
After crossing the Brunig Pass, and descend¬ 
ing into the valley in which lie the lakes of 
Alpnach and Lucerne, I was greatly surprised 
at the quantity of Indian com. At nearly 
every house, under the projecting roofs at 
the gable ends, were great festoons of ears, 
strung upon cords as if to finish ripening. 
Unfortxmately, the diligence stopped nowhere 
in this district, and we were unable to make 
inquiries as to the extent of the culture of our 
national cereal, or the uses made of the crop. 
The Umbrella China-Tree. 
One of the most common ornamental trees 
in the Southern States is the ‘ ‘ Pride of India,” 
or “China-Tree,” as it is more usually called. 
The tree ( Melia Azedaracli) is a native of Per¬ 
sia, but has become so thoroughly natui-alized 
in distant localities, that some botanists have 
thought it must be a native. It grows 80 to 
40 feet high, has rather irregular branches, 
twice divided leaves and clusters of lilac- 
colored fragrant flowers, succeeded by a fruit 
about as large as a cherry, with an external 
pulp and a hard nut within. The tree is not 
hardy north of Virginia, but southward it is 
a common street tree, and frequent around 
country places. The ease with which it may 
be transplanted and its rapid growth are 
somewhat offset by the readiness with which 
its branches ai - e broken by high winds. Its 
wood makes excellent fuel, is durable and 
is used for furniture. There has been intro¬ 
duced from Texas, within a few years, a 
marked variety called the Umbrella China- 
Tree. Several years ago we saw a small speci¬ 
men of this in the extensive collection of P. 
J. Berckmans, near Augusta, Ga., which 
promised to be valuable, and now we have a 
photograph of a tree in Abbeville, Ala., taken 
by J. C. Mangold, from which the engrav¬ 
ing is made, to show the remarkably compact 
habit and umbrella-like form. Mr. J. A. 
Clendinen sends an account of the tree, from 
which we learn that the foliage is so dense 
that it will turn almost any rainfall. It does 
not fruit so abundantly as the ordinaxy form 
the umbrella china-tree {Melia Azedarach , var.) 
of the tree, but, what is quite remarkable, 
the variety is reproduced from the seed. This 
variety of the favorite China-Tree will com¬ 
mend itself to our readers in the Southern 
States, as it has naturally the compact habit 
that is some times imperfectly produced in 
the ordinary form of the tree by sevei-e cut¬ 
ting. China-berries, as the fruit of the tree 
is usually called, are eaten by sheep and goats, 
which in winter require but little other food ; 
cows are fond of them, but they impart an 
unpleasant taste to the milk. The hard stone 
is sometimes bored and strung to make 
“rosaries” and necklaces, hence the tree is 
I known in some countries as the Bead-tree. 
