290 Notes and Gleanings. 



I think, if there had been any accidental crossing with the large varieties of 

 apples, the marks of it would have been detected ; and therefore infer that there 

 has not been. Has the native Pyrus coronaria ever been subjected to cultiva- 

 tion so as to bring out any tendency to variation ? If it has not, it will be soon, 

 or our Western horticulturists are not the men I take them to be. Is there any 

 fruit that is not capable of affording new and improved varieties under cultiva- 

 tion ? I would not assume that there is without testing the question. 



It is not long since that the grape was not more adapted to our climate than 

 common apples are to Northern Iowa and Minnesota ; and in the Croton Grape 

 we have another instance of what perseverance and skill have done, and a proph- 

 ecy of what they will yet do with the crab-apples. 



A Chapter on Greenhouses. — Why not say a volume .'' The plan is extensive 

 enough for one. I like it ; there is grace, elegance, and beauty in Mr. Lord's 

 designs. It has been a puzzle tome why greenhouses were usually so very ugly, 

 with every opportunity for beauty of outline, and lightness and airiness of struc- 

 ture. These plans of Mr. Lord's are a step in the right direction. May we be 

 there to see when the present structure is erected ; for it is safe to say that the 

 vicinity of Boston will show none more elegant ; and I think Mr. Rand may be 

 trusted to make the floral display inside even superior to the architectural 

 beauty of his greenhouses. 



Two short articles on Abutilon 7>exillare ■xw<\. Biilbocodium verniini. — We 

 need short articles, which, like these, are to the point. The former is a good 

 window plant, and the latter is a gem among spring flowers ; this year it bloomed 

 with the earliest snowdrops in February. 



Mr. Breck on Lawns. — Yes, a lawn is a possibility; and this article is plain, 

 simple, and to the point. The directions on seeding are good. If any one 

 wishes a lawn, the sooner he disabuses himself of the idea he is to make hay 

 from it the better. If he would have it, every thing must be given up to it, and 

 all the care directed to the one object ; then success will attend his efforts ; and 

 who shall say the end will not repay the care .'' 



I notice Mr. Burr calls attention to the unusual abundance of the Pine 

 Grossbeak during the last winter. A friend informs me, that they were constant 

 visitors in his garden for several months, and that the snow beneath his dwarf 

 pear-trees was literally strewed with the fragments of the buds they had destroyed. 

 He thinks, however, there are still sufficient buds remaining, and that, on the 

 whole, no serious injury has been sustained. 



The Pepper which your artist has so finely illustrated, and which " C. N. B." has 

 so well described, is a noble specimen of the capsicum family, truly ; but is it new ? 

 I am inclined to think it the Sweet Spanish ; for I find the Piment inonstreux 

 to be synonymous with the Sucre, d^Espague, introduced many years since by 

 M. Vilmorin of Paris. But this fact detracts nothing from its real merits, which. 

 I am glad to see, are fully put before your readers. Have you ever noticed that 

 varieties of the pepper seem to lose their pungency somewhat in proportion as 

 the fruit increases in size ; so that, in the flesh of the " Monstrous," you have a 

 modified degree of warmth or piquancy, which will prove acceptable to palates 

 that would find the smaller and more acrid sorts decidedly disagreeable } I 



