1885.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



151 



in attributing the ruinof half my bed of melons to the 

 agency of cucumber pollen ? As you have means 

 to do it, test my statement by experimenting the 1 

 same way next summer, and report the result." 



[It was far from the Editor's intention to suggest , 

 the impossibility of this immediate influence, but 

 to show that evidence readily within the reach of 

 any person, namely, direct experiment, has never 

 proved the point. Direct evidence has been 



attempted, and recorded years ago in the trans- 

 actions of the Royal Horticultural Society, but 

 that evidence went the other way ! Now what a 

 good chance was lost by our correspondent. With 

 such excellent grounds for suspicion, if he had 

 planted a melon wholly by itself the next year, cut 

 off the male blossoms before opening, and given it 

 nothing but cucumber pollen, he could have now 

 told us all about it.— Ed. G. M.l 



Literature, Travels and Personal Notes. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



THE DERIVATION OF PERSIMMON. 



BY JOSIAH W. LEEDS. 



In the current number of Gardeners' Monthly 

 I note that the Editor after giving a statement 

 from Captain Smith's narrative to show that the 

 original spelling of the word " persimmon " was 

 '• Putchamin," inquires as to the signification of 

 the Indian term. I do not have any vocabulary 

 of the tribes of the Powhatan, but in Heckewel- 

 der's " Words, Phrases, etc., of the Lenni Lenape, 

 or Delaware Indians," who, like the Powhatans, 

 were a section of the great Algonkin group, I 

 find a word given which is quite like " putchamin," 

 namely, " Kpaskhamen" — to plug up tight. Like- 

 wise, the related word " Kpahammen " is stated as 

 meaning to shut up anything close. Now as this 

 is exactly what happens to one's mouth when it 

 undertakes to deal with an unripe or lack-frosted 

 putchamin, the above is offered as a possibly cor- 

 rect solution by thy friend. 



Philadelphia, Fourth mo. 3d, 188 j. 



MECHANICS INTERFERENCE WITH GAR- 

 DENERS. 



BY THOMAS LAWRANCE. 



Not the least of the ills gardeners are heir to is 

 the meddling of mechanics with the direction of 

 work that properly belongs to the gardener. A 

 few years ago one of my customers wishing to 

 take down his greenhouse and rebuild, requested 

 the architect and builder to confer with me, and 

 carry out whatever I recommended. We did so 



confer, but our ideas were entirely at variance. 

 His idea was an architectural one and that horti- 

 culture must conform to it and that it was "all 

 nonsense," "out of proportion," "not in keeping," 

 etc. The proprietor not knowing what to do was 

 almost persuaded. I did not try to convince them 

 to the contrary, and left. A few days after I was 

 sent for ; he had enclosed money in a letter to a 

 florist friend in Rochester desiring him to hire a 

 hack and visit all the private houses in R. and 

 see if there was not a successful one in accord- 

 ance with his ideas, which he enclosed, mine also. 

 He honorably told me what he had done, and the 

 reply received, which was, " We say, by all means 

 build as your florist suggests ; his ideas are cor- 

 rect." He remarked, " We have concluded it 

 must be built as you say ; I see you all run in the 

 same rut," etc. The house was built to the entire 

 satisfaction and pride of the owner, architect and 

 myself. 



The boiler and pipes were duly put in as I di- 

 rected. The inside elaborately finished. The 

 owner asked me if I did not think the pipes should 

 be painted. I said " no ; let them alone." He said 

 they looked rough and he should think just a little 

 lamp-black and oil wouldn't hurt them. I again 

 said, better let them alone. On my next visit two 

 days after, I met the owner at the door of the 

 house and said, " I see you have painted the pipes." 

 " O, yes, just a little lamp-black and oil (and I am 

 sure he thought that was all). Mc (the plum- 

 ber) said he'd risk there being any danger." I 

 thought no more of the matter till two months 

 later I was remodelling the grounds; the gardener 

 called my attention to the unusual quantity of 

 leaves falling off and the rancid tarry smell, 



