graceful, white flowers are pleasingly fragrant. The bulbs can be potted for several weeks in succession during autumn, and thus a supply of them be provided to bloom continuously from midwinter to the latter part of spring.

The Chionodoxa, or Glory of the Snow, a bulb of comparatively recent introduction, is as easy to raise as any of those already noticed. It has flowers that are porcelain blue with white centers, and are produced abundantly.

The one peculiar treatment that is essential to the welfare of all potted bulbs is that they be set away in a dark, cool place, but one free from frost, where they can develop their roots before the growth of leaves commences. When the roots have filled the soil and are running around the sides of the pots, the bulbs can be brought into a light place, and then the leaves and flower stems will be produced, but the blooming will be abortive if attempted sooner.

Besides the bulbs already named we might still mention the Oxalis, a number of varieties of which are excellent, freeflowering plants of the simplest culture. The Lily, in its many varieties, kindly responds to pot culture. Some of the best varieties are the Auratum, or Goldbanded Japan Lily; the common White, or Candidum; L. Japonicum longiflorum; L. Harrisii, or Easter Lily of Bermuda; L. speciosum, or as it is better known in the trade as L. lancifolium, both rubrum and album, and the variety known as L. Præcox. The value of the Lily of the Valley for winter-blooming is well known. Another excellent bulbous plant for winter flowers is the Cyclamen. The species most in use, and the best, is Cyclamen Persicum in its cultivated varieties. Leaving the bulbous plants we may go to the garden and there find something to reinforce the stock of window and greenhouse plants. Clumps of Astilbe Japonica and Dicentra spectabilis may be potted in good soil in rather large sized pots, and if kept in a low temperature will after a time make a fine display.

Among hardy, shrubby plants there is one that is a general favorite as a pot plant; this is Deutzia gracilis. Its delicate white flowers are suitable to mingle with those of the choicest plants in cultivation, and every gardener seeks to have a supply of this plant for cutting in win

ter.

Good, shrubby little plants can be lifted this month and potted, and be kept in a cool place. The danger of all these plants is bringing them too quickly into heat. As for this shrubby plant, after removal it should have time in a low temperature for its broken roots to heal over, and then be allowed to make its new growth slowly in a temperature of about fifty degrees. As it advances the temperature may be increased, but all of the plants that have been mentioned at this time will give their most satisfactory results if the atmosphere where they bloom is never above sixty to sixty-five degrees.

Reading in a foreign journal, recently, an account of a new plant for the greenhouse, a transcription of it may be of interest. At the same time we would warn our readers of the fascination of an intense and vivid style. Under the title of "An Excellent Plant for the Greenhouse," a French horticulturist, M. LEQUET, thus writes in the Revue Horticole :

"Suppose an amateur, tired with repeated failures, should come to you and say, 'I wish a plant which, in winter, will make the greenhouse gay, and in summer will be an ornament to the garden; which will have a regular and active growth, which to beautiful foliage adds the merit of pretty leaves, which is easy of propagation and not expensive at the start, and, finally, which shall present to the senses as well as to the mind a phenomenon at the same time curious and instructive.' These qualities of a white blackbird could scarcely be mentioned before you would be ready to reply:

"Look for yourself, or, rather, do not look. Nature is prodigal, it is true; but in her prodigality she is still economical. If she opens one hand, she knows well how to shut the other at the same time. Her budget is fixed and she administers it according to the law of organic equilibrium or compensation.'

"That is in effect the answer I should myself have made. Nevertheless there are exceptions; very good mother, that she is, Nature has also her spoiled children. Fond of the so-called greenhouse plants and seeking constantly to increase their number, I have noticed one espe cially which seems to me to answer to the description that has been made. I am not about to mention a novelty; it is an old species, but one that is but little

known and little disseminated.

rest it is as follows:

For the

does not so quickly bloom, will be very vigorous."

"Its leaves, which recall those of the Xanthoceras, or the Mountain Ash in miniature, are of a lustrous, bright green, with a light coppery tint when young. They are composed of ten to fifteen pairs of leaflets. The general effect of the foliage in elegance and lightness is equal to some Mimosas. At the least touch an aromatic oil escapes from the pores, and a tonic, stimulating sensation is perceived by the sense of smell, like that produced by the leaves of the Ginger plant. It is, perhaps, to these balsamic eminations that these plants owe their immunity from insect attack.

"The stem is straight, very strong, and requires no support. Without pinching, or training it branches out at about six to eight inches above the soil. How graceful are its slender, drooping branches! From the bark oozes out a balsam or resin which hardens in the air, and which the Peruvians chew to harden the gums, but has a peppery taste which is not disagreeable to those accustomed to the use of it.

"The foliage is persistent or evergreen, and thus the plant is always elegantly clothed. With the arrival of the month of August the plant will make its best toilet, and you can see it then covered with pretty panicles of whitish little flowers.

"It will thus be able to do duty in the ranks of the white-flowered shrubs at a season when gardeners often feel the need of them for festival occasions. Besides, its flowers are diœcious, that is to say that certain plants are male and others are female. It follows that plants of the different sexes should be near each other in order to produce seed.

"As to the fruits, they are globular drupes which, when they appear, add to the plant an additional ornament. It is well to remark that around the seed is an acid pulp which can be used as a substitute for vinegar. Naturally this property is not well marked except in its native country, Peru.

