A PEACH TREE WITH "THE YELLOWS.” Take them editors that's crowin'

Like a cockerel three months' oldDon't ketch any on 'em goin',

Though they be so blasted bold; Ain't they a prime lot o' fellers? 'Fore they think on't guess they'll sprout, (Like a peach that's got the yellers) With the meanness bustin out.

-BIGLOW PAPERS.

PRUNING PORCH VINES.-The object in pruning vines is to keep them neat and vigorous, and not permit a dense mat of growth, excluding light and air from the porch. To accomplish this, it is customary to cut back, in winter, the last season's growth to within a bud or two of the previous year's wood, leaving the stems close to the trellis-referring chiefly, of course, to those vines, like the honeysuckle, that make a thick, branching growth. The tops are usually trimmed off near the porch roof, and the operation is ended. The effect is to produce a strong, dense growth from the tops, giving a top-heavy, unkempt appearance by mid-summer, but fault in the pruning is rarely recognized then.

The best method of pruning summer-flowering vines, like the honeysuckle and clematis is to cut them down as near the ground as possible, in the winter, allowing the young vigorous shoots to cover the trellis each year, which they will quickly do. In the spring, when the new growth attains about two feet in height, go carefully over them, select four or five of the strongest or as many as may be needed to cover the required space, train them properly on the wires and any unneeded shoots rub off. By the time the shade is needed in summer, the vines will be high enough, and will not have the unsightly bunched appearance of other neglected ones. The clematis is not as strong growing, and if on the same trellis with other vines, should not be cut so low.

The same practice applies, to a certain extent, to the aristolochia, trumpet creeper, flowering grape, bitter-sweet and kudzu vine, though

their growth is different-more rampant and less twiggy. The strong, rampant growth makes it all the more desirable that they should be trimmed low. It is very essential in all winterpruning to attend to the young growth the following summer; and also in the foregoing method to prevent more branches starting than are wanted. The trumpet creeper and aristolochia should especially be trained to admit light and air to get good results. In the case of the latter plant, it is supposed to not flower until the growth is large. If flowering is wanted, the vines must be let go, though a topping during the latter part of their growing period might bring the flowers the following

season.

The pruning of running roses is a subject of which experience is the best teacher, But the things to be kept prominent is that heavy, healthy canes are desired, and that pruning is best done in late winter, in addition to a little shortening in after blooming, a thing which is well accomplished by cutting the flowers.

There is a class of early flowering vines the pruning of which must be differently done if flowers are wanted. The akebia is one of these -and by-the-way, this is one of the choicest vines for a porch. Flowers are produced from old wood, and if the vines be pruned in winter, the flowers must go to the extent of the pruning. The chief time for pruning is just after flowering. Similar plants are the Carolina Jasmine, Yellow Jasmine and Wistaria. As an illustration, the sweet Carolina Jasmine rarely flowers as far north as Philadelphia because winter-pruned by the frost.

DISEASE IN LILY BULBS.—The Harris Lily has of later years suffered seriously from a fungus disease. That the spores, or probably the mycelium, of the fungus is distributed with the bulbs, has been with good reason assumed. A correspondent of the London Gardeners' Chronicle took diseased bulbs, dried them thoroughly, and then stored them in flower of sulphur. It proved to be a complete cure.

HOUSE PALMS.-When it comes to selecting plants for the house, many persons will differ on the subject of what is choicest; but nearly all unite on the palm,-and certainly it is most effective at all times and in all places.

To many a palm is a palm and nothing more; variety makes no difference. Of course, one cannot be displeased with any of the commonly cultivated kinds, but undoubtedly some are more desirable than others. To say the least, Livistona rotundifolia is one of the most pleasing of all. In general character of leaf, it resembles the well-known Latania Borbonica, which has broad leaves, the segments almost entirely connected, like a fan; but as the specific name-rotundifolia-implies, the leaf is very round, in a way resembling a ribbed water-lily leaf. The specimens are more compact, and make charming table center-pieces. It is a native of Java.

