50 THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. [March, 



ripening in August, with very tender melting flesh, and an exquisite flavour ; it 

 was raised from Rivers' Orange Nectarine. 



Figs, which have been strangely neglected in this country, though there is no 

 fruit so really delicious, have come in for a more than usual share of attention. In 

 the Negro Largo (p. 5), introduced from Spain, we shall have gained a noble- 

 looking fruit, of large size, prolific, and of excellent quality ; while the little 

 known Bourjassotte Grise, is perhaps, without exception, the richest of all Figs ; 

 and the Col de Signora Blanca panachee is both an extremely good and a par- 

 ticularly beautiful sort, the fruits being handsomely striped with bars of green 

 and yellow. Of this latter we shall hope shortly to publish a coloured figure. 



Of Apples, worthy of notice, the season has introduced to us — Annie Elizabeth, 

 a large culinary winter variety ; Beauty of Waltham, an autumn dessert sort ; 

 Coole's Seedling, another handsome dessert sort ; and Mrs. Ward, a charming 

 winter dessert variety. Amongst Pears, we have one sterling acquisition in the 

 Summer Beurre dAremberg, which ripens in August, and was noticed in our 

 last volume ; it was raised from the old Beurre dAremberg. Beurre du Cercle, 

 an introduction from the Continent, is a large October Pear, with flesh resembling 

 that of the Marie Louise and Glou Morceau ; and Madame Treyve, another sort 

 of excellent quality, is one of the most beautiful pears in existence. 



The past season was perhaps one of the worst for Vegetable culture that has 

 ever been experienced ; nevertheless, some acquisitions have been recognized 

 amongst the novelties introduced. The improvements amongst vegetables are, 

 for the most part, effected by careful selection of particular forms, and the hus- 

 banding of seed from these, rather than by hybridizing ; but there are exceptions 

 to this, and we have to thank the successful hybridizers amongst Peas, for the 

 introduction of a race of early green and wrinkled Marrows of wonderful ex- 

 cellence. Laxton's Supreme and Alpha have maintained their high character ; 

 and now we have to record a greater acquisition, named William I., a parti- 

 colored blue and white marrow, as early as Sangster's No. 1, and producing large, 

 well-filled pods. Multum-in-Parvo, a larger form of Little Gem, is in some 

 respects an improvement on that variety. Amongst Kidney Beans, the Salmon- 

 coloured Kidney is a good addition to the dwarfs ; while amongst Runners, 

 Premier, and the Purple-podded, are real acquisitions, true Kidney Beans with 

 running haulm, and consequently continuous bearers. The Sandringham White 

 Celery is a selected and somewhat taller form of the Incomparable White, and 

 Carter's Incomparable Red is an excellent dwarf kind ; while of Endives, we 

 have Fraser's Broad-Leaved Batavian ; and of Lettuces, All the Year Round, to 

 record as valuable novelties. 



Of Potatos, which rank amongst the most important of Mother Earth's 

 productions, we have abundance of new material. The past season was, however, 

 one of the strangest and most trying for this particular crop that has ever been 

 experienced ; and the excessive drought affected them greatly. Almond's 



