EDITOR'S TABLE. 



award by irregular and improper means. Now I should like to know how and when tlie dis- 

 covery was made; ond if gentlemen of the Society at their last meeting in 1863 knew a frnnd 

 had boon perpetrated, why action wos not had at once? I must confess it seems to me the 

 Society " is great in cowards as in knaves," and should not murmur if in future it sliall be re- 

 garded as a branch of IIovey «fe Co. Is there any way by wliich wc can know if our lionton 

 Pears and llovnji Cherries are of any value ? The Committee pay nothing on the sul>ject, and 

 many of the amateur cultivators would like to know if the ground bestowed upon them is 

 thrown away. 



One word as to the disappointment. I think the subject one which calls for the utter rebuke 

 of all honest horticultural journals, and I was disappointed at the very Homeopathic notice you 

 took of it. Here is a case in which it appears on record that one of our oldest and best horti- 

 cultural societies has been controlled \>y, and made the tool of, a nurseryman, for self-purposes 

 — making a strong case to prove the assertion true, that horticultural societies are designed as 

 advertisements for nurserymen. As we both know this is not tlie intention of a majority of 

 those who aim to establish such societies, the necessity for stern rebuke in all such cases becomes 

 the more obvious. 



Would it not be well to inquire if the Concord Grape is without stain in its parentage, as the 

 company in which it makes its advent has proved so disreputable? and would not it be well to 

 suggest the appointment of another committee to inquire? One of the Amateuii Cultivators. 



In relation to this matter we have a letter from a highly respectable member of the 

 Society, one who is familiar with the doings of the Fruit Committee, taking the ground 

 that this is more a personal quarrel than anything else. This may in a great measure be 

 the case, and we therefore think tliat judgment should not be too rashly pronounced against 

 either the Fruit Committee or Messrs. Hoyet & Co. The truth will have to be told. It 

 is no longer a matter in which the Society is interested — tlie public at large have become 

 parties. 



Sweet Potatoes. — I notice, in the June number of the Horticulturist, an article from the pen 

 of C. R Goodrich, upon the culture of Sweet Potatoes. In that article I notice one error, 

 which ought not to pass without correction. He says: " Dig as soon as the vines are killed by 

 the frost." On the other hand, our most experienced and successful cultivators say that the 

 slightest frost must be carefully guarded against, especially if seed be an object, as the frosting 

 of the vine increases th-. liability of the tubers to rot. I have no doubt the " dry rot," of which 

 Mr. G. complains, is the result of the frosting which he permits. If it is not convenient to 

 remove the tubers from the ground previous to early frost, their separation from the vines may 

 be effected by passing a sharp knife between them, just above the surface of the ground. W. 

 J. TowNSEND, Zaricsvillc, Ohio. 



Critickm. — Tlie remark contained in your last issue respecting the necessity of truthful, 

 candid, and open expression of opinion, in criticising horticultural works, deserves more than 

 a passing attention. It should be repeated, re-printed, and re-read by every editor, gratuitous 

 reviewer, or paid contributor. But more, it should be acted upon. Black mail has had its day. 

 The basket of luscious fruit furnished for Dr. so-and-so's table, is but a sorry recompense for a 

 fulsome puff, wherein some new variety of Pear, or Apple, or Cherry, or Blackberry, or Straw- 

 berry, or Raspberry, or anj' other changeable fruit, is inflicted with malice prepense on the too 

 credulous reader. Books are the guides of future generations. Great men may live and die; 

 able cultivators and eminent pomologists, wlio have never contributed a lino to horticultural 

 literature, they pass away. The contemporary author who truly and perspieaciously writes the 

 record of the operations of such men, does more for the good of future generations than most 



