in profit, size, quality, etc., like Duchesse 
d’Angouleme ; but it does not meet public 
favor with dealers like that variety. It is 
also a little more variable in quality. 
Henkel—Two trees. This is one of our 
foreign varieties, ripening late in September ; 
very little known, but of a quality to cause 
every one who bites into it to want to bite 
again. 
Louise Bonne de Jersey—Five trees. Many 
a pear grower, we doubt not, will blame us, 
call us a fool, because we don’t put in more 
of this kind. Others, again, will call us a 
fool for putting it in the list. We, however, 
know that It is a good pear and a regular 
bearer upon the quince root. 
Seckel—One tree. White Doyenne—One 
tree. These are both choice old sorts, and 
while the former is strictly reliable and one 
of the best in quality, it comes in when large 
pears are in market and therefore is not 
profitable : but ooe tree should be in every 
orchard. The latter, so well known as Vir- 
galeau, Butter Pear, St. Michael, etc., al¬ 
though failing in many sections is yet supe¬ 
rior in others, and while we only advise one 
tree, it is because we know not the planter's 
location. Having thus gone through the 
class of pear 3 that ripen before November, or 
that should be gathered ere the last of Octo¬ 
ber, we come to those that if gathered just 
before severe frosts may be kept often until 
March or April. 
Emile d’Heyst—Six trees. A variety as 
yet little known but of superior quality of 
size and form, and a tree holding its foliage 
late in the fall. 
Winter Nells, three trees ; Dr. Reeder, 
one tree; Josephine de Malines, one tree. 
These are all winter varieties. The Reeder 
and Nelis small, but of best quality. To these 
we add for profit and cooking and often of 
trees of Vicar of 
for which we could give no satisfactory 
reason.—J ames Vick. 
Variegated Magnolia. —Mr. C. M. Hovey 
of Boston, Mass., says, writing to the Lon¬ 
don Oarden:—“ I have Bent you a leaf of my 
variegated Magnolia acuminata, a magnifi¬ 
cent tree, some of the leaves of which are 
nearly all yellow.” And the editor replies : 
“The leaf in question, though faded, was 
still handsome; it was yellow, slightly 
streaked und mottled with green.” 
Magnolia Halleana. — This appears to be 
of t he same class as M. compicua, but the 
flower is composed of about twenty narrow 
strap-shaped petals; on the whole rather 
smaller than those of M. conspicua — white 
and very sweet. A little more and we shall 
have a double Magnolia. 
Jus. V(itch & Sons of the Royal Exotic 
Nursery, Chelsea, Eng., announce that they 
have purchased from Isaac Buchanan of 
New York the entire stock of the new and 
beautiful double Poivsettin, which they hope 
to offer for sale during the ensuing autumn. 
turn, dysentery, &c., having neither a dis¬ 
agreeable taste nor odor. 
It may be found in most fields, hedges and 
woods, and is sufficiently distinct in roots, 
GLADIOLI SEEDLINGS, Etc 
Many of our readers know that the Gladio¬ 
lus is easily raised from seeds ; but it may 
not occur to them that crossing the flowers 
of one flue specimen with another breaks the 
tendency to revert to the original forms, and 
is likely to produce far prettier and more 
distinct varieties than if we permit self-fer¬ 
tilization. In many plants this is a tedious 
and rather nice operation ; in the Gladiolus 
it is the simplest. As t he flowers are large 
and the anthers readily removed with the 
fingers, which Hhould be accomplished as 
soon as they are sufficiently developed to 
admit them, the pollen may be applied 
directly from the anthers to the stigmas 
without mechanical aid, as soon as the trifid 
stigmas arc ready to accept it, generally 
about the second day after. Gauze cover¬ 
ings do not seem to bo necessary, because 
the pistil is some \ hat elevated above and 
well prolonged beyond the anthers, allowing 
plenty of room for the ingress and egress of 
bees Wi'llOUt touching cither. It is for this 
reason probably that the flowers do not for 
the most part form seeds. The seed-pods 
contain from fifty to seventy-five winged 
bulbiets. Separate these from the cells of 
the pericarp, and preserve them in envelopes 
in a cool room the same as we would any 
other seeds. Sow during the latter part of 
May in loose, rich soil. The first season’s 
growth will consist of a Bingle blade of grass, 
producing a bulb smaller than a pea. With 
good luck wc may hope that the seedling 
bulbs will bloom the third year. A long 
time to wait, it is true ; but it is pleasant to 
have one's own sorts of flowers even if less 
pretty than others. An original painting, if 
a daub, is more creditable to the artist than 
a room full of Raphaels. 
