'Aug. 4—There is something attractive about field of cotton in Mower. he individual flow. eis are quite handsome, but we believe that our chief interest lies in' the value of the thre Which witl be borne on the seed in due course. fields during the week-end, the plants were looking very healthy and strong despite the fact that our rainfall' this year Is eight inches below the average. We tried to trace the early history of cotton (Gossypium: herbacewm) and found that Herodutus referred to the plant as growing in India: he wrote that the natives there made clothes of wool obtained from a plant, At a much later period, Pliny referred to plant growing in Egypt." Some: writers tell us that the cotton plant is native fo Persia while others say that its native habitat is the West India Islands. The cultivation of cotton is pursued extensively in many warm countries these days, the seed generally being picked by hand. Glycine hispida, the soy bean, was also soon bearing flowers in abund-nee, some were light blue, others white: th is also a very important plant, perhaps it is not so important as cotton to some of us, but it is very important to many people at one time grown in some countries only sell renovator or as forage for caltle, As a Soil improver the plant is well known, it gathers nitrogen in the nodules on its root sys~ fern, These nodules are actually rootlets which have developed abnormally owing to the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the cells. Today, the good value of the soy bean is appreciated more and many products are made from the seed. In China the bean is eaten as a vegetable or ground into flour. The familiar bean curd is made from it and all is also extracted. Soy sauce is too well known to require comment as also is bean cake, Garden owners have recently watched with dismay the continual rise in price of bean cake, and strange fs it may appear, our gardens appear to require more of this fertilizer now the purchase price Aug. "Tommy" thought that he had found) a new fruit yesterday: we noticed a large tree Iiterally covered with orange-red fruits which looked ripe and quila appetising from a distance; he was most disappointed when told that the tree was Broussonetia papyfera or the paper mulberry and that the fruits were not edible. "We have often said that we are not) particularly fond of the paper mulberry as a garden tree, We cannot say s0 today when the ree is in fruit for it is now attractive and, after all, there are many trees which are only attractive for a short time each year and many do not possess the medicinal properties of the paper mulberry. We pollarded one of these frees in the Spring and thinned out stems later; today it is a fine shade tree. We notice that the early Lycoris squamigera is blooming in gardens. This is one of our garden surprises, for suddenly from a bare patch in a shrubbery we observe flower stems growing through the] sell and in a short space of dime, they are over 2 foot high and blooming. No leaves are visible. 'The plant Is often called an amaryllis and as 'a-matter of fact it is very closely related to that genus. Leaves are produced. carly, and after they mature they die: the bulbs' then enjoy a period of rest until August when they return to life and send forth their delicate rosy-lilac flowers. We have noticed that the plants generally wait until after a heavy rain before Howering: but this year, we have seen many which have not waited for the rain. Perhaps: they just got tired of wailing or else the gardener har been busy with the hose pipe. Lycoris native to China and Japan, It is said that the plant was named after a Roman actress, reputed to have been very beautiful and. far from unknown to Mark Antony: in these days we would probably refer to the lady as one of Marcus Antonius's girl friends—w.sute Aug, 9—We used to consider the Zinnia a "dead" flower, but the species has been so much improved and so many attractive new [varieties are now on the market that "youth-and-old-age" as the plant is sometimes. called, has" become a great favourite for Summer bedding. We see gorgeous specimens in many Bardens, some plants bearing flowers which [could easily be mistaken for dahlias. We have also seen some very mediocre flowers: it is resumed that these were grown from seed collected locally. There ly no harm in collecting one's own seed for a year or two, but new Blood should be brought into the garden occasionally if we are to compete with our next-door neighbour and we all love to see that jealous look in our neighbour's eye when he calls to borrow his own lawn-mower or roller for when he peeps over the fence to explain to lus 50 dramatically how his thermos flask burst owing to hiv house-boy placing too many ice cubes inside. We used. fo like listening to those stories about fish and we remember how astonished we were to learn of the size of the Jone which a narrator just missed in a local pond. Those stories are yarns of the past: we have' a new interest now and we are sure that one. "Zinnia flower in our garden Targer than the one Mrs. "Next-Door Says she cul last Week, "Tommy" tells us that the flowers yet larger as the plant grows older, s0, If he is correct, we are going to have some beauties shortly. Zinnlas are native to Mexico and Peru, the plant being named after Johann Zinn, a German professor of botany. They are very' easy to grow, but they like good treat ment and plenty of light: they will grow in shady places, but they are not too satisfactory there. The dahlia-flowered types the largest of all, they are "deeper Californian it not larger in. diameter, these Rowers are often five inches across. The fantasy: type is a recent introduction~these flowers are shaggy and unlike a Zinnia, We are very fond fof "star dust." There are also Zinnias which re-Semble a scabiosa, these are pretty in a vase. Those who like small flowers have not been forgotten by the raisers for they have given Us pompous which bear flowers only one Inch
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