The earthquakes which have desolated our country, followed by extraordinary drouths, emptying our wells, drying up ponds and streams, and parching our fields and gardens to powder, have, we trust, finally ended in copious rains. Our garden losses have been very heavy, even the large trees losing their foliage and looking crisped and brown. The Azaleas have nearly died out, only the commonest sorts surviving. The Camellias, too, have seriously deteriorated. Roses, though almost leafless, are generally less injured than other and hardier plants.

In your monthly for July I notice an inquiry respecting the Kalmia latifolia. Forty or fifty years ago, Kalmias grew among the Rhododendrons on my father's estate in England. They were profuse bloomers, and, as far as I can recollect, never suffered from severe cold. They were also forced for winter bloom; and I can perfectly remember the beautiful trees covered with blossoms in our parlors in midwinter, with lilacs, Bengal roses and Lilies of the Valley.

With regard to the note in your July number about the length of the racemes of the Wistaria - with us the bloom measures frequently half a yard, and the white variety is even more lengthy (though less full) than the blue. We have a plant of the white which has climbed to the top of a pine tree, over sixty feet, and is now branching out in all directions seeking further support. Both kinds seed profusely, the young plants becoming like weeds in the garden. The wild variety of our woods, Wistaria frutescens, blooms fully a month later than the Chinese.

The Bamboo Vine of our woods (Smilax) has proved with us a lovely climber. In winter its bright, glossy foliage is very fresh and cheerful. I think gardeners in the Northern States have not valued this most graceful native plant as it deserves. [ This is probably Smilax laurifolia, and is truly a beautiful evergreen climber. It would no doubt prove hardy far north. - Ed].

A friend has found growing around a pond in the middle of the forest a group of Stuartias. Both bloom and leaf are very showy and handsome.

I see that Gardenias are attracting some notice. They are easily grown here from cuttings taken in autumn, and we have fine plants of our own raising.

Some lilies we brought in from the woods several years ago have proved a success. In shape the blossom resembles Japan lilies - bright orange, with rich brown spots, very elegant, several blooms on each stem, which are six feet in height. When we found them the plants were about three feet high, and the flowers so much smaller we can scarcely realize they are the same plants.

Summerville, S. C.