18T6.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



31T 



taking, the Board begs to make mention with 

 particular pleasure of a letter frona Mr. Otto 

 Blanck, Consul at Stockholm, in which this 

 gentleman not only expresses his readiness to 

 contribute to its realization, but also informs the 

 Board, that he has already commenced opera- 

 tions by distributing the projected Programma 

 of Vegetable Produce, after translating it into 

 Swedish, 



As already observed on a former occasion, the 

 Press has shown by its co-operation its warm 

 sympathy with the undertaking ; and the editors 

 of the most accredited Dutch and Foreign peri- 

 odicals and newspapers, wishing to lend their 

 valuable aid, have inserted the Programmes and 

 Bulletins in their publications, of which the 

 Board have received copies. 



To be had on post-paid application : 



a. The programme of the Exhibition of Vege- 

 table Produce. 



6. the programme of the Horticultural Exhibi- 

 tion. 



Both a and 6, not only in Dutch, but also in 

 French, German and English. 



Please direct all letters and communications, 

 connected with the Exhibition, to the General 

 Secretary of the Board, Mr. H. Groenewegen, 5, 

 Oetewalerweg, Amsterdam. 



[It is very pleasant to us to be able to lay this 

 letter before our readers, showing as it does, how 

 deep is the interest in horticulture in the old 

 world. Horticulture does not mean there as it 

 often does here, the growing of a few fruits and 

 vegetables for market, but it is a tasteful art, cul- 

 tivated by all to as great an extent as painting or 

 mtfsic, and we hope to see it so here some day. 

 —Ed. G. M.] 



POTOMAC FRUIT GROWERS. 



BY G. F. NEEDHAM, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



June. — On the sample tables were fruits as 

 follows : 



Strawberries. — C. Downing, Dr. Hexamar's seed- 

 ling, Mountain Beauty a promising plant of the 

 Potomac region ; seedling Eliza Fillmore, Mon- 

 arch of the West, Star of the West, Boyden's 30, 

 Triumph de Gand, Wilson, Agriculturist, Cham- 

 pion, Jucunda, Napoleon IH., President Wilder 

 and Col. Cheeney. 



Cherries. — E. Richmond, Empress Eugenie, 

 Black Eagle, White Heart and Belle de Choisy. 



Apples. — Tukesbury Blush, well preserved speci- 

 mens from last season's fruitage. 



The tables were ornamented with a rich and 

 extensive show of roses, peonies and penstemons. 



July. — Flowers again garnished our tables, 

 conspicuous among which was a fine display of 

 gladiolus. The fruits entered to-day were : 



Peaches. — E. Beatrice, Louise, Rivers and Hale's. 

 The two first-named were well nigh out of sea- 

 son, as they had been put into the market some 

 two weeks previous (the last of June). The 

 Hales were not matured. 



Apples. — Astrachan, Harvest, Rose, June, 

 Strawberry, Hagloe, Edward, Summer Pearmain, 

 &c. 



Pears. — D. d'Ete, B. GifTord and Honenschenk, 

 all of which lacked a few days of maturity. 



Downing's Mulberries, Long Branched Red, R. 

 and W., Dutch, Victoria, Prince Albert, W. 

 Grape and W. Bologna currants, Utah seedling, 

 Houghton's and Downing's gooseberries. 



Prof. Howland exhibited and explained a 

 working model of "The Regulator" wind-mill, 

 one of which he had recently erected on his 

 farm at an expense of $250. He considered it 

 the ne plus ultra of wind engines, it being auto- 

 matic, so that the harder the wind blows the 

 more it don't go. Manufactured at Marshall, 

 Mich. 



Prof. Brainard, of the Patent Office, read an 

 interesting paper on " The Food and Diet of 

 Plants." 



The key-note is in the concluding paragraphs, 

 as follows : The sources of plant food may be 

 gathered from some analyses and contrasts. 

 Plants feed on carbonic acid, animals give it off. 

 Plants give off oxygen, animals consume it. 

 Plants decompose carbonic acid, water, am- 

 monia, etc., animals produce them. Plants pro- 

 duce nitrogenized compounds — albumen gluten, 

 casine, etc., animals live upon them. Plants 

 also produce non-nitrogenized compounds — 

 starch, sugar, green oil and acids, animals con- 

 sume these. Plants endow mineral matter with 

 properties of life, animals deprive them of these 

 properties. Plants impart to chemical atoms 

 the power to nourish animals, these reduce or- 

 ganic matter to a condition suited for the support 

 of plants. Plants convert simple into complex 

 forms, animals convert complex into simple. The 

 plant is an apparatus for deoxidation ; the ani- 

 mal an instrument of oxidation. The plant is 

 a mechanism of construction, the animal a me- 

 chanism of reduction. The plant absorbs heat 

 and electricity, the animal produces them. 



