47o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 352 



for touching upon the foibles of these miniature men and 

 women with a gentle hand. The fiery little redstart, he 

 tells us, "hops about from twig to twig, constantly spread- 

 ing its tail ; it has the appearance of being on excellent 

 terms with itself, and of thinking that everybody else will 

 be who sees it — a rather entertaining bit of egotism, as 

 daintily hinted by the redstart as it is vulgarly paraded by 

 the peacock." And of the female bird, he tells us that 

 "should she be bereft of her mate during the critical nest- 

 ing period, like a practical business woman she accepts, or 

 even hunts up, another partner with surprising, and almost 

 unseemly, celerity." 



The book throughout is pervaded with a humor so deli- 

 cate and kindly as to justify Thackeray's description of the 

 quality as a combination of wit and love. But Mr. Park- 

 hurst's enthusiasm for his favorite pursuit does not blind 

 him to what is due to other aspects of nature. Scattered 

 throughout the volume are many passages which show a 

 keen susceptibility to her beauty and a delicate sympathy 

 with her varying moods, which belong only to one whose 

 heart is at leisure from itself, and whose mind is not unset- 

 tled by changes in the tariff or the corruption of city 

 politics. 



Notes. 



The Horticulturist for August, i860, contains an editorial 

 reply to a correspondent who had inquired about lawn-mow- 

 ers, from which it appears that the cheapest hand-mower 

 made at that time cost $38.00. 



In a paper published by Stark Brothers, of Louisiana, Mis- 

 souri, it is stated that the Hon. Samuel Wade, of Delta County, 

 Colorado, kept a record of the production of a single acre of 

 Ben Davis Apples in an orchard of sixty-four acres this year. 

 From this one measured acre he sold sound apples to the 

 amount of $760 00. 



A pleasant feature of a dinner given to Dean Hole in this 

 city last week was the naming of a new Rose said to be a sport 

 of Madame Testout. The flower is a cieam-white of exquisite 

 purity, and it promises to be an acquisition both for cultivation 

 out-of-doors and under glass. It was named by Mr. Robert 

 Craig, President of the American Rose Society, after the guest 

 of the evening. 



On the 19th of November we observed that a plant of 

 Syringa oblata, near this city, was still holding its foliage, 

 while the leaves of several other species and varieties of 

 Lilacs near it had all fallen. Sometimes the leaves of this 

 Chinese species color well in autumn, but this year they show 

 no such tendency here, although they are still comparatively 

 fresh and green and entirely free from the mildew, which is so 

 generally destructive to the common Lilac. 



The brilliant autumn colors of our forests and wayside shrub- 

 beries are the cause of constant commentat this season, butwe 

 often forget that, besides trees and shrubs, there are plants of 

 humbler growth which are quite as striking in their way as the 

 Scarlet Oak, the Liquidamber, the Flowering Dogwood or the 

 Sumachs. Even as late as November one often observes great 

 splashes of scarlet and crimson on our hillside pastures which 

 do much to brighten the landscape. These are often due to 

 the foliage of the low Blackberry or Dewberry, which has 

 been exceptionally brilliant this year. 



Mr. P. Emerson, of Kent County, Delaware, has sent to the 

 Rural New Yorker a box of chestnuts which average as large 

 as those of the Paragon, and they are equal in quality to ordinary 

 American chestnuts when eaten with the skins. It is not stated 

 whether the tree contains foreign blood or not, but that is of 

 less consequence than the facts that the nuts are of the first 

 size and of excellent quality. The tree came from a nut which 

 was planted on the farm of Mr. Ridgely, near Dover, sixty 

 years ago. It has grown to a great size and is very productive 

 every season ; one year it produced five and a half bushels of 

 nuts, which were sold for $11.00 a bushel. 



Chestnuts are plentiful, small nuts from our northern states 

 selling on the streets for fifteen cents a quart. The large 

 glossy French and Italian chestnuts are sold by the pound for 

 the same price. Black walnuts from the Blue Ridge are this 

 year fairly abundant, and sell for fifty cents a peck. Butter- 

 nuts bring the same price. The crop of the Shell-bark 

 hickory-nut is very short, and whereas a bushel could be 



bought for $1.25 a year ago, it now costs $4.00. The larger 

 thick-shelled fruits of Hicoria tomentosa, known as Bullnuts, 

 bring only $2.50 a bushel. No beech-nuts or hazel-nuts have 

 yet been offered this year, though these nuts are occasionally 

 seen in our markets. Pecans began coming from the south- 

 western states early in November, Louisiana sending large 

 quantities, while the bulk of the supplies come from Texas. In 

 the trade they are classed as ungraded and polished. An 

 average retail price is fifteen cents a pound. 



