216 



TEE QARDENEB'S MONTHLY 



[July, 



Larceny, which did not work. Malicious mis- 

 chief—but this only holds where a man does an 

 injury when the main element is not the benefit 

 to himself; but here the man wanted pear trees, 

 so that would not do. Then there was " tres- 

 pass " — bvit a nurseryman's ground was a place 

 of business, and it is no tresjjass to be found 

 there. Then " damages " were considered, but 

 the trees were worth only four dollars, and be- 

 sides the nurseryman had regained possession. 

 The whole range of law w^as examined by a 

 careful lawyer, and the result arrived at that at 

 common law a nurseryman had no redress for 

 trees stolen from his grounds, unless such trees 

 were lying on a brush heap ready for the bonfire, 

 or in some other way disconnected with the 

 earth. The conclusion was so remarkable that | 

 the writer of this addressed a lettter to the Dis- 

 trict Attorney of the City of Philadelphia, and 

 received the reply we give below, noting how- 

 ever that in the letter to Mr. Sheppard there was 

 no reflection on the decision of Judge Thayer, as 

 the answer would seem to imply. Judge Thayer 

 is himself an excellent horticulturist, and no one 

 would suspect him in any case of giving a de- 

 cision he did not honestly believe in, while "his 

 legal learning is of too high a character to doubt 

 the soundness of what he decides to be the law. 



" Philadelphia, May 19, 1876. 

 Mr. Thomas Meehan. 



Dear Sir : — I have read your letter of the 17th 

 very carefully, but I must say that I think the 

 law was correctly laid down by His Honor 

 Judge Thayer. There are many instances, how- 

 ever, in which things which were not the subject 

 of larceny at common law have been made the 

 subjects of larceny, or have otherwise received 

 protection from positive legislation. I would 

 suggest that you continue to give the subject 

 your attention, and frame a clause, and submit 

 it to the Legislature, which will cover the class 

 of cases to which you refer. It will doubtless re- 

 ceive the fiivorable consideration to which its 

 merits entitle it, and which a sense of justice 

 should prompt. Very respectfully yours, &o., 



FuRMAN Sheppard." 



We hope this will receive the attention of our 

 legal friends who are interested in horticulture. 

 A law such as the District Attorney suggests 

 would require more talent to frame than the 

 editor of this journal could bring to bear on it. 

 It takes a very smart man to beat a rogue at law 

 in these days. 



Advisory Committee of the Bureau op Hor- 

 ticulture OF THE Centennial. — A "member" 

 asks us to say, and it seems but justice to do so, 

 that the committee was never called together 

 but once, and that the results of the exhibition, 

 creditable or otherwise, in the Horticultural De- 

 partment, does not rest with said committee. 



LiNNiEA borealis. — A lady writes : " I inquired 

 in vain at the Centennial Exhibition in the 

 Egyptian Department for the Papyrus, and in 

 the Swedish School Room for the Linnsea borea- 

 lis. Now I suppose both plants are there, only 

 not in conspicuous positions, where I hope they 

 will be placed. Also, I hope some one, or ones, ' 

 who live near the Centennial Grounds will 

 wreathe that beautiful likeness of Linnaeus in the 

 Swedish School Room, with Laurel and the Liu- 

 nsea borealis, which my Botany tells me is now 

 in bloom. I will add what Mrs. Lincoln says : 

 " Kalm, a pupil of Linnaeus, whose name is 

 given to the Kalmia (American Laurel), spent 

 three years in America, and returned to Europe 

 laden with botanical treasures. The sight of the 

 American plants brought by his pupil, many of 

 of which were entirely new to him, is said to 

 have produced such an effect upon Linnajus, 

 that, although lying ill of the gout, and unable 

 to move, his spirits were re-kindled, and in the 

 delight of his mind he forgot his bodily anguish, 

 and recovered from his disease." 



About Hybrids. — A correspondent calls our 

 attention to the following from Sachs' Text 

 book : 



Mr. Sachs says : " According as the union 

 takes place between (1) different varieties of one 

 species — between (2) different species of one 

 genus, or between (3) two species belonging to 

 different genera — the resulting hybrid may be 

 termed a variety-hybrid, species-hybrid, or genus- 

 hybrid. When a hybrid is made to unite with 

 one of its parent forms or with another parent 

 form, or with a hybrid of different origin, the 

 product is termed (4) a derivation-hybrid." 



As a matter of scientific precision, and this in 

 a work intended to go the bottom of things, like 

 this of Sachs', is of some consideration, the terms 

 may do; but for every day use we prefer the 

 common term "cross" when a mixture of varie- 

 ties' is intended. The Albany seedling and the 

 Hovey seedling are varieties of one species of 

 strawberry, and the progeny of the two we 

 should say was the result of a " cross." Horti- 

 culturists at least would understand' us better 



