18G7.) 
AMElUCAN AGKICUT/rURtST. 
327 
Petunias Then and Now. 
Do .'iny of our oUl horlicullurul friends rec¬ 
ollect their hi-st Petunia? Over thirty years 
ai'o, we cherished our lirst one as a prized 
house plant. It was the old Pe¬ 
tunia nyetagynijlora^ the lirst ono 
introducetl into cultivation. It 
had coarse white flowers, hut then 
it produced them abundantly, and 
it as altogether a pleasing plant. 
Orcat was our surprise when W'o 
found that the plant could be 
grown as a garden annual, and 
greater still when wo discovered 
that it would grow from self-sown 
seeds, and iit fact become, in 
some ]>laccs, a weed. After the 
common white species, came the 
juirple one, greatly superior to the 
other. Then began a coui-sc of 
improvement by tbe crossing ot 
these two and with other species, 
and now we have tbe Petunia 
ranking as a flori-st’s flower, pre¬ 
senting^ . great number of named 
vajie-ics, l)oth single and double. 
«)f the single ones are beauti¬ 
fully veined or blotched, and the 
habit of the plant is greatly im¬ 
proved as well as the texture and 
linencss of the flowers. For bed¬ 
ding purposes we much prefer tho 
finer single varieties to the doublo 
ones. The choice kinds are proi> 
agated from cuttings, which strike 
nM>t with the greatest ease, but 
seeds of good sorts will i)roduco 
nice plants, and there is a chance 
of getting fine varieties in this way. 
The double varietic.-s are now 
l)ecoming numerous. Some «jf tho 
flowers are enormous in size, 
beautiful in color, and very fra¬ 
grant. The variety, Abraham 
Lincoln, is one of the most gen- 
er.illy distributed and l>est known. 
Something after the same style is 
a new variety sent out this year 
by Mr. .1. Kadletz, Staten Island, ' 
and named by him ^Irs. Peter 
Henderson. The flower is large, 
of good shape, and very brilliant, 
the grounil white, with a purple 
blotch on the tip of each petal. 
.^Ir. K. considers this the best of 
bis numerous seedlings. Messrs. 
Frost A Co., of the Genesee Valley 
Nurseries, Rochester, N. Y., have also sent us 
sirecimens of a fine new seedling, called Ed¬ 
ward Reach, from the gentleman with whom it 
originated. The flowers were full, rich in color, 
and quite equal to any that we have seen. 
Messrs. F. Co. state th.at they have had 
blooms mejv-suring over six inches in diameter. 
Tree Planting by the Road-Side. 
What traveler in the summer has not blessed 
the Ihmightful man who planted, or spared from 
the original fore.st, the roa.l-sidc tree, where he 
found rest and shelter for himself and his jaded 
bea-st? WliysbouM we not have continuous 
rows of such trees planted through every farm? 
Why should not every village center in a town 
form its tree planting association, and line its 
streets with the beautiful indigenous trees that 
arc to be had for the cost of digging in the 
neighboring . forests? Why should not these 
rows of trees extend every year, along eveiy 
thoroughfare, until the villagers meet in the 
honorable rivalry of mending their w.ays, and 
beautifying the country ? We have a good many 
DOUBLE PETU.NIA— Mns. PETEn nENDERSOlT. 
model avenues in New England and in the 
older parts of the country, where the present 
generation is enjoying the results of the good 
taste and toils of their forefathers. Trees were 
planted when the village streets were first laid 
out, and their branches are now a crown of 
glory, affording shelter from the summer heals. 
We admire the arrangement of those early 
settled towns in the Connecticut River Valley, 
and elsewhere, where they had acannmon a mile 
long, .and twelve rods wide or more, the houses 
arranged upon the sides, and looking out upon 
the village green beneath tho shadows of noble 
elms. Tliese trees are now the glory of tlie 
village, fondly cherished liy the residents, and 
forming beautiful pictures never to be effaced 
from the mind of the stranger who visits them. 
We find hundreds of villages and towns in 
our occasional visits, and they arc by no means 
confined to the more recent settlements, where 
the work of planting the ro.ad-side is. yet to bo 
done. One or two generations have gone by 
without developing public spirit enough to at¬ 
tend to this enterprise. Tlie church, the acad¬ 
emy, the school-house, the inn, and the dwel¬ 
lings that cluster around them, 
stand through all the scorching 
heats of summer ‘unblest with 
shade. And this is the case too, 
where there is no want of refine¬ 
ment among the people. The de¬ 
sirableness of the improvement is 
admitted, but there is great lack 
of public spirit, and no one pro¬ 
vokes his neighbor to this kind of 
good works. It is time some¬ 
thing was done, and we propose 
a familiar talk with the reader 
\ipon his personal responsibilities 
in the matter. If you live in one 
of these neglected districts, you 
have missionary work before you, 
and it will require a good degree 
of faith to undertake this ministry 
of the be.autiful You may not 
meet with violent opposition and 
personal abuse, but the big pagan. 
Indifference, will resist you at 
every step. The place has stood 
for fifty years, they will tell you, 
without any shade trees, and they 
have got along pretty well They 
would give money or volunteer 
their men and teams if they could 
see any use in it. But they don’t 
sec the need of it. This, and muck 
more like it, w'ill be your first sal¬ 
utation. Never mind. “ riiere 
is no impossibility to him who 
wills.” Get one man enlisted on 
your side, and if possible let that 
man be a woman. Take the mat¬ 
ter up and make a business of it. 
If you have a sewing society in 
the parish, get the ladies interest¬ 
ed. AVhilc they are laboring for 
the heathen, .and for the starving 
South, and trying to make the 
wilderness bud and blossom, let 
them have an eye to the wilderness 
along their own street. Buds and 
blossoms are wanting there, and 
the desolate wayside can be made 
“ a thing of beauty and a joy 
forever.” This is a home enter¬ 
prise that has been neglected quite 
too long. Talk with the minister 
about it, and if he be .a man 
of taste, as he is apt to be, get him to preach 
a sermon on the moral uses of beautiful things, 
text, St. Paul, “AVhatsoever things are lovely,” 
or, better yet, the Great Preacher, “ Consider Uie 
lilies.” There is a great deal of unapplied 
truth in the Bible that touches upon this lUiit- 
ter of tree planting. Stir up the Farmers’ Club if 
you have one, and if not, form one. Get the 
Horticultural Society or County Agricultural 
Society to offer premiums for planting wayside 
trees. One resolute man in a place cancaiiy 
this much needed reform, and make his name 
immortal. Hillhouse Avenue, in New Haven,^ 
with its lordly elms, will preserve the name ot 
the planter long after his monument lias crum¬ 
bled and his career as a Senator is lorgoltou. 
Enoixos Axn Edoino PL.xNTa-Kcccntly 
we saw some cast iron edgings in use around 
beds cut ill .a lawn; they were 6f a rustic pat- 
