1879.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



31 



names and prettily colored plates, look certainly 

 good enough to eat. We believe the successful 

 cultivation of this fruit in California is no longer 

 an experiment. 



How TO Destroy Insects — on Plants and 

 Flowers, in the Garden and in the House. By 

 Henry T. Williams, New York, Thouiih only 

 30 cents, this little book is neatly bound in pa- 

 per cover, and is beautifully printed. It contains 

 many very useful hints about all sorts of insects 

 that trouble human nature, and though by no 

 means a perfect treatise, is very well worth the 

 small sum asked for it. 



House Plans for Everybody. — By S. B. 

 Reed, New York; Orange, Judd & Co. It was 

 well to think of a book like this, and it has been 

 well executed. It is full of plans for residences, 

 costing from $250 to S8,000, with all needed infor- 

 mation about materials and details. Any one 

 who may ever think of building a new house, or 

 of altering an old, will find this a cheap book 



to have in the library. It will also be a valu- 

 able book to landscape gardeners. 



How to read — and hints on choosing the 

 best books, by Amelie V. Petit, New York, Pub- 

 lished by S. E. Wells & Co. From Claxton^ 

 Remsen & Co. A very useful work, especially 

 to those whose purses are limited, and yet wish 

 to make selections in various departments of 

 Literature. 



The Deterioration of the Soils of Ohio^ 

 By M. B. Bateham. A prize eslay, and well 

 worthy of that honor. 



Nursery of P. J. Breckman, Augusta,. 

 Ga. — The Scientific American^ says that there 

 is a returning prosperity through the South, and 

 that it is evidenced, especially by the annually 

 increasing sales of P. J. Berckmans' nursery at 

 Augusta, Georgia. The correspondent speaks of 

 the avenue of Magnolia grandiflora, at the en- 

 trance of the nurseries, as magnificient, and the 

 specimen of Coniferous trees on the grounds,, 

 equal in beauty to anything he has seen North. 



Horticultural Societies. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



6th ANNUAL STATE FAIR OF COLORADO. 



BY J. L. R., DENVER, COL. 



Thinking a few remarks on our fair, held here 

 the last week in September, may be of interest 

 to some of your readers, and wishing to bring to 

 the notice of the outside world, so to speak, 

 some of the merits of our young State, as well 

 as making a meagre attempt to place Colorado 

 on the same platform, in an agricultural point of 

 view, that some of her older and more pretent- 

 ous sisters occupy, and to show what can be 

 obtained with a little knowledge, industry 

 and labor, I have chosen the above as my 

 theme. On alighting at the grounds we pro- 

 ceeded to the Vegetable Hall, a spacious build- 

 ing, amply provided with accommodations. Our 

 minds are at once aroused by the very fine spe- 

 cimens of vegetables, which I certainly did not 

 expect to find, hearing so much East, as I did, 



of the droughts in Colorado. I expected to find 

 the exhibits to correspond. The Cabbage de- 

 served admiration, large solid heads. Potatoes- 

 too were of good size, with a clear white skin,, 

 without that dark cavity in the centre which we 

 so frequently meet East. Tomatoes were not 

 so large as I have seen, but were well colored 

 and very solid. I was somewhat surprised at 

 the Cauliflowers, which, as I was informed, were 

 grown outside, which I thought was very good,, 

 as they measured from ten to fifteen inches 

 across. Onions: they were monstrous! the 

 size of the crown of one's hat, almost. Celery,, 

 too, was very good for so early in the season. I 

 noticed some huge specimens of Beets, Parsnips,. 

 &c. The display of fruit was rather small, but 

 even so, it was a beginning; when we remember 

 that only a few years ago no fruit at all was 

 grown here. People declared it could not be 

 grown, but observation and study is somewhat. 

 ! outruling that now, as there were some very 



