872 



THE GARDENElVa MUM'ULy 



[ JJecenUteTf 



iiidoed flops know that Hiis is possible : nt tho 

 same time lie is of the <i])iiiion that no one lias 

 systemntieally tried to raise anj' in this way, and 

 hius no hesitation whatever in l)elievin<; that any 

 " ajjent" who oflered such a " new variet)'" is a 

 '• fraud." 



This discnssion lias been iroin^r on for some 

 time, and in view of the nse made of tiie name 

 of the editor of the (.Iakdexkr's Monthly, 

 friends have written that he outrht to take some 

 notiee of it. But he has never had the slightest 

 sympathy with those who buy of irresponsible 

 pedlars. These people do not read the Gai{- 

 DEXEU's Monthly, or any intcllisxcnt aurieul- 

 tural or horticultural jiapcr, and all we can say 

 will not help those who do not read. I 



SCN.U'S AAV^f OUJiRIliS 



^EcHMEA DISCOLOR. — This is probably the 

 name of the seed vessels sent by " a subscriber," 

 Syracuse, X. Y. 



The Coral Plant— J. J., Philadelphia— Often 

 the " Coral Plant " is the Cuphea platycentra, 

 and then as often it is Erythrina Crista-galli. 

 Your plant is probably the last named. 



Andromeda arborea in Ohio. — An intel- 

 ligent correspondent writes that this pretty little 

 tree is confined to the sandstones of the south- 

 eastern quarter of Ohio. It is scarcely found, he 

 says, west of the Sciota, except on the sandstones 

 near Portsmouth. We may note that Michaux, 

 in his "Travels in America," speaks of it in 

 connection with limestone regions. 



Prickly Comfrev. — A Boston correspon- 

 dent sends us a sample of Prickly Comfrey which 

 he "bought and paid for," and which he pro- 

 nounces an "unmitigated humbug." Prickly 

 Comfrey may perhaps diserve tliis emphatically 

 expressed character, but in the present case it is 

 only fair to say our correspondent has been 

 "humbugged." lie has the old garden Comfrey, 

 and not that wonderful kind which is to give 100 

 tons to the acre some day I It seems to be a 

 game of " humbug " all round. 



Gymnocladus in Germantown. — A corres- 

 pondent writes to the editor: " Your correction 

 of Mr. Hovey is just and well-timed. But does 

 not my good friend know that he has, lo ! these 

 many years, been planting seeds of Gymnocla- 

 dus, gathered at Wyck (Miss Haines"), from one 



of the oriizinal trees, grown from seeds brought 

 in by the botanist Nuttall, who gave them to a 

 little ten-year old gardener, who germinated 

 them in his corner, his so-<-alled botanic gar- 

 den, near the Falls of Schuylkill, and that was 

 more than half a century ivi^one — long enough to 

 supi)ly the whole neiLrbborhood with this in- 

 teresting tree, li^-the-way, do you know of the 

 beauty and value of its product Jis a hardwood 

 for joinery? Come and see some panels in a 

 new stone house here-away. If you don't know 

 the above facts, don't blame me." 



The beautiful tree on the grounds of Miss 

 Haines, referred to by our correspondent, we 

 believe is an anomal}' in never perfecting seeds. 

 Small pods are produced with nothing in them. 

 At least the writer examined them several sea- 

 sons and found them in this condition; possibly 

 at other times they may be perfect. 



J.iGiiTNiNG and Trees. — B., Hartford, Conn . , 

 writes : Noting that 3'^ou lake an interest in the 

 question of special trees beine' speciallj' attrac- 

 tive to lightninii, I enclose a slip and ask your 

 opinion as to whether there is any evidence that 

 Poplar trees are more attractive than others : 



"An eminent scientific authority in Europe 

 states that a fresh proof is aftorded that the up- 

 per part of trees, especially of Pojjlars, is an ex- 

 cellent conductor of^electricity (which only rends 

 or shatters the wood when it finds a passage in 

 the trunk), in an account of the eft'ects of light- 

 ning on an Aspen situated in a wood near the 

 chateau of Crans, on the shore of the lake of 

 Geneva. The lightning chooses by preference 

 the Poplar as a conductor to reach the ground, 

 and the case under consideration is a striking one, 

 as the tree was surrounded by other kinds, par- 

 ticularly Firs, taller than it. Two great branches, 

 of eighteen and twenty inches diameter, which 

 surmounted it, were struck by the lightning, and 

 led it to the ground without having received the 

 least apparent injury, while the trunk below them 

 was absolutely shattered. Other recent obser- 

 vations prove the preference of lightning for trees 

 situated near the streams or reservoirs of water, 

 so that the best conductor for a house is a lofty 

 tree, a Poplar especially, situated between the 

 house and well, a pond or a neighboring stream." 



The onh' evidence we have is the fact that a 

 Tulip "Poplar" on the Germantown railroad 

 near Philadelphia, was three times stricken by 

 lightning within fifteen years. It is true the 

 Liriodendron or Tulip "Poplar" is not a Poplar, 



