19S 



TlliJ GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[June, 



movetl to say not dmIv tiiat this particular vari- 

 ety was good, but tliat tlic whole race deserves 

 more extended culture. The rresident, Mr. Gal- 

 loway C. Morris, had a large number of beautiful 

 plants— among others an Azalea mollis, very 

 •triking by its orange oblique llowei-s, and an 

 Indian Azalea, " Beauty of Surry,' also attractive 

 by reason of the pure velvety texture of th»^ 

 petals. 



American Pomologicai, Socikty. — In adilition 

 to the programme as noted in our last, in- 

 vitations have been accepted by the follow- 

 ing-named gentlemen to prepare papers : — 

 Prof. W. J. Beal, of the Agricultural College, 

 Lansing, >[ichigan, will prepare a paper on 

 " The Classilication of Apples ; " Prof. A. N. 

 Prentiss, of Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., 

 will prepare a paper on " The Pathology of Cul- 

 tivated Plants." It is expected that other gen- 

 tlemen of experience and skill will present pa- 

 pers on practical or historical subjects con- 

 nected with fruit-culture, such as " The Species 

 of the Apple," "The Bitter Rot of the Apple," 

 etc. 



Horticultural Pioneers in the West.— The 

 Chicago Tribune names as among the early hor- 

 ticultural pioneers of Illinois, Samuel Edwards, 

 Mr. Harkness, Mr. Overman, John B. Tull, Mr. 

 Shepherd, Tyler McWhorter, Mr. Hunt, Mr. 

 Kinney, Mr. Mann and S. G. Winkler— of the 

 good works of the rnpst of which we also can 

 attest as being well merited. 



SCEAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Centennial Exhibition — A Letter fro.m 

 President Wilder. — Mr. Editor: — In running 

 through your last Monthly, I am pleased to see 

 that the same nerve guides the editorial pen 

 with usual vigor. Your article on "Self and 

 Cross-Fertilization " pleases me. You are well 

 posted — go on, and you will be able to make 

 clear many mysteries in that science. This " lit- 

 tle cloud of pollen " floats in the air as the fra- 

 grance of flowers permeates it, and alchough 

 invisible to the naked eye, impregnates every 

 pistil within its reach. These fertilizing grains, 

 by the aid of the microscope, may be seen on 

 shaking the flower, to rise like dust in the air, 

 eager to light upon their companions for the 

 procreation of their species. Your experiments 



are very ingenious and instructive, and agree 

 with my own experience in regard to the diffu- 

 sion of i)ollen anil its subtle circct. One in- 

 stance in proof— the Wilder strawberry is a pis- 

 tillate i)lant, and its foliage is so tall that it cov- 

 ers almost completely iUs blossoms, and yet they 

 are fully impregnated by a bed of Staminate, if 

 in the vicinity, and produce large crops of fruit. 

 I have been much interested in your article on 

 "The Centennial Pomological Judges," and the 

 frank and honest explanations you have made 

 on the subject. As one of the Advisory Com- 

 mittee of the Bureau of Agriculture, I did what 

 I could to impress on the Commissioners the 

 great importance of American Pomology, which 

 should have astonished the world by its exhibi- 

 tion. Considering the disposition to almost ignore 

 it, the wonder is that during the week in Sep- 

 tember there should have been more than 

 twelve thousand dishes of fruits on the tables. 

 And let it not be forgotten how much the pub- 

 lic owes to you and other judges who, without 

 compensation, served for months in the Horticul- 

 tural and Pomological Department. I thank 

 Mr. Lincoln for his recognition of those worthy 

 compeers to which he alludes by name, all of 

 which are better entitled to the " Clarem el ven- 

 erahile nomen" than the other person designated. 



Notes on the Centennial Pomoixkjical Ex- 

 hibit — Letter from Mr. Burnet Landreth. — 

 Mr. Editor : — Permit me to correct a typographi- 

 cal error in the extract from my official report 

 upon Pomology, at the International Exhibition. 

 The last passage, as printed in your May num- 

 ber, reads, " The Pomological Judges examined 

 patiently and critically two thousand distinct 

 dishes of fruit." The reference to two thousand 

 applies, not to dishes, but to distinct exhibits, many 

 of them comprising three or four hundred dishes 

 each, as in the aggregate the judges passed upon 

 Gl,391 dishes. 



Exactly four-fifths of the examinations were 

 n^de solely by the resident Pomological Judges, 

 who did half the work in the remaining fifth. 

 For six months they twice and thrice a week de- 

 voted both mornings and afternoons to patient 

 investigation, and developed high technical 

 qualifications, the i"ange of species and varieties 

 exhibited, exceeding anything in the history of 

 pomology. For this labor, our pomological 

 friends received the munificent (!) compensation, 

 grudgingly awarded, referred to in your last 

 edition. 



