1882.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Ill 
to put out valuable plants, by having the land 
entirely bare of vegetation at the laying 
season, or, if already in the soil, I remove 
them before putting out the plants. As a 
bare fallow is injurious to fertility in this 
climate, I prefer to mulch the ground thickly 
with pine straw or dry marsh sedge, which is 
burned off in preference to plowing it under 
on my light sandy soil. Such insects as 
Crickets harboring under the mulch will be 
destroyed by the heat. If in the rotation a 
clean crop, which is not subject in the fall to 
Cut-worms, precedes the one to be put out, 
little fear of injury need be entertained. 
Two years ago, intending to put out about an 
acre of Extra Early Dwarf Erfurt Cauliflower 
plants, the seed of which sells in New York 
at $9 per ounce, I mulched the land early in 
the fall with marsh sedge. As with the cab¬ 
bage field above mentioned, a very heavy 
crop of Cow Peas had been plowed under. I 
lost only about a dozen plants, and these near 
the borders. Four years ago, being anxious 
to secure a good stand of Watermelons on 
about one-quarter acre, from which I ex¬ 
pected to save some choice seed, I placed cab¬ 
bage leaves and bunches of grass on every 
other row, as soon as the hills were made, and 
hunted the worm every morning. Before 
the seed was up I captured 1,538 Cut-worms 
and only a single one afterwards. There 
were worms enough to average eleven to 
the hill, and my melons would have stood a 
poor chance, had they remained, as a single 
worm could have cleaned off several hills. 
The Globe Sunflower. 
Not long ago there appeared in the Europe¬ 
an catalogues Helianthus globosus fistulosus, 
and it is now offered by our seedsmen. Two 
names are all that any plant ought to have, 
and the first two of these may be translated 
into “Globe Sunflower,” which is short and 
descriptive. What fistulosus (hollow) applies 
to we are not quite sure, but probably to the 
quilled form of the florets. At all events, the 
engraving shows it to be a sunflower that is 
THE GLOBE SUNFLOWER. 
trying to look as much unlike a sunflower as 
possible. We are not told anything about its 
origin, but as it is an annual it is likely to be 
a variety of the common sunflower, Helian¬ 
thus annuus, in which the disk is filled with 
ray flowers, and the very convex receptacle 
gives the head a form approaching the globu¬ 
lar. It is said to grow about three feet high, 
and to bloom profusely. Where an abundance 
of yellow is desired to mix with and warm 
up other and more sombre colors, this will no 
doubt afford aready means of providing it. 
Drummond’s Phlox and Its Varieties. 
Most of our choice florists’ flowers have 
come to us through many generations of cul¬ 
tivators, and at the hands of each have been 
improved, and more and more removed from 
the original form. We can 
now hardly conceive that 
the finest Carnations start¬ 
ed from a not very attrac¬ 
tive single Pink, or that 
our choice Pansies, with 
their wonderful richness 
and variety of color and 
great size, could have been 
derived from the poor lit¬ 
tle Viola tricolor. It has 
req ired the care of garden¬ 
ers through several cen¬ 
turies to bring some of our 
flowers to their present 
perfection, but in the 
Drummond’s Phlox the im¬ 
provement is comparative¬ 
ly recent. The change from 
the original form, with its 
rose-colored flowers, to a 
great variety with colors 
and markings so different 
as to warrant giving them 
distinctive names has been 
begun, and has gone on 
within the memory of 
many now living. No 
contrast among flowers can be greater 
than that between the original Drummond’s 
Phlox and some of its recent varieties. 
Those who, like the writer, have seen this 
plant on its native soil in Texas, know that 
in early spring it covers broad stretches of 
prairie with a pleasing uniform rose color. 
The seeds were sent to England in 1835, 
and for a number of years they produced 
flowers of that color only. If we examine 
the catalogues of the present day, we find 
that the seeds of some 40 named varieties are j 
offered, and hardly a year passes without the 
introduction of one or more well marked new 
kinds. We now have in this one plant a wide 
range of colors, from pure white to dark 
crimson, or to deep and brilliant scarlet, with 
all intermediate tints; there are also sev¬ 
eral shades of yellow, but the nearest ap¬ 
proach to blue, is a slate-colored variety. 
Not only are there many brilliant and pleas¬ 
ing self-colors, but the number with varie¬ 
gated flowers is now large. There are dark 
flowers with light “eyes” and centers, and 
light ones with dark centers. Of late, varie¬ 
ties have appeared with centers so large that 
the body color is reduced to the dimensions 
of a mere border around the outer edge. The 
engraving gives, so far as may be done in black 
and white, the contrasts presented by some 
of the newer varieties. The flower at the 
left-hand, with the large white center, has a 
border of very deep maroon, while that at 
the right-hand has a border of lively carmine. 
The lightest flower low down and near the 
center is pure white with a yellow eye, from 
which purple spots shade off into the white. 
Of course, these many varieties could not 
have been produced had not this plant a 
marked tendency to vary, or “ break,” as the 
florists term it. There is a great difference 
in plants in this respect; some have been in 
cultivation for centuries and still remain the 
same. Others, after a several years of culti¬ 
vation will depart somewhat from the origi¬ 
nal, and by sowing seed from these, a wider 
variation may be secured, and thus by a series 
of selections, without any hybridizing or 
crossing, numerous varieties are secured and 
made permanent by careful cultivation. As 
to Drummond s Phlox, or Phlox Drummondii, 
the varieties generally come true from seed, 
and as the plant remains in bloom a remark¬ 
ably long time for an' annual, it is possible, 
by the use of the different varieties of 
this one species alone, to produce brilliant 
bedding effects. Indeed, there is no other 
way by which those who do not care to expend 
much upon flowers, can make such a brilliant 
show as by planting separate beds upon the 
lawn with varieties of Drummond’s Phlox. 
The Albert Workingmen’s Garden. 
BT ELIAS A. LONG, BUFFALO, N. T. 
During a recent visit to Europe, I had an 
opportunity for making a hasty call at the 
Garden bearing the above name, in Glasgow, 
Scotland. The Garden is owned by a Mr. 
Dickson, a large manufacturer who employs 
many men. About five acres of ordinary 
good land, lying not far from his works, are 
embraced in the Garden, and this area is 
divided into nearly 200 plats with walks, 
which make all parts accessible. These plats 
differ in size, but average about four square 
rods each. These are let out to the differ¬ 
ent workmen employed in Mr. Dickson's 
establishment who devote them to the cul¬ 
tivation of various vegetables and flowers. 
All the work is done after the regular day’s 
work is over, and although the Garden was 
almost wholly deserted when I visited it near 
mid-day, it was said that the place presents 
an extremely busy and cheerful scene, during 
summer evenings, when the workmen have 
come there with their families, to work and 
enjoy the pleasures of the Garden. Many of 
the plats have pleasant seats or Climber- 
A CLUSTER OF NEW VARIETIES OF DRUMMOND’S PHLOX. 
