18 82. 



AXD HORTICULTURIST. 



91 



Plant Collectors, and takes rank amongst the 

 most distinct and attractive palms ever intro- 

 duced. Of robust compact habit, producing large 

 handsome leaves, which are nearly orbicular in 

 general outline, with a wedge shaped somewhat 

 truncate base; the venation is palmate, and the 

 margin for the greater part of the circumference 

 is divided into narrow oblong lobes, each of which 

 is slightly notched. The leaves are originally fiat, 

 but become convex above as they grow older ; 

 they are of a dark shining green color above, 

 paler beneath, and the surfjice is quite destitute 

 of pubescence. 



The Rain Tree.— There seems to be no doubt 

 of the truth of the travelers' statement that 

 Pithecelobium Saman has the power of growing 

 in the driest deserts, and of condensing from 

 the atmosphere the moisture it needs, which 

 falls in drops from the tree to the ground. The 

 English government is introducing it to cul- 

 ture in India. 



The Chinese Varnish Tree. — In the last re- 

 port of Kew Gardens, the feet for the first time 

 appears that the Chinese Varnish tree is a very 

 distinct plant from the Japanese. The latter is 

 Rhus vernicifera, closely allied, if not indeed 

 quite the same with our poison ash, Rhus vene- 

 nata. The Chinese is Aleurites vernicia, one of 

 that class of euphorbiaceous plants to which the 

 candle tree belongs. 



Arctic Conifer^.— The following are the 

 Pines which Baron Nordenskjold found to the 

 extreme north of the Russian possessions : Larix 

 Sibirica, Pinus Cembra, Pinus Sibirica, sometimes 

 known as R. pichta, Pinus sylvestris, a Scotch 

 Pine, and Picea obovata, which is the same or 

 nearly the same as that grown in our nurseries 

 as Oriental spruce. 



A Sweet Orchid.— Cymbidium aloefolium is 

 not a remarkably showy orchid, nor is the Mig 

 nonette a showy plant. This orchid is sweeter 

 than the mignonette. A plant with five fine 

 spikes of flowers at the January meeting of the 

 Germantown Horticultural Society, filled the 

 hall with fragrance. How sweet must be those 

 East Indian woods in which it grows wild. 



Influence of the Stock on the Graft. — 

 Dr. Sturtevant in the proceedings of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, has an exhaustive 

 paper on this subject. Thirty-eight cases where 

 there appears to be some influence, and twenty- 

 six where the scion had an influence on the 



stock. Most of the latter however seem to refer 

 chiefly to variegation. It is interesting to note 

 that this fact seems to have been known. Dr. 

 Sturtevant quotes from John Bartram, February 

 3d, 1741-2, viz.: "Take a bud from a variegated 

 jessamine and insert it into a plain jessamine ; 

 not only the bud will continue its variegation, 

 but will also infect and impregnate the circula- 

 ting juices that the branches and leaves above 

 and below the bud will appear variegated." — 

 Darlington's Memorials, 148. And there are earlier 

 cases on record in England. The other cases 

 seem to us to need confirmation. The following 

 case for instance is one, on which we have before 

 commented as doing, we believe, injustice to 

 Prof. Beal : " A potato scion set into a tomato 

 plant induced the latter to set small tubers in the 

 axils of its leaves, as we see sometimes on the tops 

 of potatoes. The grafting of an artichoke plant 

 into a sunflower caused the latter to set tubers un- 

 der ground."— Pro/. Beal, Ag. of Mich., 1876, 204. 

 In the way it is presented here, and has been 

 in other papers. Prof. Beal is made to appear as 

 the authority for the fact, while if we remember 

 correctly, Prof. Beal was only enumerating what 

 had been reported to be done by some unknown 

 person . To our mind such a fact as this reported, 

 should be repeated and placed bej'ond the shadow 

 a doubt before it is an accepted truth. A few 

 cases are recorded where there seems to have 

 been some distinct character, a sort of hybrid- 

 ization or crossing effected, but in a general 

 way there is little but what may be referred to 

 nutrition. That is, the plants or the fruit were 

 larger or smaller, highly colored or dull colored, 

 sweeter or more acid, flowered earlier or flowered 

 later, any of which might be produced by varia- 

 tions in soil or situation as well as by the influ- 

 ence of the stock. In other words various stocks 

 have the same varying influence in afi'ecting 

 nutrition as varying soils would. 



Our own opinion is, after carefully going over 

 the ground, that there is reason to believe that 

 distinct varieties (not merely temporary changes) 

 may originate from grafting, but that the un- 

 doubted facts recorded are too few to render it 

 wholly safe to believe that this ever occurs to 

 any great extent. 



Manipulated Wines.— It is said that a large 

 quantity of first cla-ss wine exported from 

 Europe is made of 90 per cent, water, 10 per 

 cent, alcohol, and 5 per cent, tannin with some 

 variation in the relative proportions according 

 to the brand. 



