30 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[January^ 



he could not give a clear, concise, satisfactory 

 answer. He had collected a very fine library, 

 which he had studied and knew thoroughly." 



It was the privilege of the editor of this maga- 

 zine to recommend him to the advisers of Presi- 

 dent Hayes, on his accession to office, as a fitting 

 person for Commissioner of Agriculture, and 

 this, without any knowledge of it on the part of 

 Mr. Klippart. It was understood that too 

 many appointments by the President from his 

 State, might not be well received by the nation ; 

 but it shows the high estimate put on Mr. Klip- 

 part's abilities. 



Thomas Wood, Sr. — Mr. Wood, recently de- 

 ceased, at an advanced age, at Burlington, N. J., 

 was in early life a gardener, ard had charge of 

 the celebrated Bonaparte's place, near that 

 city, when the king of Italy was an exile in our 

 country. Mr. Wood accumulated considerable 

 property, and through a life extending beyond 

 three-score and ten, retained the esteem and con- 

 fidence of all who knew him. For many years 

 he was one of the chief leaders in the city coun- 

 cils of Burlington. 



Discussions on Horticultural Educa- 

 tion IN Michigan. — At the June Meeting of 

 the Michigan State Pomological Society, during 

 twelve weeks. Prof. Beal gave daily lectures to 

 students. Many of these were given in the 

 open air, with the trees and plants about them. 

 In his pamphlet Prof. Beal gives details of the 

 subjects treated, and shows how excellent this 

 practical mode of teaching is. 



The California Horticulturist.— Our 

 esteemed correspondent, Charles H. Shinn, be- 

 comes the editor of the California Horticulturist 

 from the first of January of this year. Mr. S. 

 is so well acquainted, practically, with the needs 

 of horticulture on the Pacific coast, and is with- 

 al, so cultivated and forcible a writer, that we 

 anticipate a valuable coadjutor in progressive 

 horticulture by our friend's accession to the edi- 

 torial chair. 



Bulletin L' Association des Institu- 



TEURS DE LA ZONE COMMUNALE DE VAL- 

 CONGRAIN POUR L'EnsEIGNEMENT, &C., LA 



Propagande Agricoles et Horticoles, 

 Caen, France. — Edited by M. Victor Chatel. 

 February, 1876. From the editor. 



Why should French fruits, French plants and 

 French magazines, have such enormous names? 

 While this question is being answered, we may 



observe that this is a neat little volume of about 

 300 pages , containing brief essays by various con- 

 tributors on horticultural and agricultural mat- 

 ters relating to French culture, being similar in 

 character to those of our State societies. 



The paper of leading interest in this Bulletin, 

 is by M. Chatel, himself. He tells us that, "un- 

 til the present time, to small fungi has generally 

 been attributed the cause of the greater part of 

 the diseases of vegetation, as well as the marks 

 and stains in the skins of fruits ; but contrary to 

 this opinion," he shows us that much more is 

 due to minute insects than fungi. 



Penn Monthly. — This magazine, devoted 

 to literature, science, art and politics, and issued 

 by the Penn Monthly Association, of Philadel- 

 phia, is now entering its tenth year. It is very 

 popular with those who love solid thought on the 

 various aspects of human life. 



The Popular Science Monthly — Comes 

 regularly to our table, and is one of the most 

 welcome visitors. It keeps one informed on all 

 that is passing in the progress of science, espe- 

 cially of those branches of science that are 

 applicable to the great questions of the day. 



The Botanical Gazette. — This periodical 

 is now entering its fourth volume. It is designed 

 to be a means of inter-communication between 

 botanists, and how well it has accomplished its 

 purpose the numerous contributions from lead- 

 ing botanists in the past volume show. Our 

 text books tell us how to find out the names of 

 plants, and how plants are to be classified, but 

 in the life histories of plants many chapters 

 have yet to be written. It is wonderful how 

 much there is novel and interesting in most of 

 the plants we see, about w^hich few people know, 

 and it is the mission of just such a serial as this 

 to keep people informed of what is being discov- 

 ered. It is only a dollar a year, and this is of 

 itself a great point in its favor in " hard times." 

 It is published by John M. Coulter, Hanover, 

 Indiana. 



The Amateurs' Hand-Book of Practi- 

 cal Information for the Workshop and 

 Laboratory. — New York Industrial Publica- 

 tion Company. Full of dii^ections for little 

 things in the field, workshop or dwelling house, 

 and well worth the ten cents asked for it. 



DiosPYROS KAKi. — History, description, and 

 colored plates, by J. H. Looniis, A beautiful 

 little book. The Persimmons with their numerous 



