inform Dick Hopson, Sherman, Texas, that 
I have an Amriranthus<itco^mipurcnsthat 
stands ten feet three inches high, with 
flower spikes and side branches to corre¬ 
spond, and still growing; the amount of 
seed it will bear time will determine — 1 
presume enough to seed the entire town. — 
L, Leach, Stoninpton , Conn. 
abundance. But as neither nature nor sci¬ 
ence can brook a boundary in the line of 
improvement, it is safe to conclude that 
even when put upon such liberal grounds, 
the above question must bo answered in the 
affirmative. 
To some it may be a surprise to announce 
that new fruits have already found their 
way into our markets whioh are quietly 
solving the question by the reports of ve¬ 
racious figures. The prices paid for fruits 
when In direct and continuous competition 
with others of the same seasou and in the 
SCARLET PIMPERNEL. 
Inclosed please find a specimen of a plant 
(I believe to bo Scarlet Pimpernel) called 
Tame Chick-weed here, and is called a rem¬ 
edy for rattlesnake bite. I know of two 
instances where given to two different dogs, 
each having been bitten, and was suffering 
severely. One was bitten twice by the 
snake —once on the lip and once on the 
throat. The latter had suf¬ 
fered for five or six hours, and 
the throat and head were bad¬ 
ly swollen, and could scarcely 
breathe when the tea was ad¬ 
ministered. The. other had 
not been under the influence 
so long, but was weakened 
down so that he could be easi¬ 
ly handled, and suffered se- .gggfg 
verely to all appearance; but 
in fifteen minutes after the tea 
was administered, became so 
much easier as to cease moan- §£/ 
ing. They both recovered rap- jWgjg&i 
idly; but whether from the 
effects of the weed or not, I 
wot not. 
That it is a remedy for insect 
stings I know. To take the 
green leaves, pulverize them 
between the fingers, then rub 
into the wound, and, as by 
magic, all pain ceases. 
1 write this, thinking that it 
might be a remedy for the 
sting of that inseot of the 
South that was brought to the 
notice of your readers in 1870, 
called the “Cow Killer," if I 
mistake not. lias any one 
tried it as a remedy for it ? Is 
it the AmyaUls arvemU ? If 
so, is it the plant spoken of as 
being so fatal to dogs, on page 
in one of the October num¬ 
bers of 1810? It has a seed-pod 
like the Portulacca. The co¬ 
rolla is not scarlet, but dull 
rod, with purple eye. 
K. A. c. 
Brownsville, Oregon. 
The plant you inclose is the 
AnarjalHs arvensls, and is 
known in Europo (where it 
grows wild almost everywhere) £ 
as Scarlet Pimpernel. We M 
kuow nothing of its medicinal jM 
virtues, except what we find ^ 
in medicinal works. Lindley, 
in his Medical Botany, page JUSt 
368, says: — “This plant has jM’W 
some reputation in case of 
madness. It has also been pro- MM m, 
scribed in epilepsy and drop- mHHH 
Strawberry-Blight. — Find inclosed a 
plant for name. —Wat. Hunter. 
The long, slender stem, with soft berry¬ 
like fruit, of a reddish color upon it, is 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES 
California Lilly.—The leaf Vm 
and see d of California Lily re- W 
ceived from J. II. L. resemble 
very much the L. 8upcrhnm 
of the Eastern States; and we 
think it is that species, or only 
a variety. There are, however, a few dis¬ 
tinct species of lilies in California, and we 
believe that some of our nurserymen are 
propagating them for sale. 
Begonia Haageana. — This new Be¬ 
gonia, originated by Carl Matuiku, Ber¬ 
lin, Prussia, is a cross of Begonia holivien- 
sis and B. Pearceu It was sold by Mr. 
Mathiktt to Messrs. II a age & Schmidt, 
Erfurt, Germany, who gave it the above 
name. It is less noticeable for the beauty 
of its foliage than for its flower, which is a 
bright orange in color, like the Buliviensis, 
the form of its leaves resembling those of 
Pea reel. It is a summer bloomer; must 
be kept at rest in winter. It attains a size 
of from one and a-half to three feet in 
bight. The engraving is from a photograph 
reduced in size. The flower is very rich; 
and from the beginning of June until late 
Autumn it blooms continuously. In Ger¬ 
many it is highly esteemed. Being new, it 
is worthy the attention of American florists. 
known as strawberry-blight in some locali¬ 
ties, but its botanical name is Blitum capi¬ 
ta turn. We do not know that it has any 
particular value except for children to play 
with. 
same markets ought to decide their relative 
value for the purposes required. For what¬ 
ever may be said to the contrary, poor 
fruits cannot long sustain themselves in 
competition with good, when both arc 
equally abundant in market. The reason 
why bright-colored but coarso apples are so 
largely sold, is because they aro more easily 
produced and are brought to market in 
larger qantities—while the dull, delicious 
ones aro either not in market at the same 
prices, or else have not become known — 
otherwise they would sell in spite of their 
more gaudy competitors. At least wo are 
sure it is so at tho West. The R. 1. Green¬ 
ing, though destitute of color, always sells 
in preference to any red apple, ltawle’s 
Janet is no beauty, yet in regions where it 
abounds no apple can compete with it, even 
from the rmit stand. 
But this principle of the popular esti¬ 
mate of fruits by their appeavanoe certain¬ 
ly does not operate in favor of the class of 
fruits to which we wish to call attention. 
All varieties of tho Siberian apples are 
small to begin with. The newer varieties 
are very little known. When placed in 
market alongside of well-known varieties 
of the common apple, they are obliged to 
overcome the immense advantage of large 
size—an element as attractive in big apples 
as it is in “ big men," and we might add 
sometimes as deceptive. Siberian apples, 
like women, may be small and handsome, 
PROGRESS IN POMOLOGY 
Siberian Crab Apples.—Could a suf¬ 
ficient number of our very best apples, 
such, for instance as tho Early harvest, 
Sweet Bough, Baldwin, It. 1. Greening, 
8eek-no-further and Lady Apple, bo grown 
with certainty and in perfection through¬ 
out every' portion of our wide couutry—it 
might seem that there would be then but 
very little room for improvement in that 
department of Pomology. But would such 
be the case? Can we conceive of no desira¬ 
ble additions to our lists even in those sec¬ 
tions where our best fruits are ordinarily 
reliable? This certainly is making the 
strongest possible concession to those who 
oppose the introduction of pecidiar fruits 
for particular localities. For we even have 
old fogies in fruit culture—men who would 
have us believe that nature has no “ r/er- 
min8” locked in her secret cuisine which 
can produce fruits capable of affording new 
Amaranths in Connecticut. — Please ‘ delights and new sources of sustenauco and 
Marengo, III 
P0M0L0GICAL GOSSIP 
The Hesper Blush Crab Apple is de 
scribed as a Summer apple, about the siz< 
of the Lady apple, and nearly its equal in 
beauty. It is round or slightly oblong, a 
light yellow ground, striped on the sunny 
side with light red. Those who have tasted 
it regard it as about as good as the Yellow 
Harvest. _ 
Transcendent Crab.— Thomas Corns, 
Rock Island Co., Ill. The crab apple yo i 
send us is Transcendent. 
The Blue Glass Theory.— M. Duchar- 
tre has an article in the bulletin of the 
French Central Horticultural Society on 
General Pleasanton’s paper, in which he 
says only that the genuineness of the paper 
is vouched for on respectable testimony, he 
should regard it as a hoax. 
