seen nowhere out of Great Britain. In Mr. 

 Smith's garden we observed the Deodar Cedar, 

 the Atlas Cedar, the Crj-ptomeria joponica, all 

 the English Hollies, remarkably luxuriant, and 

 showing none of the signs of having been pinch- 

 ed by winter, which all those, (except the De- 

 odar) often do in our northern pleasui-e grounds. 

 Many of the grounds surrounding the gentle- 

 men's summer cottages, have been planted late- 

 ly with quantities of Hollies, Austrian Pines, 

 English Laurels, &c., and Mr. Smith, who is 

 perfectly conversant with all the gardening ex- 

 periments of the island, informs us that 250,- 

 000 ornamental trees have, to his knowledge, 

 been planted in private grounds in and about 

 Newport, within the last six years. These have 

 partly been procured from American nurseries, 

 but great numbers of evergreens of small size, 

 have been imported from England and France. 

 In ten years more the naked shores of the island 

 will, we hope, be as leafy and beautiful as those 

 of the Isle of Wight — for while many trees that 

 thrive well in the interior will not thrive upon 

 the salt air of Newport — there are many, as we 

 have here pointed out, which the mild and soft 

 climate favors, that will not thrive so well in 

 any other part of the country — for at the south 

 — where the winter temperature is the same, 

 the summers are too hot. 



The Sage Grape — A Humbug. — Sir: — In 

 Allen's work on the grape, p. 134, is a de- 

 scription of what he calls, the " Sage grage," 

 which is so highly praised, I was induced to 

 send to Mr. Sage for some plants. He sent me 

 two, for which he charged me $2 each, — and 

 cheap enough at that, if they had been what 

 they were represented to be. 



I planted them with care in a rich soil. They 

 soon put out leaves, and immediately I began 

 to suspect that they were nothing more than 

 the common wild grape — so strongly did the 

 leaves resemble those of the latter. 



Not feeling inclined to nurse a doubtful quali- 

 ty of vine, I took the precaution a few days 

 since to send to Mr. Sage for a pound or two 

 of the ripe grapes, in order to test the quality. 

 I have received them, and now send a portion 

 of them to you, that you may pass your judg- 

 ment upon them . If you agree with me that it 

 vile, common wnld grape, so Foxy (I think 

 the term) as nearly to close the throat 



after swallowing them, I think you will confer 

 a favor on the readers of the Horticulturist 

 (such as may be tempted to buy the plants by 

 the pufF contained in Mr. Allen's book,) by 

 giving the grajje its true character. Mr. Sage 

 undoubtedly believes it to be a very superior 

 grape, but I think (and you probably will agree 

 with me,) that he is quite mistaken. Tours, 

 very truly, Henry Sheldon. Tarrytown, 

 N. v., Oct. 1851. 



Kemarks. — The grapes which accompanied 

 this letter from Mr. Sheldon, (one of our most 

 experienced amateurs on the Hudson,) were 

 most undeniably " Fox grapes" — the large light 

 colored varietj-, as big and as indigestible as 

 bullets. To swallow such a grape requires as 

 much fortitude as would be necessary to take a 

 box of pills at one gulp — and no man who has 

 ever tasted a grape that is a grape would dream 

 of cultivating a vine of this soi't after tasting 

 the fruit. Mr. Sage should be " sat upon," as 

 Dickens says, not bj' the coroner, perhaps, but 

 by a committee of the nearest Horticultural 

 Society, and have Black Hamburghs adminis- 

 tered to him every fifteen minutes till he 

 awakens to a consciousness of the flavor and 

 quality of a real table grape. Ed. 



The Color of Flowers. — Mr. Dowing: — 

 There are some peculiarities belonging to blue 

 flowers which I have not noticed" to have been 

 observed by others, or if observed, I do not 

 recollect to have seen them published. Shoidd 

 you think the following remarks sufficiently in- 

 teresting, they are at your service. One of 

 those peculiar traits, is, that a large majority 

 of our native plants bearing blue flowers, bloom 

 either early in the spring months or late in the 

 autumn or fall months. Let any one take the 

 trouble to make out a list of the flowers as they 

 begin to bloom in the months of March or April, 

 as the locality north or south will require, and 

 continue it through the summer and fall to 

 November, he will be surprised at the large 

 number of blue flowers in the spring and au- 

 tumn months, and the small proportion, relative 

 to other colors, during the summer. The true 

 cause of this peculiarity I will not presume to 

 give, but would suggest the inquiry, does the 

 density of the atmosphere at these periods have 

 any influence in producing this phenomena? Do 

 blue flowers require, and consume more oxygen 



