Pruning StcpJianotis Floribtuida. i6i 



We beg leave to ask, in what manner, way, or shape, a mammoth squash, 

 weighing a hundred and fifty pounds, can possibly answer our idea of a 

 superior squash. It is simply a monstrosit}'^, a substantial nothing. The 

 nutriment it takes from the soil is just so much wasted. "Why cumbereth 

 it the ground ? " The gardener says, " Let it grow, and I will take it to the 

 exhibition and get a premium for it;" and the result is a display at our 

 exhibitions of a ton or two of the most worthless vegetables, as much like 

 the article of food of the same name as a sea-serpent is like a flounder ; 

 and it would be as practicable eating the one as the other. 



But it is urged that these mannnoth squashes make a great show ; are, in 

 fact, a sight in themselves ; and are considered as much a part of the exhibi- 

 tion as the fat woman and giant at an agricultural fair. With a groan as 

 we think of this latter practice, we can only beseech the managers of horti- 

 cultural shows to remember that they are to educate the public taste, to 

 raise it to a higher standard, to an appreciation of the really useful and 

 truly beautiful, and not to cater to its ignorance, its foibles, or its eccen- 

 tricities ; that they are not to encourage a gaping crowd who exhaust 

 their brains by saying " Oh my ! " at any thing they never saw before, but 

 rather to satisfy the expectations of those who come to see for themselves 

 how a better cultivation of the soil produces better vegetables and fruits 

 and flowers, and how intelligent cultivation produces a more nutritious 

 squash, a pear of a better flavor, and a fairer-tinted rose. 



Francis P. Denny. 



Pruning Stephanotis Floribunda. — The long twining shoots ought 

 not to be stopped, but trained at their full length, and not too closely together, 

 so that the wood may have the full benefit of light. All pruning should 

 be confined to cutdng out the old weak shoots. The main point to be 

 attended to is to secure a good growth, and thorough exposure afterwards 

 to light and air, with a diminished supply of water at the root, and corre- 

 sponding dryness of the atmosphere. 



" younial of Horticulture.^^ 



VOL. r. 



