1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



123 



is used, for instance the "cheat" of the Eastern 

 farmer is Bromus secalinus ; but when a farmer 

 in California talks of " cheat" we are to under- 

 stand that the Lolium temulentum is referred to. 

 It is hard to learn Latin names sometimes ; but 

 if people would try to do so, it would save a 

 great deal of misunderstanding and quarreling. 



Potatoes Inside of Potatoes. — The past 

 season seems to have brought this phenomenon 

 to more than usual public notice. In the 

 Newburg, N. Y., Daily Journal^ Mr. J. Smith 

 notices some as being on exhibition there. The 

 way in which these are produced, as Mr. Stauffer 

 suggests, is very much like the "growing in- 

 wards" of a toe-nail. The stolon or thread 

 which usually pushes out from the eye, and 

 bears the tuber, takes the inward direction in- 

 stead, and thus the tuber is formed on the in- 

 side of the old one. 



Preserving Flowers in Salt Water. — 

 We see going the rounds of the papers, a para- 

 graph to the effect that Prof. DeCandolle has 

 discovered that salt water will do as well as al- 

 cohol to preserve flowers or fruits for any length 

 of time. This statement is likely to mislead. 

 In a copy of the original paper kindly sent to us 

 by Prof. DeC, we note that he distinctly says 

 that mere salt water will not do ; but that it 

 must be boiled seawater. 



Diclytra and Dicentra. — A correspon- 

 dent dissents from our suggestion that now it is 

 certainly known that the botanist Borkhansen 

 originally wrote Diclytra and not Dicentra, we 

 ought to go back to the original name. 



It seems to us that botanists when they name 

 plants, are not bound to tell why, or from what 

 they make the name ; indeed few of them ever 

 do, and at best we often have to guess at the 

 etymologies. If this botanist had nofhappened 

 to have incidentally mentioned the "derivation 

 from a greek woi'd" which has no existence, no 

 one would have thought of objecting to Diclytra. 



If a man chooses to found a family under the 

 name of Smythe, when he might have said 

 Smith, we must admit it is as good a name 

 as the other, and his successors would be 

 thought trifling to alter all their names because 

 "he ought to have written Smith" in the first 

 instance. To our mind a botanical name that 

 means nothing is as good as one that means 

 much; and as a principle, we favor the law 

 which insists on the " original" name. 



Xames of Plants.— S. C, Hamilton Co., 

 Ohio, sends three small leaves for name. It is 

 not possible to do this from such slender mate- 

 rials. No. 1 may be a Ruellia or Beleperone, 

 2 and 3 are Echeverias. 



Literature, Travels I Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



VINDICATION OF THE PLANT PATENT. 



BY JACOB 3I00RE, ST. LOUIS, MO. 



This measure is alleged to be impracticable 

 by its opposers, but the objection is not well 

 founded. If the varieties could be identified 

 the rights of the producers could be protected. 

 That they could be identified is evident from the 

 fact that exotic sorts are identified. The sell- 

 ing of old sorts under new names has been fre- 

 quently practiced, but such frauds are invariably 

 detected, sooner or later, although the perpetra- 

 tors escape punishment. But if they attempted 

 to swindle in this w^ay with protected sorts they 

 would soon be prosecuted by the introducers, 

 and the adoption of synonyms would thus be 



prevented. They would not dare to sell them 

 under their real names, or claim them to be 

 protected under new ones, because so doing 

 would render them liable to immediate detec- 

 tion and the infliction of a severe penalty, as 

 any person might be an emissary of the owner 

 of the protective right. The taking of orders 

 for plants of new sorts by the agents of dis- 

 honest nurserymen and dealers, and supplying 

 others in their stead under the names of those 

 ordered has been practiced to such an extent 

 I as to make the terms tree agent and swindler 

 ' almost synonymous. The protection against 

 this kind of fraud, which the proposed enactment 

 would afford the public, furnishes an argument 

 of great weight in its behalf. Although Mr. 

 Eugene Glen, of Rochester, X. Y.,has preceded 

 me in making this argument, in a future com- 



