at W. Van Rensselaer’s, at Albany, in 
1842. I remember hearing of some others 
brought to New York from the West Indies 
for exhibition. 
The second annual Fair of the New York 
State Agricultural Society was held in Al¬ 
bany that year, (1842,) and during the hold¬ 
ing of the Fail- the great “ Century Plant” 
was in bloom, and attracted crowds of visi¬ 
tors. Subsequently it was removed to 
Tnonmnuj’s seed 6tore in John street, N. Y., 
and there again exhibited. The proceeds of 
its exhibition were given to the Albany 
Orphan Asylum. Since that time I have 
not heard of another plant blooming in this 
country. 
The plant of the Messrs. Frost is the 
variegated variety, and is doubtless the first 
one of its kind to show its flowers in this 
country'. This makes it still the more inter¬ 
esting. This plant was formerly the prop¬ 
erty of the late Hon. John Greio of Canan¬ 
daigua, who purchased it of the Messrs. 
Prince of Flushing, L. I., in 1809, when it 
was eight or ten years old. It was in the 
possession of Mr. Greio forty-seven years, 
and has been in the hands of Messrs. Frost 
thirteen years, which would make it about 
seventy years old. 
Twenty-nine years ago M. B. Batekam, 
then of Rochester, now of PainesviUe, Ohio, 
wrote of this plant to Hovey’s Magazine, 
saying it was then the largest plant he had 
seen, and that Mr. Greio was intending to 
take measures to induce it to flower. 
Last summer this plant was taken from 
the green-house and planted in the open 
ground; in the autumn it was taken back 
and planted in the house where it now stands. 
The whole number of leaves on the plant 
is thirty; each leaf is six feet six inches in 
length; the entire circumference of the plant 
is thirty feet 
The development of the flower stem com¬ 
menced about a month ago, and has grown 
some three inches a day on an average—be¬ 
ing now, May 17, eight feet two inches in height. 
It will probably reach fifteen feet. The root 
of the green-house is being raised to accom¬ 
modate it. It will probably be a month yet 
before it attains its full height. 
parts. May here be safely recommended to 
every one. 
Norton ’* Virginia .—A very good, regular 
crop, as usual. It is as reliable as anything 
we have, but has made its reputation already 
far and near, so that nothing further need be 
said of it. 
Taylor .—This little grape has gained many 
friends this season, as the crop was satisfac¬ 
tory, both in quantity and quality. It seems 
that the vines require age, and spur pruning 
on old wood, to make it produce well. Give 
the vine plenty of room, and plenty to do, i. 
e., prune it long, and we think it will bear 
satisfactory crops when it is three or four 
years old. The wine made of it more close¬ 
ly resembles t he celebrated Riessliug of Ger¬ 
many and the Rhine, than perhaps any 
other of our American varieties, and will 
always command a high price with wine 
connoisseurs. 
THE NOBLESSE PEACH. 
F. R. Elliott furnishes the Department 
of Agriculture with the following description 
of this peach: 
Synonyms .—Lord Montague’s Noblesse, 
Mellishe’s Favorite, Vanguard, Noblest, 
Double Montague. 
Fruit. —Size, above medium to large; form, 
roundish, sometimes with a hollow at the 
apex and a small point. Sometimes it is 
roundish oblong, and the point at apex quite 
prominent. Skin, pale greenish white, mar¬ 
bled and streaked with two shades of dull 
red in the sun, occasional faint blotches of 
red on the shaded side ; flesh, greenish white, 
very juicy, melting with a rich, delicious 
flavor ; stone, large, obovate, pointed, sepa¬ 
rates freely from the flesh, and without any 
stain of red ; season, early in September. 
Tree .—A moderately slow grower at the 
North, and somewhat liable to mildew when 
not in good ground. At t he South it grows 
more vigorously, and does not mildew. The 
flowers are large aud the leaves serrated 
without glands. Originated in France. 
The Noblesse is one of the old varieties, 
whose good qualities have as yet been un¬ 
surpassed by any of recent origin. It is of 
the richest and highest flavor, and being 
entirely white at. the stone, i3 quite desirable 
for canning or preserving. 
