50 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[February, 
Plants by Mail. — It is a great convenience' 
to those who live at a distance from seedsmen and nur- 
series to he ahle to obtain plants and seeds through the 
mail. The ordoring of seeds to he received in this way 
is very common, and, some seedsmen do an almost ex- 
clusively mail "business. Parcels of plants of moderate 
size are also easily transmitted by post, and though there 
have been some loss of plants by this mode of conveyance, 
it has generally been due either to improper packing or 
to sending them in too warm a season. But few nursery- 
men, doing a large business, care to be troubled with 
small orders by mail at the season when they are crowded 
with large orders, and we find that it is mainly the dealers 
in small fruits who offer to transmit plants by post. One 
of the first to go into the business of mailing plants was 
Mr. Knox, of Pittsburg, Pa., and. as will be seen by his 
advertisement, he 1b so well pleased with his experience 
in tills matter that he not only offers to mail plants, but 
to guarantee their safe arrival. His offers of collections 
of vines, etc., by mail, are worthy the attention of those 
intending to plant. "We received plants from Mr. K. by 
mail long before we ever knew him, and had reason to be 
satisfied with the condition in which they reached us. 
Wt have before spoken of the extent of Mr. Knox's small 
fruit establishment, at which there are abundant facilities 
for producing and packing plants, and hi6 reputation is a 
sufficient guarantee that he will do what he promises. 
Sad for TTree-Pe&ulers. — At the Annu- 
al Meeting of the Illinois Horticultural Society, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were passed: 
Whereas, The progress of horticulture has been very 
much impeded by tree-peddlers, through their ignorance 
and dishonesty in selling trees untrue to name, at enor- 
mous and unusual prices, sometimes delivered in cold and 
freezing weather, by which farmers and amateur fruit- 
growers have been discouraged and disgusted ; therefore, 
Resolved, That this Society as a body of fruit-growers, 
farmers, legitimate nurserymen and others, do emphati- 
cally denounce the business as empirical and injurious 
to the best interests of horticulture and the prosperity of 
the State. 
Resolved^ That there is no good reason why the author- 
ized traveling agents of reliable nurserymen should not 
be treated with the same respect as the traveling agents 
of any other useful business, and that these agents be not 
confounded with the tree-peddlers 
Standard E>warfs>. — I. H. Ellis, Butler 
Co., Iowa, says that there are agents selling " standard 
dwarf 11 fruit trees, and asks if there is.anv such thing. A 
dwarf tree is generally considered to^rean one grafted 
upon a dwarfing stock. Thus, the pear is dwarfed by 
working on the quince, the apple on the Paradise apple, 
etc. Trees on free stocks may be made dwarfs by proper- 
ly pruning branches and roots. It is a matter as much of 
training as of stock, and we know of " dwarf 1 ' trees— i. e., 
originally on quince roots— that have become standards. 
The-agent who pretends to have a new sort of trees called 
u standard dwarfs" is not to be believed. 
Report of tlae I&epartmeiit of Agri- 
culture for 1S65.— Thisdocumentis received. Itis 
a volume of 60S pages, in the usual style, full of pictures, 
with much valuable information and many blunders. "We 
shall, perhaps, take space to review it at another time. 
American Seeds. — An importer of English 
seeds said to us a few days ago that "All American seed 
raising is a myth. 1 ' Now we would like to have 6ome 
statistics about American seeds. "We believe that the 
amount of garden seeds raised in this country is far from 
being "mythical," and we know that for many things 
our gardeners will pay any price for American seeds, when 
they know who raised them, rather than take imported 
ones. Do Brill, of Newark, N. J. ; Gregory, of if arblehead, 
Mass.; Macomber, of Khode Island, the various onion seed- 
growers of Connecticut, the different Shaker communities 
and others think that seed growing is a myth? As soon 
as American grown seeds can be had, of reliable growers, 
the importations will decrease, and here is a profitable 
kind of culture that our wide awake small farmers will 
do well to look into. "We do not advise ignorant people, 
who would grow cabbage seed from " stumps," to go into 
seed-growing, hut those who know the conditions neces- 
sary to success and who have a reputation for truthfulness, 
may well give this attention. We know people at the 
West who will not plant a carrot or a beet seed, unless 
they know that it has been raised by a "Shaker," so 
thoroughly has the name of these people become identified 
with reliability. Flower eeed-raising is certainly not a 
"myth," for we saw last autumn a delivery of 75 pounds 
of one kind— Phlox Drummondii— at Thorburn 1 s, in John 
St., from a grower in New Jersey, and this was not all of 
this one kind of seed that he expected to deliver. Does 
James Yick, with his 23 acres at Rochester, devoted to 
flower seed raising, consider that American grown seeds 
arealla "myth?" There are a few, and but a few, varie- 
ties of seeds that can be better raised in other climates 
than ours ; but we believe that the majority of all garden 
and flower seeds can be raised better here than abroad. 
