154 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[May, 



non in the grounds of his hosts. Mr. Penn, the 

 great grandson of the Founder of Pennsylvania 

 left such a tree of his own importation in the 

 garden of a personal friend in Germantown, 

 where he had passed much of his time during 

 his long visits to us, and it flourishes much. 

 There is no better commemorative act of friend- 

 ly companionship. The tree is a perpetual and 

 growing evidence of regard, to be passed down 

 to posterity, when— it may be— traces of giver 

 and receiver are nearly lost. The memory of a 

 friendly visit may be preserved even in a more 

 simple manner by the planting of a favorite en- 

 during bulb or flower. 



Vegetation and Electricity .—It may be that 

 electricity is to play a great game in cultiva- 

 tion. So far, it is ascertained by experiments 

 that the influence of electricity is probably 

 modified by the species, by climate, season, 

 temperature, dry or wet weather, and degree 

 of light ; possibly, also by the geological and 

 mineralogical nature of the ground; any con- 

 clusion is yet premature. 



Common Sense, says Prof. Huxley, "is science, 

 exactly so far as it fulfils the ideal of common 

 sense ; that is, sees facts as they are, or at any 

 rate without the distortion of prejudice, and rea- 

 sons from them in accordance with the dictates 

 of sound judgment. And science is simply com- 

 mon sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in 

 observation, and merciless to fallacy in logic." 



About one quarter of the French wine-growing 

 districts are now destroyed, and it seems hope- 

 less to arrest the progress of the plague. Prof. 

 Raynal, of Poitiers proposes, as a last remedy, 

 the radical destruction of vineyards situated at 

 the boundary of the infected districts, and the 

 establishment of a neutral zone. 



Terrapins.— Good, and the best things some 

 times run the risk of being all eaten up,— the sup- 

 ply scarcely meets the demand. Such an article is 

 the delicious terrapin, now so high priced as to 

 be deniable to the masses. Baltimore has a 

 terrapin reputation; one man collects them 

 from every source and keeps them for sale by 

 thousands. They survive a winter without food, 

 but gradually starve if not fed ; the weight di- 

 minishes, as they feed on their own fat. They 

 are now brought from California even, those from 

 Visalia and the Sacramento, the first especially 

 being much sought after. The coasts and bays 

 of the Carolinas are now nearly exhausted. 

 Who will be first to cultivate the terrapin? 

 Some of the above comes through an American 



scientific journal, but what has it to do in the 

 Gardener's Monthly ? Much. It is one ob- 

 ject of Notes and Queries to show that the 

 means of livelihood are most extensive ; that 

 the country is so extensive as to make any valu- 

 able production, properly introduced, lead to for- 

 tune. Very lately the terrapin, like the salmon 

 is canned and sent everywhere. Later, and as 

 it were to-day turtle soup finds a demand; this, 

 as in the case of the whale and the terrapin is 

 likely ere long to exhaust the world's stock of 

 those esteemed animals. Already the terrapin is 

 more than quadrupled in price ; the whale is be- 

 coming extinct, and the turtle is rising to a fab- 

 bulous price. It is not likely that the world can 

 cultivate the whale, but it is believed the other 

 two are capable of indefinite extension. Who 

 would have believed a few years ago that os- 

 trich farming would be made into a profitable 

 business ; or that by freezing, the hotels can 

 have a superior turkey every day in the year, 

 and the housekeeper the same luxury in perfec- 

 tion from a tin can ? Gardeners, look about 

 you — this market scarcely supplies a good quart 

 of plums, while in Rochester, where the proper 

 care is taken, they are plentiful. This is but 

 one example. 



Explorers for new plants have been immensely 

 aided by steam transportation. The writer was 

 once going the rounds of Kew Gardens with Sir 

 William Hooker, when the latter introduced Sir 

 Samuel Cunard as his great friend who brought 

 plants to Kew from all regions without charge. 

 Now we probably have a new region for novel- 

 ties in Stanley's Africa. Sir William Hooker 

 was a Scotsman, tall, lithe in manner, with 

 scarcely a trace of his native accent. He spoke 

 of our Osage Oranges, and said he had just re- 

 ceived a semi-comic message from the Queen, 

 requesting no more such fruit should be sent to 

 her table. Altogether this grand director of 

 Kew was a most iuterestins and loveable man. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Gardeners and Situations. — Never for 

 many years have we had so many gardeners ap- 

 plying to get situations. The country is over- 

 run with them, and not one in a dozen will find 

 anything to suit him. They are mostly new- 

 comers into the country, and they seem disap- 

 pointed and declare that America is no place 

 for gardeners. In some respects this is true, 

 and again it is not true. Gardening itself has 