GRAPES IN CONNECTICUT. 
GRAPES IN MISSOURI. 
The Grape Culturist has been publishing 
notes on “Grapes in tlie Vicinity of Her¬ 
mann, Mo.,” which must prove valuable to 
pomologists since they are the result of ob¬ 
servations made in 1808 among the most 
careful and successful vineyardists in the 
West. We copy them, as follows: 
Concord. —Avery abundant crop, as usual. 
As mentioned before, the crop suffered some¬ 
what from bursting of the berries, but still 
yielded a very abundant harvest, which 
promises to make a very good wine. 
Clinton. — Buffered somewhat from late 
frosts, as it is one of the first to bloom in 
spring. Makes a good wine, intermediate 
between Concord and Norton. An exceed¬ 
ingly rank grower, foliage subject, to the at¬ 
tacks of t he gall fly. Produced well in some 
vineyards, in others hardly anything. Re¬ 
quires a good deal of room, and spur prun¬ 
ing on old wood, to bring forth its best re¬ 
sults. 
Delaware. —Has produced very satisfac¬ 
tory results this season; but should be plant¬ 
ed here in deep, rich soil, on northeast and 
eastern slopes. 
Hartford Prolife. —A very good crop, and 
for those who grow grapes for early market, 
it is oue of the iiidispensabies, as it is hardy, 
healthy, early and very productive. Can 
hardly be recommended as a wine grape, 
though fair wine may be made from it. 
Hcrbcmont. —I las produced a splendid crop 
again, for those who have gone to the slight 
trouble of covering their vines. One of the 
best and most reliable, for our southern hill 
sides, and will be a mine of wealth to our 
Southern States. 
Iona. — Produced better bunches than 
usual, although it. suffered somewhat by rot. 
Ripens very unevenly, and we cannot recom¬ 
mend it, although it is a grape of better quali¬ 
fy than Catawba. 
Ives' Seedling. — Four years old vines of 
this variety produced a very full crop for the 
first time. It does not seem to be an early 
bearer, but to bear profusely when older. 
Fruit very indifferent in quality, perhaps less 
foxy than Hartford, to which vine and fruit 
bear a very close resemblance. We have 
tried hard to discover the many excellences 
which our Ohio friends claim for it, in the 
fruit and wine; but although we have tried 
at least twenty samples of the latter from 
Ohio, and some made in Missouri and Illi¬ 
nois, we cannot make anything more out of 
it than a fine claret. The best sample we 
have yot. tasted was made by Mr. Conrad 
Eisenmayek, at Summer■field, Illinois. What 
induced the committee to award this the 
first premium of the Longworlh prizes, as 
the best wine grape for general cultivation, 
of our whole country, we are at a loss to 
imagine, as it has hardly been fruited out¬ 
side of Ohio and Kentucky. In our opinion, 
it is not as good as the Concord here, either 
for wine or for the table. 
Mamtawney. —Healthy, hardy, productive, 
and of the finest quality here. It ripens early 
enough for us here, and makes an excellent 
white wine, mixed with the Martha. 
Martha. —Did very well again, and prom¬ 
ises to he the white grape for everybody; as 
its parent, the Concord, has proved among 
the black grapes. It is not subject to any 
disease, as far as we know, but it also sul- 
fered somewhat from burst ing of the berries, 
and should not be allowed to hang too late. 
It has again made an excellent wine, es¬ 
pecially if mixed with Maxatawney in equal 
CENTUKY PLANT — AGAVE AMEltlOANA, 
AS IT IS NOW BRKN IN THE GREEN HOGSKS OF MESSRS. FROST, ROCHESTER, N. Y. 
