232 Notes and Gleanings. 



the originator of the Rogers's Hybrids or the Concord Grape is left to receive 

 simply such compensation as he can secure from the sale of his plants before 

 other propagators get hold of them ? Why should not the law say to Mr. Rogers 

 or Mr. Dana, or any man who will bless society with a new and valuable fruit, 

 " You shall be treated as authors and inventors are ; you shall have for a 

 reasonable time a monopoly of the market for the sale of your fruit, trees, or 

 plants, as a well-merited compensation to you for your time and trouble, and an 

 inducement for others to imitate your example " ? What reason can be given for 

 our copyright or patent laws which does not apply with equal force to a similar 

 law for the protection of fruit-authors ? Has not the Concord Grape done as 

 much for the public good as the Quaker-gun ? Are not the tact and perseverance 

 which were evinced by Mr. Rogers in securing for us his hybrid grapes as wor- 

 thy of public reward as the same traits when devoted to the preparation of a 

 new spelling-book ? Do not the happiness and welfare of society demand that 

 the production of new and superior fruits should be encouraged as much as the 

 production of new novels or new toys ? Is there not an occasion and demand 

 for wise legislation upon this subject ? W. H. IV. 



Reading, Mass. 



Calla Lilies. — There is no better plant for parlor-culture than the well- 

 known calla {Richardla jEthiopicd). To grow it in perfection, it should have a 

 season of partial rest in summer, and plenty of water in the growing season. 

 Our plan is as follows. In June, procure a dozen medium sized plants ; set them 

 in rich, moist soil in the garden, or in nine-inch pots in rich loam ; placing the 

 pots in moss in a tub. Keep them moderately wet all summer^ and give them 

 the benefit of full sunshine. By the middle of September, the plants will have 

 made a stout, healthy, stocky growth, but will have given but little flower : they 

 will not, however, have been unornamental ; for the rich foliage makes a fine bed 

 in the garden ; or if grown in pots, in a tub, the mass of sagittate leaves is very 

 effective. Having provided a hollow table (like the bulb-case described in the 

 October number of "The Journal of Horticulture "), the plants should be trans- 

 ferred to it just before the first frost. Those in the garden should be carefully 

 lifted with a ball of earth, and potted. 



The pots should be arranged in the case so as just to touch, and all interstices 

 be filled with moss, and a covering of bright-green wood-moss be laid over the 

 whole, so that the plants seem to spring from a carpet of moss. Place the case 

 in a sunny window, and the plants will soon begin to grow, and, by the middle of 

 October, will show bloom. They will continue to flower until May ; the only care 

 required being to protect them from frost, to water plentifully, to wash the 

 leaves with a soft sponge if dust collects upon them, and to remove dead leaves 

 and flowers. 



Our small plant-case, containing six callas during the winter of 1866-7, had at 

 no time less than five flowers and buds, and often as many as eight. 



In spring, plant out the callas, or remove them to the tub out of doors, which 

 is the least troublesome, and, we think, the better way. E. S. R., Jun. 



Glen Ridge, October, 1867. 



