476 editor's table. 



a dry day, remove all unsouml or unrijw berries, and pack tht'in in small, shallow boxes, 

 with paper on the bottom and between tho layers ; set them in a cool, dry place for ten days, 

 when they will have passed the sweating process, and then close them ti^ht, and keep them 

 at a low temperature, witliout freezing. A dry cellar will answer. Dr. L. promises us 

 the rosnlta of his experiments with sorghum, which we hope to receive. We are prepared 

 to hear of many successes. 



Rebecca Gbapk. — Mr. Brocksbank advertises, this month, the Rebecca Grape at reduced 

 prices. Mr. Charles Downing says of the Rebecca : " Flesh of some consistence, juicy, 

 sweet, and delicious, with a perceptible native perfume, but very agreeable. It has no 

 tougliness or acidity in its pulp, and ripens eight or ten days earlier than Isabella, and keep- 

 ing a long time after it is gathered. This superior white grape is undoubtedly hardy. It 

 is not so vigorous in its liabit as Isabella and Catawba, and not disposed to mildew, and 

 being exceedingly beautiful as well as excellent, it must be regarded as a very great 

 acquisition." 



Beautiful Illustration. — The President of the British Association, at the late meeting in 

 Dublin, introduced the following extraordinarily beautiful illustration : " * * In order that 

 the date palm ^ould ripen its fruit, the mean temperature of the place must exceed 70° 

 Fahrenheit ; and, on the other hand, the vine cannot be cultivated successfully when the 

 temperature is 72^, or upwards. Hence the mean temperature of any one place at which 

 these two plants flourished and bore fruit, lie between these narrow limits — j. e., could not 

 diflfer from 71° Fahr. by more than a single degree. Now, from the Bible, we learn that 

 both plants were simultaneouslij cultivated in the central valleys of Palestine, in the time of 

 Moses ; and its then temperature is thus definitely determined. It is the same at the pre- 

 sent time ; so that the mean temperature of this portion of the globe has not sensibly altered 

 in the course of thirty -three centuries !"' 



Three New Books, of much interest to our readers, have been just published. Lorin 

 Blodget's Climatology of the United States, admirably produced from the press of Lippincott 

 & Co., of Philadelphia, will command the attention of the student no less than of the gene- 

 ral reader. Statistics have prepared the way for this book, and Mr. Blodget seems to have 

 been the right man to step in and tell us the results. Our pages, hereafter, will benefit by 

 the work. It is a large octavo, of 534 pages, for four dollars. 



Downing's Fruits and Fruit-Trees of America, revised and corrected by Charles Downing, 

 has at last been published by Wiley and Halsted, New York. It is much enlarged, contain- 

 ing 755 pages, and we need scarcely say that it clears up many confused points with as 

 great accuracy as was possible from the combined information of our best pomologists ; in- 

 troduces the new fruits cautiously and carefully ; and is altogether the vade mecum of this 

 country — indispensable to the fruit grower, and invaluable to the amateur. So far as we 

 have examined the work, it is eminently satisfactory. The modesty of the reviser is a 

 beautiful feature, and when we consider the amount of labor it has involved, and that for 

 no selfish ends (the proceeds of the copyright being the property of the relict of the late 

 A. J. Downing), no one can look upon the book without a feeling of admiration, and its 

 purchase as a double pleasure. We regret that the index, on which great care appears to 

 have been exercised, is yet somewhat imperfect. For instance, after examining there for 

 the Lenoir, Long, Devereux, and Thurmond Grapes, and not finding any reference to them, 

 we discover, at page 340, the following in the text : — 



" Lenoir, Long, Devereux, and Thurmond. — .Under the above names, grapes much resem- 

 bling, in character, Herbemont, are grown in the Southern States, and we have hitherto 



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