ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF PLANTS.

CLASSIFICATION is a long word for a common operation of every mind. When we consider those animals that have bones, as either beasts, birds, fishes, or reptiles, the philosopher says that we classify vertebrate animals. into four divisions.

We always want to classify when we can. If I tell you that the Chatodon rostratus is a creature that shoots a fly with a drop of water, you do not feel as well satisfied as when I tell you that it is a fish that shoots flies.

What I wish now is to

By plants, I mean all

We classify animals more naturally than plants. give you the satisfaction of classifying plants better. living things-organic beings-that are not animals. In fact, we classify when we divide the organic world into animals and plants; and it is rather difficult, when we get down to the sponge, to decide to which kingdom it belongs.

The first step in classifying plants is easy. It is with flowering and flowerless; or, if you like tough words, into Phanerogams and Cryptogams. But the flowering plants include those whose flowers are not showy, as the oaks and willows.

The flowerless plants you classify so well into ferns, ground-pines, mosses, fungi, and seaweeds, that I shall say no more about them; certainly not at this time.

The flowering plants are divided into three sections; and for these we cannot well avoid the use of the scientific names,-Endogens, Gymnosperms, Exogens. In all these words, the g ought to be hard as in gimlet. Most people sound it as j in Endogen and Exogen. All have the accent on the first syllable, En'-do-gen, Gym'-no-sperm, Ex'-o-gen.

Between the other two sections stand the Gymnosperms. Except the Cycas, seen in some greenhouses, all of the Gymnosperms you are ever likely to see are called evergreens. I do not recollect of ever hearing of a Gymnosperm that was not a tree or a bush. The Cycas we generally see as a tree a few inches high, about six in diameter, and crowned with leaves several feet long. The pine is the type of the rest.

Gymnosperm means "naked-seeded." The seeds are generally hid among the hard, woody leaves of a cone: the leaves do not grow together over the seeds as the skin does over the seeds of an apple. If grains of wheat and corn were "seeds," they would be gymnospermous; for nothing grows together over them.

You can tell the Pine family without difficulty. But how? "They are evergreens." The larches shed all their leaves. "Their leaves are needleshaped." Those of the Salisburia on Boston Common are more than an inch wide. "The wood is softer than hardwood." Basswood is softer than a pine-knot. "They bear cones." The few pulpy leaves of the junipercone take the shape of a berry. But these are exceptional freaks, and do not deceive you.

The Endogens are not so easily told from the Exogens, even though the Gymnosperms stand between them. The seeds of the Exogens sprout into two leaves, as the bean, pea, and maple: those of Endogens thrust out a single one, or two very unequal ones. This distinction is almost without exception; but it is not easy of application. The dodders, which are Exogens, never have leaves except in their little flowers.

Endogens seldom have branches except to their flower-stems. Asparagus is an exception. All the parts of their flowers are in threes: this is true of very few Exogens. The leaves of Endogens have no branching veins as those of Exogens have. Compare the leaves of grass, onions, and lilies with those of buckwheat, horse-radish, or oak. But the Arum family (wake-robins, Indian-turnips), though their leaves have branching veins, are Endogens.

So you see that the criteria used in classification are not perfect like those for finding words in a dictionary. Bats can fly; ostriches cannot. Whales and porpoises are not fishes; eels are not snakes; we are not certain whether sponges are animals or not. But one who uses all the criteria in his power need not go far astray. It is most desirable that the mental classification of plants should be habitual, as that of the higher animals always is with all of us.

Now let us sum up our classification of plants so far as we carry it to-day :

1. ALGE. Mostly seaweeds.

2. LICHENS.- "Mosses on rocks,

bark, fences, &c. 3. FUNGI. - Toadstools, mushrooms, puff-balls, mould. 4. HEPATICE. Liverworts, lichen-mosses. 5. Mosses. - Well known.

6. EQUISETACEÆ.- Horse-tail rushes, scouring rushes. 7. FERNS.-Well known. 8. HYDROPTERIDES. Water-ferns, little known.

9. LYCOPODS.

-Ground-pines.

II. FLOWERING PLANTS (Phanerogams).

1. ENDOGENS.Seeds produce but one original leaf; stems mostly herbaceous, unbranched; leaves without branching veins; parts of flowers in threes and sixes. Examples: grasses (including bamboo, corn, and cane), palms, orchids, lilies (pond-lilies are not lilies), iris, tulip, and hyacinth.

