1876.] 



AND HOBTIGULTURIST. 



375 



in every respect, and are glad of all the help we 

 can get to make it so. We seldom refer to the 

 errors we see elsewhere, as we do not know that 

 the perfection we aim at in our work, or at least 

 the freedom with which we ask for criticism, 

 would be as well-relished in other quarters. We 

 do not ask pardon for errors, but if we did should 

 certainly get the American Naturalist to endorse it, 

 as it no doubt would do, when even so particular a 

 magazine uses " venation " for vernation three 

 times in one paragraph. See pp. 634, 635. 



We could till the whole of the Gardener's 

 Monthly with such refei'ences to errors of our co- 

 temporaries if it were in our line of work. Just 

 before us, in a leading scientific magazine, and 

 in a quarter too which erst has amused itself at 

 the errors of its contemporaries, is a paper on 

 the "ostrich," in which occurs the following: 



" He then takes his bow and arrows, and starts 

 oflFin pursuit of the ostriches, using all possible 

 precaution to approach them in such a direction 

 that the wind may blow from them to him. 

 Were he to neglect this, the watchful eyes would 

 soon detect him by the scent, and dash away 

 where he could not possibly follow them." 



Watchful eyes detecting scents, is a new rev- 

 elation in optics. 



The Valentine Bean. — There is a rule in 

 some part of England that the earliest beans 

 shouki be sown on Valentine's day — 14th of 

 February. Can our " Early Valentine " bean 

 have any relation to this custom ? 



Bay Tree. — The ancient Bay tree — Bay of the 

 old writers — is Laurus nobilis. Many things 

 have now the common name of Bay tree. The 

 Gardener's Clironicle says Laurus (from which our 

 common word Laurel is derived) means simply 

 "berry" tree, and from this the word Bay tree is 

 also derived. 



The Plum. — Our garden plums appear, from 

 the investigations of our Indian botanists, to be 

 varieties produced by long cultivation of the 

 Primus insititia, a species common in the moun- 

 tains of Asia, from the Caucasus to the Eastern 

 Himalaya, but which we have no authentic evi- 

 dence being a native of Europe. In all the more 

 accurate European floras, the P. domestica and 

 insititia are either omitted, or inserted as doubt- 

 ful natives or escaped from cultivation ; or, if in 

 some instances positive native stations are given 

 for the P. insititia, it is generallj^ some variety of 

 the P. spinosa that has been mistaken for it. 

 Several varieties of the garden plum were intio- 



duced by the ancient Romans from the East, as 

 we are informed by Pliny, since the days of 

 Cato, who was born 232 years before the Chris- 

 tian era.— Gardener's Chronicle. 



Mr. C. M. Hovey. — We see it announced 

 that Mr. Hovey will take charge of a horticul- 

 tural department in the American Cultivator. We 

 are much pleased at these evidences of a dispo- 

 sition to make eminent attainments practically 

 useful. Science and high taste in art have gone 

 on faster than the people have moved. We 

 think the great want of the day is, that intel- 

 ligence in every branch of culture should come 

 down to the people. The writer of this, in so 

 far as he is able, has never hesitated to employ 

 voice or pen in any circle where either could be 

 useful. It is peculiarly fitting that horticulture 

 should assist agriculture, and we are pleased that 

 jMr. Hovey has agreed to take this position, and 

 congratulate the Cultivator on having obtained 

 his services. 



The Confederate States. — Mr. Andrew Mur- 

 ray, as quoted in the Gardener's Chronicle, says 

 the Doryphora juncta, a cousin, if not a brother 

 of our old enemy the potato bug, inhabits the 

 Confederate States. So far as we know, the only 

 Confederate States are Mexico and Switzerland^ 

 and it may be worth while for our good neighbor 

 of the Chronicle to get Mr. Murray to decide to 

 which of these two countries he refers the beetle. 

 Perhaps he means the United States, which, 

 however, is not a confederacy, — a singular, not 

 a plural term. This surely an educated gentle- 

 man like Mr. Murray understands. 



Geological Survey of Indiana .--7 th annual 

 report, by E. T. Cox, State Geologist. This is one 

 of the most valuable surveys at present in prog- 

 ress, and is especially of service to agriculturists 

 and horticulturists, as well as to the mineralogist 

 and man of science. This volume has the Flora 

 of the Wabash Valley, by Dr. J. Schneck, con- 

 nected with the survey. 



Louisiana as it is.— By Daniel Dennett, New 

 Orleans. This is a paper-covered book of some 

 three hundred pages, giving a complete account 

 of the farm-products, grasses, vegetables, forests; 

 indeed the whole natural and introduced re- 

 sources of the State. Those who have the good 

 fortune to know Col. Dennett as the writer has^ 

 will know that he is incapable of putting things 

 forward in any other way than just as they are ; 

 and we can add, from our own personal expe- 



