1871.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



187 



&c., that it would then be impossible to indentify 

 the vines. So it would be with every new variety 

 of fruit; all one would have to do would be to 

 change the yiame, and then sell all he desired. 



Take strawberries; for instance, the "Great 

 American," the foliage being identical with a 

 score of other varieties, and the fruit changeable 

 in size and flavor in different localities, how 

 could it be patented? I consider such a thing 

 so preposterously absurd that it is a waste of 

 time to argue the question. But if the rtame 

 were secured to the originator, so that no one 

 could sell " Great American " strawberries with- 

 out purchasing a " right," the originator would 

 be partially protected. It is true, that they 

 could be sold under another name, but it takes 

 several years to establish the character of a new 

 variety of fruit, by advertising it, and having it 

 tested in ditierent parts of the country; and 

 those persons who sell it under a new name 

 would have to do their own advertising and 

 build up a reputation for it at their own expense, 

 which is something worth trying to secure. 



Suppose, as the case now stands, that I adver- 

 tise my new grapes extensively, and pay out 

 thousands of dollars, and establish their character 

 all over the United States ; well, various enterpri- 

 sing nurserymen buy from fifty to one hundred 

 vines each, and in three or four years thev are 

 able to supply the entire demand for these vines, 

 and will do it on the strength of my previous 

 advertising ! That is wrong, and it tends to 

 discourage producers of new varieties of fruits. 

 Let us, then, try to secure our right to the name 

 we give our fruit, and not to ask anythhig more, 

 as we shall not obtain more if we ask it till 

 doomsday. I offer no grape vines for sale at 

 present. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF AUSTRALIA. 



BY WM. T. HARDING, UPPER SANDUSKY, OHIO. 

 (Concluded from page 123.) 



The wild romance of nature was as perfect 

 and as charming as could possibly be found in 

 the sublunary world. In the small lagoons, or 

 pools, through which the water flowed, grew 

 Nelumbium Leichardtianum, a most magnifi- 

 cent ofimson water lily, with immense leaves 

 rising four or five feet above the water; among 

 which floated the beautiful blue Nymphea gi- 

 gantea. Among masses of water plants and 

 large tussocks of Xyrus, especially, several pairs 



of the odd-looking mained geese had formed 

 their nests. Quietly swimming about, were 

 several sleeply-looking pied geese, and so 

 stupidly goosy as to allow me to ca(ch them. 

 Nothing surprised me more than the discovery 

 of a bed of water cress, the true Nasturtium offi- 

 cinalis, with which both the London and New 

 York markets are supplied. What memories 

 seemed to cluster round the little herb of other 

 lands, the sight of which awakened happy recol- 

 lections of friends, in "the fast anchored isle." 



The rhizomes of Davallia pyxidata, and D. 

 flaccida hung in lengthened masses, like twisted 

 and tangled ropes, from the projecting crags, 

 some forty feet long. The Stag's Horn Fern, 

 Platycerum alcicorne, was indeed a curious sight 

 to behold. Like a parisite, it seemed to live upon 

 anything, moist or dry, and grew equally as well 

 on the tops of the trees as on the soil beneath. 

 A Loranthus, or mistletoe, a true parasite, was 

 growing upon ail Acacia platyphylla, near by. 

 A splendid specimen of what I supposed to be 

 a Macrozamea cylindrica, was perched high up 

 on the edge of a projecting rock. On such an 

 elevated vantage-ground, its peculiarity seemed 

 more strange and conspicuous. 



Many were the species of beautiful ferns, of 

 which the anne.\ed are but a few: — Polypodium 

 Billardieri, Niphobolus rupcstris, Zyphopteris 

 hetrophylla, Blechnum Isevigatum, Adiantum 

 formosum, A. deltoideum, A. concinnum, Asplen- 

 ium flabellifolium, A. obtusatum, Botrychium 

 australe, Aspidium munitum, A. decompositum, 

 Pteris falcata, P. esculenta, Dictyopteris pteroi- 

 des, D. macrodonta, Microlepis rhomboidea, 

 Ophioglossum gramineuni, Lindsaea linearis, Ne- 

 ottopteris Austral asica, Cyathea medularis, Also- 

 phila Australis, and Cybotium Billiardieri— 

 splendid specimens, averaging from twenty to 

 sixty feet high. A tall and slender stemmed 

 Alsophila Liechardtiana was one of the grandest 

 of tree ferns I ever saw. 



Hibiscus multifidus, a comely blue flowering 

 shrub, was abundant. As a tree of mark, the 

 very singular evergreen, Carpodonta lucida, 

 ha<l a striking appearance; its glossy foliage 

 seemed to be dripping wet, as it glistened and 

 waved in the sun. 



Among a mass of detached rocks sprung the 

 corrugated shaft of fine Xanthorrhoea, or grass 

 tree. From the apex of its grass-like crown 

 waved a beautiful flossy wand, or floral plume, 

 several feet above. Pretty bushes of Prostan- 

 thera violacea, mingled with Chorozema 



