374 Notes and Gleanings. 



himself as to the age of this plant, Mr. E. A. Frost wrote to Mrs. Greig at Canan- 

 daigua, making inquiries concerning it, and received the following reply from 

 the manager of the estate : — 



Canandaigua, N.Y., May i, 1869. 



Dear Sir, — Your letter of April 30 to Mrs. Greig has been received, and I 

 reply to it at her request. Mrs. Greig obtained the century-plant from Mr. 

 Prince, Flushing, L.I., about sixty-one years since. It was then in a ten-inch 

 pot, and the plant a little over a foot high. You can estimate how long it took 

 to obtain that growth. Mrs. Greig thinks it must have been five to eight years 

 old ; making the plant at this time from sixty-five to seventy years of age. 



Truly yours, Sanders Irving. 



E. A. Frost, Esq., Rochester, N.Y. 



The blooming of the century-plant is of uncommon occurrence ; but it is so 

 only because no one takes any pains in the culture of the plant. As soon as the 

 plant can store up nourishment enough to perfect the flower-stalk, it will bloom. 



In its native country, this happens in a few years ; but with us, under green- 

 house culture, it takes many years to bring the plant to a blossoming state. 



There are many species of Agave ; some very beautiful in foliage : but all 

 resemble each other in flowers. 



These plants are now attracting much attention as decorative plants for sum- 

 mer gardening. To all who have never seen the flower, we would advise a visit 

 to Messrs. Frost, if within a reasonable distance ; and to see the flower is worth 

 a special excursion. We shall inform our readers when the plant is in bloom. 



We take the following notice from Loudon's " Encyclopzedia of Gardening : " — 



" ' It is a native of the tropical part of America, on mountains nine hundred feet 

 above the level of the sea. It has been introduced into warmer parts of tiie Old 

 World, where fences are made of it, and a fermented liquor C2i\\e.d p2ilqHe : fibre 

 for thread, and a substance analogous to soap, have also been extracted. A plant 

 three years old, six inches high, was planted in 1804 by a Mr. Yates, in Devon- 

 shire (Eng.), in the open air, without protection, except what was afforded by 

 the neighboring hills. In the year 1820, it had attained a height of eleven feet, 

 and covered a space of ground of sixteen feet in diameter, when it threw up a 

 flower-stem, which grew for six weeks at the rate of three inches per day, and in 

 September measured twenty-seven feet in height ; its branches being loaded 

 with sixteen thousand blossoms, thus contradicting the generally-received 

 opinion that it only flowers once in a century (whence the name of century- 

 plant).' — McCnlloclCs Statistics of the British Empire. 



"In the year 1837, a plant flowered at Cornwall (Eng.). In 1806, this plant 

 was taken from a small tub, and planted in the garden. For many years, it was 

 nearly stationary, making but little progress in point of size. About ten years 

 after, the plant began to appear in a more thriving state ; and the next four_ 

 years it made rapid advances towards maturity. At the latter end of June, 

 when the flower-stem made its first appearance, tlie plant was seven feet 

 two inches high ; diameter of trunk at ground two feet three inches ; leaves seven 

 feet three inches long, thirteen inches wide, and five to six inches thick near the 

 base. Allowing the plant to be twenty-five years old when turned out, it may be 



