In my order to Floral Park, two years ago, for seeds and plants, I included an order for one of the unique Acalyphas Sanderi. I had read somewhere that these plants would prove a disappointment to the amateur, and must have hot-house culture to develop their beauty, so of course I wanted to try one in my south window. The plant as received was about 5 inches high and beginning to blossom. I placed it in good rich soil, gave it plenty of warmed (not hot) water, and the very warmest, sunniest corner of the south window, so screened that the sun's rays were caught and held in the little nook where it stood. I persisted in the warmed water treatment and never let the soil get dry. The lustrous green leaves soon began to appear and at the stem of each leaf a bloom-tassel grew in crimson contrast. I am well pleased with my experience with this plant.—Lillian McIntosh.

[View original image]

MINNESOTA

Editor Mayflower:

I wonder who first advanced that miserable theory that Begonias should be watered sparingly, be kept always in the shade and not a drop of water allowed to touch the leaves. No wonder that Begonias treated in that way drop their leaves and refuse to grow. I have grown a great many varieties—I have forgotten how many—and I find that they all like heat and moisture, and showering or spraying the leaves is a benefit to them if the sun is not allowed to shine on them while they are wet. While the rough or hairy leaved varieties will not stand hot sunshine they will do much better and be more sure to bloom if they stand where the early morning or late afternoon sun can shine upon them. B. Vernon and two or three other varieties will stand as much hot sunshine as Portulaca if given plenty of water at the roots and an overhead showering every day after the sun is gone, in dry weather. No Begonia will do well here on the prairie if bedded out, and plunging in pot is worse. I don't like earthen pots for them any way—the plants do better in wood or tin. I have a number of pots (?) made from gallon paint kegs; one keg makes two, which I use for my Tuberous Begonias. I use broken bones for drainage, a mixture of leaf mold and sand for soil, plant one bulb in a keg, and after the weather becomes warm I place the kegs on a bench which stands in an angle of the house, said angle being open to the north and east and gets the sun till 11 o'clock. I keep the soil moist and shower the leaves when I think they need it. And those plants do grow and bloom, the foliage is immense, some of the leaves measuring 8 by 12 or 14 inches, and the blossoms measure from 2 to 4 inches across. I have counted fifteen such blossoms on one plant at one time. Do they do much better than that anywhere? Mine are the finest I have ever seen.—H. J. W.

NEW JERSEY

Editor Mayflower:

I "assisted" a few days ago at a tree-moving, if assisting means standing shivering in the snow watching eight men and four horses try to remove a White Thorn tree (Cratægus coccinea) from the frozen ground. The earth had been dug away about three feet each way from the trunk in order to preserve the root-ball intact, though truth to tell, one root went too deep and was ruthlessly cut. By means of skids, a stone-sled, a jack-chain and much audible exertion, the tree was finally started on its journey. Owing to bad management, a beautiful Tulip-tree was sacrificed to open up a road for the royal procession, but the men thought nothing of that—it was only a tree in the woods. In the yard a great hole was waiting, with a deep layer of manure in the bottom; and here, with more exertion, the tree was set, due regard being paid to the points of the compass. It was a low spreading tree and certainly worth the moving, and held in its branches a trim little nest. But "there are no birds in last year's nest"—no little bird to say whether or no this small tree will take kindly to its transplanting. So it will be watched with mingled hope and misgiving.—Mrs. M. H. L.