50 
AMKRTCAN AG-RTCURTURIST, 
[Febkuaky, 
l»y Mail.— -It is a great convenience 
to tliose who livo at a distance from seedsmen and nnr- 
serios to be able to obtain plants and seeds tlii'ough the 
mail, Tlie ordering of seeds to ho received in this way 
is very common, and, some seedsmen do an almost ex¬ 
clusively mail business. Parcels of plants of moderate 
size !iro also easily transmitted by post, andthough there 
have been some loss of plants by this mode of conveyance, 
it has generally been duo either to improper p'acking or 
to sending them in too warm a season. But few nursery¬ 
men, doing a large business, care to be troubled with 
smali orders by maii 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 piants 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 is so well pleased with his experience 
in this 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. 
We 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 his reputation is a 
sufficient guarantee that he will do what he promises. 
Mild for Trc©-S*e4ldlers.— At the Annu¬ 
al Meeting of the Illinois Horticultural Society, the fol¬ 
lowing resolutions were passed: 
Whebeas, 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, 
Ii€Solv6d^ 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 reli.abls 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-peddlsrs. 
Mwarfs.— I. H. ElliSj Butler 
Co., Iowa, says that there are agents selling “ standard 
dwarf” fruit trees, and asks if there is any such thing. A 
dwarf tree is generally considered to mean one grafted 
upon a dwarfing stock. Thus, the pear is dwarfed by 
Avorking on the quince, the apple on the Paradise apple, 
etc. Trees on free stocks may bo made dwarfs by proper- 
dy pruning branches and roots. It is a matter as much of 
training as of stock, and we knoAV of “ dwarf” trees—i. e. 
originally on quince roots—that have become standards! 
The agent who protends to have a new sort of toees called 
“standard dwarfs” is not to be believed. 
Kepoi-t oftlie S>epa«-t3Eaesit ofAgri- 
cultur* for 18 65.— This document is received. It is 
a volume of G08 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. 
Americasa Seeds. —An importer of English 
seeds said to us a few days ago that “All American seed 
raising is a myth.” Now we would like to have some 
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 Avho raised them, rather than take imported 
ones. Do Brill, of Newark, N. J.; Gregory, of Marblehead, 
Mass., Macomber, of Ithode 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 Avill 
do well to look into. We do not advise ignorant people, 
who would grow cabbage seed from “ stumps,” to go into 
seed-growing, but those who know the conditions neces¬ 
sary to success and who have a ro])utation for truthfulness 
may M'ell give this attention. We knoAv people at the 
West who will not plant a carrot or a beet seed, unless 
they know that it has been i-aised by a “Shaker,” so 
thoroughly has the name of these people become identified 
with reliability. Flower seed-raising is certainly not a 
“myth,” for we saw last autumn a delivery of 15 pounds 
of one kind—Phlox Drammondii-at Thorburn’s, in John 
St., from a grower in Ncav Jersey, and this was not all of 
this one kind of seed that he expected to delivei". Does 
James Vick, with his 2.3 acres at Rochester, devoted to 
flower seed raising, consider that American grown seeds 
are all a “ myth ? ” There are a fcAv, and hut a few, varie¬ 
ties of seeds that can he better raised in other climates 
than ours ; but we believe that the majority of all garden 
and floAver seeds can bo rhised better here than abroad. 
Wliei-e Can S CJet It ?—A letter from. 
Dayton, O., asks; “Where can good seed of all kinds b« 
procured.” Tiiis is a sample of many letters that are 
pa.ssed by unnoticed, as our advertising columns give all 
needed information. Wo do not allow any one to adver¬ 
tise whom Ave knoAv to be unreliable, or against w'hom 
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. 
Com© 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 Avkere all kinds of labor are in demand 
and are paid high wages, Avhere the climate and the soil 
combine with inexhaustible mineral wealth to offer sure 
employment and prosperity to a million of industrious 
workers, and Avhere 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, are hindered by 
lack of workmen; mines are lying idle AA'ith 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,Avho are bare¬ 
ly liA’ing; 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 Avould hail their coming with joy. But let 
the tillers of the soil in the East stay at horns, and help 
US supply the greedy home market. 
