124 



THE GABDENER'S MONTHLY 



[April, 



marks on the Wild Goose Plum. He does not 

 regard it as of high quality, and says it is coarse 

 in texture, but values it because it will make a 

 good market fruit. 



Transactions of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, for 1875— from E. W. Buswell, 

 secretary. Part II. The Massachusetts Society 

 is now the most prosperous one in the United 

 States, and is doing excellent service to horticul- 

 ture. Its annual volumes of transactions are 

 among the most interesting of tliis class of liter- 

 ature, and are full of matter that must of itself 

 make the members feel that in their connection 

 with the Society they are receiving the full value 

 of their annual dues. The Society has a good 

 herbarium for reference, and one of the best 

 hoi*ticultural libraries in the world. A catalogue 

 of the ferns in the herbarium is given in this 

 volume. The Flora Danica was purchased for 

 the library last year at an expense of $000. Tlie 

 prize essay on the Culture of Cauliflower and Cab- 

 bage, by Mr. W. H. White, is given in full in the 

 volume. Another awarded to Mr. James Cruik- 

 shanks in Landscape Gardening also appears. 

 The third prize essay is awarded to Mr. D. D. 

 Slade, and is on Principles of Landscape Garden- 

 ing as applied to Small Estates, a department of 

 gardening that needs a good deal of looking 

 after just now. The reports of the various com- 

 mittees are very interesting. Mr. J. G. Barker is 

 chairman of the Floral committee ; Harvey 

 Davis on Fruits, and C. N. Brack ett on Vege- 

 tables. 



Bad Advice and Worse Consequences. — As the 

 the Editor sat in his well-worn chair, the Pub- 

 lisher, with a look of horror, threw him the fol- 

 lowing card, and demanded an explanatioji : 



" My subscription to the Gardener's Monthly 

 expired with the February number. Do not 

 wish to renew, as I have lost about $10 in Silver 

 Thorn plants, owing to the Editor's directions as 

 to their management. J. D. Lee, Athens, 111." 



We have looked through all our back numbers 

 where any mention is made of the Silver Thorn, 

 and see nothing calculated to have led J. D. Lee 

 astray. It is a pity he was not more explicit and 

 did not point to the page and volume from which 

 he derived ten dollars Avorth of ruin ; as however 

 he seems lost to us forever, it is of no use to ask 

 him now. The loss to our friend would sit very 

 heavy on our conscience did we not feel that in 

 the seventeen years he has been a reader, he de- 

 rived profit enough to overbalance this loss. 



It is said that when Barney was reprimanded 

 for hoeing off the carnations, he pleaded that 

 his master ought to be thankful that he had not 

 hoed out the geraniums also ! We trust our cor- 

 respondent had some good from the geraniums 

 at any rate, and that after his desperate remedy 

 his Silver Thorns will live. 



For the benefit of those who will read these 

 remarks, let us say that the Editor does not pro- 

 fess to hold all knowledge in the palm of his 

 hand, and is not infoUible. The advice he gives 

 is only to the best of his knowledge and belief, 

 and even when he gives advice, it must be re- 

 membered that very much depends on the ap- 

 plicant's application of it. 



Eeclaiming Damages. — It will be remembered 

 that recently a vegetable grower of New Jersey 

 obtained damages in court from a New York seeds- 

 man for having sold him late turnip seed, when 

 he supposed he was buying an early kind ; and 

 there have been some other verdicts of a similar 

 character, and so unjust in a general way, that 

 the seedsmen of New York have been driven to 

 a measure that will not help them in the slight- 

 est degree, while it may subject them to charges 

 by those whose natural inclinations lead them to 

 blame somebody but themselves when things go 

 wrong. This class of persons are now especially 

 jubilant over these curious legal decisions, and 

 are already ca.sting about for good "specs" out 

 of them, and one of these is recorded by the De- 

 troit Free Press as follows : 



Six or seven days ago an old man entered the 

 store of a Detroit hardware man, who also deals 

 in seeds, and, inquiring for the proprietor, soon 

 stood face to face with him. 



" Want to see me? " asked the dealer. 



" Yes, sir, I do ! Seven years this coming 

 Spring, I bought a paper of seeds of you." 



" I presume so." 



" I'll swear to it, sir ! Seven years ago, sir, and 

 not one of those seeds came up." 



"Well, that's funny," laughed the dealer. 



" You may think it was," said the old man, 

 " but I'll make it cost you ten thousand dollars ! 

 When you sold me those seeds, sir, you did not 

 know tbat you were dealing with a lion! " 



" Well, you stop your blowing and get out of 

 hero." 



"Give me a package of cabbage seeds, sir? " 



"I won't!" 



The old man went away, but in an hour re- 

 turned, and said in a loud voice : 



" Seven years ago this coming spring, I bought 



