of the West Indies, which produces soap, as does an exclusively American tree, S. margi- 

 natus, which is found on the coast of Georgia and Florida, and, in the interior, as far as 

 Arkansas. The berries are about the size of a cherry. The soap is found in the fleshy pulp 

 of the berries, and also in the root, but, if it is used too frequently, and of too great strength, 

 it is apt to burn and injiire the texture of tlie cloth. 



Apples. — Deae Sir : I hereby send you, per express, two specimens of two new varieties 

 of the apple. First, the Rome Beauty. Its diameter is four and two-thirds inches, weight, 

 fourteen ounces, and keeps until May and June ; is a prolific bearer, and blossoms from ten 

 to fifteen days later than other varieties in its vicinity. They have succeeded as far south 

 as New Orleans, and as far north as Columbus, Ohio. It is a rapid grower, and an early 

 bearer. 



Second — Crairford Keeper. Origin, seedling; weight, nine ounces; keeps until August. 

 Remains sound and hard all winter and sjn-ing, and never loses its flavor. The tree is a 

 large, heavy grower, requiring to be set forty feet apart, owing to its massive form. The 

 original tree now living, aged twenty-five years. At fourteen years from bearing, there was 

 picked from it, in 1855, fifty-seven bushels of good merchantable apples. This being a very 

 hardy apple, will undoubtedly succeed well as far north as Maine and the Canadas. Both 

 these varieties originated near Burlington, Lawrence County, Ohio — the extreme southern 

 part of the State — and are largely cultivated, with abundant success. 



Yours, respectfully, J. E. Wood. 



Iron Furnaces P. 0., Scioto County, Ohio. 



324 Walxut Street, Dec. 8, 1856. 



Dear Sir : I send you a China quince ( Cydonia sinensis) which grew at Columbus, Georgia. 

 The tree is some eighteen or twenty feet in height, and was, within a few days, loaded with 

 fruit. I understand that the plant was obtained in the West Indies. It grows well at 

 Columbus, requiring no protection, in the open air. 



M. Lorseleur Deslongchamps, in the Diet, des Sci. Nat., under the article "Coignassier," 

 says this quince attains a height of fifteen to twenty feet. The blossoms are eighteen or 

 twenty lines in breadth, and of a fine rose color. It was introduced in Holland at the close 

 of the last century, and has been in France since 1802, fruiting for the first time in the Jardin 

 du Eoi, in 1811. It was hardy at Paris, growing in the open air in that city. M. Deslong- 

 champs considers it a good fruit. Your obedient servant, C. D. Meigs. 

 J. J. Smith, Esq. 



This fine specimen measured eleven and a half inches, in circumference, by fourteen and 

 one-fourth inches, and its weight was one pound and a quarter. It is the fruit of the flower- 

 ing quince, Cydonia Japonica, grown here fur the beauty of its bloom, the fruit being with 

 us utterly worthless, and so hard, as to be turned in a lathe. Dr. M.'s specimen looks so 

 tempting, that we have little doubt it would make a good jelly. The dilference of the Georgia 

 climate from that of Pennsylvania, is very marked in this fruit. 



,1. .Jay Smith, Esq. : Potatoes are now treated to a drying process ; they are first deprived 

 of their skins, and properly prepared, fresh currents of air moved in contact with the potato 

 pulp by machinery. The material is made to take the shape of tubes, maccaroni fashion, 

 and, when dry, is broken in a proper mill into the form of what is called "samp," or 

 hominy ; it has lost nothing but water, and being placed in tin canisters, the weight of four 

 pounds is reduced to one, and it is ready for long voyages or travels, retaining all its taste 

 and virtues as well or better than ship crackers. The manufacture is in Hinesburg, 



Vermont. 