Wlioleor BIsiir SSaeets.—“0. A. J.” asks 
if it 1* necessary to writs letters on a whole sheet, when 
a half sheet will answer as AA'ell. In all bnsiness letters 
it is customary to use only a li.alf sheet. In other letter.?, 
as in matters of etiquette generally,-it is rlifficult 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 offici.als and digni¬ 
taries on a whole sheet, be it large or small. "We do not 
say that this is absolutely necessary, but it is an es¬ 
tablished custom, as is taking off one’s liat in entering a 
house-and it is better to fall in with it than to appear 
odd. In some countries the amount of re.spect of the 
AA'riter for tlie recipient of the letter is indicated by the 
AA'idth of tlie blank margin at the left hand side of the 
slieet, and we have seen tliis carried to the extent of 
leaving a margin lialf the width of the page. 
Uaiwiarrasited.— John Vanderbilt & Bros. 
haAm sent ns a circular of “ Hunt’s Hoosier Fodder Cutter,” 
in Avhich the Agriculturist is made to figure in an unwar¬ 
ranted manner. Hunt’s Cutter may be, for all Ave know, the 
best in existence, hut Ave have nothing just noAv to do with 
that. It publishes, among others, a certificate dated at the 
Office of the American Agricultnraflst, and signed by “ S. 
EdAA’ards Todd, Ag. Editor of Am. Agriculturalist,” etc. 
S. Edwards Todd is not and never was the “Agricultural 
Editor” of the Agriculturist, (Avithout the and this use 
of the name of the'paper to give apparent value to any 
certificate Avhatever, is unAvarranted by ns.. 
3^1'ssit I’regerviijg' Meisses.—Houses 
built on Nyce’s plan appear to he quite successful. Mr. 
W. S. Carpenter brought ns, about Jan. 20, specimens 
of pears taken from a house of this kind. Duchesse 
d’Angoulcmc and other autumn varieties were as fresh 
and green as if fii-st taken from the tree. 
I¥otewor4Iiy CataLlog-HCS.—A. dealsr’s 
catalogue may he a mere list of the stock on hand, or it 
may be a pamphlet of real A'alue and one Avorthy 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 p'erfect catalogue, Ave cite 
tliat of Andrb Leroy, of Angers, Franco, to whose Agents, 
Messrs. Bruguiere & Thebaud, 61 Cedar St., N. Y., we are 
indebted for a copy. Though this catalogae is badly 
translated, Ave adAusc our nursorATnen to consult it as a 
model. The fruits, etc., have their names correctly given, 
the authority for tlie name usually appended, synonyms, 
if any, folloAV, and then, there are columns ghing a clue 
to the quality, size, texture, fertility, time of BAaturity 
and form, Avith a column for “ remarks ” Avhere these are 
necessary. All through the catalogue aa'® find the names 
in accordance Avith the best botanical authorities, and .all 
correctly spelled, points in Avhich it affords a marked con¬ 
trast with any American catalogue we have yet seen. 
Another pleasing catalogue is that of William Thompson, 
psvich, Eng., in which floAver seeds are presented in 
cir botanical families and under their correct names. 
CAcral of our dealers haA'e put out catalogues this year 
that are more noteworthy for the attempt to render them 
useful as hand-hooks, or for the pains taken to illustrate 
thorn than for any great attempt at accuracy. Amopg 
those useful as giving directions for cultivation, Ave men¬ 
tion those of A. M. Purdy, South Bend, Ind., and J. Knox, 
Pittsburg, Pa., for small fruits, and James Vick, Rochester, 
or 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 us this 
yoar. ^ 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 seiwe to mark our horticultural progress, 
and we preserve a file of them with great care. 
