Mr. Charles Black says: "We send you to-day by express a box containing a branch of the Native Plum sent you last September to show you its productiveness. The trees are all loaded with fruit, as much so as the twig sent. When not so full they grow much larger. Let them ripen before eating".

[We have not entered with much enthusiasm into the "native" plum excitement, because none of them seemed anywhere near the European race in quality, and our experience of the native varieties in their wild locations has given us no faith in any " curculio proof" character. These from Mr. Black are the first we have had which give us any hope of a race of equal good flavor with the others. We may here take the opportunity to beg our correspondents when they prepay packages, to mark on the packages, "Paid through," or we are often asked to pay over again. We have refused many parcels this year on which we have been asked to pay, and this will explain to many correspondents why no notice appears of their fruits or flowers in our pages. We paid this package from Mr.; Black, although from what we know of his sense of justice we were quite sure he had already prepaid it. But this is not enough. Parties sending packages prepaid to friends should al-ways write, or see that it is written, "Paid through " on the packages. - Ed. G. M].