1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



251 



mound simply to distin<fuish it more clearly from 

 the mihallowed eartli around it. 



On returninf; toward the gate, and when near 

 tlie lodge of the keeper of the yard, who hears 

 the name of Ebenezer Copper, I noticed what 

 appeared to be a mammoth vegetable of a yel- 

 low gray color, the length of which was proba- 

 bly eighteen inches and the breadth and thick- 

 ness twelve inches. It might have been an im- 

 mense ruta-baga or sweet potato, but it was 

 neither, though it had existed like them until 

 discovered beneath the ground. The keeper 

 told me that he had found it just under the sur- 

 face when removing the earth for a new grave. 

 The root to which it was attached was two or 

 three inches thick, the excrescence being below, 

 and just above the point of junction of the two, 

 strong saplings or suckers had grown and had 

 reached considex'able size. 



The real owner of the root and its strange at- 

 tachment was a large sized paper mulberry, 

 which grew at least a hundred feet distant from 

 it. The trunk of a paper mulberry without 

 wart-like protuberances is an uncommon sight, 

 though the fact that the root also produced such 

 was to me quite a revelation. 



Mr. Copper, the keeper of the graveyard, also 

 informed me that over the river on the rich bot- 

 tomlands of the Savannah, Bi'oussonetia papyre- 

 fera may be found in a wild state ; its method of 

 increase being as stated above by greatly elon- 

 gated roots and shoots therefrom. I did not 

 test this statement, though from the manner in 

 which it was made I judge it to be perfectly 

 correct. 



A LEGAL QUERY. 



BY TENNESSEE. 



One of the misfortunes of this age is, an edi- 

 tor is expected to know everything. But be that 

 so or not, I will ask j'ou, also for the benefit of 

 many nurserymen, especially in the rural dis- 

 trict. Suppose a nurseryman is sued, and on his 

 land is a fine growing stock ; also his glass 

 structures, his sash, his framing, pits and sash, 

 his plants in pots, his empty pots, and his tools; 

 can a constable seize on them as personal pro- 

 perty ? 



Again, suppose a nurseryman is sued and levy 

 is made on his real estate, and in time sold; can 

 the purchaser, in the two years you have to re- 

 deem it in, take possession, displace the owner 

 or prevent him from diu'ging and selling any or 

 all of his stock, or from selling his sash, green- 



houses, pits, pot plants, pots and tools? You 

 will say consult your lawyer. But lawyers, 

 judges and courts, say they don't know the rule 

 in such cases, and are as likely to decide the wrong 

 way as the right; if there is not, there ought to 

 be some basis as a guide, and I and many others 

 look to you as a leader. 



[So far as we know the exact status of nursery 

 products has never been definitely fixed by any 

 high tribunal, and in the absence of anj'* high 

 judicial decision the lower courts decide as seera- 

 eth best unto them ; and hence the most contrary 

 verdicts come from the same courts. In one of 

 the Philadelphia courts during the war when the 

 " profits of business " were taxed, a large Phila- 

 delphia nursery was compelled to pay as " prof- 

 its" on the increased value of growing trees. 

 For instance, if a tree a foot high was worth in 

 the market five cents, and the next year had 

 doubled its growth and be worth ten cents, this 

 extra five cents after expenses of culture and 

 interest on investment were deducted, would be 

 considered "profit," and was taxed accordingly, 

 the nursery paying somewhere about #500 a 

 year on this basis only, although the trees might 

 subsequently be all dug up and burned. By 

 this decision they were of course personal prop- 

 erty. But when one of these same trees which 

 had already been dug up, and was temporarily 

 heeled in, was stolen, Judge Thayer of the 

 same city, discharged the thief on the ground 

 that nursery trees, as well as any other trees, 

 were not personal property, and so could not 

 be stolen. Nor could we ever decide whether it 

 would be best for the nurseryman to have his 

 products classed as personal property or as real 

 estate. There are advantages and disadvanta- 

 ges, the one seeming to balance the other. At 

 any rate, as there has been no definite testing of 

 the matter, there is no way to do but to abide 

 by local decisions, however contradictory they 

 may be, unless one is disposed to spend time and 

 money in getting a final decision ; and even then 

 as we have already said there may be as many 

 disadvantages as advantages follow in special 

 cases.— Ed. G. M.l 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Editokial Traveling Notes.— Every now 

 and then we read of the wonderful beauty of 

 the English railroad slationt^. and contiguous 

 grounds, and unfavorable ((inimonts made on 



