April 1, 1905. 
THE GARDENING 
WORLD . 
269 
species are not nearly as pretty as some of the European ones, 
home of my American friends may give me lits for saying so, 
but I don’t care a fig; it is the truth. The white Linden 
(argentea), and the weeping one (petiolaris) are particularly 
hue with us. Stem-borers prey heavily on the other 
Europeans. 
The American white Ash is a fine street tree, and if given 
good soil behaves well down to the edge of heavy smoke. The 
European Ash trees are of no use whatever on our streets; 
they become fearfully infested with borers. 
The Maidenhair tree is certainly a fine city tree, and grows 
right down into the smoky parts. “ Neither' moth nor rust 
doth corrupt it ”; insects don’t bother it. But it takes time 
to make a tree, and then I’d advise you to get the out- 
branching form, and not the columnar one. 
The Pin Oak is the best of all our Americans for street 
planting, and we have many splendid young trees of it here in 
somewhat smoky places, but I do not advise planting it where 
smoke is dense. But your common English Oak is a fine 
rooter and a good grower ; not for smoke though. 
The Honey Locust behaves very well in smoky towns, but 
its heads are thin. 
The American White Elm is a fine tree, and as long as it 
^ets plenty to eat and to drink it behaves well in our cities. 
1 have planted many hundreds of them in this town, and they 
are happy beauties. 
We have a good many Buckeyes and Horse Chestnuts pretty 
well into town, and they are all well and good in early summer, 
but almost naked in August. Starvation ails them. 
The Thornless Cactus (page 104).—Yes, Luther Burbank’s 
thornless Cactus is an Opuntia. He has sent me a photograph 
of his three-year-old plant; lie has thousands of lesser ones; 
he estimates the plant weighs 800 lbs ! But, of course, it is 
crowing out of doors in congenial conditions in California. 
Now, thornless Opuntias are neither new nor rare. If you 
o-o out to Kew I have no doubt you’ll find them in the Succu¬ 
lent House there. Why don’t they abound in a wild state? 
you may ask. Simply because cattle, horses, donkeys, sheep 
and goats are so passionately fond of Cactus that they eat up 
every green thing in this line that is not protected by spines 
well, all except the Anhaloniums, and no quadruped on earth 
will touch them, but the biped man does ; he makes whiskey 
out of them! 
In our western deserts, and also in Mexico, there are tens 
of thousands of square miles so parching and so bare of vegeta¬ 
tion that it is almost, inconceivable to think how any creature 
can exist there; still Cacti will grow there, and if these desert 
lands were planted with useful Cactus plants, both man and 
beast could find abundance to live on. Do you know that the 
voung growths of these big Opuntias, cooked as a vegetable, 
are right good to eat? Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans in 
the Cactus regions cook and use them as a. regular article of 
food for themselves and keep fat on them. Don’t pity them. 
I myself have eaten them, boiled and fried, and I can assure 
you they are very good eating indeed. The outer skin and 
spines are scalded and scraped off, leaving only the inner 
pulpy mass. 
But I am a Cactus crank, anyway, and could tell you of 
lots of things Cacti are good for, but I’d only weary you. 
William Falconer. 
True axd False Watercress.— According to an Irish con¬ 
temporary, there is danger of confusing the Pilewort and Marsh 
Marigold with early Watercresses. We should imagine, how¬ 
ever, that the danger lies solely with irregular gatherers, who 
could not know much about the difference between Watercress 
and any other weed to he obtained in the ditches. A peculiar 
way of distinguishing the good from the bad Watercress, accord¬ 
ing to this , writer, is to gather Watercress only during those 
months which have an “ r ” in the name. May, June, July, 
and August are months without this magical “ r,” and during 
these months the Watercress is said to be juiceless and tough. 
We think, however, that an experienced Watercress grower 
could manage to secure a supply of fresh leaves even during 
those months. 
Sweet Pea Florence Molyneux. 
Those who have any fancy for striped or flaked S\w i !’■. 
will find a very pleasing vai-iety in Florence Molyneu .. 1. 
flower stalk produces three or four blooms of a ize quho equ.d 
to modern ones, and in form also quite in the front rank. 
When it first appeared at a committee meeting of the National 
Sweet Pea Society in 1902, it was granted a Certificate of 
Mont. A higher award might have been given, but a- is well 
known, the Sweet Pea Society likes to have the merit of new 
comers proved, unless there is something in the way of di>- 
tinct colour to recommend it for that alone. However, the 
Sweet Pea Florence Molyneux. 
Society thought better of it a year afterwards and gave it the 
coveted FirsLclass Certificate. 
Another reason for its slow promotion is that colours are 
now so numerous among Sweet Peas that it is almost necessary 
to have a trial of the new comers alongside the old in order to 
prove their merit. Besides the qualities above mentioned, we 
may say that the flowers are suffused and striped with carmine 
on a white ground. The accompanying illustration, put at 
our disposal by the raisers, Messrs. Dobbie and Co.. Rothesay, 
N.B., will show at a glance the general features of the variety 
without further description. We may say, however, that the 
quantity and quality of the flowers that have appeared at the 
annual exhibitions since 1902 go to prove that as a striped 
Sweet Pea it has sufficient merits to recommend it. 
Readers’ Competition.— Particulars of weekly prizes, see 
centre page. 
