28 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[January, 



be a success ; if not, it will die, and it should 

 do so. 



The Fox Grape. — A foxy grape in the old 

 world, is one which has a brown instead of a black 

 <:olor as it should have — in short, a black grape 

 hardly colored. It is more than probable, that the 

 term " fox grape " was given to the American grape 

 of that name, from its " foxy " color. Now we speak 

 of the " foxy odor " of a fox grape, as if the fox 

 had anything of a smell like that. The fox has no 

 such smell. And then we have a " foxy taste." 

 It is interesting to note how words are led to have 

 meanings quite different from original intent. 



Gardening for Women. — Miss Gertrude Sack- 

 ett, in an admirable address before the Summit 

 County Horticultural Society, at its recent meeting 

 at Springfield, Ohio, remarked: "One thing should 

 here be spoken of — a woman may be a good dress- 

 maker, but not all are. I think the old saying, 

 ' Whatever is worth doing, is worth doing well,' 

 finds illustration here. A dressmaker in order to 

 be successful must learn the trade. The average 

 American woman has a good figure, when it is not 

 distorted by a wretchedly fitting dress. 



"To take a different view of the subject, let us 

 mention a few ways in which women may earn 

 money, if that is what they are seeking. 



"Gardening may be carried on to a limited ex- 

 tent, and the cultivation of flowers may be made 

 a specialty. Lima beans are quite easily raised, 

 and sell for a good price in the fall. Sweet corn 

 may likewise be raised with some profit, even if 

 some of the gain is lost in defraying the expense 

 of hiring the harder part of the labor. Gardening, 

 too, has the great advantage of being a decidedly 

 healthy occupation. 



" A few years ago, a young girl who, from all 

 appearances, was fatally ill with consumption, 

 went to a country home and amused herself in 

 the garden when she felt strong enough. She 

 found the health-giving properties of the soil and 

 recovered. She declared that the spade was her 

 doctor." 



ViciA Denniesiana. — In the herbaceous de- 

 partment at Kew this strange and curious plant is 

 now in flower. It was received at Kew from the 

 garden of the late H. C. Watson, Esq., of Thames 

 Ditton. That gentleman described the plant and 

 gave its history in Godman's Natural History of 

 the Azores, published thirteen years ago, and from 

 that work the following particulars are abstracted: 

 — "This is a remarkable plant in itself, and in its 

 history as far as hitherto known ; for chance only 



appears to have saved it from becoming an ex- 

 tinct species almost immediately after it became 

 known at all. It was found by Mr. Hunt on the 

 mountains at the east end of the island (San 

 Miguel), growing on damp earthy precipices ; but 

 in one spot only, from which it has since disap- 

 appeared through a landslip. Mr. Hunt unsuc- 

 cessfully sought for the plant elsewhere in the 

 same neighborhood, and no other collector found 

 it in any of the isles. In general appearance its 

 nearest analogue is V. villosa, although at first 

 glance it is distinct from that and every other 

 Vicia known to me." The changes in the color of 

 the flowers are remarkable. In the early bud they 

 are of a fine purple ; and being one inch long, 

 and numerous in the racemes, they lead to the ex- 

 pectation of a handsome appearance. But as 

 they expand, or even earlier, the color changes to 

 a dull slate, and finally to a dingy fawn. In order 

 to prevent V. Denniesiana from being lost, it is 

 better and safer to winter a plant in a cold frame 

 and plant out in May ; of course seeds, when 

 ripened, afford a ready means of increasing so rare 

 and curious a species. — Gardener's Chronicle. 



Mr. John Gardner. — This well known horti- 

 culturist, gardener and general estate manager to 

 Pierre Lorillard, met with a severe gunning acci- 

 dent recently at the hands of a friend, who did 

 not know he was near. One shot went through 

 the nose, and another destroyed the left eye. 



Elbert S. Carm.\n, the very successful editor 

 of the Rural New- Yorker, we learn from the 

 Farm Journal, was born in Hempstead, Long 

 Island, in 1837, and educated partly in Brown 

 University. He became editor and proprietor of 

 the paper in 1877. He has always had a fondness 

 for agriculture and botany, and his experimental 

 grounds at Rockaway furnish many of the facts 

 which render his paper so popular. 



History of the Pineapple. — For this, the 

 material is not abundant, or, I should rather say, 

 good material. For the most voluminous writers 

 upon this subject have evidently regarded their 

 imagination as a fountain of facts. There are 

 however, a few well authenticated facts in regard 

 to its history : 



First, Columbus found it growing wild on the 

 Island of Guadaloupe in 1493. 



Second, Baron Von Humboldt lound it in the 

 valley of the Orinoco, and elsewhere, in the unin- 

 habited wilds of South America. 



Third, At an early period it was louiul natural- 

 ized in Africa, Asia and the East Indies. This 



