1879.1 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



375 



art of collating just what a speaker means, 

 seems well understood, and one can read it 

 through feeling that he has really a condensed 

 account of what actually took place. 



Of the subjects under discussion, the "Influ- 

 ence of the Stock on the Graft," must have been 

 very exciting, as it was carried over for three 

 different meetings. Most of the speakers seemed 

 to believe that there is more or less of an influ- 

 ence. Mr. C. M. Hovey was among the few 

 who did not believe. The Editor of the Gar- 

 dener's Monthly was referred to by one of 

 the speakers as the authority for a quoted fact, 

 but Mr. Hovey " put no faith in Mr. Meehan's 

 experiment ; analogy shows that what is claimed 

 cannot be done." It is some satisfaction to 

 note that Mr. Hovey evidently has no more 

 faith in his own experiments than in anybody 

 else's, for during the past few years he could 

 have tested the matter for himself if his faith 

 in " analogy " had allowed him ten minutes for 

 this purpose. 



The balance of the proceedings is taken up 

 chiefly with apple culture, so that it is really a 

 good pomological number. 



The Hygienic Prevention of Zymotic 

 Diseases, by Dr. Thomas Moore, Germantown, 

 Philadelphia. — This little treatise though ad- 

 dressed by a physician to human beings, has 

 an equal interest to those who have to care for 

 the health of vegetation. Dr. Moore shows that 

 all zymotic diseases, or those which like scarlet 

 and other fevers, are the result of blood fermen- 

 tation, can only successfully attack when vital 

 power is weak from defective nutrition. Thus 

 the person properly nourished in all his parts is 

 proof against a disease which may destroy hun- 

 dreds of his neighbors. Now if we could only 

 tell how to properly nourish ourselves, we should 

 all be proof against disease, but there are some 

 whose powers of applying nutrition are defective 

 from birth, and others whom old age enfeebles ; 

 but the conditions of health may be so under- 

 stood and controlled, that vital power may be 

 aided and assisted to resist zymotic attacks. 

 Dr. Moore shows that external heat is the great 

 enervator or invigorator as the case may be, 

 and he believes that by controlling heat in special 

 cases we can so control nutrition that many now 

 fatal attacks might be rendered inert. 



It gives us pleasure to read these results of 

 Dr. Moore's experience with human bodies, 

 because it accords well with our own observa- 



tions on vegetation, as we have frequentl}^ re- 

 corded in the Gardener's Monthly. Tiiere 

 is a degree of heat to which the roots of trees may 

 not be subjected without injury to their vital 

 powers, and it is because of this that grass or 

 mulch of some kind to keep off the fierce Sum- 

 mer sun's rays, has been found of so much value 

 to the orchardist, — as we pass from the lake re- 

 gions southwardly, — and it has been noted over 

 and over again that trees not wholly adapted to 

 our climate, always suffer more in those Winters 

 which succeed very hot Summers. Other points 

 might be referred to, but enough has been said to 

 show that life in plants is affected by much the 

 same influences as aft'ect it in the animal world. 



Dairy Farming. — Being the Theory, Practice 

 and Methods of Darying, by .J. P. Sheldon, New 

 York, published by Cassell,Petter,Galpin & Co. 

 This is issued in parts, of which I, II and III 

 are before us. It is intended to go over the whole 

 ground of darying, and to be a beautifnl as well 

 as a thoroughly exhaustive work. With each 

 part there is one chromo lithograph. It has 

 been a long time since anything of this class has 

 been treated in this elegant style, and the en- 

 terprising publishers deserve success. It is is- 

 sued at forty cents each part. 



Report on the Progress and Condition 

 OF THE Royal Gardens at Kew, for the 

 Year 1878. — From Dr. Joseph Hooker, Di- 

 rector. Among an immense number of items 

 of useful information, we may note that the 

 "Prickly Comfrey," has been identified by botan- 

 ists as Symphytum asperrimum ; but the one 

 under culture is really not that species, 

 but "probably a hybrid of garden origin be- 

 tween Symphytum asperrimum, and S. offici- 

 nale, the common garden comfrey. However 

 this may be in Europe, we believe that the one 

 figured in the American Agriculturist some years 

 ago, from a plant furnished by the writer of this, 

 is genuine, — as that had been grown in this 

 country for probably forty years, and doubtless 

 had never any connection with the plant " nat- 

 uralized in the neighborhood of Bristol," which 

 seems to have supplied the " forage plants " for 

 English agricultural experiments. Sir Joseph 

 Hooker says that in England it has been found 

 useful for Winter fodder, as the foliage starts 

 early, and affords several cuttings a year. It is 

 greedily eaten by animals which yet refuse the 

 ordinary garden comfrey. '' A drawing is given 

 of the new ' tropical fodder grass' "' Teosinte. 



