Does the Country Gentleman mean like Pota¬ 
toes or like Peanuts ? 
The same excellent journal recommends Cu- 
pre satis Laicsoniana and Hydrangea paniculata 
fore plena for general ornamental use upon 
lawns. 
Cupressus Laicsoniana is far from hardy in 
this climate, and there is no such plant as Hy¬ 
drangea paniculata fore plena. 
Editob Btjrai. New-Yorker Noticing in 
your issue of Feb. 3, under the head of “Notes,” 
a correction of the American Garden's state¬ 
ment that “ the better and more certain way is 
to propagate the Clematis by cuttings," and ex¬ 
pressing a doubt as to whether the Clematis can 
be propagated by that method, we should like to 
make the following observations in relation to 
our own experience : 
From twenty-fire yearB’ recorded results, we 
find that all Clematises, as a rule, do take from 
cuttings; but such types as Lanuginosa, Viti- 
cella, Patens, Jackmannii, Florida and their 
hybrids, including most modern varieties, are 
propagated more successfully l>y grafting, for 
the reason that grafting on vigorous stocks im¬ 
parts strength to varieties so often in themselves 
quite feeble, As regards the merits of the two 
methods, experts find that both afford advan¬ 
tages under certain conditions, and to assert that 
either is r ‘ a better and more certain way" would 
be hardly accurate. Samuel Parsons. 
among the best in cultivation, by the votes of 
competent and experienced individuals. Those 
who have already planted their grounds and de¬ 
sire to add to them, may be supposed to have 
acquired more or less knowledge to guule them 
in making fnrther selections. But unless they 
have mad® the subject a study, the election list 
can hardly fail to suggest, even to them, addi¬ 
tions and changes of some value. At any rate, 
could we ourselves have had just such a list as 
SCOTT’S CRAB APPLE 
versicolor and spathulata ;—Amaratilhus melan¬ 
cholic?/s ruber ; — Cohns Verschoff&tii and 
others Cineraria ccrntophylla, and maritime ; 
— Cent.aurea gymnoearpn, argentea, plumom 
and Candida ;—Savtolina incana ; —Variegated 
Alyssum;— Cerastium lomcntosum ; — Anlenna- 
ria tomcnlnsa .— Veronica incana; Memanbry- 
anthemum cord,ifolium car.; — Pyr/thrurn Par- 
theni folium aurevm Per ilia Kankirtensies ;— 
Gnaphalium lanalum ; — Jls'ris semptrflorens 
fol. car .;— Vinca minor aurea var. :—Euony- 
rnus radicans car.; Lysunachia numtnularia 
aurea ; — Tradescantia zebrina ;—Sedum acre 
elegant: — Achyranth/s Lin/lmi, Gibsoni and 
Verschaffeltii ; — 1/yniaera aurea reticulata ;— 
Echeverias in variety ;—Klcnias. 
Whether the inner figures carry out a carpet 
design, or whether mixed plants of rich foliage 
are employed, is a matter of taste. If the for¬ 
mer, many of the plants above enumerated are 
suitable, and such plants may lie added as Sil¬ 
ver-edged Pelargonium, Happy Thought, or Plain 
Zonalea, Canna (from seed), Ahutilons, Ricinus 
Gibsoni, Japanese Maize, all the taller Grasses, 
Salma splendent, Caladn/ms, Wigandias, Can¬ 
nabis gigantm, Chamapcxire casahonce and dia- 
cantha, Nicotiana atropurjynrea grandiflara and 
macrophylla gigantea, Salvia eandidissima. Sola- 
nums. Many of the Palms. Cycads. Bromeliads 
of the conservatory may also be introduced with 
good effect and with benefit to those beautiful 
plants. 
to have originated in Missouri and from the 
wild species which abounds over tho 
greater portion of the Western States. 
