24r 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[January, 
ing four kinds: Early York, Early Smooth 
Red, Tilden, and Keyes’ Early Prolific. I 
weighed the products of each patch (of the sev¬ 
eral kinds) as they were picked from day to day, 
endeavored to keep an accurate account, and at 
the end of the season, (Oct. 1st, when a killing 
frost occurred,) found the result to be as follows, 
per plant: Early Smooth Red, 2.5 lbs.; Tilden, 
2.6 lbs.; Early York, 6.2 lbs.; Keyes, 10 lbs. 
“This will probably be considered a very 
small yield for any of the varieties. I 
was surprised at it, having expected 
more,- at least from the Tildens, with 
their large, fine looking fruit. But the 
difficulty with the Tildens and the Reds 
was not that they did not set enough of 
fruit, but that they did not ripen it up 
fast enough for our short season. On the 
last day of September, the vines were 
still green and flourishing, having an 
abundance of unripe and small tomatoes 
on them, and even blossoms. That night 
the frost came and swept them all away. 
The Yorks and Keyes, on the other hand, 
ripened up nearly all theii fruit, and 
made no futile attempts to blossom out of 
season. The leaves were fading and 
dying before they were touched with frost 
at all. They did their work well, and 
having nothing more to do, prepared for 
death. I incline to think that the Yorks 
and Keyes are relatives, as they have 
several characteristics in common. 
“I may remark that the seeds were ah 
sown at the same time in the same hot¬ 
bed, about the middle of April, and s^t 
out the last week in May and the first oi 
June. A part of each kind had been 
previously transferred to a cold bed 
about the 11th of May. They were treated 
as nearly alike as possible. I conclude, 
therefore, from this experiment, that, 
though the Keyes is not ‘ 30 days earlier 
than any other tomato,’ and its leaves 
are not ‘without odor,’ it is never¬ 
theless a valuable tomato, especially for a 
high latitude and a short season ; and 
think that, if I live till another year, I 
shall plant more of it and less of some 
others, except for the sake of further 
experiment. Comparing the Keyes and 
the Yorks, the Keyes is a smoother, more 
handsome tomato, and less inclined to 
rot. I left some of them on the vines for 
two weeks after they were fully ripe; 
they wilted and shrunk, but did not rot. 
They are firm, with a tough skin, on which ac¬ 
count they carry well to market, and keep well. 
“My Tilden seed was genuine, obtained from 
Mr. Tilden himself. It may be a good tomato 
for a more favorable climate and a longer sea¬ 
son, but is too slow for us. The first ripe toma¬ 
toes were picked from the Yorks and -Reds. 
The Keyes’ were a few days later; this has been 
due to richer soil and more shade. But once 
begun, they ripened up their avhole crop in 
about four weeks, yielding more per plain in the 
first two weeks than either of the others.” 
- *——>«- -—- 
Why Not a Rhododendron? —Those who 
live in cities and towns have usually but a small 
plot to embellish, hence the necessity of getting 
the most out of it. The fitting out of such 
places is too often left to the care of a jobbing 
gardener who has more conceit than knowledge, 
and a small front yard is so cut up and filled 
with a confusion of things that it looks still 
smaller. Wc recently passed a place that 
struck us as particularly neat. A bit of nicely 
kept turf had in the centre a magnificent 
Rhododendron, six feet high, and nearly as 
wide. With its beautiful, broad, evergreen 
leaves, and au abundance of buds full of prom¬ 
ise for next spring’s flowers, it stood in marked 
contrast to the naked stems of the deciduous 
shrubs of the neighborhood. A single good 
plant like this will give more satisfaction than a 
crowd of shrubs, neither of which has a chance 
mignonette. —(Reseda odorata.) 
to develop itself. Good nursery grown Rhodo¬ 
dendrons (and none others are likely to live) 
may now be had at from one to three dollars. 
They may be transplanted in spring or autumn. 
The Mignonette and its Culture. 
There is perhaps no flower that is so little at¬ 
tractive to the eye as the Mignonette, and yet 
there are but few so generally cultivated, not 
only by the florists, because “ there is money in 
it,” but in private gardens. It is so common 
that we were surprised some time ago to re¬ 
ceive a letter, saying: “ Do tell us something 
about Mignonette, how it looks and what it is 
good for.” In looks it has nothing to commend 
it. The petals are so small they make but little 
show, and when in bloom the most conspicuous 
part of the flower is the brownish anthers. After 
the flower fades, the seed vessel grows rapidly, 
and unlike most seed pods it does not burst, but 
has an. open place at the top through which the 
seed can fall out when ripe. The engraving 
shows a branch with the small flowers, the con¬ 
spicuous seed vessels, and the rather weedy look¬ 
ing foliage. The odor is to most persons very 
pleasing, though we have met with a few who 
disliked it. So much is the odor prized, that 
besides being grown largely in the open 
ground, the plant is one of those largely culti¬ 
vated under glass to supply flowers in winter, 
and the most costly bouquet often owes its fra¬ 
grance to this homely little flower. It 
will grow readily in any common garden 
soil, and as it scatters its seed freely a 
stock is kept up without farther care; 
indeed plants from self-sown seeds are 
generally the strongest and best. It is to 
be sown where it is to bloom, as it is one 
of the plants that do not readily bear 
transplanting. By sowing in boxes or in 
pots at intervals the flowers may be had 
all the year round. The seed is sown in 
six-incli pots, and when the plants are 
large enough to handle they are thinned 
to six or eight, and when these get of 
good size, (as they are apt to die off from 
over-watering), they are thinned again to 
three. The variety called grandiflorum, 
has larger flowers and spikes, the plant 
is more robust, and it is best suited to 
pot culture. What is called “ Tree 
Mignonette” is not a distinct variety, 
but the plants, though usually regarded 
as annuals, are by proper treatment made 
to last for several years. To produce 
Tree Mignonette but a single plant is 
allowed to grow in a pot, and this is 
trained to a single stem, picking off the 
flower buds as they appear. When the 
plant has reached the liiglit of 18 inches 
or two feet, its top is pinched and ita 
branches are encouraged to form a bushy 
head. When the desired shape is estab¬ 
lished, which usually takes a year or 
more, then it is allowed to flower. The 
duration of the plants is much prolonged 
if they are not allowed to ripen seed. 
In house culture Mignonette does better 
in a moderately cool room than in a 
warm and dry one; indeed, the plant is 
hardy enough to bear considerable frost 
without serious injury. It should have 
air whenever the outside temperature 
will allow of it, and care should be taken 
not to over-water the plants. The Mig¬ 
nonette is a native of Southern Europe; 
its botanical name is Reseda odorata. Its 
generic name is from the Latin reseda to calm, 
in reference to its supposed medicinal qualities. 
The Sporting of Fruits. —In previous 
numbers record has been made of some remark¬ 
able instances of sporting in fruits, and we glad¬ 
ly receive any examples of these deviations 
from the original form, as we believe if the fact 
proves to be one of common occurrence, it will 
explain many of the differences we see in fruits, 
especially among grapes. Last autumn, Mr. 
F. F. Merceron, of Catawissa, Pa., brought to 
our notice a sport of a grape vine, which is 
worthy to be recorded. On a vine of Loomis’ 
Honey, a berry much like the Isabella in size 
and shape, one branch has for several years 
borne a large, round grape, looking much like 
a well-grown Black Hamburgh. The sport 
ripens at a later date, and is without the marked 
sweetness that characterises Loomis’ Honey. 
We have before noted remarkable' sports in 
the Catawba and Black Hamburgh grapes. 
