Editor's Letter-Box. 383 



4. Glue for envelopes is rather out of our line, but we believe it is either gum 

 Arabic or British gum ; the latter is made by calcining starch, and is much the 

 cheaper of the two. Both can be obtained of druggists. 



Mrs. S. E. B., Clear Creek Station, Galveston Co., Texas. — We are sorry to 

 deprive you of the pleasure of attaching the name of your place to the pretty 

 little feraof which you send a frond, but it is already named Aspleniiim ebejieum. 



The best work for your purpose is Paxton's Botanical Dictionary, published 

 in London. Gray's Manual, or his Field, Forest, and Garden Botany, is desirable 

 in addition, and we think you would find Chapman's Flora of the Southern United 

 States useful. 



H. B. N., Owego. — One of the most extensive growers of the gladiolus in- 

 forms us that he has no such trouble with Eurydice as you describe. The 

 cause of the other varieties becoming less distinct in their markings, is probably, 

 that the soil is too rich. You can keep the coleus and fuchsias in a room from 

 55° to 70°; the former is quite high enough even for the coleus at night, and 

 fuchsias may be wintered in an ordinary cellar. 



Incog. — The mountain ash is a species of Pyrus, and the pear grows well 

 upon it, being closely allied. It has the effect to dwarf the pear somewhat. 

 We have never known it tried, excejDt on a very limited scale, but we think 

 it worthy of trial, and advise you to try them as far as you can afford to. The 

 mountain ash is subject to injtiry by the borer, and therefore should be budded 

 low, so as to be covered in the soil like the quince stock. We have seen very 

 fine specimens of the Winter Nelis grown on mountain ash stock. 



Mixed Apples. — While picking my winter apples, in a variety orchard, I 

 discovered some strange freaks in nature among my Rome Beauty apples. I 

 have selected a half bushel of them, and cannot find any two apples alike in 

 size, shape, or color. I find many in this lot that possess the most peculiar and 

 striking characteristics of being crossed with the Northern Spy, Winesap, 

 Roxbury Russet, Baldwin, and Smith's Cider, and the only conjecture I have to 

 offer is, that it was done on the principle of hybridizing, through the instrumen- 

 tality of bees or other insects carrying the pollen of one blossom to another 

 during the season of bloom. Please state if the seed taken from these hybridized 

 apples, and planted, will reproduce a variety possessing the quality, shape, and 

 color of two varieties combined in one. If so, the Rome Beauty crossed with 

 the Russet will prove a great acquisition. W. W. H. 



Rutland, Meigs Co., Ohio, Sept. 28, 1871. 



[The theory of physiologists is, that the effect of mixing the pollen of flowers 

 cannot be shown until the seed from those flowers has produced plants ; but 

 sometimes facts like yours come up, showing the result of mixture in the fruit 

 of the same season. We cannot tell whether these apparent mixtures will be 

 reproduced in seedlings from them, though it appears probable, and we advise 

 you to plant the seed, and try, as the only way of finding out. — Ed.] 



