148 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



hallow in diseased wood comes from the inability 

 of the tree, from the disease, to make use of pot- 

 ash, rather than from its absence in the soil. The 

 " yellows " in fact is a case of vegetable indiges- 

 tion.— Ed. G. M.] 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Hybrid Potatoes. — Mr. Thomas Laxton, well- 

 known as a successful hybridist, and the origi- 

 nator of some fine crosses among peas, has under- 

 taken to cross potatoes with other species of the 

 genus Solanum, and has already had some 

 remarkable results. There is evidently a wide 

 field for useful discovery in the hybridizing line. 



Herbarium of Mr. Howard Shriver, Wythe- 

 viLLE, Va.— Mr. Shriver has published for free 

 distribution a catalogue of his herbarium, "first, as 

 I desire to sell the herbarium ; second, that botanists 

 may have some idea of the Flora." It will be a 

 rare chance for some college, society, or enthusi- 

 astic individual to get a good start with such a 

 complete collection. 



Solanum Lemmonii. — The French have de- 

 cided that the new tuberous potato which Mr. 

 Lemmon, in our columns last year, believed might 

 be a new species, really deserves that honor, and 

 Mr. Blanchard describes it in the February num- 

 ber of the Revue Horticole as Solanum Lemmonii. 



Anthurium splendidum. — It is said that Alex- 

 ander wept after he had conquered the whole 

 world, because there were no more nations left to 

 conquer. Those who are marching out to conquer 

 nature, and to become possessed of a knowledge 

 of all her secret ways, are not likely to imitate 

 Alexander very soon, for, look where we may, we 

 see problems in vegetable life that none have ever 

 yet conquered. Plants of the Arum family, to 

 which this beautiful plant belongs, are among this 

 mperturbable set. Some have white spots or other 

 peculiar markings on the leaves, but no one knows 

 why. We have some sort of an impression that 

 it is for the good of the individual, the good of its 

 race, or for the general good of the whole creation ; 

 but in what particular respect one with a peculiar 

 marking is of more good to itself or another, than 

 one with some other marking, nobody knows as 

 yet. Here is a plant with leaves, as if covered 

 with blisters. We know that poor humanity is 

 often under the necessity of being blistered from 

 head to foot ; but what a plant wants with blisters 

 is a profound mystery. 



To our mind it often seems that we are on the 

 wrong track when we try to look for an element of 

 selfishness in every act of life. We sometimes 

 think that plants were made pretty, not for mere 

 attractiveness to insects and other similar selfish 

 ends, but solely to be attractive to those capable 

 of enjoying loveliness. As the poet says, beauty is 

 its own excuse for being ; and if this be so we have 

 a very good reason for the blistery surface here. 

 It gives a remarkable and unique character to a 

 leaf that might otherwise be unattractive. Mr. 

 Bull, its introducer, must be excused for the en- 

 thusiasm he displays in telling us about it. He 

 says : "It is a strikingly beautiful stove Aroid, im- 

 ported from South America. It is quite distinct 

 from anything yet in cultivation, and a plant 

 which cannot fail to become universally admired, 

 the surface of the leaves being remarkably 

 peculiar. It has a short, thick caudex, from which 

 spring up the cordate leaves, which have an open 

 sinus, the lobes meeting behind. The course of 

 the nerves is marked by a broadish band of deep 

 lustrous velvety green, the intervening spaces of 

 about equal width being in striking contrast of a 

 pale yellowish green. The leaf surface is scabrous, 

 and the portions between the ribs strongly bullate 

 as if raised in papillose blisters. The veins on the 

 under surface are angular, with tooth-like pro- 

 jections at intervals, while the whole under surface 

 is punctate with small pallid dots. This will be 

 the great acquisition of the season." (See cut.) 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Jalap Root. — Mr. Lester sends us a black 

 root of the shape and form of a pear ; — the Exo- 

 gonium purga, well known in pharmacy for its 

 purgative character. 



Individuality in Plants. — "A. B.," Leesburg, 

 Florida, says: " While you are discussing fertili- 

 zation in your magazine, could you enlighten me 

 on the following point? Mr. Darwin, I think, wrote 

 in one of his books that from a fertilizing point 

 of view a cutting or graft from a plant was the 

 same individual as the parent. Now what I want 

 to know is whether the same individuality remains 

 by propagation ad infinitum and whether on that 

 account one would get better crops by planting 

 different varieti«s in alternate rows?" 



[Mr. Darwin does say in regard to cross-fertili- 

 zation of flowers, that when bees go from flower 

 to flower on the same plant, that is not to be re- 

 garded as cross-fertilization ; and further he says 