Accompanying tho specimen, of which 
wo give an outline, natural Bize, was a . 
letter from William Muir of St. Louis / 
County, Mo , furnishing what little there J 
is known of the history of this variety. / 
Mr. Mom states that it is a genuine ua- / 
iive, tho original tree having boen dis- f 
covered in Florisant Valley, about twen- / 
two miles northeast of St. Louis, in that | 
triangle bounded on tho north by tho | 
Missouri Itiver and on tho southeast by I 
the Mississippi. Mr. Mem says: 
The tree was first brought to notice by \ 
tho late Jefferson Scott. Hence tho \ 
name I think it should boar in tho fu- \ 
turo. It is also lmown, locally, as Floris- \ 
ant Crab, Meadow Crab, and Essex Crab. \ 
Mr. Essex, however, lays no claim to tho 
name, but v. a great admirer of this va¬ 
riety. My own acquaintance with it ex¬ 
tends over a period of about sixteen 
years. The tree is a true wilding in all 
or its characteristics, hut with extra large foli¬ 
age, and is apparently healthy and free from 
insects. The old, original tree bears more fruit 
annually than four hundred ordinary trees, in¬ 
cluding some thirty other Crab Apple trees in 
tho immediate vicinity. 
The fruit is always fair, uniform, and of a 
pale, yellowish color. Core small, flesh brittle 
and of a brisk, sub-aeid flavor. 
We could scarcely oall this sort first-rate in 
quality, oven for a Crab Apple, still it may be 
valuable where the bettor sorts do not succeed. 
Mr. Mum says, “We have nothing which com¬ 
pares with it for marmalade and jelly, und it is 
also very fine for cooking.” Its keeping quali¬ 
ties are no doubt of the best, judging from tho 
specimen received at this office, and it is quite 
probable that some of our nurserymen may de¬ 
sire to propagate it extensively for culture in our 
more northern States and Territories. 
STRAWBERRIES THE YEAR ROUND 
The Santa Cruz (Cal.) Courier tells tho follow¬ 
ing good story of a perpetual crop of strawber¬ 
ries, which we can well believe is true, inasmuch 
as the Monthly Alpines bear continuously in 
warm climates, especially if tho land is irrigated : 
We last week witnessed the queer spectacle of 
a strawberry patch growing in the open air a 
week before Christmas. The garden is located 
about six miles abovo the town of Boquel, and 
about tbo same distance from Santa Cruz. A 
Mr. Thompson is the owner of tho rancho, and 
he informed ns that at any day or mouth in tho 
year ho could go into the patch and gather at 
least twenty quarts of tho luscious berries in a 
short time. He now has in cultivation 3,000 
vines, which occupy half an acre of ground, and 
from these he has gathered during the past 
year 6, COO quarts of the largo crimson beauties. 
Half of this quantity lio sold in the local 
markets at an average of 20 cents per quart, and 
the other half ho gavo away to his neighbors, as 
there was no demand for them from buyers. 
Blossoms green, and flaming red, ripe berries, 
smile, look sedate, and blush, side by side tho 
whole year through, ou the 6ame vino. This 
certainly is equal, if not superior to tho ancient 
and fabled land that flowed with milk and honey. 
Now let ua sec if his crop pays bun. To start 
with, they are not as much trouble to cultivate 
as a patch of string beans would bo; then at an 
average of 20 cents per quart, the half acre of 
ground would net him 5 GOO a year. 
MISCELLANEA 
There is no advico oftener repeated in flori- 
cultural miscellany than that respecting tho 
watering of plants. It is said that to ascertain 
when flowers need water is a difficult thing, and 
can be acquired only by experience. The wight 
of the pot is said to be about the best test, for 
the inexperienced. Some say “thump it" and 
ascertain by the sound. 
It seems to us that such rules and tests are 
unnecessary, and that tho question “ When do 
plants need water ?” is not so complicated a one 
as is represented. 
Our own rule is to nse light soil, to drain pots 
well, and to give water whenever tho surface 
earth uecds it, which, both by tbe eye and sense 
of feeliDg, may be determined by a child as well 
as by those who in the beginning practiced tho 
thumping and weighing methods. 
That it should bo necessary for a person to 
thump or to handle his pots every day, in order 
to ascertain if they need water, is a tedious thing, 
and, with pretty largo collections, there are 
few who will not run tho risk of watering too 
much or too little, rather than go through with 
this time-devouring performance as of ton as 
doubts arise. We say make the soil light as 
with decayed sods and old manure, mixed: drain 
the pots thoroughly, and water as often as the 
surface soil becomes dry. 
