368 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[December, 



lans fertilis. under which name it still appears 

 in some French catalogues. Poiteau, in the 

 Bon Jardinier, for 1841, gives it the name J. 

 praeparturiens, which, by priority of pubiicntion, 

 will be regarded as its rightful name. It bears 

 when only two years old. Another writer says 

 he had a dozen trees which bore fruit the fourth 

 year — the trees being only three metres high. 

 Occasionally they do not bear until five or six 

 years old. Tbe seeds from the original plant 

 produce trees varying a little, but have the same 

 general character of compact growth, early pro- 

 ductiveness and great fertility. 



M. Ferdinand Jamin says that seedlings from 

 the original variety produce variable fruit, but 

 all had the early bearing proclivity — fruiting the 

 third or fourth year. 



The late Andre Leroy gave it as his experience 

 that in a general sense the variety reproduces 

 itself from seed. 



M. Carriere sums up the evidence as being 

 conclusive that the variety comes relatively true 

 from seed ; that it produces generally small but 

 very good walnuts, and because of its early bear- 

 ing character often regarded as a dwarf, though 

 often becoming a good sized tree. 



Hedgehog. — Among the vegetables offered by 

 Messrs. Vilmorin, of Paris, is one called "Hedge- 

 hog," which is described as Hedysarum crista- 

 galli. By the common name, which is English, 

 it must be an English vegetable — but it is not in 

 use in our country that we know of. Does any 

 one know anything of it here? Belonging to 

 the leguminous family the bean or pod is proba- 

 bly the part used. 



The Alexander Peach.— This American va- 

 riety is pronounced the best of all the early va- 

 rieties so far tested in England. It seems to 

 grow quite large in their peach houses— usually 

 about nine inches round. The Florist and 

 Pomologist gives a handsome colored plate of it 

 in its September issue. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Fruiting of a Lemon. — "Subscriber," Phila- 

 delphia, says : " Can you tell me through the 

 Gardener's Monthly how to prevent the buds 

 from dropping off of a lemon tree before they 

 open ? I have had one do this for several years, 

 and am disappointed in not having it fruit." 



[A large proportion of the flower buds of 



oranges and lemons fall without forming fruit 

 after the fall. This is regarded as a sign that the 

 plant has not vital power to perfect all the fruit. 

 Probably the same explanation must serve when 

 all the flowers fall. Exactly \fhat to do cannot 

 be told without seeing the plant. All that can 

 be said here is that by good soil, good open air 

 treatment in summer, and good culture gener- 

 ally, do all you can to secure a healthy growth. 

 If you will tell what treatment the lemon has 

 received, perhaps some suggestions for improve- 

 ment might be made. — Ed. G. M.] 



Josephine de Malines Pear. — Mr. A. A. Ben- 

 sel says : " The best pear to follow Dana's Hovey 

 is Josephine de Malines, commencing to ripen 

 in January and continuing into March. The 

 fruit ripens without any extra care, and like 

 several other winter varieties, is 'much better 

 than it looks,' being only greenish yellow when 

 ripe. Nor is the shape such as would attract 

 notice in the market, being nearly round, and 

 only slightly tapering towards the stem, which 

 is large and fleshy. The flavor of the fruit is a 

 near approach to 'best,' the abundant juice being 

 deliciously sweet, aromatic and refreshing. The 

 Josephine is a long step in advance of the winter 

 pears which require a peculiar and special treat- 

 ment to fit them for use. The tree has a sturdy 

 look, the wood being short-jointed and the buds 

 heavy, although it is not a fast grower. It will 

 be in great demand when it becomes known, 

 and we hope to see it planted extensively." 



Niagara Grape.— It has always seemed that 

 as apples are divided into the sweet and the 

 sour class, so also ought the grape to be di- 

 vided into those which are pleasantly tart, and 

 those which have a honeyed sweetness. If such 

 an arrangement should be adopted the Niagara 

 would be found in the last class. We have a 

 basket of these. It is a very fine kind both in 

 bunch and berry, color white, and flavor very 

 sweet. 



Box-grown Strawberry Plants. — When a 

 number of years ago the Gardener's Monthly 

 first called attention to the great advantage of 

 growing strawberry plants by layering them in 

 small pots, it was thought to be an absurd no- 

 tion, as the price must necessarily be much en- 

 hanced when small pots are used. 



At this juncture, B. L. Ryder, the inventive 

 genius who gave us the first grafting machine, 

 the American fruit dryer and other things, came 

 in with a cheap chip box, to be used instead of 



