154 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[Mat, 



in another form, what was said in our last num- 

 ber in another way. It has been the object of 

 the writer of this, to show that different phases 

 of growth force, depending on different powers 

 of nutrition, affect a plant's ability to fertilize 

 itself; and further, to suggest that much of what 

 is written by some botanists about the plant's 

 abhorrence of self-fertilization, proves no such 

 abhorrence, but is to be referred to these vary- 



ing phases of growth force. While a plant is 

 growing vigorously it has little to spare for waste 

 or reproduction. As the growth force declines, 

 the reproductive force increases. In the repro- 

 ductive condition there are still degrees of force, 

 the highest conditions resulting in the female and 

 the lower in the male flowers. This is our in- 

 terpretation of growth, and accords with the 

 observations of our correspondent. — Ed. G. M.] 



Oi? 



ITERATURE, ^IrAVELS & PERSONAL MOTES. 



EDITORIAL h'OTES. 



Letter from the late Hon. J. C. Calhoun 

 OF South Carolina. — We present to our readers 

 a letter, never before published, from John C. 

 Calhoun, of South Carolina, to Col. George Gibbs, 

 ofNew York, an enthusiastic horticulturist and 

 disseminator of the grape, fifty years ago. 



Washington, March 29th, 1824. 



Dear Sir : — I received your box of cuttings in 

 excellent order, and will give the several varie- 

 ties a fair trial of our soil and climate. 



I am delighted with the growijig attention to 

 the vine, and look forward with confidence to 

 the period when wc shall add wine to our staple 

 commodities, to the great improvement of our 

 health and morals. Is the vine cultivated in 

 China ? No two countries occupy positions on 

 the globe so nearly the same as ours and China ; 

 and the climate of the two accordingly is almost 

 in every respect the same. I feel confident that 

 all of the fruits and productions of China would 

 flourish in corresponding latitudes of our coun- 

 try, and that without going through the process 

 of being acclimated. Our climate and that of 

 Europe, on the contrary, is in every respect the 

 opposite as the positions which we occupy on the 

 globe. There are certain powerful causes, rising 

 out of the relation which a country has to the 

 ocean that greatly affect its climate. All over 

 the globe countries lying on the eastern and 

 western shores of the ocean, or even of deep and 

 extensive lakes, will be found to have very dif- 

 ferent climates in the same latitude. The west- 



ern coast of our continent is as warm as Europe, 

 and as moist too, in the same latitude. 



With great regard, I am, &c., 



J. C. Calhoun. 

 CoL. George Gibbs. 



Our early Botanists. — Letter of Dr. Muhlen- 

 berg. (Copy of original in Library of Academy 

 of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia). 



Lancaster, Oct. 29, 1814. 



Dear Sir :— Your letter of the 20th of October 

 arrived safe and gave me much pleasure. Prob- 

 ably Mr. Michaux's letter will contain some news 

 of what we can expect from him in a future day 

 on American Shrubs. He has deserved well of 

 trees : will the English translation appear as 

 promised and can you not persuade him to add 

 a few Synonyma? At least his father's Synonyma 

 should be added, Tilia_ Nyssa and a few others 

 are still doubtful. 



After examining the Prunus pygmaea of 

 Willdenow's Specimen I have no doubt he 

 means our Long Island Beach Plum. My son 

 mentions they have two varieties on the New 

 York market : the small one agrees entirely with 

 pygmsea, the larger one is hardly more than a 

 variety; can this be the maritima Willdenow? 

 I have put both in my garden, but shall hardly 

 live to see the difference. As P. sphcerocarpa 

 Micl>. must change its name the former name 

 can remain for maritima or pygmai-a. 



The Prunus cerasifera, — Willd, I have seen 

 several years without knowing it. It is not our 

 common wild yellow and red Plum, the Ameri- 

 cana, Marshall, although the description of Ehr- 

 hart agrees very well. It is a round, red Plum 

 with a compress drup — " caule biorgeali, ramis 



