408 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[October, 
and the “Revue Horticole” (France), have 
this year published colored plates of it, calling 
it V. longifolia, variety subsessilis, thus con¬ 
firming our determination made several years 
ago. So far as garden purposes go, the “Jap¬ 
anese Veronica ” or “Japanese Speedwell” 
will answer for a name, for no matter how 
many other species there may be in Japan, 
this must stand pre-eminent in the beauty of 
its color. The engraving of about half life- 
size, shows the form of the flower-spikes and 
the habit of the plant. It grows about two 
feet high, and produces a number of branches, 
each of which is terminated by spikes, ar¬ 
ranged in the manner here shown. It has 
proved to be a great favorite with cultivators 
choice plants in Europe, and is regarded as 
the most beautiful of all the hardy Veronicas. 
Notes from the Pines. 
Nothing is more common than for people 
to say “ this is the wettest,” or “ the dryest,” 
“the hottest,” or “the coldest,” “May (or 
August) that I have ever known.” Such as¬ 
sertions, without reference to the record, have 
but little value. But of one thing I am well 
assured: when the common weeds of the 
road-side droop their leaves, so that they hang 
down helplessly, it must be not only dry—but 
very dry. In such weather as we have had 
for weeks one takes little pleasure in the 
garden. The soil is hopelessly parched, plants 
come into flower prematurely, and midsum¬ 
mer flowers give no satisfaction. It is dis¬ 
tressingly dry. One of the neighbors has 
A Field of Late-planted Corn, 
which has tasselled and silked while the 
plants are not yet two feet high ! Still there 
is a part of the garden which, by aid of a 
steam pump, we can keep in tolerable condi¬ 
tion so long as the river holds out. I have 
so frequently mentioned the excellence of our 
wild plants, when removed to the garden, that 
some may think that I “harp upon one 
string ” too often. My point is simply this— 
A Real Lover of Flowers, 
living in almost any portion of our country, 
can, without the expenditure of a dollar, 
bring into cultivation, from his immediate 
neighborhood, wild flowers, in sufficient 
number and variety to make a bright and 
beautiful garden. I do not wish to discourage 
the growing of exotics, but if one has not the 
money to buy these, then let him bring in 
the natives of the neighboring swamps, the 
fields, and the woods, and he can have a gar¬ 
den of great beauty without cost. To-day, 
in going through a part of our grounds that 
I had not recently visited, I was actually 
startled at the beauty of 
A Clump of tlie Cardinal Flowers, 
(Lobelia cardinalis). Here, in the most sandy 
soil, after a prolonged drouth, was this ijative 
of our swamps, as erect and as bright as in 
its native habitats. In going to the city by 
rail, across the marshes, there is at this mid¬ 
summer time a great display of 
The Rose-Blallow (Hibiscus Moscheutos), 
larger than the related Hollyhocks, and mak¬ 
ing a flower garden of what are called “ The 
Meadows.” In the garden, dry as the garden 
is, I find that the same is in full bloom, and 
not only are there the ordinary rose-purple 
flowers, but a chance white-flowered variety 
is also in full bloom.Of the later intro¬ 
ductions the finer varieties of Clematis seem 
to have made but slow progress. These seem 
to me destined to be among our most popular 
flowers; some are spring-blooming only, 
others flower during the hot months of July 
and August, and what a grand show they 
make, if only given a chance ! The top of a 
young cedar, deprived of the bark and small¬ 
er twigs, makes an excellent support, or they 
may be provided with a wire trellis. They 
only need a support five or six feet high, and 
I find that in the very hottest and driest 
weather that such varieties as “ Tne Queen,” 
“Splendida,” “Otto Froebel,” and “Alex¬ 
ander,” all of the “ Jackmanni” sort, do 
wonderfully well and flower in profusion. 
The Genus Clematis 
affords a wonderful variety to the flower 
garden. Besides the low and large-flowered 
climbers already mentioned, we have several 
that do not climb at all, but which, like C. 
integrifolia, C. Davidiana, and C. tubulosa, 
are erect, herbaceous plants. On the other 
hand, there are some rampant climbers, 
which, like our lovely native “Virgin’s 
Bower” ( C. Virginiana,) will run from 20 to 
50 feet if given an opportunity. Among the 
lower growing climbers is C. graveolens, ex¬ 
cellent for covering a low trellis of 8 or 10 
feet, with its pleasing foliage and pale-yellow 
bloom.In the greenhouse is a large pan 
of that most wonderful of plants, 
Venus’ Fly-Trap (Hioncea muscipula). 
The sashes of the greenhouse, in summer, 
are of course open, and insects of all sorts get 
caught in the Fly-traps. The other day a 
! ‘Potato-bug ” tried it. The rascal was caught, 
but though it gnawed a hole through the fly¬ 
trap, I am glad to say that it did not get out. 
