92 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
[June, 
Pear, Josephine de Maubray (Bull. d’Arb., 
4 ser., i., 97, with plate).—A Belgian variety, said to 
be of very good quality, and very hardy and fertile. 
It was raised by M. l’abbe Randour, of Maubrai- 
lez-Antoing, and is a yellowish fruit of medium 
size, speckled with russet, roundish turbinate, the 
flesh tender, melting, and juicy, sugary and with a 
slight perfume of rose; it is of the first quality, and 
ripens in November and December, sometimes con¬ 
tinuing till January ; awarded a silver medal in 1878 
by the Societe Royale d’Arboriculture de Tournai. 
It bears the syn mym of Beurre Bussy. 
NEW VEGETABLE. 
CELERY, Carter’s Incomparable Crimson Celery .— 
Mr. Gilbert, of Burghley, describes this variety in 
the Gardeners' Chronicle as growing with him from 
18 to 20 in. high, thick, solid, and crisp, and having 
that rich, nutty flavour so desirable in a good Celery. 
“ My experience of it is for a late crop, but doubtless 
it is all that can b9 desired for early work. Colonel 
Clarke’s Solid Red and Leicester Red both bolted with 
me, for which I blamed the mildness of the season; but 
I lifted ten dozen of Carter’s Crimson, not one of 
which showed any sign of starting to flower. This I 
take as conclusive that it is the best variety I am 
acquainted with.” 
NEW APPLIANCES. 
The Royal Botanic Society’s Travelling 
Plant Case. —Seeds travel by post if gathered when 
perfectly ripe, packed dry in strong canvass bags or 
lined paper envelopes, and transmitted without delay ; 
but plants can only be preserved through long sea 
voyages in glazed cases, such as those patented by 
Mr. Bull, and special care and attention are neces¬ 
sary both in packing and during the voyage. In the 
case of private individuals desiring to bring home or 
send abroad any particular plant, the cases just 
alluded to are too cumbrous, but the Royal Botanic 
Society’s Case, designed by Mr. W. Sowerby, of 
which an illustrated account is given in the last 
number of the Society’s Quarterly Record, whence, 
thanks to Mr. Sowerby, the annexed woodcut is 
derived, meets the difficulty in a most efficient 
manner. 
A 
MR. SOWERBY’S TRAVELLING PLANT CASE. 
This Plant Case is intended to be treated during 
transit exactly as a bird-cage containing a living 
bird, and in this way has proved very successful in 
preserving plants through long voyages. It may be 
made of any suitable dimensions; those in actual 
use are 2 ft. high by 1 ft. square. It consists of two 
square boxes, the upper one (a) of framed wood, 
with stout glass sides, the lower half ( b ) a strong 
square wooden box. Bands of broad hoop-iron pass 
over the top and sides of the upper half, and extend¬ 
ing four or five inches below, lap over the lower half 
to which they are fixed—on all four sides—by thumb 
or other screws, as at (c) ; a ring-bolt is fixed at the 
top (d), by which the case may be slung or suspended 
in any suitable part of the ship or carriage. A 
tongue or fillet is run or fixed on the upper edge of 
the lower box, which fits into a corresponding groove 
in the lower edge of the upper box, and prevents the 
entry of sea-water spray. 
We learn from Air. Sowerby, that some years ago 
one of these cases—which are little known—brought 
over 14 young plants of Mangrove, all alive; and 
that lately one has carried to Zanzibar along with 
some other plants, the Stephanotis which Sir John 
Kirk reports as being now in a flourishing condition 
there. 
Marple's Improved Garden Rake. —A sample 
of this rake now before us shows it to be, as we had 
concluded from the illustration here introduced, a 
marple’s improved garden rake. 
light and handy implement, such as may be recom¬ 
mended for general use. It has, w r e believe, met 
with general approval. The teeth being entirely of 
steel must be lasting, and from their shape and posi¬ 
tion are calculated to do good work; they are, as 
will be seen, flat, and in shape something like the 
blade of a pocket-knife, with the edge turned inwards, 
and are threaded upon a diamond-shaped rod, a 
short close-fitting tube being fixed between them. 
At the end a nut secures the whole, and, conse¬ 
quently, should a tooth be broken it can easily be 
replaced. The socket for the handle is in two parts, 
and is threaded on the bar in the same way as the 
teeth, the two half-tubes so meeting that a handle 
of any size can be used. The sizes vary from 6 to 
16 teeth. 
The merits of this rake are ; its lightness, which is 
remarkable, its simplicity, which is at once evident, 
and its durability, of which the material and work¬ 
manship are a sufficient guarantee. There is a 
smartness about the implement which at once com¬ 
mends it to notice. 
The Bradgate Park Seat. —Ordinary move- 
able garden and park seats are numerous, and there 
are many very good types to be met with in common 
use, but seats suitable to be fixed around the trunk 
of a tree, at once elegant and easy, are not so common. 
The one we now figure, thanks to the courtesy of 
Messrs. Vipan & Headiy, of Leicester, appears to 
meet all the requirements of the case, and we are 
therefore glad of the opportunity of drawing atten¬ 
tion to it. The seat has been designed specially for 
placing around trees in parks, pleasure-grounds, &c., 
and the idea has been well carried out. The seat is 
made in three sections of hard wood, bent to shape, 
and the uprights are of wrought iron. It may be 