and rests upon the fact that it. has‘longbeen 
cultivated in Ohio, and is valued as a market va¬ 
riety.’ la order to see how near the Stark and 
Pen nock resemble each other, from a descrip¬ 
tion, we copy that of the former by Dr. AVahu- 
eh, from the Prairie Farmer, and of the Pen- 
nock, from Ills American Pomology: 
" Shirk.— Fruit globular, regular, large: surface 
smooth, yellow, nearly covered with mixed red, 
splashed crimson: dots numerous, medium dark; 
basin regular, ruthur wide; eye medium, closed ; 
cavity deep, regular; stem medium to long; cure* 
mudlum, closed; se«d» lew. Imperfect; flesh yel¬ 
low. hreaktug, Juicy 
" l , rinmck. Fruit large, conic oblate, often un- 
eaftsil, top-sided; surface greenish yellt.w, covered 
witii mixed and striped rod ; dots large. Irregular, 
browned; basin "Id'-, rather deep; eye large, ..pen; 
euvity wldu, deep, regular; stem short; core Ir¬ 
regular, closed: seeds numerous, regular, plump; 
ilesh yellow, breaking." 
loriculturf 
Double ’/Anneas.— A lady correspondent of 
the Western Rural advises transplanting these 
plants when four inches high to the place where 
they are to bloom. She adds“ Set them at 
least four feet apart. They will be all the more 
beautiful if they are set one plant in a place 
like dahlias, anywhere in the yard or border. 
Be sure and transplant them, or tho flowers will 
be single or only partially double. As soon as 
they blooui puli up all single ones. Some people 
fail to do this and next year have inferior flow- 
era again. But In destroying The single plants, 
the double ones will become more double each 
year until they are us full double as the finest 
dahlia. I have raised finer flowers from seed of 
my osn raising than from any seed obtained 
from the florists. But I never fail to transplant 
ihem, and I destroy the plants of the single ones 
without mercy,” 
THE AGAVES. 
The Flowering of One at Rochester, N. V 
BY P. BARRY, 
growth in the interior—not layer upon layer, 
annually, as in the case of the common trees 
of our forests or orchards. Next to the 
Palms, the Agaves arc generally regarded as 
the most interesting and even beautiful in 
form of all the genera which compose that 
great natural division of plants. They are 
nearly all natives of the continent, chiefly of 
Mexico, South America, and the West Indies. 
I have seen immense groups of hedges of 
them in Cuba. They have no stem or trunk, 
but arc composed of a mass of long, narrow, 
fleshy leaves, terminating in a sharp, power¬ 
ful spine. 
The flowers, in appearance like lilies, are 
produced on stems, which, in the case ol the 
Agave Americana, usually called the “ Cen¬ 
tury Plant,” rises to the height of twenty or 
thirty feet, and the flowers are produced in 
lateral clusters, causing the flower stem to 
be likened to a chandelier. 
In their native country the Agaves are of 
great economical importance. 
Both leaves and roots yield a fiber from 
which thread, paper and cloth are made. A 
vinous beverage is also made of the juice, 
which is said to yield a large revenue. 
In the South of Europe, where they en¬ 
dure the climate, they are much used in the 
decoration of gardens. In this country we 
usually find them in green-houses—occasion¬ 
ally in a vase on the laAvn, where they pro¬ 
duce a very good effect. 
At the present moment they are more pop¬ 
ular in Europe as ornamental plants than 
they have ever been. The catalogues of 
some of the nurserymen of France and Bel¬ 
gium enumerate some thirty or forty species 
aud varieties ; some of them priced as high 
as twenty-five dollars per plant. This is ac¬ 
counted for by their slow growth. It requires 
many years to fit a plant for filling a vase on 
the lawn. 
The principal and, in fact, almost the only 
species known in American collections, to 
any extent, is the Agave Americana , and a 
variety ol' it with striped or variegated 
leaves. A plant of the latter is now devel¬ 
oping its flower stem in the green-house of 
Messrs. Frost, the well-known nurserymen 
of Rochester, (see illustration,) and is natu¬ 
rally creating quite a sensation on account 
of the rarity of the occurrence. 
