Though I have been confined to the length of a 

 magazine article, I hope you will understand the 

 outlines given. If j^our readers have any better 

 way of solving the difficulty, let us have it. 



[There are several sentences in our correspondent's 

 paper we do not understand. At (1) for instance, 

 we suppose he intends to inquire why the plant did 

 not produce the Ott pear from the buds of the Sec- 

 kel, why did this Ott principle lie latent until it 

 should be developed through the seeds? And the 

 inference at (2) we suppose to be that the Ott pear 

 is not an " accidental " variation, but a hybrid like 

 the two apples. 



The meaning of the whole paragraph (3) we take 

 to be that other influences besides mere fertilization 

 may have an influence on the form and character of 

 the change principle in plants. At (4) antipathy 

 and aff"ection for the quince must have been blended 

 in the Seckel at some time by hybridization — these 

 two affections run along together, but in st me indi- 

 viduals, affection may get stronger than antipathy. 

 As P. B. is in Europe and may not be back for some 

 time, we hope that our correspondents will continue 

 their observations without expecting any further 

 word from him for some time. 



It is however worth beiringin mind that if all 

 our cultivated varieties of the pear, originated from 

 07ie Pear, and all Dahlias from one Dahlia, there 

 must have been a time when there was nothing to 

 hybridize with, and that therefore some varieties 

 of both Pear and Dahlia must have arisen indepen- 

 dently of hybridization ; and these must be what in 

 horticultural technical language are called sports or 

 developments. These sports may at times be the 

 blendings of eels or principles through other agencies 

 than seed fertilization. The Nectarine for example, 

 which originally was a sported branch from a Peach 

 tree, may have been from a tree grafted on a plum, 

 or through a tree having in time past, as our corres- 

 pondent instances in the dog case, been grafted on 

 the plum ; for a nectarine is simply a peach which 

 looks and tastes more like a plum than a common 

 peach ; but the Dahlia which has neither been 

 raised to its present state by hybridization with any 

 other immediate species, nor been grafted on any 

 other species, could scarcely have its 'sports' account- 

 ed for by any taint of original sin running through 

 its veins. The whole subject is a very curious one.] 



MR. HENDERSON'S HOUSES AGAIN! 



BY MR. R.BUIST, ROSED ALE NURSERIES, PHILA. 



When I wrote the article in the May number, in 

 regard to Mr. Henderson's sashes with caps, and 

 his erections, I did it with fairness and candor, and 

 it appears that I have given offence. I had not the 

 most distant intention of it. Mr. H. certainly does 

 not consider that his expressions and ideas are final. 

 If he had given your readers the actual facts, in your 

 March number, I would not have noticed the arti- 

 cle. The J uly number gives us a few more asser- 



tions from him that cannot possibly be admitted. I 

 beg to correct those once more and with this subject 

 I am done. 



Kidge and Furrow was not detailed or alluded to 

 by me, I said that sashes with caps (which was 

 Mr. H.'s new item) was a stale idea. Ridge and 

 furrow h(iuses wer( in use before the late Sir James 

 Paxton adopted them, and in use in this country 

 with Mr. Winans, of Baltimore, about 10 O'- 15 

 years ago. Low & Co.'s alterations began in 1855, 

 not to the ridge and furrow system. The houses 

 were placed parallel to each other to apply the 

 Weeks' system of heating. 



I did not say that ridge and furrow was adopted 

 at Edmonston. I said that the sash with csipsivere 

 in use there. i\ow, for Mr. H.'s wheelbarrow load 

 in his " 'prentice days," if Mr. H. ever visited that 

 place at the time he says, or before it, he would 

 have seen within the walls on his left, a forcing 

 grapery, a large semi-circle greenhouse, a late 

 grapery, and a Peach house. In the forcing grounds 

 on the right, one forcing Fruit house (would now be 

 called an orchard house), one low house for forcing 

 vegetables, one range of Fruiting Pine Apple pits, 

 one range of succession Pine pits, and a range of 

 Melon pits. Such is that wheelbarrow load. 



I did not say that Mr. H. adopted the ridge and 

 furrow from Mr. Bisset. Mr. H.'s pits are nearly 

 eleven feet wide, including the two feet walk. I 

 said nine feet ; this corn-ction, on Mr. H.'s part, is 

 the only fact in his article, as I understand it. 



Mr. H. says that I said these houses were every- 

 where in use : I said the pits were simple and every- 

 where in us3. I have used erections of the very di- 

 mensions, except six inches wider in the pathway, 

 these twenty years. 



I did say that, in Europe, the past ten years, 

 houses erected for plant purposes were put close 

 together, not ridge and furrow as Mr. H. supposes, 

 but for the purpose of applying the "Weeks' one- 

 boiler system" of heating. Mr. H.'s ridge and fur- 

 row system on his premises is entirely ignored by 

 the erection of a partition between the pits, as far 

 as I could see. 



Now for the milk of the Coeoanut. Mr. H.'s 

 great cutting of Bouvardia and sash, which he en- 

 tirely overlooks in his last, "his new pits have each 

 an additional pair of hot- water pipes," and if I mis- 

 take not, the connections are all inside. This gives 

 extra heat — hence the extri gnnntity of Bouvardia 

 flowers. VV hy did not Mr. H. give your readers 

 that information? He says they are identical with 

 his former erections. 



Had he been candid on the subject, his feelings 

 would not have been wounded. Mr. H.'s imperi- 

 ous arguments have no effect on me. I have in- 

 formed your readers where Ridge and Furrow 

 Houses can be seen in Baltimore — let him inform 

 them where " half a dozen establishments, re- 

 modeled after this (his) plan, rival my primitive 

 structure," including the stock and its keeping. If 

 I were to rebuild', I certainly would ijot think of 

 such a trifling toy as he represents. Any person 

 who visits Bergen and Rosedale can readily distin- 

 guish who has cobbled to the greatest purpose. 

 "Facts speak louder than words." 



