310 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jui.Y, 
and Eggs.” It is intrinsically a pretty flower, 
but if once spread over a garden it becomes as 
troublesome as quack grass. 
Coronilla varia has quite handsome flowers, in 
heads like clover, but the roots—oh ! how they 
run. 
Calyslcgia pubescens, introduced only a few 
years ago, we think from Japan, and highly lauded 
by Mr. Downing and others, but is now little bet¬ 
ter than a garden pest. Its tine, double rose- 
colored flowers are indeed as beautiful as its ear¬ 
ly admirers declared, but the roots spread every¬ 
where. For this plant, we have tried setting the 
roots in a tight box or pot and then plunging it 
in the garden border, keeping watch lest the 
roots creep over the rim. So managed, it makes 
a very desirable plant. 
--— i « « — —---- 
Naming Flowers. 
At this season of the year we are in almost 
daily receipt of flowers for which a name is 
wanted. With many of them a glance is suffi¬ 
cient, while others are not so easily determined. 
It always affords us pleasure to reply to those 
sending them, and we should do so more frequent¬ 
ly were the descriptions accompanying the flow¬ 
ers more complete, or the specimens themselves 
more perfect. Will those sending such flowers 
or plants observe these few directions.- 
1 . Let the specimens be as complete as may 
be—the entire flower if single, with as much of 
the flower-stalk as possible, and the whole spike, 
if growing in that form. The flower should he 
spread out as carefully as maybe, and pressed 
between the leaves of unsized paper before send¬ 
ing. 
Enclose also, a few of the leaves, with leaf 
stalk attached, taken from both the lower and 
upper part of the plant, and mention any peculi¬ 
arity of the remaining foliage. 
3. Give the hight of the plant, time of flower¬ 
ing, general habit—that is, whether the flowers 
are single or in clusters, upon the extremity of 
a single stalk, or upon the branches of a bush¬ 
like growth. 
4. State in addition, whether the plant grows 
wild, or is cultivated, and the probabilities of its 
being a native of this country. Is it annual or 
perennial, succulent, (soft or juicy stemmed) 
herbaceous, (hard stemmed, but not woody,) or 
woody, and is it found growing upon dry or wet 
land, in the open fields or woods. 
Descriptions like these will usually help to 
classify a new plant at once, and we can readily 
turn to a botanical description of it. These re¬ 
marks are suggested, in part, by a specimen of 
a purple flower received from H. La Fetra, Clin¬ 
ton Co., 0. From the imperfect specimen, we 
judge it belongs to the Orchid family. It could 
be more easily determined, if the particulars 
noted above were furnished. 
Beautiful and True. —Well has a forcible wri¬ 
ter said : “ Flowers are not trifles, as one might 
know from the pains God has taken with them 
everywhere; not one unfinished, not one bearing 
the marks of brush or pencil. Fringing the eter¬ 
nal borders of mountain-winters, gracing the 
pulseless breast of the old grey granite, every¬ 
where they are harmonizing. Murderers do not or¬ 
dinarily wear roses in their button-holes. Villians 
seldom train-vines over cottage-doors.” And an¬ 
other adds: “ Flowers are for the young and for 
the (dd, for the grave and the gay, for the living and 
the dead, for all but the guilty, and for them when 
they are penitent.” 
A Flower-Beggar. 
Mr. Editor :—I’m in distress. For several 
years, I have been annoyed with flower-beggars. 
If these people were very poor, and could not 
have gardens of their own, the case would be al¬ 
tered ; but generally, they have land enough, and 
health enough, and time enough, but they are too 
abominably lazy to work. During the great rose- 
period, June and July, they beset me in droves, 
day after day. They wander through my garden, 
exclaiming, Oh! what a fine rose, that white one. 
See that pink, that crimson, that yellow, and 
those other roses ; please Sir, give me a -boquet 
of them, you have so many. If I fill their hands 
with flowers, and then ask them why they don’t 
have gardens of their own, they blunder out some¬ 
thing like this: “ Oh, I haven’t the time, or 
don’t know how ;—what lots of fine things you 
have got !” 
Now-, Sir, can’t you help me to rid my garden 
of these pests 1 In Spring and Fall, I often give 
them roots and seeds to help them along, but 
they hardly thank me : they plainly hint that they 
would like to have me go and set them out and 
take care of them also ! Lately, I lectured a 
young man about this thing—adding some choice 
plants to enforce it—and he promised, quite 
languidly, to try and do better. As he turned to 
go away, I said: “Friend, do you take the 
American Agriculturist, or any other good horti¬ 
cultural paper 1” “No.” ThenIreplied : “Hum, 
I thought so.” Yours in disgust, Horticola. 
[Have patience Horticola. Though it is annoy¬ 
ing in the extreme to be so pestered, there is yet 
the comfort of the compliment thus paid to your 
taste and skill. Moreover, this admiration of 
flowers is the first symptom of the contagion of 
improvement, communicated by your example. 
