218 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[July, 



Gingko trees in Lewisburgh, but they have not 

 yet blossomed. I think they are about twenty 

 years old, and say twenty-five feet high." 



Fruiting of the Gingko.— "R. W. D. A.," 

 Farmdale, Ky., says : '• You say a Gingko tree 

 in Philadelphia has borne fruit this year, and 

 that 'this is the first time the tree has been 

 known to fruit in America.' We have here at 

 the Kentucky Military Institute, Farmdale P. 0., 

 Ky., a Gingko tree which has borne fruit every 

 season for four years, and plenty of it." 



[We had overlooked the fact in making our 

 note, that a lady had noted in the Bulletin of the 

 Torrey Club, that a tree in the Central Park had 

 borne fruit. This was probably two years before 

 the Germantown tree. There seems to be quite 

 a number fruiting— trees probably of about the 

 same age — in various parts of the country. 



The chief point of botanical interest, and 

 which caused the original note, was the inquiry 

 whether the plant has flowers of both sexes on 

 the same tree? These solitary fruiting trees 

 seem to indicate that it has ; but botanical 

 works make a strong point of the belief that it 

 is a dioecious plant, that is one always having 

 separate sexes on separate trees. Certainly the 

 form always in cultivation heretofore has been of 

 the male sex, and though the tree has been 

 under culture for three-quarters of a century, no 

 fruit has been known until these younger trees 

 have furnished them. — Ed. G. M.] 



A "Collector's" Letter.— The following letter 

 was not intended for publication, but we cannot 

 resist the temptation to allow our readers a 

 share in a California collector's enthusiasm : 



" I intend yet to give you one more trial 

 about that nine-tenths of American plants, but 

 to-night am too tired and sleepy ; have been ofi" 

 all day collecting. Am pleased and mad ; mad 

 because we sent for carpet lining (for dryers) 

 and got rosin paper. Why the mischief can't 

 people send like the sample? I have got to 

 scold some one, and you come first; first come, 

 first served. Pleased because we have found 

 some good things and in good order, and at 

 least four new numbers for us on old ground ; 

 that pleases me, especially as some of them are 

 inconspicuous. I hope for a new one. Blessed 

 be n. sp.'s, for they comfort the heart of the col- 

 lector and sell better than the old ones. I 

 would not have tried to do anything to-night, 

 but we start for the Mojave in three or four days, 

 and have a week's work to do in them. I hope 



to find everything on this trip ; come home 

 loaded with n. sp.'s and XX old ones. I think 

 we have added Cereus Fendleri to the flora of 

 California. We will be away for from two to 

 three weeks, depending upon finds and feed 

 (oh ! that awful man, for not sending those 

 dryers), and the amount of paper we have left. 

 Even a buck-board, you know, has limits to its 

 capacity. All our hay and grain has to be sent 

 out ahead by freight team ; we also take along 

 some— all we can carry ; that country aflfords 

 none, after leaving the river. I am too stupid 

 to write any more to-night. So adeos amigo!'' 



The Tallow Tree. — A California correspon- 

 dent says : "I am shocked to find in your Feb- 

 ruarj' number that what I wrote as a piece of 

 pure fun, must have been mistaken for earnest, 

 at least I jud'je that your remarks about grow- 

 ing toy colored candles on the Stillingia sebifera 

 must have come circuitously from my foolish 

 pen. 



" I enclose a copy of my article, that I may 

 be justified in thinking that no sane man would 

 take it for earnest." 



[After reading the jocular slip enclosed by 

 our correspondent, it seems likely that the 

 paragraph at p. 57 was in some roundabout way 

 suggested by it. But there is nothing in that 

 paragraph to be shocked about. The little toy 

 candles used on our Christmas trees are made 

 from wax obtained from Myrica cerifera, the 

 wax-berry of the Atlantic seacoast. If any are 

 imported from China, they are probably made 

 from Rhus succedanea, one of the Sumachs, 

 Stillingia sebifera produces wax equal to these, 

 and one might in all seriousness inquire 

 whether wax suited to toy candles could be 

 profitably produced by the Stillingia. 



The " light house " joke is equally reasonable. 

 For a long time it was a question whether wax 

 from the Myrica would not wholly supersede 

 tallow on the score of cheapness; but tallow 

 continued to keep the inside track in the race 

 for low prices, and the Myrica had to give up. 

 But there is now so much demand for lubricating 

 oils, and so much improvement in the arts of 

 preparing vegetable substances, that it did not 

 at all strike us as incredible that the Chinese tree 

 might perhaps be brought into successful com- 

 petition with tallow ; nor do we think it so yet. 



Our correspondent's piece of fun w-e therefore 

 take to illustrate the old law, that " There is 

 many a true word spoken in jest." — Ed. G. M.] 



