1879. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



363 



tight cisterns. The chief objection is that it is a 

 labor to pump : and water from tlie public 

 works will run into one's liouses by its own 

 weight. But in many cases there are pieces of 

 high ground not far away from the house where 

 at a very small expense a " roof '' could be built, 

 and the water collected there, the pipes running 

 down to tlie building. Certainly many persons 

 could be wholly supplied by water at much 

 cheaper rates than the public works offer, and 

 with less labor than the common pump, — 

 though of course the vast majority are not so fa- 

 vorably situated. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Artificial Fertilizers. — J. R., Brooklyn, 

 N. Y., writes : " If consistent with your duty to 

 advertisers, I would like information as to the 

 kind of artificial fertilizer that can be used ad- 

 vantageouslj" on a small garden, clay loam, 

 growing fruits and flowers only — in place of sta- 

 ble manure which is unpleasant, and not easily 

 procured. I mean a kind that can be used 

 year after year. If no answer appears in the 

 Monthly I shall judge that to answer would 

 be a violation of journalistic propriety, and 

 shall depend upon experiment." 



[Where the editor is also proprietor of a pub- 

 lication he may not like to praise a stranger's 

 article over one who advertises in his paper. In 

 the present case the editor has no interest what- 

 ever in the advertising columns, and does not 

 know what is in them till he reads them in print. 

 Still we are not able to help our correspondent 

 much, because the advantages of artificial man- 

 ures are wholly to be learned from experiment. 

 On light sandy land salt is found an excellent 

 fertilizer. Guano does better on heavier soils. 

 The best advice to offer our correspondent 

 would be to try small quantities of different 

 kinds first, and note those which seem most 

 effective on his grounds. — Ed. Gr. M.] 



Mr. Black's Plum. — Mr. Bassett inquires : 

 " I see Chas. Black calls his plum a Chickasaw. 

 Is it a Chickasaw ? I have the impression that 

 it is one of those that grow in the ISTorthwestern 

 States, and did not suppose they were of that 

 variety at all." 



Those Copyrighted Cherries.— Mr. Weir 

 writes : "In answer to Eugene Glenn, of Roch- 

 ester, N. Y., in the October number, I may be 

 allowed to say that to take out a copyright, one 



has to print the title-page and send it with the 

 proper fee to the Librarian of Congress. My 

 publisher had taken out several copyrights ; had 

 the law before him, and complied with it to the 

 letter, to wit: he printed the title-page prop- 

 erly, bought a post office money order in favor 

 of the Librarian, and forwarded it. By some 

 snarl in the 'red tape' in Washington, this P. 

 O. M. O. was not delivered for near three weeks, 

 and we at this end of the line had to trace it up, 

 and I now have the certificate of copyright. As 

 soon as the money was mailed we went to work 

 on our little book and at the end of a week we 

 had some proof copies printed, expecting our 

 certificate of registry by each mail, and being 

 in great haste to get our venture before the 

 world, I mailed a few copies to the leading pa- 

 pers and to eminent horticulturists; this was 

 not strictly legal. We also sent copies to Li- 

 brarian of Congress the second time, but not in 

 time for them to reach him before the certifi- 

 cate came to hand. 



" Well, I have produced from seed a large num- 

 ber of cherries better adapted to our wants here 

 in the Northwest than any of the old varieties, 

 as twelve to fifteen years have proven, and of 

 quality far surpassing any varieties of cherries 

 that we could grow here heretofore, have dis- 

 cribed them and given them names and num- 

 bers, and published all in a 'sort of patent 

 medicine pamphlet.' and copyrighted the 

 whole combination. Is there anything criminal 

 in this? I have only chosen after due delibera- 

 tion this plan of offering my property for sale to 

 those who wish it on my terms. If they do not 

 wish to buy there is no compulsion about it. I 

 do not purpose to claim any more rights under 

 my copyright than the law gives me, but neither 

 Mr. Glenn nor even the Librarian of Congress 

 are the final authorities to pass on the law and 

 tell me what my rights are ? We have courts 

 for this purpose. If the copyright is of no value 

 whatever, I cannot see that I am inclined to 

 ask more than the exclusive right to a share of 

 the original stock to propagate from is worth to 

 one nurseryman in each State. I did not start out 

 with the idea of catching gudgeons or swindling 

 any one. I merely offer a commercial venture 

 to commercial men, and there is no danger of 

 this class of men being severely bitten even if 

 Mr. Glenn had not given them such laudable 

 warning. 



" My first and prime intention has been inma- 

 kino^astart to the end of inclining people towards 