Mociisnents, etc., IBeceivetl.—Report 
of the Committee 011 Roads, Dedham, Mass .. .The In¬ 
come Taxpayers’ Guide and Pocket Register, F. H. Slauf- 
f€r,Asst. Assessor, Mt. Joy, Pa... .Message, etc., of Gov. 
of Vermont, from 11. 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 Ill., at Sain- 
toga, before N. Y. Stale Agl. Soc., from Cbl. B. P. John¬ 
son.... Report of Seo’y of Iowa State Ag'l Society for 
1865, from J. M. Shaffer, Sec’y ...Census Returns of the 
different Counties of the State of Iowa, for 1865_Reve¬ 
lations of the Paraguayan War and the Alliances of the 
Atlantic and Pacific... .Message of the GoaI of Michigan, 
Catalogue of Miehigan State Agl. College, etc., from Prof! 
M. Miles Lansing. ...Report of the State Agl. College, 
Mich., by the Pres’t. Prof. T. C. Abbot.... A PeAV Things 
to he thought of before proceeding to Plan Buildings for 
the National Agricultural Colleges, from the author, F. 
Law Olmstead. ’ 
datalog'Bies yltejkmowJedg’eil, — All 
dealers will find it to their adAumtage to send us catalogues 
of their stock, as in preparing the list of nurserymen^’and 
others for our Annuals, wo only include those Avho take 
pains to make themselves known. Some of the catalogues 
issued this year are very creditably illustrated, and many 
of them are valuahlo as hand-hooks upon the management 
of fruit, A'egetable and flower gardens. 
Aokicultueal Implements. — John Vanderbilt & 
Brothers, 2S Fulton St.,NeAvYork....Grifflng&Company 
Agricultural and Horticultural Implements, 58 and 68 
Cortland St. N. Y. 
General Nuesert Stock.—W alnut Hills Nurserie.o, 
J. S. Cook, Cincinnati, 0....“The Evergreens,” Sami. 
EdAvards, La Moille, HI.... J. C. Plumb, Madison, Wis. 
WalAVorth (Wayne Co., N. Y.) Nurseries, T. G. Yeomans. 
Grapes and Other Small Fruits. — South Bend 
and.) Nursery, A. M. Purdy.... “ The Best Three Market 
Berries,” (III.) 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 & Zundell, Haverstraw, 
N. Y-J. Knox, Pittsburg, Pa. 
Florists Plants, Roots, Bulbs, etc.—P eter Hender¬ 
son (III.), South Bergen, N. J., and 67 Nassau St., N. Y. 
_Win. F. Basset, Hamnionton, N. J. 
Seeds.—J ohn Vanderbilt & Brothers, 23 Fulton St., N. 
Y-Sami. T. Thorhum, Albany, N. Y_Henderson & 
Fleming, 67 Nassau St., N. Y....William Thompson, 
IpsAvich, Engl.... Frederick William Wondel, Erfurt, 
Prussia. J. C. Wendel, Ag’t, Boston_Waite, Bumel & 
Co., London, Eng_Illustrated Catalogue and Floral 
Guide, Jas. Vick, Rochester, N. Y_Henry A. Dreer, 
Phila., Pa_J. M. Thorhurn & Co., 15 Jolm St., N. Y_ 
E. Newbury (Id.), Brooklyn, Conn_Eeisig & Hexamer, 
Newcastle, Westchester Co., N. Y., Seed Potatoes. 
Tlie American Natisralist.—This is 
the title of a nsAV popuiar illustrated magazine of Natural 
History, to he published by the Essex Institute, Salem, 
Mass. It Avill ho issued monthly at $3 per year. The list 
of jiersons Avho have promised to contribute to its pages 
comprises the names of those AA’ho stand at the head of 
their difforent departments of science. Some half dozen 
periodicals, devoted to popular science, arc published in 
England, hut, Avith the exception of the Practical Ento¬ 
mologist, Ava have not one in this country. The American 
Journal of Science sei-ves as a medium for scientific men, 
but one Avhich should aim to popularize science is 
greatly needed, and if the one noAV proposed is well 
managed, it Avill meet a long felt Avant. Wc Avish this 
enterprise much success, and advise such of our readers 
as desire to knoAV more about it to send to the Editors of 
the American NatuiT.lis-t, Salem, Mass., for a circular. 
