246 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



\^August, 



tirely gratuitous he can in no way he held re- 

 sponsihle. 



All competitors will be expected to keep as ac- 

 curate accounts as possible of the cost of forming 

 and maintaining their plantations, and to furnish 

 the trustees, from time to time, with such informa- 

 tion in regard to them as they may require. 



Thomas Motley, Jamaica Plain ; Leverett Sal- 

 tonstall, Newton ; Ed. N. Perkins, Jamaica Plain ; 

 Theodore Lyman, Brookline ; Henry Saltonstall, 

 Boston; William R. Robeson, Lenox; John G. 

 Gushing, Beverly ; Charles S.Sargent, Brookline ; 

 E. F. Bowditch, Framingham ; Henry S.Russell, 

 Milton; John Lowell, Newton; John Quincy 

 Adams, Quincy. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Pecan Nut. — M., Lincoln, Nebraska, 

 writes : " Can I hope to raise Pecan nuts so far 

 north as this ?" 



[There is no doubt the nuts "can be raised" — 

 that is, they will grow, and make trees — but we 

 doubt whether the trees would perfect nuts so 

 far north. But if the trees are wanted for tim- 

 ber in Nebraska, we believe they would do ; but 

 we have no actual experience. It is the most 

 rapid growing of all hickories. We shall be glad 

 to know how far north our friends know of 

 trees, either wild or cultivated. About Phila- 

 delphia there are several fine trees.— Ed. G. M.] 



Sowing Walnuts and Hickories. — M., Lin- 

 coln, Nebraska : " I sowed a quantity of walnuts 

 and hickories last May, but none of them grew. 

 Is there any special knowledge required to raise 

 these nuts ?" 



[None that we know of. But the kernels of 

 these nuts soon become rancid, and they rarely 

 recover from a good drying. They will grow in 



Spring, if they have not been kept too warm or 

 too dry since gathering the previous Fall. The 

 best success follows Fall sowing. — Ed. G. M.] 



Growing the Eucalyptus in the North. — . 

 M. B., Philadel|)hia, says: "I note your occa- 

 sional remarks on this tree, and think you are 

 scarcely right in your efforts to discourage ex- 

 periments with it. In view of the wonderful 

 results that have followed its growth elsewhere, 

 why should not people be permitted to try it if 

 so disposed? If they fail, it is little loss; if 

 they succeed, it will be a glorious achievement. 

 Do you know from actual experiment that the 

 Eucalyptus will not do in the Northern States?" 



[Our correspondent surely misunderstands us. 

 We have no objection whatever to any one's 

 trying it. As Mr. Price said recently, the cost of 

 the experiments are not ours, and so far as this 

 is concerned, it is none of our business. 



But when people ask us whether the Euca- 

 lyptus, the Cocoa Nut, the Banana, or the Pine 

 Apple will grow in the far North, we have to say 

 no ! And we say this, though we have made no 

 actual experiment with them, nor do we know 

 of any. 



All plants and families of plants have certain 

 geographical centres, with which botanists are 

 tolerably well acquainted, and this knowledge is 

 mostlysufficient to decide such questions as these. 

 The Eucalyptus belongs to the order Myrtacese, and 

 from what a geographical botanist knows of the 

 home centre (so to speak) of the order, he feels 

 quite safe in saying that none of that family will 

 endure the Winters of any but the extreme 

 south of the United States. 



But Ave only give this opinion to those who 

 want it. We have no wish to prevent experi- 

 ments — nay, sliall be glad if some one will do so, 

 and we will cheerfully find a place for the re- 

 sult.— Ed. G. M.] 



Natural Mistory and Science. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



TUMBLE WEED AGAIN. 



BY C. E. BESSEY, AMES, IOWA. 



Mr. Wier, in June Monthly, describes most ex- 

 cellently the Tumble Weed, but I am sorry he 



did not study it before guessing at its name. It 

 is Amarantus albus, thoroughly Westernized. 

 With you, as you Mr. Editor well know, it does 

 not roll itself up antj^hen get itself tumbled 

 around, so as to scatter its seed. It couldn't roll 

 far, even if it wanted to, with you; but with us 

 it may roll miles upon miles. Some people even 



