Pear for Name, from J. IT., Bunker Bill, III 

 — Supposed to be a seedling, reached us completely 

 decayed. In its present state we cannot see much 

 difference between it and Dearborn's seedling, but 

 which in this district is not yet ripe ; and besides 

 our correspondent is no doubt well acquainted with 

 this variety. 



Name of Plant. — Subscriber, Catonsville, Md. 

 — Hypericum Prolificum. "B." Upper Darby Pa. 

 1. Groodyera argentea. 2. Cypripedium acaule. 



Name of Raspberry. — R. — Not Hornet, but 

 Northumberland Fillbasket, which however ap- 

 proaches Hornet. 



American Journal of Horticulture.— In 

 our last we inserted a paragraph and credited it to 

 the Boston Journal of Horticulture, it should have 

 been American Journal of Horticulture. We added 

 "Boston" as the place of its publication, and not 

 to convey any idea that the Magazine was only of 

 local interest. 



Notes on G-ardens and nurseries about New 

 York, Philadelphia, and elsewhere, we have in hand 

 for a future number. 



The Ramie. — Two gentlemen connected with the 

 Agricultural department at Washington, call our 

 attention to the paragraph on the " Ramie " in our 

 last, and think we have done injustice to the depart- 

 ment. From the paragraph we saw, we supposed 

 the efforts of Mr. Bacon and others to make known 

 the " Ramie " had been unjustly overlooked; we 

 find, however, that in the April number of the jour- 

 nal, a very full statement has appeared, and as we 

 are very glad to do the honorable thing when we 

 make a mistake, we give below the article entire. 

 The matter is one of great national importance in 

 itself, besides our desire to relieve the department 

 from unmerited censure : 



"Letters have been received in the department 

 relative to a fibrous plant called " Rami«," or the 

 Boehmeria tenacissima, which was introduced in 

 March from Mexico into New Orleans, where it is 

 said to be growing finely. It was introduced into 

 Santocomapan, near Vera Cruz, twelve years ago, 

 as it is claimed, by Benito Roezel, an Austro-Bel- 

 gian botanist and propagated extensively. 



A paper has also been received upon the subject, 

 which was read by A. B. Bacon before the New 

 Orleans Academy of Sciences. Mr. Bacon, in a 

 letter dated April 30, says of his experiment with 



a specimen : " I put the root in the ground 

 in my garden March 23. The plant is now 

 about four inches high, and seems to grow vigor- 

 ously. 



Another gentleman, in a second letter from New 

 Orleans, says : " It is claimed here that it is impos- 

 sible to propagate it from seed, but that it can be 

 propagated from cuttings. From the other sources 

 I am led to the belief that this latter idea, at least, 

 is erroneous." 



It seems to be creating a local sensation, and to 

 be generally regarded in that quarter as a new dis- 

 covery fraught with good to the south. It may 

 possibly prove to be Agriculturally remunerative. 

 There is no doubt of its great excellence and value 

 as a fibre. But it is to be hoped that those inter- 

 ested in propagating it will descend to no mystifi- 

 cation of the public as to its character and identity. 



It produces a fibre well known commercially for 

 an indefinite period wrought into fabrics of great 

 beauty and strength in all the principle countries of 

 the east, and for many years manufactured in Great 

 Britain. It belongs to the nettle family, ( Urticacice) 

 and this species is now known as Boehmeria, and 

 was christened by Dr. Roxburgh, an eminent botan- 

 ist, B. tenacissima, from its toughness. Other 

 botanists gave it the name B. nivea. Sir William 

 Hooker declared positively that the names were 

 synonymous; that the plants so named were iden- 

 tical. Dr. Shaffer, librarian of the Patent Office, 

 who wrote in the the Agricultural Report of 1855 

 concerning it, still regards the B. Nivea and B. 

 tenacissijna, as identical. If it were conceded that 

 they were sub- varieties of the same species, it would 

 not be a practical difference : for the fibres is the same, 

 its uses and price the same, and the fabrics manufac- 

 tured from it are known as China-grass textures, of 

 which some fine samples may be seen in the museum of 

 the Department of Agriculture, manufactured in 

 England. In China the common name of this plant 

 is "chou-ma;"in Japan, "Tsjo;" in Sumatra, 

 "caloee ;" in Malacca, " rameeor ramie ;" in East 

 Celebes, "gambe ;" in Assam, "rheea ;" in Bonona, 

 " inan ;" and in other places it is known by differ- 

 ent names. There is a slight difference, as to color- 

 ing of leaves and downiness of surface, in different 

 climates and localities ; but the balance of authority 

 among botanist seems to declare these differences 

 too small to warrant even a separation into varieties. 



In the Report of Agriculture for ]865 will be 

 found an essay on this fibre, with a brief history of 

 the introduction of the plant into the botanic garden 

 of the United States in this city, in 1855 by the 

 superintendent, W. R. Smith, who obtained it from 