It is now a favorable time, to look over our 
Gladioli, as they are blooming, and to note 
which of them we are becoming tired of and 
ready to part with, which we wish to retain 
for another season, and to make up our minds 
what particular colorings or markings we 
stand most in need of to complete or to im¬ 
prove our collection. Though the names of 
Gladioli have become so numerous that it is 
doubtful if M. SOUCHET himself could dis- 
tiuguisn his own seedlings throughout the 
interminable list, yet typical collections 
may be reduced to a very small number. If 
we were to look upon a field of Gladioli with 
one of every named variety in bloom, we 
should see white, rose, red, deep red and 
yellow as the essential colors ; aud it would 
require an inspection of individuals to deter¬ 
mine the endless diversity of markings with 
which seedling propagation aud cross-breed¬ 
ing have invested these superb plants. If, 
therefore, without aspiring to an exten-ive 
assortment, we merely wished half a dozen 
specimens whien should as fur as possible 
represent the whole, we should procure the 
following: 
For a while effect, Shahspearc. Tim is 
one of the earliest to bloom, and is one of the 
largest flowers. There are no purely white 
Gladioli. If we were particular to have the 
nearest to white, Reinc Blanche might be 
substituted, though Inferior in every other 
respect. 
For the rose, Mary Stuart. If among so 
many that ore nearly alike it is fair to desig¬ 
nate any one as the prettiest, we would 
name Mary Stuart. 
For the red, Meteor. A bright color with 
abrupt blotches of pure white upon the lower 
petals. 
For the deep red, Addison; and for the 
yellow, Ophiror Eldorado. 
We have mentioned but five. For the 
sixth, Mad. Jlenricq , a very eccentric bulb 
that never flowers alike, and that so varies 
from season to season that we are ready to 
question the accuracy of the label. I t,s colors 
are several shades of red and yellow, mottled, 
striped and blotch'd in a dissipated manner, 
which renders it ludicrously distinct through 
all its changes. E, S. Cabman. 
River Edge, Bergen Co., N. J. 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 
leaf, flower and seed to be readily recognized 
from description. 
The flowers are in bloom from early spring 
until August. They are an inch in diameter, 
rosy-purple in color, and borne generally in 
pairs upon unequal stalks. The seed cap¬ 
sules contain five seeds attached to an elon¬ 
gated style, which forms the bill, or beak, 
about three-quarters of an inch long. The 
seedR, when ripe, curl up upon the beak, and 
are scattered by the wind. 
The perennial rhizomes vary in length from 
one to three inches, and are about half an 
inch in thickness, knotty, wrinkled, of a 
dull brown color, and covered with fleshy 
AN EXCELLENT LIST OF PEARS, 
F. R, Elliott, well known to Rural read¬ 
ers, is in Rochester, ard contributes to the 
Union of that city a list of pears for an orch¬ 
ard of 100 trees, selecting by preference va¬ 
rieties that are largo enough to always com¬ 
mand a ready sale for the surplus. His list 
will be found valuable to those intending to 
plant a pear orchard the coming year. The 
varieties uro named in the order of ripening, 
as follows : f 
Beurre Giffard—One tree. Ripens about 
middle of August; is of medium size. 
Rostiezer—is small; oblong pyriform in 
shape ; delicious in flesh ; ripens from 20th 
of August to lOlh of September. One tree. 
Dearborn’s Seedling—One tree. This also 
ripens about the middle or last of August, is 
of medium size and valuable for your own 
table; but like the two forementioned it will 
not sell for more money than any common 
pear, except you have customers with appre¬ 
ciative palates. 
Clapp’s Favorite—Three trees. This is a 
large, showy and very good pear. The tree 
is also a good grower, but, the disposition to 
decay at the core which It obtained from one 
of its parents will prevent its ever being as 
profitable as the Bartlett. It ripens early in 
September. 
Bartlett—Ten trees. It is almost useless to 
say a word of this pear ; for, while it is not 
of the best quality, it is so good that every 
one will eat it—when they can get it. It 
ripens in early September and, like tnauy 
others, if gathered ere it begins to color and 
laid between soft papers cn a shelf in a cool 
room, it will keep a month or more, and be 
better at the last than first. 
Ananas d' E le—Five trees. This im mediate¬ 
ly follows the Bartlett; often we have gath¬ 
ered it at the same time. 11 is a large-sized 
fruit, of a quality just about as good as the 
Bartlett,s, and I have known it sold under 
that name. 
Now 1 must come with a elass that matures 
in October but that may be kept uutil Christ¬ 
mas. They are all of good size, unless it be 
Beurr© Superfine, and I shall name them in 
the order 1 esteem them for home use, as 
well as profit: 
Beurre d’Anjou, twenty trees ; Beurre 
Bose, three trees; Beurre Superfine, two 
trees ; Beurre Clairgeau, two trees. This lat¬ 
ter is a showy pear, but it is not strictly re¬ 
liable. Doyenne du Cornice, two trees. This 
is new, in a sense, but every character in it 
induces a desire for it ; in quality of flesh it 
is best. Flemish Beauty, live trees. This is 
an old sort, of great beauty and bi'zb ; and 
although some object to it, yet if the grower 
gives it care aud gathers the fruit—say the 
latter part of September—und keeps It as we 
have before written, he will never regret 
having the five trees in his huudred. 
