160 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



17th of June, and they were ripe and 

 ready for digging the 1st of October, 

 making a very good crop of fine large 

 potatoes. 



"Wall's Orange is another new 

 potato originated by me from the Whip- 

 ple. It is of a reddish orange color ; in 

 shape, size, and productiveness it resem- 

 bles the White Whipple ; when cooked, 

 not quite so firm as the Whipple, but 

 dry and mealy, and of the very best 

 quality. From 25 lbs. of seed, I this 

 year, with ordinary culture, raised 35 

 bushels of first-class potatoes. For 

 quality and productiveness I know of 

 no varieties equalling the White Whip- 

 ple and Wall's Orange. They are about 

 the strongest growers I ever saw, vines 

 completely covering the ground, and as 

 nearly bug-proof as possible. Growing 

 in my experimental field beside othei* 

 varieties which were bugged several 

 times, they took care of themselves, and 

 were the last to succumb to the drouth. 



" I have a quantity of selected seed- 

 lings, one, two, and three years old, that 

 1 shall thoroughly test before putting 

 en the market. My seedlings are from 

 seed balls of Whipple and White Whip- 

 ple. Among all the varieties grown 

 by me for several years, the Whipple 

 -and their seedlings are the only ones 

 producing seed balls. Other varieties 

 blossom freely, but fail to produce seed. 

 I have been investigating the subject 

 this summer, and will give the result 

 for what it is worth, hoping that others 

 better qualified than I am will give us 

 the truth in the matter. 



"I noticed the bumble-bees were 

 very busy apparently collecting honey 

 from the blossoms of the Whipple, and 

 paying no attention to the blossoms of 

 other varieties growing near them. I 

 came to the conclusion that the blossoms 

 of the Whipple contained honey, and 

 the other varieties did not, and that the 

 bees carried the pollen from flower to 



flower, thus fertilizing them and pro- 

 ducing a large amount of seed. I think 

 I could have gathei-ed a bushel of balls 

 from an acre." 



FASHION VERSUS TASTE. 



Single buds of Gen. Jacqueminot 

 Roses were sold on New Fear's Day 

 in New York for from two to four dol- 

 lars, and even at these extravagant 

 prices the supply fell short of the 

 demand, so that one wealthy young 

 gentleman considered himself fortunate 

 to be able to procure the last four Roses 

 of New Year's Day for fifty dollars, 

 rather than appear before his bride 

 without a gift of Rose-buds. 



Is this an indication of an increasing 

 taste for flowers ? We think not, and 

 if it were, it would be but a doubtful 

 compliment to the aesthetics of our 

 fashionable society if it had required 

 all this time to discover the beauties of 

 the Rose. 



Pleasant as is the custom of sending 

 one's New Year's compliments to his 

 lady friends in the shape of fresh flowers, 

 the fact that this year it cannot be done 

 in any other form than Gen. Jacque- 

 minot Roses is no more a sign of refined 

 taste or individual preference than is 

 the wearing of one-button gloves or the 

 crinoline so soon as fashion dictates. 



Yiolets and Lilies of the Yalley are 

 also admissible, and, strange to say, a 

 bunch of Daisies — particularly when 

 they are called " Paris Daisies " — may 

 find an honored place in the most 

 fashionable parlors, while a few years 

 ago the offering of a bunch of Daisies 

 to a lady would have been considered 

 an insult. Is it taste that rules the 

 queenly Camellia and sweet Orange 

 blossoms out, and Daisies and Tulips 

 into fashion 1 Even the graceful 

 Smilax, decreed fashionable by the 

 whim of an opera prima donna, is losing 

 caste in society, to be supplanted by 