Mr. Dreer thinks Kentia Belmoreana does best of any in a house, as it stands more neglect; while the graceful, narrow-leaved Cocos Weddelliana is perhaps most popular.

It is becoming quite the thing to plant three in one pot of kinds like the Cocos, Kentia and Areca, which are rather erect-growing and do not fill out low with foliage. To those not posted, it would seem like one plant pushing up from the root. To illustrate this method, through the kindness of Mr. Henry A. Dreer, of Philadelphia, a photograph of a pot of Kentias is reproduced.

It would please intended buyers were they to go through the greenhouses of florists before purchasing, and see the many beautiful things that are suitable for house culture.

The popular name of the class of palms to which the Kentia belongs, is Feather Palm, and they are interesting as traveling nearer the South Pole than any other palm. They were not distinguished from Areca until about 50 years ago, when the Dutch botanist, Blume, named it after a popular authoress of that day, Miss Kent. Still, even this lady's honors are likely to be taken from her by the new namers of plants, who insist that our plant should be Howea Belmoreana. But, as often stated in these pages, it is impossible to change names after they have become

widely in use, and this pretty plant will probably be always Kentia in gardening.

CENTROPOGON LUCIANUS.-Though so seldom seen in cultivation, few plants, if any, are more deserving of general cultivation than Centropogon Lucianus. Its long, bright, rosy carmine, tubular flowers appearing, as they do, all through the dead of winter, make it a very desirable acquisition to any collection of plants, however small. The plant is a hybrid between C. fastuosus and Siphocampylus betulafolius, and was raised from seed by M. Desponds, of Marseilles, in 1856. The genus to which it belongs is a very small but handsome one of herbaceous greenhouse perennials. It belongs to the order of Lobeliacea. They are all natives of Mexico and South America. The plant referred to is not (at least with me) at all difficult of cultivation. It thrives well in a temperature of about 60 or 65 degrees during the day and about 5 degrees lower at night, although 5 degrees lower will not hurt it..

The soil used is a light one, consisting of equal parts of loam, manure, sand and leaf mould. The drainage must be thoroughly efficient. It is easy of propagation either by cutting or division.

The plant in this collection was im

A PLEA FOR NATURE IN LANDSCAPE ART.There is one department of the general subject of landscape gardening, that is well worth much more thought than is usually bestowed upon it, either by landscape artists in their work, or, by those who write,—it is, the preservation of the beautiful in natural landscapes.

We have many illustrious examples in landscape work, of something made out of almost nothing; and all praise is due the noble spirit, the genus and the skill that can work out such wonders of beauty, where before there was barreness or monotony of scene, if not positive ugliness. We have a surfeit of socalled landscape gardeners, who can make geometrical designs in beds and shrubbery, and straight and crooked paths galore; but, have we enough of the higher sense of rural beauty, that can stay the hand of the destroyer of what God has made in forest and prairie, in stream and lake, and in mountain and hill? Have we enough applied skill, in the way of appropriating those things in nature which may be easily destroyed, but never, no, never made by the hand of man?

To my mind, there is no artificial landscape work in all the public parks and private grounds that I have seen that can favorably compare in pleasing aspect with the countless works of the Master Hand. Where is the shaven lawn that has so restful and peaceful an aspect as a mossy carpet in some woodland dell; or, the artificial waterfall that has the wooing witchery of a wild brook as it tumbles over its rocky bed? The former has a manufactured look, that is far from pleasing, in comparison with the free and easy style of Nature's handiwork. Yet, how many delightful rocks and rills, grassy knolls and shady glens are utterly destroyed to make way for something less charming to the lover of true beauty?

It is not always possible to save all the delightful parts of a natural landscape, in making a new home on a suburban lot, or, in the country proper; but, if the heart of the landscape gardener is right and he has sufficient

GROWING CHIMAPHILA. The Chimaphila sends its roots down deep in the ground, and it increases by subterranean suckers. These are often taken for the real plants, and this doubtless accounts for the difficulty some find in getting transplanted stocks to grow. They should be treated almost as cuttings for a little while. Robinson, in his "Hardy Flowers in English Gardens," notes the difficulty cultivators there find in getting it to grow. The tendency to extend by these runners is the reason, probably, that it is never seen abundantly in any one place.

