The Portland daily press., 1878-05-28
AGRICULTURAL.
The Naslurtsu ma.

If could have but one species of flowers
in my summer garden, would have nastur-
tiums. admit freely that the rose is more
beautiful, the heliotrope more fragrant, the
pansy more exquisite of hue, the sweet pea
more delcateIy graceful; but the crisp and
sturdy nasturtium, if it claims no quality in
preeminent degree, is still so attractive in
many ways as to be one of the most satistact-
DRY Of flowers.
1t is very easily cultivated. The seed are
so tenacious of life that, planted early or late,
deep in the soil or scarcely covered, they are
almost sure to send up within week two
a pair of round green leaves. Scarcely has the
Seeding made any growth before tiny buds
are formed, and some bright June morning
we are surprised to find gorgeous bit Of
color amid the tender green foliage. From
this time we are never without flowers for
our vases, for the nasturtium is most pro.
Life bloomer, and the more flowers we cut or
break off the more buds are pushed out, and
this continues till the vines are killed by the
autumnal frosts.
The nasturtium will thrive in any soil and
in any weather, being in this respect far SUI
perior to the sweet pea for those who love to
have few flowers about their doors, but
who are too busy to devote much time to
their culture. 10 dry season, nasturtiums,
without being watered at all, will keep on
blooming bravely, and the foliage will not
suffer as much as the foliage of most other
plants. 1t has providentially stored away in
its juicy stalks an abundant supply of mois-
ture. And with what wonderful rapidity do
the vines grow in rainy weather! Ii we have
been kept indoors for day Or two by the
rain, when we get out again tc look after our
plants we can compare the nasturtum vines
to nothing save jacks beanstalk. Even
while the Summer rain is still falling, if we
to To h.
few flowers to brighten the dinner table, we
may sally forth in in waterproof and ubbers,
and gather the half-open nasturtiums, with
their dripping green leaves, and we shall find
them as beautifully fresh and lovely as Venus
emerging from the bath, while most of their
floral sisters, dishevelled and ran-soaked,
are hopelessly ruined and utterly void of
beauty.
Nasturtiums are especially serviceable for
decorating rooms, for several reasons. They
do not close in the dark or at night, as many
flowers do, they. keep long time before
whitening, and they offer great variety of
hues, from the pale lemon to the dark GRIM
son. Among the loveliest are the parti.col-
ored flowers, and those who cultivate them,
year after year, from seed of their own saw
ing, can hardly tail to be surprised at the
few shades and variegations that are con-
stantly appearing. Many persons combine
them IN bouquets with other flowers, but TO
nay mind they are far more effective when
combined only with their own beautiful green
leaves. And it is worthy of remark that the
foliage is scarcely ever attacked by insects,
but can almost invariably be found in perfec-
tion accompanying its flowers. A few bril-
liant nasturtiums, each accompanied by its
own stalk and leaves, arranged in a slender
vase on bracket in the shaded summer par
lor, form an exquisite bit of ornamentation.
The background of delicately-tlnted wall
brings out the graceful forms of the flowers
and the beautiful dark foliage with charming
effect
The nasturtum possesses yet one other
claim to our consideration. 1t is not often
that one can assert for garden pet that it is
useful as well as ornamental, but it is possible
in this case, for if we have more seeds than
we wish to save to plant another year, they
form, picked, a most delicious condinent.
There are few households in which jar
would come amiss. 1t is, perhaps, a some
what singular mingling of the realistic and
sentimental, to sit at the winter breakfast ia
BILE, as the white flakes fit by the window,
and to have the agreeable pungent flavor OF
the tiny pickles remind us of the departed
bloom that frightened our little world in the
bygone midsummer days.
Its edible quality is, doubt not, its sole
redeeming feature in the minds of some prac-
teal housekeepers. But whether so or not,
surely no one can deny that the nasturtium is
plant to suit all tastes.-Boston Transcript.