Dioncea was quite too much for Doryphora. 
Still the catching of such big insects seems 
to exhaust the fly-trap, and after a leaf has 
caught one, it loses its sensitiveness.I 
every now and then get personal letters di¬ 
rected to “The Man at the Pines,” and when 
these seem to require it, I give a personal 
reply. Recently I had a most delightful let¬ 
ter from far-off Oregon, from one who wished 
to get various garden seeds in exchange for 
the wild plants of his locality. Such letters 
are always welcome, and I am glad if I can 
be of aid to cultivators in these distant places. 
Several have been sent asking about the 
pruning of evergreens, especially about 
Tlie Pruning of Norway Spruce. 
The Norway Spruce is, perhaps, the most 
generally planted of all evergreen trees, but 
the letters asking about the pruning of it, 
generally fail to state whether the pruning 
is to be done upon the tree as grown in hedges 
or screens, or upon isolated trees. With 
respect to isolated trees, the best thing to do, 
is to let the trees alone, unless some of the 
upper branches have a tendency to overlay 
the lower. Only general directions can be 
given as to the pruning of the Norway Spruce, 
or any other tree. If a branch appears to 
need removal, take it out, by making a slop¬ 
ing cut from bel©w, upward and outward. 
The Norway Spruce, like other evergreens, 
sometimes has its leader injured, and the up¬ 
ward growth interrupted. I had a marked 
case of this a few years ago, but I mere¬ 
ly turned up a branch, and tied it to a 
stake ; the tree, after this treatment, is now 
one of the most shapely upon my grounds. 
There seems to be a common opinion that 
evergreens need some special care and treat¬ 
ment, while the fact is, only ordinary common 
sense is required in their management. If a 
tree needs pruning, prune it, whether its 
leaves are evergreen or deciduous. There are 
some few evergreens which should be better 
known, because of their great beauty on 
small places and the ease with which they 
are propagated. Take one, for example, 
Retinispora Plmnosa vav. Aurea, 
an evergreen that can be useful for edgings, 
six inches high, or it may make screens six 
feet or more in hight, but wherever it is em¬ 
ployed it is one of the most beautiful and 
useful of all recent introductions, and 
moreover so generally appreciated that it 
may be had at every nursery. In appear¬ 
ance it is like an Arbor-vitse, though its foli¬ 
age is finer and more feathery, and of a 
beautiful golden tint. Whatever may be the 
case with the original plant, the typical 
Retinispora plumosa, this golden variety, 
aurea, is one of the most manageable of all 
plants. Cuttings of it, two or three inches 
long, put into the sand of the cutting-bench, 
will take root almost as readily as so many 
Verbena cuttings, only they require more 
time, but are sure to come. It is, in short, 
one of the most tractable things that the 
amateur can get hold of. Easily raised from 
cuttings, and as easily managed, whether it 
be used for edgings or for larger plants. I 
do not know of anything more beautiful 
than my clump of this evergreen, four or five 
feet high, at a turn of one of the paths at 
“The Pines.” I wish that every one who 
appreciates a good thing could know of and 
have this Retinispora plumosa, var. aurea. 
Wanted, A Constitution, 
The gathering together of farmers and 
others at fairs at this season, often suggests 
the formation of agricultural, horticultural, 
or other rural societies. As a consequence, we 
each year receive numerous applications for 
aid and advice, especially in the matter of a 
Constitution. It is well enough for such an 
association to have some form of Constitution 
or Compact, and the briefer and simpler this 
is, the better. Where people are thoroughly 
in earnest, a very little constitution goes a 
great ways. So far as our own experience 
goes, societies waste a vast deal of time over 
their constitutions. In most societies there 
will be one or two men who are great on 
small things, and who delight to show their 
learning in quibbling over the wording of a 
section of the constitution, and spend much 
precious time in debating whether it shall 
read “ the President may,” or “the President 
shall.” The only way to get along with these 
persons is, to have very little constitution for 
them to quibble over. Probably something 
like this would answer every purpose : “ This 
shall be called-Society, its object shall 
be the promotion of agriculture. Its members 
shall be those who, upon admission by a two- 
thirds vote at any meeting, shall pay $ , and 
sign the list of members. Its officers, presi¬ 
dent, secretary, and treasurer, and such others 
as may be needed, shall be chosen by a ma¬ 
jority voting at the annual meeting, on-. 
Its meetings shall be at such times as may be 
fixed by vote, and be conducted according to 
usual parliamentary rules.” 
That is quite constitution enough for any 
number of earnest men and women. Still, as 
there are those who like more form we give 
a longer one, which is still very brief as com¬ 
pared with such documents generally. Is is 
