58 



THE Y SA Y. 



Acacia Farnesiana in the South. — The gardens of 

 our old city just now (Nov, 15) are fragrant with the per- 

 fume of the little golden balls of the Acacia Farnesiana, 



unanswered questions. Webster describes a plant by 

 this name, but not belonging to the Acacia family, and 

 this has misled many people into calling it a Persian 

 shrub. It has been asserted that it will grow only in 

 South Carolina, and in only three places there — Charles- 

 ton, Beaufort and Walterboro. If this be a fact, it is a 

 most singular one, and certainly deserves investigation. 

 Should others succeed in making it thrive elsewhere, 

 they will find themselves amply repaid in the possession 

 of so charming a shrub. It has the distinguishing marks 

 of the acacia family ; foliage delicate in color and tex- 

 ture ; blossoms, crowded masses of fluffy golden stamens. 

 The perfume is like that of no other plant, in our coun- 

 try at least, delicate, delicious and wonderfully persistent. 

 This should make it of great value to perfumers. It 

 blossoms freely all through the fall and early winter 

 months, and will stand a fair amount of frost and cold. 

 Any fbrther information on the subject would be wel- 

 come to many readers of The American Garden in this 

 city, — " K ," Cliarh'slon, Soni/i Carolina. 



The Novelty Crop of 1889 will undoubtedly be the 

 largest one ever produced. There has been great ac- 

 tivity in all departments of horticulture during the past 

 year, and it will show in the catalogues. These cata- 

 logues should afford profitable reading for the cold days 

 that are coming. 



What! An English horticultural paper says, " It is 

 calculated that during a London season the average 

 amount of money spent daily in flowers is $25,000, most 

 of which also goes to foreign flower growers, thanks to 

 our wretched climate and our neglect in the matter of 

 cultivation." This is a strange statement to make, and 

 may be taken with many grains of allowance. In fact, 

 we think the writer must have attended a meeting of the 

 Unsuccessful Gardeners' Club the previous evening, 

 where failure is always attributed to the weather, or some 

 other cause entirely beyond the gardener's control. 

 We have no right to speak for England, and know the 

 florists there have much to contend against in the way 

 of weather, but we can truly say from what we have 

 seen that "neglect in the matter of cultivation " cannot 

 justly be attributed to the English gardener. — C, L. A. 



Try the Vegetable Novelties. — I have experimented 



with many vegetable novelties in the past few years, 

 with an experience of many disappointments and pleas- 

 ures. But as I buy novelties in small lots, planting a 

 few seeds of each, the losses have been slight and the 

 knowledge obtained is well worth the losses. Of the 

 novelties tried in i88g, I am well pleased with the Dwarf 

 Champion tomato. I found it the earliest ; fruit 

 smooth, free from rot and cracking at the stem ; plant a 

 fine robust grower, requiring but one square yard to 

 grow in. I think it will yield as many dollars per acre 

 as any other variety. 



Golden Queen is a fine yellow tomato, but does not 

 sell as well as red tomatoes on account of its color. 



In beets I have yet to find something better than the 

 Eclipse. 



Of the pole beans, Dreer's or Henderson's Golden 

 Cluster Wax are all that can be desired, coming in 

 about ten days after the early bush varieties. Yosemite 

 Wax (bush) is a promising variety as it is almost free 

 from rust. 



New White Box is a fine turnip radish, especially for 

 stony land. 



Of the celeries, Kalamazoo is no better than some of 

 the older kinds. 



The Sibley, or Pike's Peak squash, is of good qual- 

 ity ; a good yielder, but a poor keeper. 



The Mammoth Sandwich Island salsify did no better 

 than the common kind. 



The Guernsey parsnip is a great improvement. Ruby 

 King peppers are too late ; for our cold climate, I prefer 

 the Bell or Bullnose. Child's Celestial is a very pretty 

 pepper, but I cannot find any use for the fruits. 



Among early potatoes the New Queen is a good yielder 

 of good quality. 



In melons, Hungarian Honey is the finest water- 

 melon I ever grew. Emerald Gem is a good musk- 

 melon but too small. — John Jeannin, Jr., Renssalaer 

 Co., N. Y. 



Have You protected your hardy plants yet ? Your 

 lilies, hyacinths, narcissus, and, in fact, all your border 

 plants ? If not, why not ? Why suffer loss, when it 

 can be prevented ? Attend to it now. 