Inga Pulcheurima —Most flowers are beau¬ 
tiful for their corollas—many for their calyxes, 
as tbe Clamatis—many for their spathes, as the 
Anthuriums—many for floral bracts, as the 
roinsettias; but few aro beautiful for their 
Btamens. 
We were admiring, a few days ago, a plant of 
Inna pnkhen'ima, which, were it not for its 
brilliant masses of loDg, crimson stamens, would 
have as little to be proud of as would the Poin- 
settia, if deprived of its glowing bracts, or the 
Clematis of its showy calyx. There are about 
100 stamens in each flower, nearly two inches 
long, and about one dozen flowers in a head, so 
I that over 1,000 pendulous, silken stamens, of a 
bright red, are clustered together. It is an 
Acacia-like, leguminous plant that thrives with 
ordinary oaro in the greenhouse during winter 
and out-of-doors during summer. 
Ipomxa Mohtonii —This vine, during last 
summer, notwithstanding tho drought, spread 
over a space of twenty square feet without arti¬ 
ficial watering. The leaveB resemble those of 
Passijlora casrulea, being pedate with five divis¬ 
ions, each lance-obovate. We see that in some 
houses it is being extensively propagated for 
next spring. 
Ipomaa Learii is a tender climber, with entire 
leaves bearing very large Convolvulns-like flow¬ 
ers of a purple color and white eye. Very pretty 
in the conservatory, it is of little use out of it. 
amined the root. The latest oi the reports 
(Porter’s) describes it ns ** annual " (?), while 
one of its most striking characteristics is its enor¬ 
mous perennial root. A few years ago a root 
was sent to the East which was shaped like an 
enormous Rutabaga and would nearly fill a flour 
barrel. While the root is perennial, tho stems 
are annual, two to three feet or more high, and 
branching from the very base, throwing out ( 
great numbers of branches, and forming a bushy 
mass about as broad as it is high. The leaves 
aro two to four inches long, very narrow, and, 
like the rest of the plant, perfectly smooth- 
Tho flowers, either solitary or two or three to¬ 
gether on a stalk, aro two to two and a half 
inches loug, funnel-form, but less open at the 
throat than tho commou Ipomaa*. and of a 
pleasing rose - purple color. The flowers are 
produced in the groatest profusion, a large plant 
having tbe appearance of an immense bouquet. 
The plant- is found on the Platte and Canadian 
rivers, and also on the table lands of Colorado ; 
as in the last-named locality the mercury falls 
in winter to 20 and 30° below zero, there would 
be no doubt about the hardiness of the plant, 
had it not already been tested in this respect. 
If among annuals it is desired to have a dis¬ 
play with tho least trouble, then wo must select 
such seeds as Portulaca, Antirrhinum, Zinnia, 
Petunia, Pinks, Verbena, Vinca, Scabiosa, As¬ 
ter. &c. 
It maybe thought that there ia a wearisome¬ 
ness about using tho same old things season 
after season. Perhaps there is. But is not that 
preferable to tho novelty of having none at all, 
or of having thciji in patches that present some¬ 
thing of tho appearance of a few scattered hairs 
upon a bald hoad ? Anything that suggests the 
“ survival of the fittest" in border plants, di¬ 
rects attention to those that have perished in 
tho struggle for existence, rather than to those 
that have survived. 
If we can devote more time to the garden, 
then such seeds a6 Balsam, Phlox, Lobelia, 
Clarkia, Nemophila, Saponaria, Collinia, Cam¬ 
panula, Caealia, Salpiglossia. Browallia, Celosia, 
Eutoca, Salvia, Tropseolum. Ac., may be added 
to tho list. 
