THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[July. 



no branch of intelligence has there been so much 

 advance as in horticulture. Every year solves 

 problems insoluble befo.fi, and with new ideas 

 new books naturally follow. It is just in this line 

 — in the endeavor to elucidate fundamental prin- 

 ciples — that Mr. Strong believes he finds an unoc- 

 cupied field, and this book is the result. In the 

 peculiar field it is destined to fill it will be found 

 very useful. If it had been more pretentious, 

 there would be room for more critical comments, 

 as, for instance, the statement that pear leaf blight 

 is confined mainly to young seedlings, before they 

 are budded by the nurseryman. This may be 

 correct of some of the New England States. In 

 many other parts of the country the main cause 

 of pears not ripening well, and of the poor flavor 

 when they do ripen, comes from the premature 

 fall of the foliage from leaf-blight. 



Orchids : A Review of their Structure and 

 History. — By Lewis Castle. London; Published 

 by Journal of Horticulture office. 



This is a small paper-covered book of 56 pages, 

 by the author of " Cactaceous Plants," recently 

 noted in our columns. It brings together a great 

 mass of matter connected with the history of these 

 curious plants that cannot fail to interest any per- 

 son who knows what an orchid is. 



Talks Afield about Plants and the Science 

 OF Plants. — By L. H. Bailey, Jr. Boston: 

 Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1885. 



This is of a class of books very acceptable to the 

 readers of the Gardeners' Monthly, a class 

 which tells in a pleasant and popular way the in- 

 teresting stories about plants that only those im- 

 mersed in the full flood of science are usually sup- 

 posed to know much about. The following is a 

 specimen of the little book. After figuring and 

 describing the Witch Hazel the author says : 



"Superstitious notions were long associated with 

 the witch-hazel. Its common name is a record of 

 the foremost of these notions combined with the 

 resemblance of the plant to the true hazel. The 

 branches were once used as ' divining rods,' by 

 means of which deep springs of pure water and 

 veins of precious metals were supposed to be re- 

 vealed. Even in recent years I have seen forked 

 branches of the peach and linden dexterously 

 balanced in the hand and their occult vibrations 

 taken as infallible indications of streams of pure 

 water beneath the surface. Fortunately for the 

 magicians who perform with these mysterious 

 branches, there are few places where any intelli- 

 gent person would look for water that springs may 



not be found at a reasonable depth. Ast-ology 

 was also debtor to the witch-hazel branches, if 

 Token has written aright : 



* Mysterious plant : whose eolden tresses wave 

 With a sad beauty in the dying year, 

 liloouiinp amid November's frost severe. 

 Like a pale corpse-light o'er the recent grave. 

 If slicpiierds tell us true, thy wand hath power, 

 Witii gracious influence, to avert the harm 

 Of ominous planets.' 



" The witch-hazel has been held long in repute on 

 account of its medical virtues, and it is the source 

 of popular remedy of the present day. The In- 

 dians are said to have made preparations of its 

 bark for the treatment of tumors and inflamma- 

 tions. The wych-hazel of England is an elm, 

 whose wood was used in olden times in the con- 

 struction of wyches or chests. This antique spell- 

 ing is often erroneously applied to our American 

 shrub." 



Baron Mueller's Select Plants. — The pub- 

 lic seldom know how much they owe to the unsel- 

 fish labors of men of science. We noted recently 

 the republication of the above named useful work 

 in this country, by G. S. Davis, of Detroit, it hav- 

 ing already been published in India as well as in 

 Australia, and a translation in German for the use 

 of the people of the Empire. We now note by a 

 paragraph in the Melbourne Leader of .-Xpril 18, 

 that this mass of useful labor, so highly apprecia- 

 ted everywhere, is a free gift to the world, Dr. 

 Mueller receiving nothing from it, yet he takes as 

 much interest in helping and working for Mr. 

 Davis' success with the work in our country as if 

 there were "millions in it " as the phrase goes. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



The Shamrock of Ireland. — " W. H. P.," 

 Iowa City, Iowa, says: "Will you be so kind as 

 to answer through the columns of your esteemed 

 journal, the Gardeners' Monthly, the following 

 questions : 



" What is the true Shamrock of the Irish ? 

 What is its origin ? To what species of plants does 

 it belong ? What does the name designate ? 



" According to my dictionary, it is white clover, 

 but on inquiry of many different Irish people 

 everyone disputed it. I loping that you will kindly 

 help me out." 



[St. Patrick is said to have had an argument 

 with an Irish king, endeavoring to win him to 

 Christianity. The heathen was satisfied on all 



