` THE CHRISTMAS ROSE."
Once again " the Christmas rose " has deceived the critics. One of them asks why, if flowers are so much desired and so dear at Christmas, this " rose " is not more freely cultivated. Is there any flower less roselike ? But in spite of its poisonous nature and ugly scent, the hellebores or Christmas roses are worth more attention than they receive. And how many people who cultivate the tribe are content with Hellebortm niger to the exclusion of its earlier and better cousin, Helleborui altifolius. Many common things, as an old schoolmaster used to say of common sense, are too uncommon. Another the snowflake. Everyone grows the snowdrop, and many grow the summer snowflake ; but in my experience the spring snows flake Leucoia verna (the most sweetly scented of its tribe) is comparatively rare-in humbler gardens, though I am to14 it can be found established in a wild state here and there.
W. BEACH THOMAS
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