Editors' Letter- Box. 319 



"Amateur on Hudson." — We also saw the notice in Hearth and Home 

 of '' Gauhheria Shallon," " Shrubby Wintergreen." Sorry we are not to be able to 

 indorse the writer's views ; for, as he truly says, " we have far too few evergreen 

 shrubs." We fear, however, his new-found favorite from our north-v/est coast 

 will not, even with the facilities offered by the Pacific Railroad, do much to 

 supply the want. 



Plants from our north-west coast are not generally hardy in New England. 

 Whether they can be acclimated is yet a problem. The plant in question is no 

 exception. We have had dozens of them, and in spite of every care have not 

 one left. 



They are not hardy unprotected, and with every care, and variously protected, 

 not one has survived a second winter. 



The plant is a native of thick pine forests. Its greatest altitude is eighteen 

 inches, not "three or four feet." The leaves are seldom more than two inches, 

 not " three," long, and hardly of a " deep glossy green," but coarse appearance. 

 The flowers are by no means " small," but quite large, and are followed by an 

 abundance of purple berries, which have a very agreeable taste. 



For ornamental purposes, except as a cover in woods or shrubberies, in the 

 Middle States, where it may possibly prove hardy, the plant is of no value. It 

 will not stand sun or drought, and needs a moister atmosphere than our seasons 

 afford to live at all. 



If any wish to try the experiment of planting it, they can import it from Eng- 

 land in large plants, all set with bloom, for about four dollars a dozen, freight and 

 the outrageous duty of thirty per cent, included. It is a very pretty plant, and it 

 is worth the cost to see the flowers and fruit for the one summer it will live. 



Editor Journal of Horticulture. 



I NOTICE in the Germantown Telegraph an interesting communication from 

 Mr. J. B. Garber, givinr^ the history of the Fallawater apple, as Downing has it 

 or Fornwalder, as Mr. Garber calls it. But what I particularly wish to ask your 

 attention to is his remark, that " while my trees were young the fruit kept in fine 

 condition till April. At present the old trees bear but few apples, and what they 

 do bear drop from the trees in August and September. None can be kept 

 till Christmas." C?.n you, Mr. Editor, account for this change in the season of 

 rijDening ? I have noticed it in other v:iricties. O. A. 



It is well known that as a tree acquires age the season of ripening is acceler- 

 ated ; but this is quite insufficient to account for so remarkable a change as is de- 

 scribed above, and which we, as well as our correspondent, have noticed in sev- 

 eral varieties. Fruit from a weak or sickly tree will ripen before that from a 

 healthy one, and we think that the symptoms denote a general enfeeblement of 

 the tree ; but when asked to go a step farther, and explain the cause of this en- 

 feeblement, we are unable to do so. There is a general complaint of the deterio- 

 ration of the apple in the older, and indeed in some of the newer parts of the 

 country, and much thought and discussion is being given to the subject, which 

 we trust will result in discovering the cause, but at present it is extremely 

 obscure. We should be very glad to learn the views of orchardists on this 

 subject. 