Experiments have lately been made with an invention for_ 

 preserving fruit while in transportation, which may supersede 

 the use of refrigerator-cars for carrying fresh fruit. It is the 

 invention of a clergyman in Alameda County, California, who 

 has designed an air-tight car, in which carbonic acid gas is 

 poured about the fruit to the exclusion of all air and germs of 

 decay. A load of fruit has been sent in one of these cars to 

 Chicago with success, and it is said that a test car-load sent 

 from San Francisco to New Orleans and back again, was found, 

 after two weeks on the road, to be in good condition. It is 

 claimed that the gas is much cheaper than ice. 



A first-rate collection of Chrysanthemums has been on exhi- 

 bition in the glass houses of Prospect Park, Brooklyn, during 

 the present month. The plants are not single-flowered speci- 

 mens, and, therefore, the flowers have not grown to the 

 largest size, and are not up to the full finish of the florist's 

 standard. They are, however, much better for the purpose of 

 a long-continued and instructive exhibition as they are, having 

 been grown in pots all summer for the purpose of forming 

 compact plants for decorative use in the conservatory. Per- 

 haps there are a hundred varieties all told, and the exhibition 

 might be improved in general appearance by weeding out 

 some which are of too straggling habit or show too much 

 centre ; nevertheless, there are obvious reasons in a place like 

 this for growing a sufficient number of varieties to furnish a 

 comprehensive view of all the different types. For purposes 

 of popular instruction the careful and accurate labeling of the 

 plants is a great and really invaluable aid. Last week we 

 observed there some specially good plants of Cullingfordii, 

 Golden Wedding, Ivory, Mrs. L. C. Madeira, President Smith 

 and W. H. Lincoln. The houses were thronged with inter- 

 ested visitors. 



The short season of comparative scarcity in fresh fruits in 

 our city markets, after the abundant summer supply, is already 

 past, and the fruit stores are now making attractive displays 

 of the early winter sorts. California Flame Tokay grapes still 

 linger in the market, and though no longer in prime condi- 

 tion they brought, at wholesale, on Monday, $2.75 for a half- 

 crate of twenty pounds, while last week some full crates sold 

 at $7.00, the highest price ever reached in this city. This 

 standard variety is now being replaced by the equally showy 

 and larger Emperor grape, which brings $1.75 to $2.00 a half- 

 crate at wholesale ; Cornichons are still plentiful, and this 

 sort, if quite ripe and sound when picked, has excellent keep- 

 ing qualities. Five-pound baskets of Delaware grapes, from 

 New York state, may still be had at twenty-five cents, Cataw- 

 bas, and the last Niagaras, at twenty cents, Concords being 

 five cents less. Large sales of Almeria grapes yesterday real- 

 ized prices double those of last year, and with only one more 

 cargo of 3,300 barrels to arrive, these sales will be ended for 

 this year. Only about forty per cent, of the amount of last 

 year's importations — some 250,000 barrels — have been sold 

 here this year. An average price at recent sales has been $7 

 a barrel of fifty pounds, while the extreme price of $16 was 

 obtained for some fancy lots within the past week. Showy 

 Gros Colman grapes, from English hothouses, cost $1.75 a 

 pound. Bilyeu peaches, from California, in fairly good form, 

 may still be had for seventy-five cents a dozen ; and quinces, 

 from the same state, are not uncommon in the whole- 

 sale markets. Silver prunes and Coe's Late Red plums, 

 in good condition, can yet be bought for seventy-five cents 

 for a box containing about five dozen fruits. Florida 

 oranges of fair color are now here, although most of them 

 are still immature and lack sweetness. They are good 

 enough, however, to crowd out and depress the prices of the 

 late supplies of Jamaica oranges. Good Navel oranges are 

 selling at seventy-five cents to $1.00 a dozen, while Tangerines 

 and Mandarins command thirty-rive cents a dozen, and grape- 

 fruit of good quality can be had for $1 25 a dozen. Six-quart 

 baskets of crab-apples are offered at thirty-five cents. Lady 

 apples sell at twenty-five cents a quart, and choice selected 

 barrels of this table apple have recently sold for as much as 

 $20.00, ordinary grades in half-barrels bringing $4.00. Perhaps 

 the showiest apple offered now is the King, tlie best of which 

 are retailed at fifty cents a dozen. 