If money, time, business occupation, house¬ 
hold duties, babies, meals, etc., are as nothing, 
ANOTHER SPRING-WHAT TO SELECT 
Spite of the steady cold, the driving snows; 
spite of tho suffering that we see and know to 
exist about us—yetwiuter passes on rapidly, and 
ere wo know it, that season that shall lessen 
the hardships of the poor; that shall bring ver¬ 
dure and sunnier skies to them as to the rich, 
will bo onrs once more. It is a good thing that 
beautiful flower-beds, well* kept lawns, orna¬ 
mental trees and shrubs are, to a great degree. 
Nature knows no 
tho property <>f all classes, 
wealth— no poverty, and she smiles as kindly 
upon the poor fellow that, gazes admiringly from 
the garden-gate as upon him that stands in the 
midst of the beauties his wealth has accumu¬ 
lated about his home. 
In the way of seeds and plants, what shall we 
select for another spring ? The question is one 
that should be studied at leisure—not put off 
until plantiog-time arrives, when one is driven 
to answer it with his eyes shut. 
As regards the best shrubs and trees that arc 
hardy in this climato, we shall soon offer our 
friends, through the election, a list upon which 
they may rely almost unqualifiedly. 
Previous to the announcement of the 20th 
ult, we wrote to many of our nurserymen, re¬ 
questing that they would send us lists as already 
explained, with which request there was not one 
that did not promptly comply. Since the an¬ 
nouncement, many Rural friends, to whom it 
was impracticable to write, have also sent lists. 
The result is a number of votes that will inBuro 
the election au importance and a success quite 
beyond our anticipations. We shall delay the 
publication of the result only long enough to 
give all of our friends who bo desire an oppor¬ 
tunity of casting their votes. 
Several of those sending in lists have written 
us that the number of shrubs and trees should 
have been made greater than twenty-five of 
each, in that many just as desirable in ©very way 
as those enumerated are necessarily excluded 
without reason. Had the election been inaugu¬ 
rated for those who, with little knowledge of 
hardy shrubs aud trees, desired at the outset to 
form grounds notable for a grand collection, we 
would have thought so too. But suoh instances 
are exceptional. Tho rale, in our judgment, is 
that nine-tenths of those planting new grounds 
will be satisfied with a list of fifty shrubs and 
trees that have been elected as the best, or 
8AFFR0N CULTURE IN THE ABRUZZI, 
The Saffron of commerce is the prepared 
stigmas of the Crocus sativvs which is now found 
growing wild in parts of England but it is 
supposed was introduced at some remote period 
from Asia. The commou Baffinwer or false 
Saffron frequently cultivated in gardens and 
used as a substitute for true Saffron in dyeing is 
tho Cartharnus tiuctorius of botanists, and quite 
a different plant from tbe first, and far less 
valuable. The tru6 Ssffron, as we have said, is 
a species of premia, only growing a few inches 
high, a fact which will enable our rteders to 
better appreciate the following description of its 
culture by the peasants in the Abruzzi: 
At tho Pharmaceutical Conference at Bristol, 
says the London Garden, JR- II. Groves narrated 
a botanical tour in tbe Abruzzi, a sea of moun¬ 
tains where the Apennines present their grandest 
chain. On the lower spurs of thee© mountains, 
at a bight of from 2,000 to 3.000 feet, the culti¬ 
vation of Baffron has been carried on for many 
generations. The mountains aro calcareous, 
and, except to the botanist who has roamed 
them, present a very barren aspect, only relieved 
by tbe Beech thickets which straggle up their 
flanks as far as the tree limit. The cultivated 
ground commences below the Beech thickets, 
and is hut a little less stony than the ground 
above; however, com and potatoes thrive well, 
and a little lower down the Baffron plots are 
established. Here the atones are removed as 
much as iB possible in a soil that consists of 
little else, and the ground is well trenched to 
the depth of half a metre and prepared in 
August with animal manure, preferably that of 
sheep, so as to I e ready for the planting of the 
bulbs in the following October. 
The bulbs are planted in ridges with inter¬ 
vening furrows, which for economy of soil are 
NOTES. 
Abnormal Potatoes, Et Cetera.— A corre¬ 
spondent of the Country Gentleman asks if Clo¬ 
ver (Trifolium pratense) bears seed upon the 
roots ? He ia answered that “ Clover bears seed 
above ground, not under ground, like Potatoes. 