PLEASANT RAILROAD TRAVEL.-Why do not our railroad companies pay more artistic regard to their right of way along their tracks and about their stations? Is it because horticulturists do not jog them enough? True, some commendable steps have been taken by not a few companies, but as a rule the wayside grounds of railroads are a desert waste.

The travelling public is largely made up of the better and aesthetic classes, and while it does not fail to appreciate the commodious stations, cars and general business accommodations of the various roads, still nothing so pleasantly relieves the weary eye as a bit of landscape work, geometrical flower beds, nice trees, walks, and lawns, which could be introduced instead of chaos that prevails along many of our railroads. These grounds all have regular attention, anyway, and our experience is that it is about as cheap to keep a lawn and shrubbery as it is to be continuously battling with briers, bushes, and weeds. millions of unused acres of the railroads of this country, afford extravagant possibilities for landscape and ornamental garden work, and it will be realized when the public, through its journals and otherwise, shows its appreciation

The

The suggestions of our correspondent are worthy of serious consideration by railroad officials. When attention has been called to the desirability of some improvement in this direction, the answer has been given that the road does not now pay any dividend to the stockholders, and it is not fair to tax them still more. But as our correspondent well suggests, it often costs less to keep things neat than to have them go slovenly, and every good business man knows that good appearances attract trade. It would seem that no one goes by rail merely to see a side show,—and yet figures prove that the same line, made attractive, carries more passengers than the same line would with poor cars and poor surroundings.

LEAVES AS FOOD AGENTS.-"HOW LITTLE WE DO KNOW."-I quote the title from a conversation on biology a friend of ours had with Dr. Dixon. The Doctor is president of the Academy of Natural Sciences, and one of the leading biologists. His remark was no doubt intended to give an idea of how much there was to learn, as compared with what has already been discovered.

Several years ago, I planted a Balsam Fir tree where the waste water from the pump would run, but on ground dryer than that from which we had taken it. It was very small and therefore liable to be tramped down by the horses or cows, and as I was anxious to have it run up fast, I cut away the lateral branches in order to throw, as I thought, the whole life energy into the terminal shoot or top. It persisted, however, in sending out lateral branches nearly twice as far as it sent the terminal branch up. I was puzzled, and wondered if, as the leaves of the tree had to perform the functions of the lungs, stomach, etc., of the animal, we were not starving our tree. It got up in the world only fourteen inches in five years and the lateral branches five years ago extended twenty-five inches. This last May, the terminal shoot made seven inches, more than double that of former years, and twice as much as the lateral branches. Now, had we given it some special food, or cultivated it in some peculiar manner, what delight we might have taken in telling our neighbors what to do when they wished to run a tree up fast. But

we did nothing of the kind, all the conditions were the same as in former years, except that there was an excess of rain in May, the month in which that family of plants makes its growth for the season. My conclusions are that we should feed plants most when they are in the greatest need of nutrition. I manured my strawberry plants this season when they were just coming into bloom and had the best crop I ever grew. RODOLFUS BINGHAM.

EARLY SPRING IN THE GREENHOUSE.-With the advent of spring, everything in the stove and greenhouse will want attending to, espeCut off all cially adiantums and other ferns. dead fronds close to the soil, and any plants that require a larger pot, see that they get it. CroPropagation will also be in full blast. tons, Dracænas, and, in fact, nearly everything can now be increased more successfully that at any other time, as the bottom heat and temperature in the house are more regular and not. liable to such great changes as may occur later. F. I. Roxboro, Phila.

TURF-MADE LAWNS.-A lawn that had been several years since put down under ordinary mixed lawn grass seed, was brought to the writer's attention as the snow was departing in early spring. The different species of grass. had had time to spread into patches several feet in width. These patches were of as many shades of color as a crazy-quilt might be. The time will come when Mr. Olcott's method of planting a lawn, by one kind of grass only, will be the only method of making a lawn capable of competing for a beauty prize.

