282 Editorial JVbtes. 



A. Splenflid Azn.U-ti. 



In the greenhouse of Prof. Chas. S. Sargent, at Brookline, Mass., there was in 

 tlooin the latter part of May, an Azalea of mammoth proportions, the largest plant 

 in his collection, and named The Decorah. It measured 10 feet in circumference, and 

 its dome, 5 feet high, was covered with over 8,000 magnificent rose-colored blossoms. 

 There are 250 others of magnificent size and colors, and when in the glory of full 

 bloom make a fairy-like scene. 



A mih/si.s nj Asptirtifius, 



In providing manures and special fertilizers for tlie asparagus, very few realize how 

 greatly it is benefited by the application of potash. The following analysis will give 

 some new ideas to those who want to know wliat the asparagus plant feeds upon. It 

 is an analysis of the ashes, and not the fresh or air dry matter: Potash, 20.48; 

 soda, 2.89 ; lime, 13.15; magnesia, 3.24; peroxide of iron, 4.22 ; silica, 9.99; sul- 

 phuric acid, 5.72; phosphoric, 10.03; carbonic, 25.71; chlorine, 3.21; loss, 1.35 — 

 100. 



Sttiiidnvd t'riiii Men.sttres, 



"VVe have long needed standard measures for selling our fruit. A basket has never 

 meant any thing positive, and the artful way they have been filled by raised bottoms, 

 etc., have been sources of much fraud to buyers. The Fruit Packers Board of Trade 

 at Baltimore, Md.,wi»ose members purchase large quantities of peaches and tomatoes, 

 recently adopted a standard measure, as follows : That the standard bushel for 

 peaches shall be a box 9 inches deep, 14 inches wide, and 22| inches long, in the 

 clear, with half-inch partition — that the standard half bushel for tomatoes shall be 

 a basket 10 inches deep, 10^ inches across the bottom, and 15 inches across the top 

 — and that the barrel for measuring peas shall hold not less than two and a half 

 standard bushels. 



Jtni.ihis itt, Utnh. 



Even Utah aspires to the same honors as California in producing raisins from 

 grapes. They have been grown at St. George, Southern Utah, by Elder Bentlcy, of 

 the Mormon church, who says they can be produced for as low a price as the foreign 

 raisins can be imported. They are from the Fiber Zagos, a Hungarian grape, which 

 makes an excellent raisin, and equal, if not superior to any that find their way to 

 the American market. 



A T^ndips' HorticMltiirnl Socirfi/. 



Why not? good idea! making flowers the leading feature of the exhibition. A 

 successful society of this nature exists already in Pennsylvania, entitled the Ladies' 

 Floricultural and Horticultural Society of Montgomery County, Peiin. Daring the 

 month of June it held its spring fair at Ambler Park, and made an attractive dis- 

 play of flowers and plants, and awarded premiums to the amount of 3400. The 

 rivalry was good humored and spirited. 



A Rniuptint Wisteria. 



The foreign journals speak of a beautiful Wisteria — recently in full bloom — cover- 

 ing the front of a well known hotel near Slough, in England, and running around 

 each end for some distance, making altogether a length of about 150 feet. It was 

 planted against a strong iron support of the veranda, which support long since 

 lifted bodily from the ground, and broke in pieces with the seeming ease with which 

 a man would break alucifer match. A Laburnum grows against the building on one 

 flank, and the contrast between the clusters of blue and yellow flowers is declared to 

 be "perfectly charming." 



Canned Fruit, 



There must be a reform in putting up American canned fruit, or the foreign mar- 

 ket, now opening with fine prospects and encouraging demand for really good articles, 

 will shut down most rigidly against American brands. Immense amounts of poor 

 trash are manufactured yearly, and vended by unscrupulous canners. We have 

 opened several of the cans of peaches put up by these parties, and behold a single 