WHere Can I Oet It ?— A letter from 
Dayton, O., asks : " "Where can good seed of all kinds be 
procured." This is a sample of many letters that are 
passed by unnoticed, as our advertising columns give all 
needed information. We do not allow any one to adver- 
tise whom we know to be unreliable, or against whom 
there are strong suspicions. We believe that aU adver- 
tisers, whose notices are admitted into our columns, will 
deal fairly, and we cannot recommend one nurseryman or 
seedsman in preference to another. Buy of the nearest 
nurseryman or seedsman, if he have the required articles. 
Come "West is the advice of the St. Louis 
Democrat to the thousands of unemployed workmen in 
our Atlantic cities. It says : "A few dollars would place 
them in Missouri where all kinds of labor are in demand 
and are paid high wages, where the climate and the soil 
combine with inexhaustible mineral wealth to offer sure 
employment and prosperity to a million of industrious 
workers, and where rich land sells for five dollars an acre. 
If he does not fancy the cultivation of the soil, pushing 
railroads are waiting for workmen of every kind. Build- 
ings, going up in every part of the State, arc hindered by 
lack of workmen ; mines are lying idle with inexhaust- 
ible wealth, scarcely hidden by earth's russet carpet, for 
want of laborers." This is wholesome advice to the 
class indicated. New York could with great benefit to 
itself and to the country spare fifty thousand,who are bare* 
ly living ; here they are consumers and add nothing 
to the wealth of the country. Their room is better than 
their company. There the fertile earth pines for their 
company and would hail their coming with joy. But let 
the tillers of the soil in the East stay at home, and help 
us supply the greedy home market. 
WHaoleor Hair Sweets.— "O. A. J." asks 
if it is necessary to write letters on a whole sheet, when 
a half sheet will answer as well. In all business letters 
it is customiiry to use only a half sheet. In other letters, 
as in matters of etiquette generally, it is difficult to lay 
down a rule. Those who wish to follow the usages of 
good society, will write all letters of ceremony, notes of 
invitation, etc., and will address all officials and digni- 
taries on a whole sheet, be it Urge or small. We do not 
say that this is absolutely necessary, but it is an es- 
tablished custom, as is taking off one's hat in entering a 
house— and it is better to fall in with it than to appear 
odd. In some countries the amount of respect of the 
writer for the recipient of the leiter is indicated by the 
width of the blank margin at the left hand side of the 
sheet, and we have seen this carried to the extent of 
leaving a margin half the width of the page. 
"ST-a"vrarra-ated. — John Vanderbilt & Bros, 
have sent us a circular of " Hunt's Hoosier Fodder Cutter," 
in which the Agriculturist is made to figure in an unwar- 
ranted manner. Hunt's Cuttermay be, for all we know, the 
best in existence, but we have nothing just now to do with 
that. It publishes, among others, a certificate dated at the 
Office of the American Agriculturalist, and signed by " S. 
Edwards Todd, Ag. Editor of Am. Agriculturalist," etc. 
S. Edwards Todd is not and never was the "Agricultural 
Editor" of the Agriculturist, (without the <ri), and this use 
of the name of the paper to give apparent value to any 
certificate whatever, is unwarranted by us. 
Frnit IPreserT-iug- Mouses.— Houses 
built on Nyce's plan appear to be quite successful. Mr. 
W. S. Carpenter brought us, about Jan. 20, specimens 
of pears taken from a house of this kind. Duchesse 
d'Angouleme and other autumn varieties were as fresh 
and green as if first taken from the tree. 
Noteworthy Catalogues.— -A. dealer's 
catalogue may be a mere list of the stock on hand, or it 
may be a pamphlet of real value and one worthy of preser- 
vation for future reference. We have before referred to the 
efforts on the part of our dealers, in the way of catalogues, 
and some of them give very useful directions for culture, 
but are generally inexcusably loose in respect to names. 
As an illustration of a nearly perfect catalogue, we cite 
that of Andre Leroy, of Angers, France, to whose Agents, 
Messrs. Bruguiere & Thebaud, 51 Cedar St., N. T., we are 
indebted for a copy. Though this catalogue is badly 
translated, we advise our nurserymen to consult it as a 
model. The fruits, etc., have their names correctly given, 
the authority for the name usually appended, synonyms, 
if any, follow, and then, there are columns giving a clue 
to the quality, size, texture, fertility, time of maturity 
and form, with a column for "remarks" where these are 
necessary. All through the catalogue we find the names 
in accordance with the best botanical authorities, and all 
correctly spelled, points in which it affords a marked con- 
trast ■with any American catalogue we have yet seen. 
Another pleasing catalogue is that of William Thompson, 
Ipswich, Eng., in which flower seeds are presented in 
their botanical families and under their correct names. 
