Thu is an open department for the use of all interested observers, from whom cor- 

 respondence is solicited on any topic of horticultural interest. Valuable items are fre- 

 quently crowded out, biit all zuill appear in due time. 



Medlars and Other Fruits. — Prof. Bailey says 

 (p. 185) it is a singular characteristic of the medlar that 

 it is inedible until it begins to decay. Is not this the 

 case with all our fruits ? We do not care for a hard 

 apple, though perfectly mature. What is the mellow- 

 ing process in any fruit but the beginning of the disor- 

 ganization of its tissues ? — W. F. Massey, A'. C. Exper- 

 iment Station . 



Celery Pests. — I find two animals that trouble my 

 celery, and I can find no reference to them in the books. 

 The first is what we call " Sow bug." It is a gray, flat 

 bug, full size about inch long ; it eats on the outside 

 of the celery stalks, low down under ground, very much 

 disfiguring the handsome bunches. The second is a 

 " one-thousand-legger worm" about i '4^ inches long, 

 small ; sometimes thin and thick and both disfigure the 

 celery. Who can give me a remedy ? — J. E. M., Poi ts- 

 moutli, R. I. 



The Catalogues. — In behalf of the army of seeds- 

 men, allow me to reply to the article on page 181 of The 

 American Garden, headed "Do Catalogues Pay?" 

 Part of the article in question I heartily endorse, but 

 part of it I do not. It is true that with some of the 

 seedsmen this catalogue business is stretched to its ut- 

 most. We have not yet reached that stage in horticul- 

 ture where cabbages require the use of ladders, or beets 

 can be utilized for gate posts, but after all, what does it 

 matter? It is only the gullible who can be "gull- 

 ed " by these things, and to tell the truth, they rather 

 enjoy it. There is a class of people who like to be 

 humbugged, else why do they return year after to the 

 same source ? " Why don't the seedsmen get up some, 

 thing that will tell us how to manage our garden?" Don't 

 they ? Many of them devote almost unlimited space to 

 this very subject. They tell you how to prepare and 

 care for your hot-beds ; they advise you what to sow_ 

 the time and manner of sowing, and the subsequent cul- 

 ture. But it seems this is not enough : They must tell 

 the public how to cool; the products of their garden. 

 Well, really ! What next ? The idea of asking us to 

 turn our catalogues in cootc-boo/cs is utterly ridiculous. 

 It is well enough, at times, to give some hints on pre- 

 paring certain vegetables for the table, but to comply 

 with such a demand in full, would necessitate the seeds- 

 men having the purse of a Gould or a Vanderbilt to fall 

 back upon. Our catalogues cost money. Few of us 

 are bankers or millionaires ; hence could not stand such 

 a pressure very long. Then again, most of us send out 



our catalogues free, others charge 

 from 10 to 25 cents ; cook-books 

 vary in price from $1.50 to $5 

 each. Would the public be willing to pay us any of 

 those prices for a catalogue with a cooking department 

 added thereto ? I fancy not. But in case it would, let 

 the fact be made known, and I doubt not the seedsmen 

 will at once take steps to accomodate all concerned. — 

 L. E. R. Lambrigger, IVyo/iiiiig, 



Model Peach Orchards. — Those orchards may be 

 good models for the Michigan climate, but I would like 

 to show Prof. Bailey some on the "Eastern Shore," 

 that show different handling. These remind me of a 

 visit I paid many years ago to the place of Rev. Mr. 

 Knox, on Monongahela Heights, opposite Pittsburg, 

 then a noted nursery, especially for grapes and straw- 

 berries. It was a mucky day in March, and the Pitts- 

 burg smoke lay like a pall over the landscape. Mr. 

 Knox was showing me his various fruit plantations, and 

 I found it difficult to distinguish different sorts of trees, 

 then leafless, because of the sooty coating all had gather- 

 ed. In one part of the grounds I noticed a_large block of 

 what I took to be uncommonly large currant bushes 

 On complimenting Mr. Knox on the magnificent growth 

 of his currant bushes, he turned to me with a laugh, 

 "Citn-aiil biislics ! 'iOlty , lhal is my poacli orcliard." As I 

 was then fresh from the " Eastern Shore," I enjoyed a 

 hearty laugh myself, and asked him to please comedown 

 and let me show him a real peach orchard. — W. F. Mas- 

 sey, N. C. Co I logo of Agriculture. 



[Note. — The Michigan orchards which were describ- 

 in the March number are models for Michigan, and they 

 receive the most expert care, and are highly profitable. 

 Michigan growers do not expect to secure the large 

 trees of the south. It would be an interesting discus- 

 sion if correspondents in different latitudes were to 

 describe the model orchards of their respective regions. 

 —Ed. Am. G. ] 



Death of George Thurber. — Dr. George Thurber, 

 the well known botanist, and for 22 years editor of the 

 American Agi icultni ist , died April 9, at his home near 

 Passaic, N J. Dr. Thurber was particularly distin- 

 guished among botanists for his knowledge of grasses. 

 His name designates several species of plants from the 

 west and southwest. Asa Gray long ago named a genus 

 of the mallow family Thicrberia, but this genus is now 

 called Ingenhoiizia. Dr. Thurber was a good writer upon 

 many subjects. 



