BOTANICAL INDEX 
an 
all, it is esteemed by such a large portion of the people, that it is certainly worth 
cultivating, especially, as it seldom fails to produce a good crop every season. “The 
southern species, A. Grandifiora, produce a large, white, cap-shaped bloom, stain- 
ed pink near the stem, with a sweet, insipid fruit, two or three inches in length and 
ojie inch in diameter, edible to some when ripe. A Pygmwa, a very common bush 
in Florida, growing in clumps, leaves drooping to the ground, tlowering in April and 
Maj', in two rows along the underside of the limb, of a variegated white, red and 
purple color, very ornamental.” — (M. Coleman.) 
CLIPPINGS. 
Mr. George Dines, who has had extensive experiments and observations on the 
formation of dew, finds that the depth of deposit in England, in an evening, rarely 
exceeds an one hundretli part of an inch; and that the average annual depth of the 
dew, upon the surface of the earth, does not exceed an inch and a half . — Scientific 
American. 
In propagating Coleus Chameleon , it is best to use only the bright colored shoots, 
and to use a little wood-ashes in the potting soil. Cuttings struck in the Fall keep 
their color better, and make finer plants than those propagated at any other time; 
but they should be kept warm enough to keep them constantly growing. — II. W. 
Hales, Ridgewood, N.J., in Gardeners' Monthly. 
Crooked young trees can be greatly improved, if not entirely straightened, by 
repeated longitudinal incisions, on the inner side of the bend, during growing sea- 
son. Such treatment will increase the formation of wood in that side, and tend to 
straighten the tree . — Nebraska Farmer. 
GATHERING AND SHIPPING FRUIT. 
|HE demand for fresh fruit in all our cities and towns has increased to such 
Ip an extent, that fruit growing is now recognized as one of the most remuner- 
ative industries of the country. It is not every one, however, that succeeds 
as a fruit grower; at least, this is the inference arrived at, if we are to judge 
foffi from the comparatively small number of successful growers; but, on the con- 
trary, the successful one seems to be the exception, while the unsuccessful 
one, or only indifferently successful one, is the rule. A great variety of causes 
must be assigned as the reason, some of which are beyond human agency to control; 
while others are usually the immediate effect of inexperience or neglect. Again, 
all portions of the country are not equally well adapted to fruit culture, for horti- 
culturists generally recognize the fact that there are numerous well defined fruit 
centers, each one adapted to some special kind of fruit. Still, all portions of the 
country, will, with proper care and cultivation, produce a reasonable return in 
fruit for the labor bestowed upon it. 
We have, north of the 37° 30' north latitude in America, three distinct localities 
especially adapted to Peach culture; viz : The states of New Jersey and Delaware 
in the East; the Western shore of Michigan, from near the 42° to the 43° north lati- 
tude, in the North-West ; and the Southern portion of the State of Illinois, in the 
great Mississippi Valley Basin. The Eastern Peach belt is only about one hundred 
miles long by thirty miles wide, and yet it furnishes the great majority of Peaches 
for the New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore markets, as well as a large 
proportion of this fruit in all the smaller cities and towns of the North and West, 
nearly to the Rocky Mountains. 
It would be almost impossible to obtain any thing like a definite estimate of the 
quantity of fruit produced at all the great fruit centers, particularly, as some of the 
fruit growers are inclined to guard their interest with a jealous care, and often sus- 
pect all inquiries regarding their crops to be of a personal nature — perhaps, conflict- 
ing with their interests. We have secured, however, — thanks to our horticultural 
friends — a very fair estimate of the fruit products, either in the amount shipped or 
the quantity of land employed in growing the crops, so that a very good idea can be 
gathered of the magnitude of the business, by the following figures. 
In addition to the figures taken from the Custom House books at Benton Harbor, 
Mich., must be added about 10 per cent., as the amount shipped by Railroad, (in- 
cluding Express.) 
