334: 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[September, 
AKEBIA QUINATA. 
^ - ■ -- 
A Beautiful Climber— {Akebia quinata.) 
Many years ago Mr. Wm. Fortune, the cele¬ 
brated adventurer in China, found along the 
hedges of Chusan a climber which was trans¬ 
ferred to the green-houses of England, and for 
a long time valued as a green-house plant. In¬ 
deed, the first we ever saw of it in this country 
was in a house. But like many other things, 
which, at their first introduction, were regarded 
as tender, this has proven, at least around New 
York, and southward, perfectly hardy, 
and instead of growing it as a pot plant, 
it is now made to cover large trellises 
out of doors. It runs very freely and 
makes a dense covering of foliage. The 
engraving shows the shape of the leaves, 
somewhat reduced in size. They bear a 
general resemblance to our Virginia 
creeper, but are smaller, and of a duller 
green. The flowers appear in clusters 
from the axils of the leaves in May. 
Each cluster contains both staminate 
and pistillate (male and female) flowers. 
The flowers are not particularly showy, 
being of a dark purplish color, but their 
exquisite spring-like fragrance compen¬ 
sates for any deficiency in color. The 
outer flowers of the cluster are stami¬ 
nate, and consist of three colored sepals, 
with six stamens, while the central ones 
are smaller, and have from three to nine 
pistils. The rapidity of growth, and 
the fragrance when in bloom, render 
this a most desirable climber, not only 
for covering screens, but for growing 
over supports. We have seen it grow 
upon a cedar stake, which it completely 
clothed and made a most beautiful ob¬ 
ject. The name Akebia is a Japanese 
one, and the specific name, quinata , re¬ 
fers to the five-parted leaves. Botanists 
place the plant in the small family called 
Lardimbalacem, of which we have no 
native representatives; our nearest re¬ 
lative is the Moonseed ( Menispermum ). 
We believe that the plant is kept by 
most nurserymen. Here we just wish to 
say a word to our correspondents. We 
scarcely ever publish a figure of a plant 
but we get letters asking for seeds. We 
have neither seeds nor plants (except 
those named in our premium list) to 
send, and cannot take orders for them, even 
from old friends. It is seldom that we illustrate 
a plant that cannot be had of the regular nur¬ 
serymen, if a shrub or perennial, or the seeds of 
which cannot be had of the seedsmen. The 
large dealers avIio advertise with us keep all 
these things, and it is impossible for us to fill 
orders. In the case of entirely new plants, (and 
we sometimes have to notice such), we are al¬ 
ways careful to say that they are not yet in 
market. We often forego the illustration of 
really desirable plants because we know that 
they can not be readily obtained by our readers. 
Some New Peas. 
The reports of the trials of peas at the Royal 
Horticultural Society’s gardens, at Chiswick, are 
always interesting, as they give impartial ac¬ 
counts of experiments made with different vari¬ 
eties grown side by side, and in sufficiently large 
quantities to make the results of practical value. 
The trials this year show, as have the previous 
ones, that many new varieties are only old ones 
renamed. As most of the sorts thus put down 
Many are pomologists for the love of it, and 
never sell fruit; such do not consider the 
commercial side of the question of much im¬ 
portance. They discuss varieties, settle which 
are best for family use, and which for market, 
but when it comes to the question of how to 
market, they think it outside of their province. 
Of late years, however, a new set of pomolo¬ 
gists has sprung up,—-those who hold that they 
should do good and make money. Especially 
do we meet these at the West, where we en¬ 
counter men who have as keen an eye 
and palate as the amateur, and who 
not only know which are the best fruits, 
but which will pay the best. It is 
through the influence of such men as 
these that pomological bodies are 
brought to discuss the best ways of 
turning fruit into money. The Western 
State Societies, always wide-awake, 
often discuss the subject of packing and 
marketing fruit, and last year it oc¬ 
cupied the attention of the American 
Pomological Society. The question of 
the best package for fruits is yet an un¬ 
settled one, except for apples, which are 
almost uniformly shipped in barrels. So 
important a matter is it for large fruit 
growers to get the best possible package, 
that Mr. Knox, of Pittsburgh, has offered 
a premium for those most suitable for 
berries and grapes, to be awarded at his 
grape exhibition in October next. Boxes 
are taking the place of baskets for peach¬ 
es, and are better for choice pears than 
are kegs and barrels. There is one point 
upon which there is great want of uni¬ 
formity—the size. When fruit is quoted 
at so much a box or crate, it is interest¬ 
ing to both grower and consumer to 
know what quantities these represent. 
So long as neither law nor custom 
establish the size, it will vary; but it is 
not easy to see why one should buy his 
peaches at a venture, while the law 
looks after his bushel of wheat. 
But whatever the package, the manner 
of placing the fruit in it has much to 
do with its opening handsomely. Bar¬ 
rels and boxes are packed bottom up¬ 
wards. The bottom of the barrel or box 
is removed, a layer of fruit neatly put in, 
with the stems all in one direction, and 
the remaining space so filled that some pressure 
will be required to bring the head or bottom to 
its place. The mark is put upon the head or 
cover to be opened. In packing grapes in box¬ 
es, the same order is observed. In putting up 
fruit in this way, it is not necessary to practise 
“ topping,” or putting the best fruit where it will 
first meet the eye, but only to make the pack¬ 
ages open handsomely, and their contents show 
at their best. Placing a small quantity of good 
fruit at the top after filling the box with that of 
an inferior quality is not only dishonest, but 
impolitic. As a St. Louis dealer said at the last 
meeting of the Am. Pomological Society: “I 
wish every shipper knew the value to him of a 
good reputation—of a reputation that will sell 
fruit-packages bearing his brand at the highest 
market price, without inspection. Every fruit¬ 
grower should aim to get such a reputation.” 
We have already a great variety of bowls, 
boxes, and cups, with the crates to pack them 
in, and every year' is adding to the number. 
They are of marvelous convenience and cheap¬ 
ness, and it will pay any fruit grower to visit 
this city to see what the inventors of the country 
are doing to help the sale of his products. 
are not known with us, we do not give their 
names. The custom of furnishing an old pea 
with a new title is not unknown in this country. 
An English seed dealer informed us that he sent 
the same variety to several different dealers, 
who put it out each as his own “ Extra Early.” 
The pea which seems to have the greatest num¬ 
ber of synonyms is the Daniel O’Rourke. This 
is itself a misnomer, it being really Sangster’s 
No. 1, though the other name has become so 
widely known that there is not much probabil¬ 
ity of its being changed. Of this variety, sever¬ 
al stocks are known, differing in quality, accord¬ 
ing to the care that has been used in cultivating 
and selecting. Among the new peas the one 
the most highly commended is Laxton’s Su¬ 
preme, resulting from a cross between Laxton’s 
Prolific and Little Gem. This variety is as 
early as the Daniel O’Rourke, and of better 
quality. The Gardener’s Chronicle says: “A 
grand pea: the sample sent # was remarkably 
fine—large, full pods, with 10 large peas in each, 
and almost as uniform in character as if from a 
mold.” Other fine varieties raised by Mr. Lax- 
ton are William the 1st, and Alpha.—Interest 
always attaches to new things, and we watch 
their development with pleasure, though for 
many years lovers of this delicious vegetable 
have had no occasion to place their main reli¬ 
ance for early on other than the Daniel O’Rourke, 
and for late on any but the Champion of England. 
Packing Fruit for Market. 
If the old shopkeeper’s maxim that “ Goods 
well bought are half sold” is true, it is still 
more true that fruit well packed is half sold. 