Duchesse d’Angouleme—Two trees. We 
put this variety in because it is large in size 
and in pomological parlance called “very 
good.” The tree is a hardy one and a good 
bearer. 
Howell—Two trees. A good-sized fruit of 
very good quality. It ripens from middle of 
September to middle of October and should, 
like Flemish Beauty, be gathered early aud 
ripened in a cool room. We may say that 
this applies to all pears. If you want them 
to keep put them in a cool room ; if you want 
them to ripen immediately put them in a 
warm—but always keep them shaded, either 
between soft paper or flannel. 
Onondaga—Five trees. This is somewhat 
quality good to eat—six 
Wiukfield, 
THE EARLY PEACHES, 
New York City has been “flooded” with 
peaches during the past two weeks and 
mainly with Hale’s Early. This peach has 
been so abundant during the period named 
that they sold all the way from SI per basket 
down to 15 cents for a prime article, pro¬ 
vided the Halo can be called by such a name. 
We hope those who extolled this variety so 
highly when it was first introduced, promis¬ 
ing the grower such wonderful profits on its 
culture/will look at the above figures and 
tell us “ what is the matter.” 
If this Hale’s Early is such a fine variety, 
of good size, handsome color and superior 
flavor, consumers in our city would like to 
know why some such specimens are not seen 
in the markets. The fruit has sold at very 
low rates, it is true, iu comparison with the 
usual price of peaches; but we venture to 
say that the Hale’s, as sent in this season, 
has brought every cent they are worth, for 
a more miserable-looking lot of fruit we have 
never seen. The greater part of the crates 
and baskets we have seen going through the 
markets were tilled with small, wrinkled, 
half-ripened fruit about the size of a common 
hickory nut. No attempts at making selec¬ 
tions or assorting the best from the pool oi 
even worthless—are apparent in the consign¬ 
ments of the various growers. 
It is claimed that this is a “ great peach 
year.” If so, then the different varieties 
ehou'ld appear at their best, and the Hale’s 
among the rest; and we are inclined to be¬ 
lieve that there is a lack of proper manage¬ 
ment somewhere, else those reaching our 
markets would have been better. When 
there is likely to be an abundant crop of any 
kind of fruit, the producer ought to have 
good sense enough to know that only the 
very best would command a remunerative 
price in market. All the indications mearly 
spring were iu favor of a large crop of peach¬ 
es, and this should have prompted the grower 
to practice severe thinning out while the 
fruit was small, in order to increase the size 
of that which remained. The next operation 
leading to equally as desirable results, wouk 
be to carefully select the best, when gftthei ■ 
ing for market, sending only the best that 
could be produced of any particular varjel - 
Had this course been pursued, we >e c 
larger fruit and in less quantities would have 
come in and we should have been well satis¬ 
fied in paying double the current price. 
At the rates at which peaches have been 
selling of late, the growers must beilosffig 
money, and the lesson may be ol use tothern 
iu the future management of their or ° 
Neither producers nor consumers are 
ted by these “avalanches” of uifeno > 
hence the necessity of a change, lessening 
Quantity and increasing quality. 
Fig. 3. 
straight, whitish roots from one to three 
inches long. 
These rhizomes, gathered in the fall and 
dried, may be boiled in water or milk, placed 
in alcohol, or pulverized, as convenience sug¬ 
gests. Asa powder it may be exhibited in 
doses of from twenty to thirty grains ; as a 
liquid, by boiling an ounce of the root in a 
piut of water,—dose from one to one and a 
half fluid ounces. 
The babes and children of the poor who 
live iu wretched neighborhoods, suffer most 
from bowel disorders during the stifling 
summer months, and their parents ofttimes 
permit these disorders to continue until they 
Fig. 4. 
are beyond the effects of medicine, because 
they cannot afford to purchase druggists’ 
mixtures of capsicum, opium, chloroform 
and the like, in no way superior and far 
more dangerous in over-doses than Geranium 
maou latum. 
The cuts represent, Fig. 1, the flower and 
buds ; Fig. 2, the seed ; No. 3, the leaf, and 
Fig. 4, the rhizome. 
GERANIUM MACULATUM AS AN AS 
TRINGENT. 
FLORICULTURAL NOTES. 
There are few astringent medicines known 
that at tne present time are deemed more 
efficatious by physicians than the roots, or 
rather rhizomes, of the wild or spotted 
Cranesbill, Geranium rnaculatum. Astrin¬ 
gent medicines are often distasteful or 
nauseatia to delicate stomachs, and it is for 
this rea=< n that the wild Geranium is espe¬ 
cially serviceable in cases of cholera infan- 
The Fragrance of Flowers .—Sometimes 
the sweetest flowers we have, like Mignonette 
and Sweet Peas, are entirety destitute of 
fragrance. This occurs on particular days 
or portions of days, and may be caused by a 
peculiar condition of the atmosphere ; but 
we have known a bed cf Mignonette to be 
destitute oi fragrance for a whole season, 