DRACENA TERMINALIS. -One of the most attractive plants on the Christmas market this season was a dark purple-leaved decorative plant, Cordyline terminalis-perhaps better known as Dracana terminalis. Its peculiar charm is the new and growing central shoot, the leaves of which are brilliantly colored"crushed strawberry," the ladies would call it. It is a good house plant of easy culture.

NEW OR RARE PLANTS.

ACALYPHA SANDERI.-One of the most recent novelties in decorative flowering plants is Acalypha Sanderi. It is properly described as being always in flower, and these very flowers are the source of interest. They are in long, slender, rope-like racemes, of a light red color. It makes an interesting ornamental plant that every one should have in their conservatory. The flowers are of the nature of colored bracts as in Poinsetta, which establishes the long character of its flowering season.

LACE-LEAF

OUVIRANDRA FENESTRALIS, PLANT. What an interesting aquatic this is! Any one having a warm greenhouse should certainly have one. All it requires is a good, rich, turfy loam and plenty of cow-dung. It should be grown in a pot, plunged in a tub of water, where the hot sun does not strike it. The lattice-like leaves float just under the surface of the water, and, when well grown, measure about three inches wide and about twelve inches long. It is a native of Madagascar, and is rarely met with in private gardens around Philadelphia.

ANTIGONON LEPTOPUS.-Please permit me to say something about Antigonon leptopus, of which the December number has a description. I have raised Antigonon leptopus from seed and had some bloom the first year without any special care. I plant the seed in small flower pots and keep the plants in same until the weather permits to plant them out. But please give me permission to describe to you a large plant which grows here on a private place against the side of the house. This plant is about six years' old. It never gets any care, and withstood the winter of '95 to '96 (when orange and many other trees and plants were killed) without any other protection than its own leaves. In April, when the ground gets warm, the plant begins new life. It climbs up a wire trellis the best it can; its tendrils will cling and hold fast to anything in reach (like the tendrils of a grape vine). It grows up to six feet or a little more and then hangs over --and I wish you could have seen the mass of beautiful rich rose-red sprays of flowers. The sprays are about twelve inches long, and literal

ly cover the plant on the upper two-thirds of the trellis. It begins to bloom the latter part of September, and will keep in bloom about two months. The plant is worth going to some trouble to get to bloom further north and east. I have not met with it in my travels in the east. I would advise putting the seeds in small pots in not too rich soil; keep the pots in a warm place and shaded, until the plants appear above ground (I raised my plants in a cucumber frame). I would plant the seedlings, after they are strong enough, in a larger pot or box, and sink it to the rim in the ground. Take them into the house in the fall; or plant directly in a place in the greenhouse, where the plant gets plenty air and light (at least in summer). Keep them away from stove heat. small trellis will suffice for the first year or two, in fact, the overhanging vines will produce flowers sooner. I should be glad to see you have success with this beautiful climber in the east, north and west. I have no seed or plants for sale, but seeds are offered in many of the seedmen's catalogues.

A

THE POLYANTHA ROSE.-With this I mail a small package of Polyantha rose hips, which look at present so wonderfully pretty on my bushes that I must praise them a little, although they may not be unknown to you. A few years ago, I received three such tiny, dried up seeds in a letter from Germany, which were planted out of doors, and in due time produced miniature rose seedlings, two in number; they reached the height of four inches, and during their first winter, I covered them with a little flower pot. The second summer they grew to the height of about four feet without branching much, but showing plainly signs of being climbers, and also very thorny. They kept long their small green and shining foliage in the autumn, and without any protection came out the next spring ahead of everything, and also blossomed the earliest of all,— very small single roses, the size of a ten-cent piece, but clustered in masses so as to cover the whole post, against which I had transplanted them, with a snowy mantle, at a time when hardly any other shrubs were in bloom. Shoots grow from twelve to sixteen feet high