52 



Tin-: CrARDEXF.R'S .\[OX rilLY 



\^Ffhruary, 



American Balsam Fir. Moreover, in experi- 

 mentinj; for twenty years, we have never suc- 

 ceeded in -^raftinf^ any of the Norway Fir class 

 upon the lialsain stock or the converse. There 

 is so marked a dill'erence in the roots that our 

 propiu^ator, Mr. Tnimpy, can always rcco>,Mii7,e 

 them when shown him without the tops. Nearly 

 nil the Abies, as we have hitherto termed them, 

 grow freely from cuttings ; the Pice.as grow from 

 cuttings with great difficulty. 



We are accustomed humbly to bow to the 

 dicta of botanists, but do they all agree in this 

 nomenclature ? If not. let us adhere to the old 

 names which are dear to some of us by asso- 

 ciations. Virgilia lutea, with its liquid Italian 

 sound, was a pleasant name to utter. Cladrastm 

 hnctoria, its successor, is harsh and discordant. 

 The Corchorus of our childhood was a beautiful 

 tlower. The Kerria does not bring up so pleasant 

 a memory. The strong growth and showy bloom 

 of the Jiignonia was always a pleasure. The 

 Tecoma will never seem quite the same thing. 

 For all purposes we need correct scientific no- 

 menclature, but without strong reason do not let 

 us break up the association of the past. 



[Our correspondent, we fear, misapprehends, 

 for there is no intention of confusing the Spruce 

 and Silver Firs together. But the names are 

 wrong. The disagreeable changes to which he 

 refers in the latter part of his communication 

 come from the indifference to being right. If 

 people would be careful to be " right before they 

 go ahead" in plant's names as in other things, 

 the trouble of changing names, to which he 

 refers, would not occur. 



We are not changing names now, but are 

 simply pointing out that which is right, for Picea 

 is the oldest and proper name for the spruces, 

 and Abies for the firs. At one time we feared to 

 advocate the right, lest it might make trouble ; 

 but no more confusion can possibly arise than at 

 present exists in Europe, scarcely two writers 

 agreeing as to whether a plant in question is a 

 Picea or an Abies. Indeed, the Balsam Fir, 

 used by our correspondent as an illustration, is 

 as often called Abies Balsamea in European 

 works as anything else. 



Our best botanist in Coniferjie,Dr. Engelmann, 

 refuses to recognize the modern Abies and Picea, 

 but contends that they should be transposed to 

 their proper places. In view of the confusion 

 already existing in European nomenclature, it 

 will make no trouble now to hold out for the 

 right.— Ed. G. M.] 



unrroRiAL xotes. 



('ra( KING OK THE Pkaii. —It must be clear 

 to all who have given dose observation to the 

 subject, that there are several, if not many causes, 

 which make the fruit of the pear crack — that 

 one cause is the operation of a miimte fungus; 

 and we believe this has been made quite clear to 

 our readers, as well as to the readers of the pro- 

 ceedings of the American Pomological Society. 

 Tlie knowledge we have gained in this country 

 on this subject does not, however, seem to have 

 extended to Europe, for we find the following in 

 one of our European exchanges, given as an 

 original discovery : 



" M. Prilleux hj^s communicated to the French 

 Academy some observations on the black spots 

 sometimes found on pears, and which are known 

 to the Paris gardeners as iavelures. He has noticed 

 that cracks in the fruit usually originate in these 

 spots. All varieties are not equally subject to 

 them. Doyenne d'hiver sutlers most frequently 

 and most severely. Wet seasons favor the ap- 

 pearance of these spots, and standards generally 

 suffer more than wall-trees, and those with a 

 southwest or western more than others with an 

 eastern aspect. Some trees are affected 3'ear 

 after year, while others similarly circumstanced 

 escape altogether. The spots he finds to be pro- 

 duced by a small fungus, Clad(>sporium denarif- 

 icum, Wallroth, which was first noticed bj' that 

 naturalist on apple treee. The filamentary 

 spores take root in and penetrate the superficial 

 tissues, swell at the extremities, and divide into 

 small cells, which again divide, forming a mass 

 of minute blackish cells (as may be seen by lifting 

 the epidermis of a leaf thus affected), spreading 

 their sporiferous filaments in all directions. The 

 effects are difierent on different parts of the plant. 

 On a leaf the part afl'ected blackens and dies, but 

 the rest of the leaf remains sound. On the bark 

 crevices and nodes are formed, which, however, 

 are not generally conspicuous. On the fruit it is 

 difierent. The su])erficial growth is partially 

 checked by tlie presence of the parasite, whilst 

 that of the minor parts continues; consequently, 

 unless relieved by early excision, the fruit be- 

 comes deformed, the dead parts distend, and the 

 exterior cracks, exposing the sound portions 

 within. The existence, sometimes unnoticed, of 

 the fungus on the bark of particular individuals 

 explains its reappearance year after year on their 

 fruit, although it may not be found on their neigh- 

 bors. The peculiarity may be comnuniicated by 

 grafting." 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Wkatheii ix New York. — S. F. T., 

 Saratoga Springs, New York, under date of 

 •January 4, writes : " Thinking that the en- 



