1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



313 



"Begonia, Queen of the Whites," and "Mon- 

 arch." Orchids are a specialty. 



Trees are known to attract lif/htnin(f, and tiie 

 leaf is a lightning conductor. Having notched 

 edges, each of these points is powerful to attract 

 the electric fluid from the air, and, through the 

 stem, convey it silently to the ground. A single 

 blade of grass is said to be three times as pow- 

 erful to attract electricitj^ as a fine cambric 

 needle, and a twig covered with leaves is more 

 efficient than the best constructed "patent 

 point." Trees are natural lightning rods — more 

 efficient than all the artificial ones that have 

 ever been invented. 



Bulbs. — A full catalogue of the growers of 

 Dutch bulbs is a curious study. The quantities 

 and varieties are enormous, while the prices vary 

 with the beauty or novelty. Messrs. Krelage & 

 Co. of Haarlem have taken 1'20 prizes for hya- 

 cinths, and many hundreds for tulips. The com- 

 plete list of hyacinths embraces 2200 varieties. 

 One is puzzled by the variety what to order. 

 In tulips, the old Due Van Tholl holds its own, 

 and is from nine shillings the hundred to four 

 shillings. The crocus varies from twelve and 

 sixpence to twenty shillings the thousand. A 

 list of Autumnal crocuses is much dearer. 

 Lilies, as a rule, are cosily. Yuccas are increas- 

 ing in variety; and squills, of which we should 

 be glad to see more planted, are plentiful. 



Cranberries. — Much skill and mone}^ have been 

 expended on the cranberry. Will some one in- 

 form the public what is the southern limit of the 

 culture of this valuable fruit. Like the cotton 

 belt, it is said to have its limit. Cotton will not 

 succeed beyond a given latitude i^orth, and the 

 cranberry no doubt has a similar line for success 

 Southward. A late eminent medical practi- 

 tioner spent much time and money on a plan- 

 tation hitended to extend to one hundred acres. 

 He left special directions for officers, and 

 what should be done with the profits. When 

 these arrived at §500,000 per annum, etc., etc. 

 But it is now said that the farm is just south of 

 the cranberry line, in Southern Xew Jersey. 

 Where is that limit? 



Great injury teas done to the evergreens last 

 winter. Even the Siberian Arbor Vitre suc- 

 cumbed utterly. Who can explain the cause or 

 causes? Don't all speak at once. 



The sale of Lady NeriWs plants at Dangstein, 

 England, was remarkable in many respects, 

 showing, as it did, the extent to which private 



growers give attention. With one or two ex- 

 ceptions only (Includuig Kew Gardens), it was 

 the largest and most varied in England. Among 

 its treasures were a thousand orchids, more than 

 a thousand stove ferns, and about two hundred 

 of the carnivorous plants, including fine speci- 

 mens of Darlingtonia Californica. There were 

 also masses of the more rare and beautiful 

 filmy ferns. The sale lasted five days. If any 

 of our readers possesses a priced catalogue, the 

 editor would much enjoy a sight of it. 



The Poison Vine — Rhus toxicodendron. — It is 

 too much the custom, and it is attended with sad 

 results, to leave fences to the mercy of this vine. 

 A friend attended an archery meeting where the 

 targets were placed each at the bases of trees to 

 which large poison vines were clinging, and he 

 wondered if the ladies liked it. At a shooting 

 park near one of our cities of the first class a 

 shooting club was lately established, and the 

 fences were covered with this terrible enemy to 

 the human skin. Many school girls climbed the 

 fence to pick wild flowers, and some twenty were 

 injured by the poison vines. Will parents and 

 farmers take warning. 



The Black Cat and Pear Tree. — Tha cat has 

 lately been introduced as a frightener of birds. 

 LetTae tell a story, by request, of a useful mem- 

 ber of society who had quite a reputation for 

 raising remarkably good butter pears. Mr. B. 

 was a master carpenter of Philadelphia, and he 

 had a barren pear tree in his small garden on 

 Xinth street. One morning, as he was standing 

 with axe in hand about to cut down the useless 

 incumbrance, the l)aker appeared with the morn- 

 ing's bread. "What, Mr. B.," exclaimed the 

 mixer of dough, " are you about to do ! Cut 

 down an old pear tree? Take my advice, and 

 bury a black cat directly under it. My word for 

 it. you will have no cause to regret it." Mr. B. 

 took the hint, and buried a very black cat under 

 the centre, and ever afterwards he took the pre- 

 mium for the best butter pears, under the Presi- 

 dency of the ever-to-be-remembered Caleb Cope. 

 One day a good dinner brought Mr. B. to the 

 horticultural dinner table. After a little cham- 

 pagne was "paraded,'" our butter-pear man told 

 the above story. The philosophy of it no doubt 



' was, that he cut the tap roots. 



i 



Insect Gall Nnts are held to be "excres- 

 cences," a diseased condition of vegetable tis- 

 sue. The roots of Swedish turnips are frequently 



' covered with hundreds of spherical warts, which 



