346 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[November, 



there are a thousand people who farm for a Uv- 

 ing, there may be but one who gardens for 

 pleasure. For the same reason it is very hard 

 for the publisher to find out where the garden- 

 loving folks are, and he has therefore to depend 

 on the good services of friends about subscrip- 

 tion time, when two can often be sent on as well 

 as one. As our correspondent remarks, such 

 encouragement comes back at last to these 

 friends, for we endeavor to improve with in- 

 creased encouragement. — Ed. G. M.] 



Criticism. — A highly valued friend writes : — 

 "On page 295, in mentioning the new hydrangea, 

 ' Thomas Hogg,' you give it as a variety of ' H 

 hortensis,' when you know very well that it was 

 named in honor of Queen Hortense, and should 

 be Hortensia, with a capital H. But then we 

 can't all be perfect. Why don't you insist on 

 having a good proof-reader? Such things as 

 'celler' for cellar, and ' mallorn ' for mallow, 

 and a lot of others you of course are not respon- 

 sible for, but some one should be. While I am 

 poking good-natured criticism at you, I will add 

 that the Germans will laugh (p. 295) to learn that 

 ' Maitrank ' is a ' German perfume.' Bless your 

 innocent heart, the word means may-drink, and 

 the thing itself is wine, in which the leaves of As- 

 perula have been infused. The Germans have 

 been caUing the plant 'Wald-meister,' and insist 

 that it grows wild in this country, but they mistake 

 for it one of our own Galiums. I don't at this mo- 

 ment recollect which species it is, but one of them 

 has quite the same melilot perfume as Asperula. 

 It is singular that Anthoxanthemum among 

 grasses, Melilotus and Dipterix(tonqua bean), in 

 Leguminosae and Asperula and galiums in Rubia- 

 ce8e,to which we may add Liatris odoratissima in 

 Compositse, should, though so unlike botanically, 

 have almost precisely the same odor. But this 

 is preaching. The October number is a good 

 one, in proof of which I admit to have read it all 

 through." 



In addition to this we have another from an 

 equally esteemed correspondent : — 



" I was quite amused on looking at the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly the other day to see a quotation 

 from a Belgian journal, saying that the Asperula 

 odorata was used in making the German perfume 

 called Maitrank. In New England, perhaps, it 

 might do to call it a perfume ; but in Germany, 

 where there is no prohibitory law, there is no hesi- 

 tation in drinking what the Belgian journal calls, 

 facetiously perhaps, a perfume. In plain En- 



glish, Maitrank. as the name implies, is a sort of 

 punch, made of some light white wine, into 

 which is put the meisterkraut, or Asperula odor- 

 ata, apple-blossoms and such things ; clover- 

 flowers are even said to be used, and I have 

 known Oxalis leaves to be found floating 

 in the Maitrank. In short, the ingredients are 

 as indefinite — although somewhat higher-toned 

 — as in the root beer of New England. Wine ia 

 indispensible; then, if it can be obtained, As- 

 perula and in addition any number of other 

 flowers. The Maitrank is a favorite spring bev- 

 erage in the valley of the Rhine, particularly in 

 Baden and Alsace. The traveler will easily find 

 a chance of tasting it in Frankfort, Heidelberg 

 or Strasbourg. Amongst other places attheMol- 

 kenkur in Heidelburg it is offered for sale about 

 the first of May, when if one does not fancy the 

 somewhat weak and acid beverage, he can, at 

 any rate, enjoy the magnificent view of the nec- 

 kar and the more distant Rhine. The Asperula 

 odorata is common all through the Vosges moun- 

 tains, and it always seemed strange to me that 

 so pretty a plant was not cultivated. One of the 

 prettiest species of Peronospora, P. calotheca 

 grows upon it." 



[Another friend sends us a postal card, much 

 to flie same etfect. We return our best thanks 

 for these favors. It has been ever our ambition 

 to make the Gardener's Monthly as near absolute 

 perfection as possible, and it is a great pleasure 

 to us to find our friends as jealous of its accuracy 

 as we are ourselves. Such corrections are al- 

 ways very welcome. — Ed. G. D.] 



The Tomato. — Nothing is more remarkable 

 than the way in which nations will year after 

 year shut themselves up in their prejudices, and 

 keep deaf to evidence that would help them to 

 facts of great value to themselves. It is within 

 the time of the present writer that the tomato 

 was in use only in England by the very select 

 few, and then merely as sauce. All this time, 

 and for three hundred years before, the Ger- 

 mans, to whom we are indebted for its extensive 

 use, were luxuriating in it. The mass of the 

 people of England believed the tomato to be 

 " poison," and many believe so yet. We are re- 

 minded of this by the following paragraph : — 



" Several interesting statements are made by 

 'Science Gossip" (English), showing the cen- 

 turies since the culture of the tomato was known 

 in gardens. Galen, who lived in the second cen- 

 tury, uses the name Lycopersicum, now applied 



