156 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[May, 



benefit yourself but many others. When you do 

 write, condense it into as few words as you can, to 

 be understood, for editors have no time to go over 

 lengthy roundabout articles. Write plainly and 

 only on one side of your sheet. 



I would especially recommend the Gardeners' 

 Monthly to all. The cost is trifling, and it is 

 always full of fresh, well-chosen articles. Also P. 

 Henderson's last work, containing as it does his- 

 torical accounts, a glossary of botanical and gen- 

 eral horticultural terms and practices with the nat- 

 ural order of plants ; all of which are very neces- 

 sary as a help to the successful cultivation of 

 plants. As a book of reference no one should be 

 without it. Gardeners are much indebted to him 

 for it. Works written on this continent are more 

 useful here than the English, because of the great 

 difference in climate, affecting inside as well as 

 out-door gardening. 



RHUS TOXICODENDRON, VERSUS AMPE- 

 LOPSIS JAPONICA. 



BY WM. T. HARDING, MOUNT HOLLY, N. J. 



We learn from the February Monthly that 

 "our common poison vine, Rhus toxicodendron, is 

 being cultivated in Europe under the name of Am- 

 pelopsis japonica," which seems "wond'rous 

 strange " to those who know one from the other. 



While recently in England, I frequently noticed 

 when passing through Barton, under Needwood 

 churchyard, what a nice variety of pretty climbing 

 plants loving hands had planted ; and were grow- 

 ing up the gray lichen-covered walls of the old 

 village church. And especially beautiful were the 

 heavy masses of the fragrant white flower spangled 

 Jasminum officinale, which richly draped a goodly 

 portion of one side of the structure. And while 

 the humble worshipers within were offering their 

 adorations to God, they inhaled the pure incense of 

 sweet flowers, as the soft summer winds gently 

 wafted their rich odors through the open windows, 

 far more delicious than the smell of frankincense 

 and myrrh. 



If the readers think this is a pretty picture of an 

 ancient church, the quaint beauty of which has 

 impressed the looker-on with admiration, and thus 

 to favorably notice it, their conjectures will be 

 true. But when I inform them that within the 

 green churchyard there is a long row of silent 

 chambers where my ancestors, on my father's side, 

 have long been at rest, they will understand why it 

 is so reverently remembered. And but a few feet 

 from the western angle of this antique sanctuary — 



where my kith and kin are sleeping — closely cling- 

 ing to one of the buttresses, is a vigorous specimen 

 of the villainous Rhus toxicodendron, or American 

 poison vine. To my surprise nobody seemed aware 

 that its character was almost as bad as the fabled 

 Upas tree, or that there was any danger in handling 

 it, and which leads me to think it cannot possibly 

 be as baneful in England as it is here. The simple 

 villagers seemed sceptical about its noxious pro- 

 perties, and dubiously smiled at the idea of its 

 being capable of inflicting such severe pain upon 

 whosoever incautiously handled it. However that \ 

 may be, it is nevertheless past my comprehension 

 how any intelligent people could confound the 

 name of the pretty innocent modern climber, Am- 

 polopsis japonica, with that of the vile old poison 

 vine, Rhus toxicodendron — that terrible pest of the 

 rural rambler, whose fierce maledictions are often 

 evoked when feeling the painful effects of the 

 venomous vine. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



To Intelligent Correspondents.—^// com- 

 munications relating to advertisements, subscrip- 

 tions, or other business, must be addressed to the 

 publisher, 814 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. 



All referring to the reading matter of the rftaga- 

 zine must be mailed to the editor, Germantown, Pa. 



No express packages for the editor received un- 

 less prepaid ; and marked '' Paid through to Ger- 

 mantown, Pa." 



Exaggerated Introductions of New Fruits. 

 - — A communication by Mr. Bassett in this month's 

 number is very suggestive in its general applica- 

 tion. Another correspondent writes in the same 

 strain, though we understand the letter is not in- 

 tended for publication. To our mind the evil 

 brings its own cure. There is much more refine- 

 ment in the world than these low-bred people 

 imagine, and the vulgar names to fruits, and vul- 

 gar methods of introduction repulse rather than 

 attract lovers of new things. 



"The Eucalyptus of the Future" is the title 

 of an interesting paper in the March number of 

 the Popular Science Monthly, by Dr. Samuel 

 Lockwood. 



Influence of the Gardeners' Monthly. — A 

 few years ago, straying into a florists' establish- 

 ment, the writer saw a copy of the Gardeners' 

 Monthly on the table. Remarking that the mag- 

 azine seemed to be a regular visitor, the reply was 



