342 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[^November, 



TheTritelciiis, of whirli there nro three species, 

 yellow, white, niul blue, are nearly related to the 

 Brodiira, but Imve six perfect stamens. The 

 dried-nj) beds of the little mountain streams are 

 full of little Alliums bearing little clusters of 

 pearly white blossoms. 



I looked vainly for Vick's " Calochortus cairu- 

 lea," but found a beautiful bright yellow species 

 exactly resembling it in shape. The species 

 which he calls the " Mariposa Tulip," was|]very 

 abundant, and is known as the "Butterfly 

 Tulip," a name which is very well chosen, 

 for the i)ale yellow petals variegated with 

 rings and spots of rich velvety brown, ex- 

 actly resemble some butterflies' wings. [A. Fri- 

 tillaria.— Ed.J But the pearl of all these flowers 

 I think is the White Tulip. The most rocky 

 hillsides seem to be its chosen abode, as if con- 

 scious that its delicate beauty and grace were 

 enhanced by the contrast. ■ It is a slender and 

 leafy plant, in general appearance resembling a 

 Cypripedium, but more delicate and graceful, 

 the flowers pearly-white, the petals overlapping 

 in a way that hides the interior, which is slightly 

 fringed and faintly tinted with rose like an oeean- 

 shell. 



I saw none of the most beautiful California 

 Lilies, and found only two species. One was the 

 Bloomerianum of the florists ; the other I know 

 no distinctive name for. It bloomed in April 

 and May, the flowers rather small, reddish-yel- 

 low, and curiously checked or barred rather 

 than spotted, with brown. I looked vainly for 

 any Cactii in the hills, but found two species of 

 Crassulse. One of these was quite large, growing 

 solitary in clefts of the rocks, and bearing 

 bright orange-scarlet flowers ; the other was 

 small and spreading, growing in the moss that 

 covered the rocks on the banks of streams. 



I should have mentioned the "Soap Root" 

 among the bulbs. It is said that the Indian? use 

 it for soap, but I made many inquiries as to the 

 mode of preparation, without obtaining any in- 

 formation. The bulb is very large in good soil, 

 and covered with a thick fibrous envelope which 

 is used for mattresses. The stem is tall, branch- 

 ing, and bears great numbers of pale-blue flow- 

 ers. [Chlorogalum poweridianum.— Ed.] 



PROTECTION TO PLANTS. 



BY EUGENE GLEN, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



A prominent nursery firm, in a recent letter to 

 me, while conceding the importance of some 

 measure of protection, have brought to my atten- 



tion a single question regarding the practical 

 working of horticultural coi)yright.s. As the 

 .same question may have arisen in the minds of 

 some of our readers, I will attempt a solution of 

 it through your columns. They say in sub- 

 stance : " Suppose one hold a copyright upon the 

 name of a valuable grape, what is to prevent a 

 purchaser of a quantity of the vine from us, 

 propagating others therefrom, and selling out 

 those propagated by him under color of selling 

 those originally purchased from us." To this I 

 replj' : So long as the purchaser from you sells 

 the vines propagated bj' him under some name 

 other than that secured to you — that is so long 

 as he does not attempt to steal in part the repu- 

 tation for the grape which you will have created 

 — you will have no reason to complain, but your 

 rights under the law will not be easily evaded. 

 The law would give to new varieties in horticul- 

 ture, precisely the same degree of protection that 

 is now secured by trade marks to manufacturers 

 of any kind of mei'chandise, and I believe that it 

 cannot be shown that there will be one difficulty 

 attending its execution that is not equally appli- 

 cable to trade marks upon other merchandise, 

 and especially to the names of so-called patent 

 medicines. To illustrate : Mr. Ayer operates 

 under the same law that governs brands of flour, 

 or any other commodity. He has no patent upon 

 or exclusive right of property in the formula 

 from which his pills are made. He simply holds 

 the right to the exclusive use of the name 

 "Ayer's Pills." There is.no practical difficulty 

 to prevent any druggist from making a quantity 

 of pills resembling Ayer's, putting them up in 

 packages similar to those containing the latter, 

 and, under cover of the purchase of an invoice of 

 the genuine, selling out those made by him. But 

 experience shows that druggists do not do this, and 

 that Mr. Ayer and other manufacturers of trade 

 mark goods, do not suffer in any considerable 

 degree from piracy upon cheir rights. The rea- 

 sons of this are these. Before a druggist could 

 work up a trade in his make of pills sufficient to 

 render their manufacture remunerative, the at- 

 tention of Mr. Ayer would be called to the fact 

 that the former could not afford to make the 

 outlay or pay the attention he is showing to the 

 trade in " Ayer's Pills," simply to sell out those 

 purchased. The moment that Mr. Ayer's suspi- 

 cions are thus aroused, he could file a bill in 

 equity against the druggist, make him produce 

 his books and papers, and show under oath just 

 how many boxes of so-called "Ayer's Pills" he 