If you continue to inoculate your neighbors with 
occasional presents of bouquets, depend on it, 
some day you’ll see the infection—no, the affection 
—breaking out all over their gardens and door 
yards; first, perhaps, in a few tuberculous cro¬ 
cuses, or lilies, etc., but finally coming to full de¬ 
velopment in profuse efflorescence of annuals, 
perennials, and it may even take the aggravated 
form of shrubs, trees, and landscape gardening. 
We have known such cases. Meantime, contin¬ 
ue to apply the “ Agriculturist ” as a stimulant 
to them and an emollient in your own case, and 
report progress next season, or sooner if you 
find any change. — Ed.] 
•-— «-—*0 ®»B--- 
A Bed of Ivy. 
In climates where the evergreen Ivy will flour¬ 
ish out of doors, its appropriate place is on walls, 
or clambering up the trunks of old trees, etc. 
But must we give it up in colder climates 1 Not 
altogether. Train it on the ground, if not up in 
the air. Choose any suitable portion of the 
pleasure grounds—if in the shade, it will be all 
the better, as the leaves are apt to be scorched 
in the sun—cut out circular or other fancy 
shaped beds, and plant them with roots of Ivy. 
The gold-striped, silver-striped, and the common 
English, and the Irish Giant varieties may be 
planted together or in strips, and so trained as 
soon to cover the beds completely. The branch¬ 
es should be kept within the boundaries of the 
beds by pegging down, and by clipping. At the 
North, such beds will need protecting in Winter 
by six inches or more of straw, or by evergreen 
boughs laid over them. 
We have known persons at the far North com¬ 
plain of poor success with rhododendrons, hol¬ 
lies, laurels, etc.’, let us propose to them to fill 
their failing beds with plants of Ivy, covering 
them in Winter with several inches of forest 
leaves. Lay a few stakes or a little brush over 
them, to keep them from blowing away. We 
will warrant such a bed to give as much satis¬ 
faction as the finest collection of flowers. 
-—— - '■■■»■-- - — - ■ 
Native versus Foreign Grapes. 
The question is frequently asked us : “Why all 
this ado about raising native grapes, when there 
are foreign varieties already tested, and proved 
to be of the very finest quality! The native 
grapes, with hardly an exception, are poor things, 
fit only for slovens and coarse grained people. 
Why not take the delicate and refined grapes 
which Europe offers us 1” 
And then, to enforce this appeal, we are occa¬ 
sionally shown a bunch of Black Hamburg, or 
Sweet Water, or Royal Muscadine, which has 
been grow-n in the open air, and the question is 
put again in a sort of imperious tone, Why not 
plant these in preference to your coarse, foxy 
natives 1 , 
To all of which we humbly reply, that the facts 
are not as our questioner assumes. Under fa¬ 
vorable circumstances, a foreign grape may suc¬ 
ceed in our climate for a few years—say two, 
three, or five—but after that, and even before, it 
is liable to be destroyed by mildew or other dis¬ 
eases. But a native grape will, with fair treat¬ 
ment, flourish fifty or a hundred years in full 
health. Most foreign grapes, too, are tender, and 
need protection from the frosts of Winter. A 
good way to convince any one about this matter, 
is to show him two lots of vines, standing side 
by side, the one native the other foreign, and he 
will generally find the foliage of the first bright 
and healthy, while that of the latter is yellow, 
crumpled and falling off, and the fruit cracked or 
covered with mold. 
And here, we are reminded of the inquiry of 
another correspondent, viz.: whether, if cuttings 
were taken from foreign vines which have been 
long growing in this country, and so become ac¬ 
climated, they would not be as hardy and healthy 
as natives! 
Our friend must be referred to the simple fact 
that, as a general rule, all vines of foreign ex¬ 
traction, if grown in the open air of this country 
soon become the prey of mildew. They may 
hold out a while, but soon succumb : they can 
not be relied on. So that you can not get 
healthy vines to start with, and if you did, you 
can not change their constitution. 
It is the opinion of some, that mildew is itself a 
plant,'growipg upon the vine, the roots penetra¬ 
ting the canes, absorbing their vitality, and pre¬ 
venting their healthy action. So long as this 
parasite can be kept off, the foreign kinds will do 
tolerably well. Native Americans have so firm 
bark and wood that the mildew can not grow as 
well upon them. 
But one word more with our first inquirer: 
You misstate the case, when you say that our 
native grapes are coarse and unfit for refined 
mouths to cat. This may have been partly true' 
many years ago, but it is not now. The Diana, 
Delaware, Rebecca, Isabella, Catawba, etc., when 
well grown and fully ripened, suffer nothing in 
comparison with an equal number of European 
grapes. And we arc likely to improve even upon 
these. So that now there is no need of trying 
to grow the uncertain and sickly foreign kinds. 
We could wish that every gardener would 
plant a few seeds annually, of his best grapes, 
and so have a race of new sorts continually com¬ 
ing forward. Out of them all, we should get 
