1882. 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



155 



"Varnish tree in Japan" in many parts of 

 France, which is very nearly or quite the same 

 as our poison ash, Rhus venenata. It is more 

 than Hkely that what poisonous reputation many 

 yet adhere to the plant, is the remains of the old 

 <5onfusion of names. 



A tenant house on the property of the writer 

 has been surrounded by ailanthuses for at least 

 a quarter of a century, with not a breath of 

 suspicion as to any poisonous effusion from 

 them. 



You may depend on it that any serious 

 noxious quality from them is all nonsense. — 

 Ed. G. M.] 



Erica Meditteranea — This is the plant re- 

 ferred to by "H. S. C," Collinsville, Conn., in 

 the following note. It would scarcely stand a 

 New England winter : '' Can you inform me 

 through magazine the name of the pink-flower- 

 ing Heath common on the hills about Nice, and 

 whether it would live here in New England with 

 •cover in the winter?" 



Atamasco Lily.— -This is probably the plant 



referred to by '' H. S. C." in the following note — 

 Zephyranthus Atamasco, or possibly the newer 

 Z. Treatse : " Name of white lily common in 

 Florida from Gulf coast to Jacksonville. Flow- 

 ers about Easter. About one foot high, upright 

 on stem. Is it a Zei^hyranthus ?" 



Note on Colors. — " Mrs. M. P., Jr.," Lynn, 

 Mass., remarks : " I have been much interested 

 in the discussion of a ' blue bedder' in the later 

 numbers of the Monthly. I can indorse all 

 that W. Robertson says of the Ageratum 'John 

 Douglass,' in the April number, having tried it 

 in different situations during the past summer. 

 Its dwarf, ompact growth and continuous bloom 

 rank it as a first class bedder. But the question 

 I want to ask is : Is it blue? Put it beside the 

 heliotrope and it seems the same color to me 

 only a lighter shade. Contrast it with the brow- 

 allia, it looks a decided purple, while browallia 

 is a ' true blue.' Am I right ?" 



[Certainly. We have seen American flags in 

 which the blue was the color of the Eupatorium, 

 but they had run through a long campaign in 

 more senses than one. — Ed. G. M.l 



Literature, Travels I Personal Notes, 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



LETTER OF A CALIFORNIAN NURSERY- 

 MAN. 



The enclosed has been handed to the Garden- 

 er's Monthly by a friend in Southern Califor- 

 nia, from one of the best nurserymen in the 

 State, residing in Nevada county. The fact that 

 he has sense enough " to let well enough alone,*' 

 is evidence of his merits. The rolling stones 

 may, by chance, fall into a mass of moss; but 

 they seldom gather it. 



" Some five months ago I had the pleasure of 

 receiving from you a very nice and compliment- 

 ary letter, to which I ought to have replied at 

 once ; but as I intended to take a trip down the 

 southern country this fall. I put off answering 

 you from week to week, till — yes, till the yellow 

 leaves of autumn were dropping off thick and 



*ast from the trees, and the winter was upon us, 

 with no trip for me this fall down the fair land 

 of Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. The only 

 trip I took this year was a month ago, down to 

 San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda ; and, 

 after an absence of ten days, I had to come up 

 to pick my grapes and gather my fruit, and 

 draw tight the strings of my little purse; for 

 that's the reason why I do not go so much 

 around as I'd like to. I have to depend solely 

 upon my own resources, with no capital what- 

 ever to carry on my nursery business, or indulge 

 in the agreeable pastime of traveling throughout 

 our beautiful State. 



" In your letter you say : ' Would you not find 

 a more congenial location, a larger market and 

 scope for your talents in this southern country 

 than where you are?' To that question of yours, 

 which I think is very pertinent, I will frankly 



