1884.] 
AMERIOAI^ AGEIOULTURIST. 
25T 
us of a German specialist, gives some twenty dis¬ 
tinct varieties that he has produced. We can only 
say, get good seeds and give good culture. Though 
usually treated as an annual, the Pansy is really a 
perennial. Any plants producing especially fine 
flowers, may be readily propagated and kept in cul¬ 
tivation as long as may be desired. The side shoots 
of thrifty plants, taken as cuttings, will strike root 
readily, and soon form flowering plants. Those 
who wish to excel in Pansy culture, will And it best 
to grow the plants in cold frames, where they may 
be protected from the severity of our winters, and 
be shaded from the intense heats of summer. The 
engraving shows the general appearance of what 
are known as the “ New German Pansies,” which 
present a great variety of strikingly beautiful eol- 
ors. The Belgian Pansies, with large and beauti¬ 
fully marked flowers are also very fine. We know 
of no other flower that promises the cultivator 
such rich returns, with little labor, as the Pansy. 
A Good Word for the Parsnip. 
The parsnip is far from being popularized, though 
much older than the potato. It is a prime cattle 
food, good for beef and milk, and greedily eaten by 
swine. Potatoes are everywhere; they will grow 
about as plenty as corn and wheat. But the pars¬ 
nip is the exception rather than the rule, even up¬ 
on the farmer’s table. A small patch is raised, of 
a bushel or two, if raised at all, to be dug in the 
early spring for a change of diet. It is a whole¬ 
some and appetizing vegetable, and could be used 
to advantage for half the year. We begin to use 
them fresh dug from the bed in October; and be¬ 
fore the ground freezes them in, lay in a store of 
several bushels for winter use. In the spring we 
dig the reserve, and have parsnips until June. 
They are a dainty dish, stewed, and still better par¬ 
tially boiled, and then fried brown in long slices. 
A good crop can be had sown any time before June. 
A New Branching Broccoli, 
When we see, as was the case last spring, Brus¬ 
sels sprouts all the way from France offered in our 
markets, and know from our own experience that 
these are as readily raised as any other kind of cab¬ 
bage, we think it time that our market gardeners 
should wake up and supply all needed garden prod¬ 
ucts of home growth. It is almost ridiculous that 
Brussels sprouts should be imported to supply the 
demands of the New York market. Another form 
of cabbage which our gardeners almost ignore, is 
Broccoli. This is far more certain to head than 
cauliflower, and is by many esteemed as equal to 
THE BRAHCHING BKOCCOLI. 
that form of cabbage, usually so difiicult to raise. 
Broccoli is common in European markets, and 
though we have not known of its importation, we 
should not be surprised to meet with imported Broc¬ 
coli on the market stalls at any time, Among the 
Broccolis are some white varieties that can hardly be 
distinguished from cauliflower, though the hardiest 
kinds have a more or less purple color. A new va¬ 
riety has recently met with favor in France, called 
Branching Broccoli (Broccoli branchii). This, instead 
of forming a compact head, like the Broccolis, push¬ 
es out shoots as shown in the engraving. These 
shoots are cut while still tender, and before the 
flower buds upon them expand, are cooked in the 
same manner as asparagus, and are highly esteemed. 
The plant is also called the Asparagus Broccoli. 
Lettuce Mildew. 
Mr. Gus. Knock, Detroit, Mich., is troubled with 
a rot, affecting lettuce in the green-house and hot¬ 
beds. He writes us: “ It started about six weeks 
ago at a time when we had 
no sunshine for two weeks. 
When warmer weather came 
it stopped spreading; but 
is now starting again on the 
larger lettuce. It makes a 
kind of web.” — Mr. K.’s 
trouble is a mildew, from 
which market gardeners in 
some localities have suffer¬ 
ed severely. This mildew is 
a near relative of the one 
infesting the grape-vines. 
When the mildewed lettuce 
is examined with a hand- 
lens, the white substance is 
seen to be a minute forest 
of small stems and branch¬ 
es. The mildew threads run 
through the substance of 
the lettuce leaves, after¬ 
wards come to the surface 
and form the branches, upon 
which multitudes of spores 
are borne. The mildew robs 
the lettuce of nourishment 
and causes it to decay. The 
infested leaves soon drop 
and become a rotten mass. 
Flowers of Sulphur has 
proved an effective remedy 
for the grape-mildew. This 
would doubtless help in 
staying the ravages of the 
lettuce mould, but the foli¬ 
age is the portion eaten and, 
unless thoroughly washed 
after dusting with sulphur, 
it would not be agreeable to 
the taste, to say the least. 
Lime sprinkled upon the 
mildewed plants has proved 
effective. Several large let¬ 
tuce-growers have found it 
to their interest to give up 
growing this crop for a 
few years, until the germs 
of the mildew were eradicated from the soil by 
starvation. It is a well-known fact, that all these 
mildews are plants of a low order, and continue 
their species by the production of countless spores. 
These spores perform the same physiological func¬ 
tion that is assigned to seeds among other plants. 
Mildews thrive in a warm, moist atmosphere, con¬ 
ditions which obtain in a green-house or hot¬ 
bed. In general, the circumstances most favorable 
for the rapid growth of garden and fleld crops are 
the best for mildews. The same is true of rusts 
and smuts too frequentiy infesting the wheat, oat, 
and corn-fields. Much, therefore, depends upon 
the weather, and this is not under man’s control. 
The best that can be done is to use all possible 
preventive measures. If the hot-bed or green¬ 
house is foul with mildew, or other fungus germs, 
let it be thoroughly cleaned. With a hot-bed it 
will probably be the quickest way to build a new 
one on clean ground. The problem of how best 
to meet and conquer the many fungus pests of the 
farm and garden is a serious one. The nists, mil¬ 
dews, moulds, smuts, blights, etc., are so very 
minute and hidden from ordinary sight, that their 
destructive work is usually done before the pres- 
sence of these microscopic pests is observed. 
Liver-leaf—or Hepatica. 
One of the earliest flowers to be met with in rich 
woods in spring, ali the way from Maine to Florida, 
is the Liver-leaf. It is sometimes called Liver-wort, 
and unfortunately so, as that name properly be¬ 
longs to an order of flowerless plants. The Liver- 
leaf has long been known as Hepatica. The ancient 
” root and yarb ” doctors supposed that plants in¬ 
dicated by some character, the diseases they would 
cure. Thus a plant with hard, strong seeds would 
be good for stone in the bladder; another with pe¬ 
culiarly speckled leaves, was for lung-diseases, and 
the Liver-leaf, having a fancied resemblance to the 
liver in shape, was called Hepatica or Liver-leaf. It 
should be said by the way, that this modest little 
plant is quite harmless, and was never known to 
interfere with the liver of any one. Those eminent 
botanists, Beutham and Hooker, in their great 
work revising the genera of plants, finding no rea¬ 
son for keeping Hepatica as a distinct genus, have 
united it with Anemone. In a popular article w'e 
speak of the plants as Hepaticas, as they will long 
be known by that name in garden literature. As 
met with in the woods, the Liver-leaf has a tuft of 
leaves which, in the most common species, have 
three blunt lobes, H. triloba, but in some localities 
the lobes of the leaves are pointed, and this is re¬ 
garded as a distinct species, H acutildba. The flow¬ 
ers, appearing soon after the snow melts away, have 
a peculiarly bright and cheery look. In the wild 
plants they are usually pale blue, but they present 
considerable variety, from pale purple to white, and 
occasionally pink flow'ers are met with. The com¬ 
mon Liver-leaf (Hepatica triloba), is a native of Eu¬ 
rope as weU as of our own country, and European 