"And the culture? It is one of astonishing simplicity. We do not propose cuttings, nor budding, which are horticultural operations; we employ a means less simple, the seeds. From each seed springs rapidly a plant which, though it

*

"Here, then, we have a plant such as a true horticulturist might wish; sufficient hardiness, vigorous growth, fine form, luxurious foliage and a generous flowering habit. In order to crown all that, it has a beautiful name, easy to remember; it is Schinus Molle, or False Pepper Tree. Is that all? No. Detach a leaf and break it into two or three pieces, and then throw them on the surface of some clear, still water. Forthwith these fragments will make jerking movements.

"When this phenomenon is produced before bright young people it will surely provoke an inquiry on their part for its cause. Now, inquiry is the first step in science; and, once entered upon, one never wishes to retrace his steps. Botany reveals to us that leaves are formed of cells, and that in this plant the cells contain a volatile oil which escapes intermittently in little particles when the cellular walls are broken or torn. The force of the escaping oil is so strong against the surface of the water that the little cells, and, consequently, the leaf which contains them, is subjected to a series of recoils varying in degree with the number of cells that have been ruptured. This oil may be very similar to camphor, for a lump of this substance will act in nearly the same way on distilled water. Nearly insoluble in this liquid, it would remain still if it did not continually emit vapors which, by their contact against the water, produce a curious gyration.

"This plant belongs to the order Terebinthaceæ, or Anacardiaceæ of LINNÆUS. The former name recalls that of turpentine, a substance which these plants contain. Camphor appears to be only a chlorohydrate of (térébenthène) terebinthin, which is obtained by treating the essence of turpentine with hydrochloric acid, an account which explains the similarity of the phenomena.

"So attractive a display as this was not needed to incite to activity the high faculties of HUMBOLDT, the celebrated author of Cosmos. The simple sight of a colossal Dragon Tree, and of a Fantailed Palm in the old part of a botanical garden, early inspired him with the desire to

visit tropical regions, and to make there an accumulation of observations which honor the human intellect, and which gave him a universal reputation.

"Let one, then, cultivate the Schinus Molle. It will be the companion of the fly-killing Dionea, of the Artillery Plant, Pilea, of the hygrometric Erodium, of the inflammable Fraxinella, of the butterfly-catching Physeanthus, of the sensitive Mimosa."

The Pepper Tree grows to a height of twelve to fifteen feet, or more, in California, and is there very much admired as a lawn subject. If it will bloom and fruit in a pot and remain of small size, as above described, it may be worth the trial by those so situated as to be able to give it room. The fact of its growing readily from seed places it within easy reach.

JAPAN

A sufficient length of time has now elapsed since the Japan Maples commenced to be planted in this country to assure us of the hardiness of some of the finer varieties. Acer polymorphum, and its colored-leaved varieties, bear the winters here without injury, and as they are planted from year to year our lawns are being enriched with them.

The specific name of this Maple, meaning many forms, indicates its striking peculiarity, that of producing its leaves in a variety of forms. The plant is a shrub rather than a tree, as its growth is very slow, and probably it will not, at the best, exceed ten feet in height. Trees of eight or ten years planting are now only some six feet high. The leaves are small, five lobed, bright green, changing in autumn to a dark crimson. Varieties of most other species besides that of A. polymorphum that have been tested here have not proved sufficiently hardy.

FULLER, in his Practical Forestry, says; "Polymorphum furnishes the greatest and most unique varieties of all. They have leaves of various shades of color, from pure green to the richest rose and crimson, and the foliage of some is so finely cut that it appears more like the feathers of some gaudy-colored bird than that of leaves of a hardy tree or shrub. Some of the varieties have leaves handsomely variegated with white, green and yellow, and these colors are retained nearly the entire season. Words, however skilfully applied in a description of these pretty little trees, would scarcely convey a correct idea of their peculiar beauty, for they must be seen to be fully appreciated."

The best of the colored-leaved varieties are probably Atropurpureum, Dis

MAPLES.

sectum and Sanguineum. These thrive well here, and with their deeply divided leaves, form some of the handsomest ornaments of the garden.

An English writer, a few years since, wrote as follows of the variety Atropurpureum : "There is, in the grounds here, a plant of this Maple eight feet in height, and as much through the branches, which reach almost to the ground. It is now densely yet elegantly clad with its pretty palmate leaves of a bright, almost dazzling, crimson. It is a living wonder amongst the various green tints surrounding it. Seen near or from afar, it is the one object that arrests the eye. Compared with it, the Purple Beech is somber. As the growth matures the leaves become subdued, until about the end of June a second growth of fiery foliage is added to the first."

The variety Dissectum atropurpureum is of a dwarf and weeping form. The leaves are of a beautiful rose color when young, and change to a deep purple as they become older. They are deeply and finely cut, giving them an elegant fernlike appearance, and unlike that of any other tree. The young shoots are slender and drooping, and colored like the leaves. These plants can be set on the lawn singly or in groups, and by preference should be placed, if possible, where they will have a background of green and taller trees. They are frequently kept in pots and form beautiful decorations to the greenhouse. Of the history of these varieties before their introduction to this country, very little is known, but it is probable that they are the result of long years of cultivation and selection, and through a series of seedlings.