15 



P. S. — In a recent number of the Monthly I see 

 it stated that the Thurmond, the Lenoir and the 

 j Devereaux Grapes are the same. I have not seen 

 the Thurmond, but I have the Lenoir and Dever- 

 I eaux growing side by side and they are different. 



: : My Devereaux I know to be true, as it came from 

 the original Devereaux vine. The latter may prove 

 identical with the Blue Favorite. The Warren, 

 Warrenton andHerbemont's Madeira are the same. 

 The latter is the most prolific of all the Grapes 1 

 have seen, but sometimes rots badly. Neither it 

 nor the Devereaux bear close pruning, but do best 

 on a scaffold. Mr. Longworth's segar box is the 

 Black Spanish, of Mobile, Ala. It was sent him 



I by Mr. Harwell, of Mobile. 



I THE BROWN THRUSH. 



1 BY A BOY READER, BATTLE CREEK, MICH. 



i Herewith you will find a reply to J. P. Norris' 

 article in the June number of the Monthly, in an- 

 swer to mine in the April number. It was written 

 months ago, but was laid away and forgotten du- 

 ring the busy season. Hoping it will still be ac- 

 ceptable I send it. 



Emmitt, Calhoun county, Mich., on the south 

 bank of the beautiful Kalamazoo, (Indian name 

 signifying of the clear water), one and a half miles 

 south of the busy, thriving city of Battle Creek, 

 is the " region" from which a "Boy Header" re- 

 pHed to Mr. J. P. Norris' article on ''Familiar 

 Birds." 



Inasmuch as my own observations coincide with 

 so high authority as Mr. Audubon, in regard to 

 locality of nests and number of eggs, I think Mr. 

 Norris cannot well doubt the probability that I may 

 have found the nest of the Brown Thrush on the 

 ground, and may it not be possible that the "egg 

 collectors" of Mr. Norris did not always report the 

 exact number of eggs found in each nest from which 

 they were obtained? 



Again, my statement in regard to number agrees 

 with Wilson, and it is generally supposed that he 

 is tolerably reliable authority; and from the evidence 

 of my own sense, I must still believe that five is 

 not an unusual number. 



There is one point on which Mr. Norris is silent, 

 and " as silence gives consent," I infer that he ad- 

 mits that the Brown Thrush does eat fruit, and Ui this 

 respect he was mistaken, unless the Brown Thrush 

 in his region is more self-denying than in mine. 



I did not imagine that I should excite any un- 

 pleasant feeling in Mr. Norris in my notice of his 

 article, but supposed he would rejoice in every 



statement that tended to throw light upon the his- 

 tory of his favorites. All lovers of Nature's sweet 

 songsters must feel grateful to Mr. Norris for his 

 efforts to protect the birds from destruction. 



Many thanks to him for his kind advice " to ex- 

 tend my observations." I shall certainly do so; 

 and as I have several years yet to live before 1' ac- 

 complish the teens, I doubt not I shall have very 

 much " pleasure' in studying the habits of my favo- 

 rite birds, and I am willing to learn that we are 

 both right, as the habits of birds doubtless vary in 

 difi'erent localities. 



GOOD GERANIUMS ANB HOW TO GROW 

 THEM.-NO. 1. 



BY ,J. E. J. 



During the past two years many additions have 

 been made to the lists of these deservedly popular 

 flowers. The Zonale class are usually considered 

 with reference to their adaptation for "bedding out" 

 or border purposes. The Scarlets are, of course, in- 

 dispensable for Summer and Autumn garden decor- 

 ation, eclipsing all other rivals in brilliance of color, 

 profusion of flowers, and duration of blooming sea- 

 son. But, with few exceptions, the other shades 

 of colors fail to satisfy me out of doors. 



Christine, a most excellent pink, does tolerably 

 well; but the salmons, whites, rose and pink shades 

 usually bloom shyly and poorly in beds or borders. 

 All these require more humidity of atmosphere 

 than our climate affords. On the contrary, the 

 scarlets thrive and flower finely under all conditions 

 of hot weather, short of drought. 



These remarks are specially ajjplicable to many 

 of the new Zonales lately introduced. In the foreign 

 catalogues all have excellent reputations as out-of- 

 door bloomers, but I find it is only when grown in 

 pots that we can realize the excellency of these 

 charming varieties. For a cool greenhouse or con- 

 servatory at this season, they are admirable, and, 

 with ordinary management, continue blooming from 

 November until Mny. The white-edged kinds are 

 peculiarly adapted for the house. In the open air 

 the individual blooms are scanty and diminutive, 

 and the colors run. But under glass we ha.ve large, 

 finely-shaped blooms ; the colored centres very dis- 

 tinct, in some sharply outlined upon the white, with 

 all the effects of an (so called) eye. 



The habit also, of th^se Geraniums is good, they 

 do not grow so rampant as the scarlets, and the 

 flowers have strong foot stalks, standing well up 

 above the compact foliage. 



[To he Continued,] 



