38o 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[December, 



the operations of a fungus ; we mean a fungal, 

 not a fungoid disease. Many a time have we 

 mentally thanked Professor Riley for the hint. 



Azalea Mollis. — Germans who try to do 

 English, often do it very prettily. The following 

 is from a catalogue intended for English readers: 



" The Azaleas Mollis has now become one of the 

 most important plants in the commerce and 

 forms a special culture of my Establishment. 



"Since the merit of that avantageous plant 

 has been recognized I have applied myself to de- 

 velop the culture of it. 



'• Once having seen its fine heads covered with 

 magnificent flowers of all shades at a time of the 

 year when nature scarcely allows other plants to 

 show their buds ; who whould not possess the beau- 

 tiful colours of the Azealeas Mollis; it, however, is 

 ■chiefly during the winter that this plant makes the 

 admiration of every body for being forced so well 

 it is to be found perfectly blooming in the coldest 

 season of the year." 



Then of the Camellia he says — 



"The Camellia culture is the one that I am 

 most fond of; it is a plant that always charms the 

 €ye ; the greenness of its beautiful foliage pleases 

 always ; in winter as well as in summer it keeps 

 its brilliant green colour. How beautiful is a 

 Camellia when spring arrives ; the flowers of that 

 ■fine plant are admired by every body and are par- 

 ticularly useful for cutting purpose." 



Water Rights. — A Scotch court has decided 

 in effect, that no one has a right to pollute a 

 stream so that it shall be unfit to drink by a party 

 below ; but if water has not been used for general 

 drinking purposes for forty years, the drinking 

 rights of parties below have been forfeited. 



Famines in the Land.— No one need fear a 

 recurrence of the famines which, as history re- 

 lates, formerly desolated the earth ; steam brings 

 the surplus of favored parts rapidly to the starv- 

 ing sections. It would not take long in these days 

 for Abraham's descendants to learn that there 

 was corn in Egypt. In Ohio this year strawberries 

 were nearly a failure, at least not half a crop, and 

 at the July meeting of the Montgomery County, 

 Ohio, Horticultural Society, Mr. Ohmer wanted to 

 know what caused the cheapness of strawberries 

 in this market in view of the fact of only a par- 

 tial crop here; to which reply was made, and gen- 

 erally concurred in, that it was due to shipments 

 from the South. No one can in these days calcu- 

 late on an increase of price because of a famine 

 in his immediate vicinity. 



Ruskin's Notions of Botany. — Recently we 

 noted the singular ignorance o( popular magazine 

 writers about things in botany and horticulture, 

 that they could know all about by a few moments 



of investigation, if they were not so impressed with 

 the idea that they knew all that is worth knowing. 

 The case then was Bret Harte. Before us we 

 have another case in Ruskin, the teacher on Art. 

 He started to write a book on botany, showing 

 how it should be taught, and how miserably it was 

 pursued by botanists, when, by his own confession, 

 he did not know what a moss is. But he quarrels 

 with everything that botanists have done and 

 would reorganize the whole thing. In nomencla- 

 ture he would change all the terms in use. In the 

 place of ovary he would have "treasury," pistil he 

 would replace by "pillar," and for the st'gma he 

 would have "the volute." Just how much the 

 study of botany would be helped by these 

 changes it is hard to see, but the case exhibits the 

 sort of stuff that passes for literary smartness. 



The Papaw Tree, Carica Papaya. — Mons. de 

 Nobele, in an article on this tree in L Horticul- 

 titte Beige, says the name Papaya is derived from 

 the Caribbean word Ababaye. 



Mr. M. H. Lester. — Some months since we 

 noted that Mr. Lester had left New Orleans and 

 would re-engage as gardener with any one in need 

 of such services. But a desire to visit the great 

 exposition at Antwerp, led him to postpone his 

 wishes in that respect. Having returned, he may 

 now be found, by addressing him in care of Mr. 

 W. R. Smith, Botanical Garden, Washington, D. C. 



Mrs. M. P. Wilder. — We are quite sure we 

 may tender on behalf of the whole horticultural 

 community, its heartfelt sympathy with Col. M. P. 

 Wilder, in the great loss he has endured by Mrs. 

 VVilder's death, which occurred on the i6th of 

 November at his residence in Dorchester. 



Joseph Schwartz. —Rose lovers will be 

 familiar with the name of Mr. Schwartz, who was 

 becoming famous in connection with new roses. 

 We see his death announced as occurring at Lyons 

 on the I ith of October, at the comparatively early 

 age of 39. 



^r*-» 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



R. C. PoPPEY.' — After going to press last month, 

 we found the following unique specimen on the 

 Editoral desk, sent over from the publisher's de- 

 partment. Fearing R. C. P. may not already 

 have liad the " ample satisfaction " he desires, we 

 give in addition, his sweet epistle : 



" Enclosed please find twenty-five cents in 

 stamps, for the Gardeners' Monthly of October, 



