244 Notes and Gleanings. 



such destructio7i in other parts of the country, are almost unknown here. This, 

 all will admit, is a matter of no small importance, and especially those who 

 talked of giving up the business. There is something about our invigorating 

 atmosphere that seems to suit the fastidious vine, as well as the lungs of the 

 consumptive who flees to our State for health. Our autumns are proverbially 

 dry, with an abundance of sunny days to mature the fruit. 



We have the most natural sites for the vine, extending along our noble Mis- 

 sissippi and its tributaries for hundreds of miles. A large proportion of the 

 lakes for which our State is so much celebrated affords sites for vineyards, even 

 more desirable than any to be found on the rivers, from the fact that the late 

 and early frosts are quite unknown. Our Minnetonka, we venture to predict, 

 will some day outdo your famous Crooked lake of New York. In these favored 

 localities, the uncertain Catawba seldom fails ; while the Concord, Delaware, 

 Hartford, and other popular sorts, ripen usually some time before hard frosts. 



As a matter of course, it is necessary to cover the vines in the fall, which is 

 now generally recommended in States south and east. L. M. Ford. 



St. Paul, Januarj-, 1S67. 



A correspondent in Southern Illinois writes that Scot's early peach promises 

 to be one of the best for that locality. 



The yellow bell-flower apple is also mentioned as a most desirable variety. 

 Instead of being an autumn apple, as is generally supposed, it will, with proper 

 care, keep till March. While young, the trees are not great bearers ; but, with 

 age, they produce an abundance of fine fruit. 



As a market-apple, it is unsurpassed; its handsome appearance always making 

 it sell well. 



In Curtis's " Botanical Magazine " for February, we find the following stove- 

 plants figured : — 



Tapeitiotes Carolina:. — A native of Brazil, discovered in i860, and flowered in 

 England in 1866. A succulent, low shrub ; leaves glaucous-green above, bright 

 red-purple below ; flowers white, with curved, inflated tube. 



Angrcecum citratum. — An orchid from Madagascar, with a long spike of pale- 

 yellow, scentless flowers. 



Lnpaticns latifolia. — Another of the vast family of Indian perennial balsams, 

 of which only two or three are in cultivation, though all are very ornamental. A 

 succulent shrub, with pale-jDurple flowers about an inch and a lialf in diameter. 



Claviga fulgens. — A small stove-tree ; leaves long, dark-green, coriaceous ; 

 flowers deep orange-red, in long, erect racemes. Of easy culture, free-flowering, 

 and a very ornamental plant. 



Mcsospinideicm sangiiineum. — A South- American orchid, introduced in 1866 

 from Ecuador. Flowers rosy-pink, in long, branching spikes. The genus is 

 nearly allied to Odontoglossutn, and the plant requires similar treatment. 



Barleria Gibsoni. — A small Indian winter-blooming shrub, with lilac, white- 

 centred flowers in terminal spike. 