3. EXOGENS.Seeds produce two equal original leaves; stems branched, often woody; veins of leaves branching; parts of flowers mostly in fives or fours. Examples: all our trees and shrubs, most food-plants except grains and onions, the paw-paw with its flowers in threes, the salsify with onion-like leaves.

The discrimination between Endogens and Exogens is the first step in botanical knowledge. As our description of an unknown person always begins with the sex, so the search for the unknown name of a flower always begins with the question whether it be Endogen or Exogen. The Exogens outnumber the Endogens more than four to one. The Endogens, therefore, may be noted as exceptions. And, if you ever hope to be a botanist, you should lose no time in learning the first step,-to recognize every Endogen you see; and, when you have mastered this problem, you will find that here, as in so many other things, the first step is the hardest.

S. MALDEN, MASS.

I. F. Holton.

HEDGES.

THE inquiry is often made as to what shall be used for a hedge. It is difficult to answer such a question without knowing fully what the hedge is intended for, whether for a protection against cattle, a dividing-line. between two estates, or parts of the same estate, for protection to a garden or an orchard, or for mere ornamental purposes on the top of a face-wall or some such place. If the first, then it would not be best to use evergreens, but to plant three-thorn acacia, Osage orange when it will stand the winter, buckthorn, and many other things that will in time make a barrier sufficient to stop the cattle. If for a dividing-line where no cattle are to come to it, evergreens may be used to equal advantage with the deciduous trees and plants above named. If protection is wanted from the severities of winter or the sweeping winds of other seasons, then, by all means, plant evergreens. If a mere ornamental hedge is desired, the whiteberried privet, a sub-evergreen, is a very good thing; the Siberian arborvitæ, a slow-growing evergreen, is also a very excellent thing to plant; or the American arborvitae and hemlock. No tree or plant makes a better hedge than the latter, either for ornamental or useful purposes. When the new leaves are coming out with their pea-green color on the darker-green background of the old foliage, it presents a striking and beautiful appearance not surpassed by many flowering trees or shrubs. It may be kept quite low merely for ornamental purposes, or it can be allowed to grow up sufficiently for the purposes of protection. It is not so easily transplanted as the arborvitæ, and will not, when small, bear so severe treatment; but, as it advances, it becomes more hardy. If the plants are procured from the nursery, they are almost sure to grow. The ground should be well prepared when a hedge of any kind is to be set; for half-way work in such a matter is not profitable. The American arborvitae is more extensively used for hedges than any other evergreen. It accommodates itself to almost every soil and situation, lives readily when transplanted, grows rapidly, and, when properly cared for, makes a very compact and perfect hedge. Its principal defect is its dingy color in spring. When it suffers severely from drought, it sometimes kills out the following winter, and makes bad gaps in

the hedge. The buckthorn is a very excellent hedge-plant, perfectly hardy. not liable to borers, a good grower : it makes a good, compact, useful, and quite ornamental hedge. Hedges of buckthorn can be found about Boston thirty or forty years old, and still very fine. It is hardly sufficient to stop cattle until it has attained considerable age and been well cut in for several years. It is not profusely furnished with thorns; but, as the trunks of the trees or bushes thicken, it will become so dense, that a mad bull could not go through it.

In most places where a live fence is required, the buckthorn will be the best article that can be used. Willow-hedges may be used to good advantage, in low, moist lands, for division-fences. The osiers for basket-making that may be cut from them every spring will make the fence a source of some profit. Some of the rather strong-growing varieties should be used. They grow so readily from cuttings, and that, too, with little preparation and subsequent care, that every person may supply himself with such a fence at trifling cost. For mere ornamental purposes, there are few better plants than privet or prim. The white-berried is preferable, as it does not kill out so much, leaving unsightly gaps. It can be used to good advantage in back walls, each side of main walks or avenues, or wherever a low, compact hedge is desired. It holds its leaves until near mid-winter, some months after most deciduous trees and shrubs have lost their foliage. The Norway spruce is being used considerably for hedge-purposes, and to good advantage. It seems to bear the shears well. It will answer a most excellent purpose where a large evergreen-hedge is desired. The high price at which they are held prevents the extensive use of them. The white pine can also be used, and can be so handled as to make a very compact hedge; being ornamental, and very useful as protection to gardens and orchards. There are many other trees and plants that are sometimes used for hedges; but those considered best have been named. This is an important subject, and one that should engage the attention of every person owning land, especially those who suffer from the effect of cold and severe winds. In an economical point, there can be no doubt that a hedge is very desirable in portions of the country where stone cannot be had for walls; and there is little doubt that it will prove the cheapest fence where timber is expensive for fences. When ornamental fences are needed, nothing can equal a