Notes and Gleanings, 35 



onions would shock the sensibilities of any good housewife. So, Mr. Veitch, 

 your conclusion that we must drain or not drain, according 10 the nature of soil, 

 or as experience has shown to be l)est, is eminently safe, and no less true. Ex- 

 perience is the best teacher : the shield may have a golden and a silver side ; 

 then why should we couch our lances because we do not see with our neighbor's 

 eyes, or pot our plants with the same soil as some esteemed correspondent who 

 grows his flowers hundreds of miles from our little garden .'' 



Bresee's Seedling Potato No. 4, or, the " King of the Earlies," is well illus- 

 trated. Claiming to be the earliest and best, this new variety steps boldly into 

 the arena, and, fearless of opposition, bids defiance to the Early Rose, and the 

 world ! Whicli shall be victorious a few weeks will determine. 



From an extract in the Journal with regard to American Seedling Potatoes 

 in England, it appears this variety put our English friends in ecstasies. " So 

 far as appearance goes, Bresee's King of the Earlies is a tuber to see once and 

 dream of forever" ! So, then, Mr. Editor, size, color, and a fine form, have their 

 influence, even in a potato. 



Lobelia Cardinalis. — A good article, to the point, and calling attention to one 

 of our most charming indigenous plants. The cardinal flower grows well in 

 the garden, and is worth every care. Try it, ye who run crazy after "novelties," 

 and, if all your importations give you a flower which will compare with it in 

 color, why, send me a specimen, and I will apologize, and take to " novelties." 

 Till then, commend me to our woodlands, our fields, and meadows. 



Akebia qtiinata, a charming climber, which has proved hardy, and flowered 

 abundantly the present year. I saw a plant at a friend's, which, though only 

 two years planted, was a picture of beauty. 



The report of the Fruit Committee of the Massachusetts Horticultural Soci- 

 ety is a summary of the season and fruit-crop of 1868, especially the novelties, 

 which should be carefully read by every fruit-grower. I think it is not too much 

 to say, that, if this society did nothing more than to give annually to the public 

 such a paper as this of Mr. Strong's, it would be worth keeping up for that 

 alone. Bismarck. 



The Stark Apple. — The decision of the Committee of the American Po- 

 mological Society, that the Stark is only the same as the old Pennock, seems to 

 be very generally questioned. I saw the specimens exhibited at New York, and 

 thought it distinct from the Pennock, but did not feel like putting my opinion 

 against that of the large majority of the committee. I have long known the 

 Pennock : it has a coarse, woody fibre, while the Stark appeared to be quite fine 

 grained. R- M. 



At the last meeting of the State Pomological Society of Kansas, a committee 

 tvas appointed to collect and exhibit Kansas fruits at the session of the American 

 Pomological Society in September next. A memorial having been presented to 

 the State legislature for a grant of five hundred dollars to aid in the above- 

 named object, the appropriation was cheerfully and promptly made, so that we 

 may expect that the Kansas column in the catalogue of the National Society 

 will not long remain in its present starless condition. 



