Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-04-05

growing plant In the Washington gardens il
the vanilla, producer OF tho familiar bean,
which starts originally from a seed planted at
tne 1901 OF a tree and subsequently becomes
parsslte OF tnat tree the part near its root rot
ting on, Thirty thousand bulbs are purchased
oy the Washington garden department each
year, nearly all of them obtained from Holland
where great tracks of dyke land are devoted to
their propagation. Over there. the second year
after planting with seeds and shoots. the bulbs
being then In condition to blossom the follow
ing spring-are dug, cured and dried IN which
state they are sent 70 this country about Sep
TENDER.
The function Of this horticultural garden is
very different from that OF the Botanic Garden
here. In the latter is gathered an assemblase
OF plants that Is made as far as possible perua-
nent, propagation being only carried on to the
extent necessary for supplying losses. On the
other hand, the Horticultural Garden pretty
nearly
RENEws ITS STOCK
every year, all soft-wooded plants-such as
geraniums' coeus and chrysanthemums-being
propagated afresh in February for planting
out in the parks in May. During the winter
great quantities of plentifully blooming
piants-lIke violets, begonias. pansies and bull
bous blossomers-are grown for use in the
early spring. Smilax is cultivated all the year
round in a manner that is very beautiful TO
the eye. Hanging close under the roof of
across horizontally and parallel. q great num-
Der of them, extending from one end of the
building to the other. From these wires
strings are stretched downward TO troughs of
earth below, by which means the smilax climbs
up, thus throwing a succession Of lovely green
curtains across the house from the roof TO the
floor almost Very many plants-sueh rs YER
benas. pansies and basams-are grown from
seed by preference. The way TO get big PAN
sizes is to procure very young plants, keep them
moist and near the hight, sprinkle the foliage
often and use plenty of manure water tina. is
not too strong The finest pansy and fuchsia
seeds fetch from S75 to 800 an ounce
Always remember to use tepid water on your
plants, by the way. One great beauty of WASH
lngton Is that every street in the town rs an
seed in the gardens. The towering shrubs. of
which $4,000 are produced annually, grow from
cuttings.
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE.
biologists and horticulturists are much in
terested at present in the question as to where
the vegetable ends and the animal begins. The
question seems well nigh impossible to solve,
lnasmuch as there is no criterion 10 which it
may be satisfactorily referred. What are you
going to designate as the point which distin-
cuisines animal from vegetable? Locomotion
has been suggested, but that is no test Ger
tain small sea weeds have power of
locomotion, while on the other hand
the animal creature known as the "ant's cow"
from which the ingenious insect obtains
ITS supply OF milk, cannot move a
particle. The more deeply science
dips into the subject the more
inevitable does the conclusion become that
life in the animal and the plant is precisely the
same thing and that vegetables possess in the
nbers OF their roots the same sort of intelli-
gence that human beings have in their brains.
How do these root fibers know precisely which
way to look for wster2 Plant instinct, per-
haps. But instinct is only vulgar term for
inherited experience, which in itself implies
consciousness. Oh, yes, vegetables have
minds-at all events, scientific men have pretty
generally come to that conclusion.