136 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[ April, 



hand, from other parties, and which would sully 

 our i)a,i;o3 did ihoy appear. Besides, tlierc is the 

 apparently novel sn<;y;estion of a "coinniittee 

 of horliculturists at Wnshin.uton." But where is 

 the real difference? If the "three" are appointed 

 by the patent office, they may as well be called 

 " <-lerks," as a " committee." It is hardly worth 

 ^isputinp; about a name. A lively time these 

 "clerks" — beg pardon, this "committee" — 

 would have in deciding on the "novelty" of 

 beans, peas, cabbages, tomatoes, grapes, rasp- 

 berries, strawberries, onions, peaches, peai"«, 

 apples, wheat, rye, potatoes, blackberries, plums, 

 cherries, and what-nots, pouring in from Oregon 

 and Maine, and from Florida and California — 

 and many arriving a mass of rottenness! No, 

 friend W. ! we do not think this plan of having 

 horticultural clerks decide the question of 

 novelty, with fresh specimens before them, near 

 as satisfactory as the plan of having the points 

 of novelty e.vpressed in language. We are in 

 favor of" protection." Nothing would jjlease us 

 better than to see the raiser of good fruits, flow- 

 ers, and vegetables, get well rewarded. We should 

 be glad to know that every one realized $50,000 

 by his good luck or good work. We are willing 

 to give these fortunate raisers the right to make 

 this, before anybody else gets a penny, if such 

 right can be secured; but we cannot stultify our- 

 selves by asking Congress to let us try "some- 

 thing," when nothing is proposed. 



As for Mr. Barry, we are quite sure he is as 

 anxious to see the raisers of good things secured 

 in their "right" to make something handsome, 

 as we are ; we see nothing in his quoted language 

 to warrant any other construction, and we agree 

 with him in doubting whether any " law " would 

 do better for these raisers, than good business 

 tact will do now. — Ed. G. M.] 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



HoRTEXSiA. — A correspondent writes in refer- 

 ence to the recent discussion: — " De Candolle 

 says, Commerson named our plants, first, Pe- 

 autia, in honor of Madame Hortcnse Lepe- 

 aute, &c. If my souvenim are right, the correct 

 name was Lepaute, for I think I saw the name 

 on public clocks in Paris, some fifty years ago, 

 and I naturally suppose the man knew how to 

 spell his own name. Now, why that difference 

 in spelling a name, and a popular one, too? 



The fun of it is, that those difTerenccs in spoiling 

 that name, Lepeaute, Lepaute, Peautia, &c., all 

 come from French authorities, botanists or 

 others. That reminds me of the name of a 

 well known plant dedicated to a French cele- 

 brity, 'Capt. Bougainville,' which in several 

 works is spelled in seven different ways, by seven 

 eminent botanist.s, and not one of them correct, 

 and yet they were not Frenchy, but of all na- 

 tions, English, Gernuin, &c. Now, if doctors 

 disagree, what will students do? gardeners espe- 

 cially, who generally have not the means to 

 identify the etymology, cither for want of edu- 

 cation or books to consult? Perhaps you will 

 think I carry this digression too far; but if I 

 insist on this erroneous spelling of authorities, 

 it is because oftentimes we gardeners are laughed 

 at for mispelling Latin and Greek names, with 

 which we are unacquainted. For instance, we 

 see in the catalogue of plants of leading estab- 

 lishments in Europe, such names as Imanto- 

 phyllum, Imatophyllum ; Rhaphis, Rhnpis, Ra- 

 phis, a sjiecics of palm. How are we to tell 

 which is which? Your correspondent is mighty 

 correct when he says : 'We cannot all be per- 

 fect, yet I should think that school teachers 

 ought to know how to read.' " 



Plant Patents. — Two articles on this subject 

 cannot appear in our pnper, for no other reason 

 than that they are abusive. W. H. W.'s letter is 

 in striking contrast, and we have pleasure in find- 

 ing a place for it. Whether our contributors 

 agree with us or not, we cheerfully make room 

 for what they have to say, but not if they forget 

 they are gentlemen. 



History of the Jerusalem Artichoke. — It 

 has puzzled historians to trace the artichoke to 

 its native home. Palfrey, in his history of New 

 England, says: "The Indians raised a species of 

 sunflower whose esculent tuberous root resem- 

 bled the artichoke in taste." In reply to a note 

 from Prof. Gray, Mr. Palfrey says he cannot give 

 just now the authority for this statement. It is 

 proljably of little moment, for a sunflower with 

 a root "tasting like artichoke" could be nothing 

 having reference to the true Jerusalem " arti- 

 choke," the root of which does not taste at all 

 like the artichoke. 



An Account of Experiments for the Produc- 

 tion OF Hybrid Grapes. By Mr. Geo. Haskell, 

 Ipswich, ]\Iass. — Mr. Haskell is one of the most 

 persevering of experimentors in the improve- 