The nauie of “ Century Plant” has been 
given to this species on account of the long 
time required to bring it to a flowering size 
in a climate like that of England or our 
Northern States—supposed to be one hun¬ 
dred years! The only one which I remem¬ 
ber as having blossomed in this country was 
LIxl of Twelve Best Pear#.—The Horticulturist 
for May says:—'“Cultivators will find the follow¬ 
ing one of the very best selections for a list of 
twelve first class pears. Doyenne d'Ete, Rostle- 
acr, Bartlett, Belle Lucrative, Louise Bonne de 
Jersey, Sheldon, Seekel, Duehesse d'Angouleme, 
Bourre d'Anjou, Lawrence, Dana's Hovey, 
Glout Moreeau. The above are arranged in the 
order of ripening, and are all first class pears for 
either market or family use.” 
Ilnrsdorfer Apple. - A correspondent of the 
Gardeners' Monthly calls this “one of the best 
apples in existence." Another agrees to the 
above estimate of it, if he means as It is grown 
in Germany, where, he says“ Tti the texture of 
its Hush, and flavor, it is Incomparable; it is the 
Seekel of apples. But, alas! it is the next thing 
to being worthless in this country, so far us my 
experience goes." 
Compost for Potted Hour*. — A correspondent 
of the Cottage Gardener says that the best com¬ 
post for potted roses is one-third each of rich, 
stiff clay, sainl, or line ashes, and decayed black 
dung. Pelargoniums, fuchsias, roses, strawber- 
i ies, hollyhocks and dahlias all like cow dung. 
For the last two it is porhups the best of ma¬ 
nures. It contains more potash than any other 
animal manure, hence us potash is Lhegmnd con¬ 
stituent of a strawberry, it is also excellent for 
that delicious fruit. In a word, cow dung is 
one of the best, of manures. The same may be 
said of soot, which contains nitrogen and car¬ 
bon. In watering pot-roses, a skewer Bhouldbe 
used to make boles in the soil to let in the water. 
Raspberries for General Cultivation.— The Hor¬ 
ticulturist recommends the Doolittle. Seueca, 
Philadelphia and Clark raspberries “toall culti¬ 
vators in all parts of tho United States a a pos¬ 
sessing the lamest number of good qualities for 
The Klnrk Apple.— CHARLES M. HOVEY, ill the 
May Horticulturist, has an article in which we 
think he makes out a very clear case that tho 
Pruning Rose*. —Tho Gardener’s Chronicle 
gives the following directions about pruning 
roses at this season of the year“ Scotch roses, 
or other similar briar-like sorts, simply need 
thinning out; tho Provence or Moss varieties 
should be pruned to four or five eyes; the Dam¬ 
ask to six or eight; the hybrid Provence, or Hy¬ 
brid China to seven or ten. Hybrid and Damask 
perpctuuJs must be shortened, after being 
thinned to three or four eyes, according to the 
strength of the individual plants. Tea-scented 
and Noisettes, if the wood is well ripened, may 
be permitted to retain rather a liberal supply of 
last year's growth. 
Marshal .Veil Rose. —The Horticulturist for 
May says this beautiful climbing rose, intro¬ 
duced about four years ago, is now foremost 
among the few that have sustained the reputa¬ 
tion given them when first brought before the 
public. The rose is of a deep canary yellow, of 
very large size, and of exquisite fragrance. It 
has received the highest commendations and 
first-class certificates at all the English flower- 
show s, aud must be regarded as a great acquisi¬ 
tion. 
The Golden Feather.— Pyrethrum parthcmfoli- 
um aurcu/n .—This new colored leaf plant is a de¬ 
cided addition for flower garden decoration. Its 
foliage varies from a straw color to deep yellow, 
aud is well retained all the season. Its flowers 
ave inconspicuous, and should be picked off as 
they appear. 
THE NOBLESSE FEACIL 
general cultivation, and the only kinds which 
as yet possess the greatest probabilities of suc¬ 
cess.” 
“Stark" and Pennock’s Red Winter apples are 
identical. He says of Stark:—“If the variety 
could be* traced to its origin there might be some 
hope of its proving new and distinct, for two 
fruits may resemble each oilier and yet be un¬ 
like. But the history of the Stark is unknown, 
Lint of Perennial Fall-Blooming Plant# 
— Who will give your readers a list of p 
fall-blooming plants and shrubs, flower 
frOSt ?—N ORTHWEST. 
We arc always glad to receive the experience 
of cultivators with old or new fruits. 