Several of our dealers have put out catalogues this year 
that are more noteworthy for the attempt to render them 
useful as hand-books, or for the pains taken to illustrate 
them than for any great attempt at accuracy. Among 
those useful as giving directions for cultivation, we men- 
tion those of A. SI. Purdy, South Bend, Ind., and J. Knox, 
Pittsburg, Pa., for small fruits, and James Yick, Rochester, 
for flowers. Mr. V. has given a great number of illus- 
trations in his catalogue, 'and has a noticeably well done 
frontispiece printed in colors ; this catalogue is nearer 
correct in its names than any that have come to ns this 
year. Peter Henderson's Catalogue of New Plants is also 
well illustrated, and, as usual, contains all the.domestic 
and foreign novelties. We are always interested in cata- 
logues, as they serve to mark our horticultural progress, 
and we preserve a file of them with great care. 
I>ocuiiiejii§ 9 etc. 9 Received.*- Report 
of the Committee on Roads, Dedham, Mass.. .The In- 
come Taxpayers' Guide and Pocket Register, F. H. Stauf 
fer, Asst. Assessor, Mt. Joy, Pa Message, etc., of Gov. 
of Vermont, from H. Clark, Sec'y Index, Charter, and 
Regulations of St. Louis Public School Library Texas 
Geological Survey— Preliminary Report— by S. B. Buck- 
ley Address by Hon. Anson S.Miller, of 111., at Sara- 
toga, before N. Y. State Agl. Soc, from Col. B. P. John- 
son Report of Sec'y of Iowa Slate Ag'l Society for 
1865, from J. M. Shaffer, Sec'y ...Census Returns of the 
different Counties of the State of Iowa, for 1S65 Reve- 
lations of the Paraguayan War and the Alliances of the 
Atlantic and Pacific Message of the Gov. of Michigan, 
Catalogue of Michigan State Agl. College, etc., fiom Prof. 
M. Miles Lansing Report of the State Agl. College, 
Mich., by the Pres't Prof. T. C. Abbot. . . . A Few Things 
to be thought of before proceeding to Plan Buildings for 
the National Agricultural Colleges, from the author, F. 
Law Olmstead. 
Catalogues Acloiowletlgedl. ■ — All 
dealers will find it to their advantage to send us catalogues 
of their stock, as in preparing the list of nurserymen and 
others for our Annuals, we only include those who tako 
pains to make themselves known. Some of the catalogues 
issued this year are very creditably illustrated, and many 
of them are valuable as hand-books upon the management 
of fruit, vegetable and flower gardens. 
Agricultural Implements. — John Yanderbilt & 
Brothers, 23 Fulton St., New York. . . .Griffing & Company 
Agricultural and Horticultural Implements, 58 and 6S 
Cortland St. N. Y. 
General Nursert Stock. — Walnut Hills Nurseries, 
J. S. Cook, Cincinnati, O "The Evergreens," Saml. 
Edwards, La Moille, HI. . . . J. C. Plumb, Madison, Wis. . . . 
Walworth (Wayne Co., N. Y.) Nurseries, T. G. Yeomans. 
Grapes and Other Small Fruits. — South Bend 
(Ind.) Nursery, A. M. Purdy. ..." The Best Three Market 
Berries, M (HI.) William Parry, Cinnaminson, Burlington 
Co., N. J A. M. Burns, Manhattan, Kansas A. J. 
Hatfield, Niles, Berrien Co., Mich. . . .Alfred Wells, Ithica, 
Tompkins Co., N. Y Holton & Znndell, Havcrstraw, 
N. Y J. Knox, Pittsburg, Pa. 
Florists Plants, Roots. Bulbs, etc— Peter Hender- 
son (HI.), South Bergen, N. J., and 67 Nassau St.,N. Y. 
Wm. F. Basset, Hammonton, N. J. 
Seeds.— John Yanderbilt & Brothers, 23 Fulton St., N. 
Y Saml. T. Thorburn, Albany, N. Y Henderson & 
Fleming, 67 Nassau St., N. Y... William Thompson, 
Ipswich, Engl Frederick William Wendel, Erfurt, 
Prussia. J. C. Wendel, Ag't, Boston Waite, Burnel & 
Co., London, Eng Illustrated Catalogue and Floral 
Guide, Jas. Yick, Rochester, N. Y Henry A. Dreer, 
Phila., Pa. . . . J. M. Thorburn & Co., 15 John St., N. Y. . . . 
E. Newbury (2//.), Brooklyn, Conn Reisig & Hexamer, 
Newcastle, Westchester Co., N. Y., Seed Potatoes 
Tlie American Naturalist. — This is 
the title of a new popular illustrated magazine of Natural 
History, to be published by the Essex Institute, Salem, 
Mass. It will be issued monthly at $3 per year. The list 
of persons who have promised to contribute to its pages 
comprises the names of those who stand at the head of 
their different departments of science. Some half dozen 
periodicals, devoted to popular science, are published in 
England, but, with the exception of the Practical Ento- 
mologist, we have not one in this country. The American 
Journal of Science serves as a medium for scientific men, 
but one which should aim to popularize science is 
greatly needed, and if the one now proposed is well 
managed, it will meet a long felt want. We wish this 
enterprise much success, and advise such of our readers 
as desire to know more about it to send to the Editors ol 
the American Naturalist, Salem, Mass., for a circular 
