478 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



that it is bctwocn the White Nice nnd tho Muscat ; 

 those jrrew siilc liv side. In the l'nll()\vin<j: itiitiimii, 

 after the .seedlinirs eiiiiie up, two were pluiiled liy 

 tlie side of eiieli vine alreiidy iiit)%viii<r ; ami the 

 shoots trained up tho ral'lers inside. iSlost of these 

 have fruited, liut prnvini: worthless liave since been 

 cut nwav. I reserved three, besides the one which 

 is the sidijeet of tiiis eouununieation, but they are 

 much inferior to it. For this I tuade s])aec by cut- 

 tiuii away tlie original vine, a lihiek IIanibury:h, by 

 the si(h; of wliieli it was pbuited. It dilfers most 

 distinetlv from the White Froiitiirnan, from the time 

 of showin^r fruit, until, and when, ripe. In showing 

 its fruit the branches arc very hinir, on amazin<rly 

 stout footstalks, which strut diagonally from the 

 vino in a manner very dillerent from any I grow. 

 At this stage they are very cons])icuous throughout 

 the house. After this the berries assume a dark- 

 green color ; the Front igniin is of a pale green ; it 

 shoulders, the Front ignan does not ; the bunch ta- 

 pers to a point, the Fronlignan is more cylindrical ; 

 the footstalk throughout the bunch is very stili', the 

 Frontignan hangs loosely. In flavor it approaches 

 tho Frontignan more than any other grape ; but 

 even in this respect, it differs materially, the berry 

 in the mouth having more substance, and being more 

 suirary and sweetmeat like ; when rijie it assumes 

 a durk-irold color. The berries have their pedicles 

 well extended, so that irmch thinning is not rccpiired. 

 With regard to the foliage, on first i)rcaking, it has 

 not that white mealy appearance which the Fron- 

 titruaiis have ; it more resembles the Black Ham- 

 burirh in all its habits of growth. In ripening, this 

 variety is rather later than the Frontignan, and has 

 not shanked with me, nor shrivelled in the berry, as 

 does the Frontignan. I have grown 30 rafters of 

 Grapes in three houses, of the leading kinds, within 

 the last sixteen years, and I can assert that it is de- 

 cidedly distinct from any that I grow. Its habit of 

 •rrowth is strong and robust ; and altogether I con- 

 sider it a valuable variety." In this opinion I con- 

 cur. — Thompson, in Journal of the Hort. Soc. 



Prize for a Blue Dahlia — The Horticultural 

 Society of Edinburgh has ofFered a prize of £'A)00 

 for that supposed im|)0ssibi)y, a 6/we flowered Dah- 

 lia: and the Horticultural Society of Dublin, has 

 since ollered double that sum, £2000. 



We have always been numbered among the most 

 zealous promoters of the progress of horticulture. 

 But we sto|) here, to express the feefing vvhich the 

 perusal of this programme awakens. To propose 

 a prize of fifty thousaml francs for a Dahlia, in 

 Ireland; in that unhappy country where famine 

 has become a national disease, an endemic mala- 

 dy — it is an insult to public misery .' — Revue Hort. 



Improvement of the Persimmon. — We observe 

 in the Bon Jardinier, that two intelligent French 

 horticulturists, Messrs. Regnier and Audirert, 

 have been raising seedlings of our native Persim- 

 rnon, {Diospyrus viginiana,) in the hope of produ- 

 cing finally an excellent edible fruit. 



Their edorts have already been attended with 

 the most promising results. M. Aupibert has 

 produced a seedling with large round fruit, double 



the size of (he original species, the flavor of which, 

 '' recalls that of a mirabelle plum." 



1\1. Hkyniek's best seedling, be has named Pla- 

 qvcjiiinivr I'tcrqiiin, Piercpiin's Persimmon, in hon- 

 or t)f one of his friends. The fruit is as large as 

 a hen"s *^f:f;, oval acuminate, of a gulden yellow 

 color, and an agreeable flavor. 



These gentlemen intenil continuing their experi- 

 ments with sticcessive generations of Persimmons, 

 raiseil I'rom these new varieties, and there is every 

 reason to believe that tliey will be rewarded at 

 last by a variety which will prove an admirable 

 addition to the dessert. 



Hari.s A?fD RAnniTS. — We have been much 

 troubled with them for years, and have tricil tar, 

 oil, soot, lime, siring tarred antl oiled, but all to 

 no purpose. In the summer of 1S43, we had a 

 fine plantation of Stunner Pippins spoiled in one 

 night, as well as other young apple trees. So very 

 destructive are these creatures, that we deter- 

 mined upon having every plant of crab and ajiole 

 removed into another garden ; but one of our men 

 observing that he had seen brimstone tried, and 

 that it had the desired effect, we immediately set 

 to work and madea quantity of large matches, like 

 those used for suffocating bees, anil stuck them 

 about the ground, (the matches were not lighted;) 

 and since using them thus, not a leaf has been 

 touched. As to Rabbits not eating Rhododendron, 

 we have proof to the contrary ; for on a piece of 

 land where we have not useil matches, the Rhwlo- 

 dendrons are bitten ofT as clean, as if the pruning 

 shears had been at work on them. In very severe 

 weather, Rabbits have been known to attack, and 

 bark the stems of standard Roses. We melted the 

 sulphur in an iron pot, and when hot ilipped the 

 matches, which were made by winding tow, rags, 

 or anything we could lay hold of, round sticks and 

 firmly binding it on. — S. & J. D. Sturmere. Gard. 

 Chron. 



Wood for Coffins. — This a grave subject, and 

 has enlisted the attentiou of an English paper, 

 which says married people should be buried in 

 pear tree coffins, chronologists in ilale tree, brick- 

 layers and plasterers in lime tree, pugilists in box 

 wood, schoolmasters in birch, old bachelors in 

 elder tree, cowards in trembling aspen, the honest 

 tar in sturdy oak. The list may be extended by 

 adding: Misers in chest-nut, inconsolate maidens 

 in pine, democrats in hickory, whigs in ash, poli- 

 ticians in slippery elm, authors in pop(u)lar, mil- 

 lionaires in plum, oUl soakers in cherry, pretty 

 women in sugar maple, handsome folks in dog- 

 wood, clam-catchers in beech, soldiers in lance- 

 wood and hard-hack, dairy-maids in butter-nut, 

 dandies in spruce, fishermen in bass-wood, poets in 

 laurel, horsc-jockies in horse-chestnut, hatters in 

 fir, shoemakers in their own tree, blacksmiths in 

 iron-wooil, book-binders in boards, lovers in the 

 tulip tree and sigh-press, coquettes in witch-hazel, 

 travelers in sandal -wood, gardeners in rose- wood, 

 landscape painters in birds-eye maple, carpenters 

 in plane-tree, misanthropes in crab-apple, odd- 

 fellows in the palm tree. 



The following may also be considered very ap- 



